The Griffin's Crier

http://www.gf9.com/Default.aspx?tabid=227&art_id=3667

So here are the details:

-Minis look good.
-Cast in resin (using the same methods GW uses...)
-eye wateringly expensive -- each set is priced at $50(!) for 5 figures (or one Beholder or one Purple Worm). So yes, in a 5-pack of figures, that's $10 a piece. With GW at least, only a few of the figures (command, special characters) are going to be ridiculously expensive. This is rather high IMHO...
-Only sold in sets
-Limited Editions. This last part blows

One other caveat -- GF9 is owned by Battlefront, and their resin minis for Flames of War are terrible, using really crappy resin with all sorts of casting issues. So pretty leery of dropping $50 on a set and have it filled with bad casts (worse that GW Finecasts, IMHO)...

Damon.

Never have I cycled so rapidly between wild optimism and utter disappointment. Yes, the casts look gorgeous, but they are unassembled, unpainted, and unaffordable. GF9 website lists them at $70 NZD ($40 for Purple Worm), which converts to $59 and $33 USD - before shipping.

I can appreciate paying for quality, but I can't forget the diminishing returns of plastic D&D minis over the years: $15 for 8 prepainted plastic minis of fair to very good quality from 2003-2008, then paying the same price for 40% fewer minis (5), then $17 for a box of 4 Pathfinder Battles, and now the GW business model of pricing the unwealthy collector (and to hell with the novice enthusiast) right out of the game.

Yeah I know these are "white people problems", but it's no less of a let down for the hobbyist/gamer who works and plays with one foot in the dungeon.

Fen's Ego wrote:Never have I cycled so rapidly between wild optimism and utter disappointment. Yes, the casts look gorgeous, but they are unassembled, unpainted, and unaffordable. GF9 website lists them at $70 NZD ($40 for Purple Worm), which converts to $59 and $33 USD - before shipping.

Unless pricing has changed overnight, if you switch the currencty to US dollars, they're $50 a piece...

Damon.

That's better. I was doing the conversion on an online calculator. All prior comments still apply.

What a waste of sculpts. At $30 they'd be selling as many as they could cast. As it stands it'll still likely sell out - to scalpers who are going to ebay them for twice as much because they're "limited" and the distribution model sucks.