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We're all in the habit of buying miniatures but I know for sure I look at a lot of kits and think "Cool, but not at that price" so I was wondering how other people decide what to pass on and what to buy.

I've seen people online arguing that it only makes sense to do "points per miniature" which I've always thought was the absolute worst way to figure this stuff out, but I'm interested if anyone has a defense for it!

I play lots of different games and I expect to use my models in those games. And so it makes no sense to calculate based on the in game value of the models for one system for me. And I don't care if it's a skirmish game either. I don't think having bajillions of parts in your kit is a selling point, especially if what it builds is still very monopose.

Instead, I think of around 1 euro per human sized 28mm mini as good value, under that is excellent value. Increasing size gives you some leeway but only for stuff that I think should be that size, like Ogres or Trolls, but not for Space Marines which are too big these days. 2 euro per dude is acceptable especially if the kit is nice, 3 euro starts to get a bit too high but I might still go for it if I like the kit. If the model is very unique, I'm more forgiving about price, so a really unique concept I always think is harder to sell than something more generic, and so my sense of value is a bit more flexible.

For vehicles I think small ones should be 20-25 euro and bigger ones 30-40 euro. Sub in big monsters for vehicles, basically the same idea.

Fancy characters are something I usually kitbash out of other kits but if I'm buying something very cool then I'd want it to be no more than 10 euro.

If I am looking at a Combat Patrol or something I basically slap those prices onto the minis in the set to see if I think it's worth getting. With the old start collectings and some of the combat patrols, I'd often be happy enough to pick them up based on this calculation, but nowadays I have to say it's slim pickings in my view. Star Wars Legion is way too pricey, same with Marvel Crisis Protocol or Conquest.

On the other hand, if you look at producers like North Star or Mantic, you've got loads of stuff that fits in my comfort zone.

Curious how others do it - how much is an infantry model worth to you?

I cost it very similar to your estimates (perhaps a bit higher, due to spare hobby money, and increasing quality of most models), but I add the cost of painting it.

If it is a very complicated, detailed and busy miniature, the "cost" can get to infinite and I won't buy it (i.e. the new GW chaos marauders).

I used to subscribe more to cost per miniature but more and more I pay more attention to the time it takes to paint something and how much I really expect to play it.

The best recent example is the Ork Combat Patrol which was released right about when I really needed about 20 BSBoyz and a Beastboss and the box provided all that for that cost with an additional unit of Squighog riders I really didn't need. I ended up picking it up to support the local store but painting the riders I haven't ever fielded legitimately felt like I'd made the wrong choice.

These days I focus more on game modules and how much effort they take vs how much I expect to play them. I'm far more prone to spend more on a cool unique model that takes me a couple days to paint for a game I play a lot than I am to buy a box set that will take me a month to get to the table.

That's interesting. I don't really mind painting but I hate assembly, so kits with loads of parts decrease in value for me.

I don't particularly care about undercuts and the like because you hardly notice them when the figures are on the tabletop and I'm far from a top level painter in any case.

But modern GW kits where one figure is sliced into more than a dozen non-intuitive pieces and I have to follow the guide step by step instead of eyeballing the sprue and having a go really drain my will to live.

If it's over 80 for a box of line troops, it's too much.

I do keep it simple, Do I want it, do I want something else more is really all I worry about.
Its use is important as well, but miniatures last a long time. So I don’t worry too much about specific cost that much since it’s a huge variable.

GW feels more pricey since you need an army, but infinity miniature I get updates to my faction all the time since only need to ad a box when ever I feel like.
Necromunda is similar, I’m expecting to use the table for years so its price doesn’t really feel that bad.
But time to build is more worrying lol

I find decay functions helpful in determining worth.

Whatever the price per model, I assume I can get it discounted by 35% - 50% by purchasing it secondhand in a year or two. Whereas if I buy it new, it's going to sit on a shelf for roughly the same amount of time.

The caveat: there are a few things where I want it now and plan to paint it. I will pay full price for those. For anything I won't paint right away, I'd prefer to get it at a discount.

My preferred price for line troops is $1 per model, elites $3 per model, $15 - $20 for HQs / tanks / daemon engines / monsters. I am willing to pay up to 3 times that, depending on the condition. The longer I wait, the more likely I am going to get the price I want.

