If you follow table top war games at all you know that the hobby is largely at the mercy of the commodities market. Many of the models used by table top war games companies are metal cast. This year Games Workshop decided to do something about that by abandoning metal models and using a newly developed resin instead. Resin is lighter, easier to modify and much cheaper than metal. Games Workshop hasn’t passed those savings on to their customers though! In fact, in their press releases and investor’s statements hardly mention the cost savings at all! Instead they’ve highlighted the high quality of the new resin models:
Games Workshop already makes the best fantasy miniatures in the world. All Games Workshop miniatures will now be made either in resin or plastic to ensure Games Workshop customers get the best quality miniatures available. From a strategic perspective, Citadel Finecast has established an even greater quality differential for Games Workshop over other miniature makers using traditional metal manufacturing methods.
Mark Wells, CEO Games Workshop
But of course, one of the main reasons for this change to resin was quality. One thing you’ll notice immediately when you pick them up is the exceptionally sharp detail on the model, which can only be described as staggering. For dedicated painters (which we all are to some extent) this is a dream come true.
Andy Hall, Writer Games Workshop
I’m not going to contest that the new models look great and that their resin mix does an excellent job of capturing the nuances of the master molds. My problem is that these new lighter, cheaper models cost more than their metal counterparts?! The company has said this rise in cost is due to the better detail quality of the new finecast models, but the fact of the matter is that GW and Citadel Miniatures are using the same master molds as they were for the old metal miniatures. The only difference here is the new resin! The molds have already been made the costs invested and already returned from the sale of the old metal models, so why are customers now having to pay more for a model made from cheaper raw materials?!
Games Workshop has been pricing me out of their hobby for years. I have a hard time justifying the purchase of a single model for $15 moving the sales point to $18.50 ($20 in the mind of the buyer) is out of the question! Who can afford that when armies consist of upwards of 100 models?!