Not necessarily. These minis would have been either ready to go, or so far along in the production process that their materials would have been unable to be changed, way back before AUJ. The news only broke in late july/ August that there were going to be three movies, and considering the long development cycle behind GW miniatures (and factoring in that they have to be done three months before WD) it's very likely that GW were already far along enough in their schedules that these have been sitting in a warehouse for about 12 months. Just look at all the other merchandising with legolas and co featured prominently. Lego, Action Figures, posters... All too far along in the production cycle to be canceled during what was, essentially, a decision in the editing room.

The next batch of minis will be the test. Stuff INTENDED for release post Finecast. We may still see it, of course - especially if GW decides we don't warrant the plastic tooling costs - but they seem capable of producing special characters in plastic clampacks now, for WHFB, so you never know.

Honestly, I would rather pay 20 bucks for a FC model, than 25 for the same model in plastic. Compare Legolas and his dad, why is there a 5 dollar jump?

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"Leave Sauron to me."
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Moulds are more expensive in plastic

Also there have been price rises with 40K etc. Frankly the Thranduil model should have been released with the spiders over the last year as we have seen them both in AUJ.

We also should have seen Legolas and Tauriel.

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"Leave Sauron to me."
If you're in the Raleigh, NC area, let me know.

Not really as they weren't in the first film! Whereas the Spiders and Thranduil were.

I have to say that your experience of finecast would appear to bear no resemblance to absolutely everyone else I know or have heard form. Lucky you!

What are people's opinions on the difference in finecast from LOTR to the Hobbit range? We've done some comparisons for the channel so interested in opinions

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I hate this cheap low grade and frankly unfit for purpose material so much! Actually, thats it, I am sending an e-mail to Watch Dog to see what they think? Its probably a bit too border line for them, but might stand out as different enough to get used?

I personally have experienced no difference in lack of quality! I have a Dweller in the Dark that sags and required a bucket of Green Stuff, but the best LOTR figure is an orc task master who needs relatively minor in filling, the pattern has been replicated with Hobbit stuff, my first Azog (I had to do several returns!) being atrocious being replaced by a sub par figure that I still nedd to do a lot of work on, the best model so far being Bilbo from the "Riddles in the Dark" blister pack (which naturally was not finely cast an required a small amount of green stuff).

My point is that we would have seen them by now if there were only 2 movies. Same with Beorn, Thrain, Palace Guards, Rangers and Thranduil.

I actually had MUCH more trouble with metal, when I ordered Glorfindel foot and mounted, I was missing the foot version. The Swan Knights on foot were missing 2 shields and I got Grima and Grima instead of Saruman and Grima.

I honestly was hoping that Azog would be messed up so I could get a free replacement to convert! I wanted to switch out the body on the mounted model for the torso of a foot model, because the mounted torso is much smaller than it should be.

_________________
"Leave Sauron to me."
If you're in the Raleigh, NC area, let me know.

As it appears that Thranduil has several air bubbles visible on the model, it doesn't seem as if the Hobbit figures are as good as they are claimed to be [big surprise there]. Just about 'fine'ly cast...

At least they remembered the qualities of the material when making the Ranger captain, her dagger is as thick as her arm (which, admittedly, is rather thin, but still quite big for a delicate elven blade!).

Don't think you'll be getting anywhere Bilbo, GW has a lot of issues, but the customer service is pretty good: you can exchange (if required) badly cast models, get new ones in return, at no additional cost. Although some claims ('the newly sent model has been checked' or variations thereof, as well as any statements on the supposed quality of the material in general) are untrue, hyping products and/or putting a big pricetag on them isn't exactly against the law.


Because any of those issues clearly are a fault of the material..?

I know it's the fault of the packaging, but I haven't had to exchange or replace a single FC model, while I've had to have 3 metal blisters replaced.

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"Leave Sauron to me."
If you're in the Raleigh, NC area, let me know.

I posted a thread questioning Finecast quality, and the replies were pretty much as I expected. The vast majority of purchasers have met with problems that require far more than just 'minimal cleanup'.

I have had a 100% failure rate with Finecast. Multiple exchanges on each purchase and ultimately not one figure that is usable.

I've been collecting GW minis on and off since the 80s. I have hundreds of metal figures and have only ever had to get two items replaced. 1 Frodo clutching the ring (Fellowship) because his nose was missing, and the metal Balrog body from the gandalf and Balrog set. Half of the body was so badly warped there was no way to make it fit. The parts were very thick of course and could not be straightened without causing significant damage to the body detail.

Of all the GW plastics I've bought, there has never been an item that needed replacement. Add to that the tremendous advances they have made in multi part kit sculpting to minimise undercuts and maximise surface detail and you have an obvious winner here. The Dark Vengeance and Goblin Town box sets provide magnificent examples of what GW is capable of producing when it's done right.

The sooner they drop Finecast and either go back to metal, or shift entirely to plastic, the happier i'll be. Finecast is an inferior product that, in my experience, NEVER provides a product 'fit for the purpose'. While GWs replacement policy is undeniably a great safeguard against bad casting, it only works if all the models DO NOT have the same problem.

Sadly this has been the case, at least for me. I have been unable to salvage a usable figure because the faults are always in the same place. Probably the worst case was a Wolf Guard from 40k. The Chainsword he was holding was virtually hollow under the blade edge. It seems like they cannot get enough pressure into the mold to eliminate air pockets in smaller areas. My 25th anniversary Crimson Fist figure was a disaster from start to finish.

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Cheers
Athelas