Mostly I watch for lots on eBay, Facebook and other sites. There are seasons to waiting, people tend to paint stuff in the winter and get rid of stuff in the summer. Usually, finding lots are the easiest way to get cheap models.

There are some things - primarchs / daemon princes / big tanks / forgeworld / boxed sets / etc - that never go for discounts. Depending on how much I need them, I might be willing to pay retail. But only after a long period of reflection.

 Da Boss wrote:
That's interesting. I don't really mind painting but I hate assembly, so kits with loads of parts decrease in value for me.

I don't particularly care about undercuts and the like because you hardly notice them when the figures are on the tabletop and I'm far from a top level painter in any case.

But modern GW kits where one figure is sliced into more than a dozen non-intuitive pieces and I have to follow the guide step by step instead of eyeballing the sprue and having a go really drain my will to live.

I really love to paint. It's one of my favorite ways to spend my free time but I only have so much time I can spend on it. I just don't want stuff sitting waiting to paint. I want to focus on the new thing I got, get it built, get it painted and get it on the table. Buying more models because its a better deal rather than because I really want to spend time on them just leads to stuff piling up and turning into more work than fun I've found.

When thinking of what to keep or get rid, I ask myself:
1. Will I actually use it?
2. How hard will it be to replace?

For example, a generic line troop I'll never use is a good candidate to sell. If I decide I need it later I can buy another one.
But an OOP mini I might use or just want to paint later is a candidate to keep, because of the difficulty getting it back.

In terms of value, I tend to go for:
75% RRP - new stuff; boxed, sprue, etc.
50% RRP - build/painted stuff. My painting is meh at best so fully expect no-one is buying for the paint.

I have three very simple metrics that I use when purchasing just about anything.

1. I calculate how many hours of work it would take me to buy the product. I.e. if I make $20 an hour, and I am buying something that is $40 it would take two hours.

Then, I cross-reference that with how much time I think I will use the product during the products life. Therefore, if it takes two hours of work but I spend more than two hours using it in the example above, it is fine.

2. I ask myself what I would I do with this product if I was asked to move tomorrow to a much smaller location where I was forced to downsize. Would I take it to my new place, put it in storage, or would I bin it?

3. I ask myself how much it will fetch at my estate sale after I die?

These three questions weed out almost all of my purchases down to the ones that I am really committed too. That is how I "value" a box of miniatures. As you can see, these are all highly subjective and personal measures.

I'm generally shooting for between 1-2 bucks per miniature for line troops. There are a ton of new and used options for this these days.

I'll pay more for characters, monsters, cavalry, vehicles, etc...

Additional factors in figuring whether to pay a bit more than I'd like can include:
-How often will this miniature be used.
-Is this a vintage or used piece that is rare and/or I can expect to get my money back reselling later.
-Is this a unique thing that I really want that justifies the additional cost.
-Does this kit have alot of extra pieces that may be genuinely useful for other projects I have.
-If used, are these already painted? I'm very open to already-painted miniatures these days as it gets them to the table faster and gives me more time to concentrate on building terrain.

All that said, these days I'm buying very little new product. I've got the minis I need for most game's I play and in many cases there are very good used options for anything I might need.

It all depends.

I don’t think it’d a surprise to anyone I’m deep in the GW rabbit hole. There, my want for the models pretty much outweighs the price. Provided the kit is plastic.

Resin? I hate working with it. That FW’s models are resin, and expensive is a deal breaker for me. Essentially I’ve no interested in paying that much money, with that much hard work ahead of me.

Outside of GW it really depends.

For instance? I was drawn to Armada’s Super Star Destroyer. It’s one of my favourite space ship designs and honestly? Not a bad model at all. In fact it’s pretty good. But the price tag was much too much. Essentially well over £100 for something that’s just gonna sit on a shelf somewhere just didn’t appeal. Especially as I don’t get the pleasure of assembling it, which is big part of the hobby for me.

Will there come a day where GW prices itself out of my pocket? I honestly don’t know. I’ve been at it 35+ years, so it doesn’t look likely. But who really knows?

I use this chart:

I think somewhere I still have the lotr prices in my head from when I started in the hobby, so a troops Box with 24 minis is 20€, chars for 7-9€ and stuff. Unfortunately you only get that in historicals these days (or some fine producers like WGA and North Star).
On the other hand I'm in a situation where prices really aren't that much of a concern anymore. