Such vitriol Dr. Grant. I was simply offering a different perspective than simply joining in the band wagon of panic here. Sorry to have offended
But to answer your points.
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I think it's more a case of hasn't yet been released rather than wasn't released
You also have absolutely no proof of this, just like you have no proof about anything you've said. Several LOTR models never were released that were alternate poses/sculpts, that's my proof.
AND that GW changes their minds all the time. If you pay attention to their other game lines, you'd here about entire swaths of miniatures they have printed only to later destroy for whatever reason. Or miniatures they have stock piled for release that have never seen light of day. It's common for them to make things then change things mid-stream. So yes, that Bard may never see the light of day. It's about as relevant as all the other miniatures that have never made release either in GW history.
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GW have NEVER released an SBG model in Finecast and then changed it to plastic and whilst they did convert some early metals to plastic kits, we can't draw too much from the LOTR releases. GW have quite clearly got a very different approach to the Hobbit SBG (and their whole business) than they did 10 years ago and analysing how they marketed and developed SBG when it was raking in the money is not necessarily indicative of their plans for the Hobbit.
Lol. Classic internet move here. You focus on the finecast while ignoring the fact they did do this repeatedly with metal throughout the history of the SBG line, heck, all their miniature lines. It's a common practice for GW.
For the SBG no. They haven't switched finecast to plastic...yet. But if you would pay attention to their other rumors all finecast production is being phased out like they are phasing out metal now. Finecast will be REPLACED by forgeworld resin and plastic kits. Those kits that sell well will become plastic, the others will become resin. So that decision could have been made somewhere between the first batch of laketown being printed and the Gundabad orcs being about to be printed, but were never actually made. So before they invested a huge amount of money in printing them, they held back before casting them. It is a realistic option you should think about too. And has about as much "proof" as the rest of this thread does that they are finecast.
You know, a lot of the pictures you see in the books are their resin, mock ups of the miniatures they made fo the studio. That's why they're plastic miniatures typically don't have mold lines or weird printing.
Also what proof do you have GW isn't using the same strategies in terms of miniature releases as they did for The Hobbit? I certainly don't see any difference. What they are doing to the Hobbit is the same thing they are doing to all of their other games. Sure the prices are jacked, you get less in a box, but so are their prices on everything else!!! And at least we don't spend 50 dollars for 5 plastic miniatures. 5 plastic miniatures that you in general need 4 boxes of to round out your core troops. That's 200 dollars. For 80 bucks we can get 10 Mirkwood Rangers and 10 Palace guard. Same number of troops and about an equal amount of gameplay on the table as that poor 40k player. But the thing is, we can have a game with just one box of those. We can have a great game with both of those boxes. But the 40K player STILL HAS TO BUY MORE STUFF!!!!
So yeah, it's pricier. But other than that, the strategy is exactly the same. Our hobby is still considerably cheaper than their core games and still cheaper than games like warmachine or at least on par with the competition.
So yeah, our prices are jacked, we all know that! Everyone in the community knows that. GW sales are showing they are way too high. But in terms the way they are making the models for this game...it's the exact same as it was in the days of the SBG.
Also, as Dorthonion pointed out to you below, the orcs were metal in Fellowship days and you needed 200 of those. At 8 USD a blister for three that was 533 dollars. And that's just for the orcs!
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This is true but those are almost all single sculpts, other versions of which were released (one Mordor Uruk Hai, 1 Uruk Scout captain, 1 Dead Marsh Spectre etc.). The Gundabads are a whole range of models (if you can call 6 a range) that have been pictured in a new sourcebook alongside their new profile. I can't see any reason to speculate that we wouldn't have get them, particularly when we've only had two months of releases. Maybe if they haven't been released this time next year we can lament their potential loss (as many people are the alternate FC company figs) but I cannot understand why anyone would speculate that these models won't be released at the end of January
I don't disagree with you, but it is worth speculating if they decided to make changes. Which all I am saying there is a chance of that. 1% is still a chance. You also can't say these are definitely finecast - again pure speculation on your part - based on one picture. There could be more models, you just haven't seen them in that ONE picture.
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Why on earth would either of these things be true?!?! If they have made them in FC what possible hint is there that they're re-doing them in plastic? It's not been two months since the book was released, they're hardly delayed! As for Azog being Photoshopped into the images, I literally cannot think of a single reason that they would do this, what would the point possibly be? I'm not being facetious here, I'm genuinely curious to hear why you think they'd do this.
Well one can be accidentally facetious
. Like you pointed out these models were decided in 2012. They were decided before Azog was switched, remember. So you take a picture with the old Azog miniature in it. Then Azog changes. So you have a choice, retake the picture (which means getting the figs out, the terrain, setting everything up, getting a camera man, taking the picture, processing/uploading the picture, editing the picture, touching up the picture, etc). Or you could have the graphic design guy cut and paste the new Azog into an existing picture so you don't have to mess with all of that. Which saves you money, time, and everything else. So yeah, I guess there was a really good reason for that, huh?
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This I agree with, whatever their plans are, the only way to support this game and convince GW to keep it going as long as possible is to buy the figures. If the Gundabads are FC and 3 for £15 I'll be miffed but I'll still pop down to GW and pick up 12 for Bolg to lead. Creaky summed it up best in another thread. In 10 years time when GW are no longer producing SBG I'd far rather have a cool collection than look back and regret that I missed out on some cool figures because I was trying to stop the machine.
Well color me honored you agreed with something I said
. Well, one point Creaky is missing: GW might not be here in 10 years time either. If LOTR is cut before then, it's because GW dropped the ball on it. We know that. They will never admit it. We'll go before the other ones go to keep them afloat, but once we go, they're all going to go...
AND my point was, just because we say they are finecast doesn't mean they are until we see them in person. We have no idea what they will be at this point. And that's my point. Yes, it would be frustrating if they were finecast, but no use in getting angry about something that hasn't happened yet. That's like getting really worked up about how someday, you are going to stub your toe because the world still has walls and chairs and doorways and that makes you so ANGRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! A waste of your time, my friend. But that day hasn't come yet.And all this is doing, is whipping people up in a frenzy to cause them stress and turmoil and frustration about a hobby they enjoy. So is the constant rumor of GW doesn't care about LOTR/The Hobbit, the line is being killed, etc. It's just fear mongering. We don't know anything but conjecture. That fear mongering is more damaging to the hobby than it is constructive.
While I'm on the subject, just so you know, things may look bad for us - which they do - but at the same time, you can't even buy any of the core choices for the Empire army in WFB at a store anymore. It's all direct only. In fact, a good chunk of the warhammer line is direct only. So I guess we're in the same boat, huh?
Did you also know they are supposedly reworking Warhammer from the ground up. Rumors say it is to the point it will barely resemble the current game. That many of its core armies are going to be cut.
So yeah, things are bad here, but they are bad everywhere including 40k - which has record low sales despite the release of the space marines (thier biggest) seller this year.
And remember, GW are still locked in a contract with New Line/Tolkien Estate. If they want to make their money back, they still have to crank out stuff for us to buy until those licenses expire. Unlike the Warhammer group, who have no one to protect their army or the thousands of dollars they already have invested in it. At least, our game will go at once if and when it does. To have your army cut from history while the rest of the game goes on, that would be worse, I imagine.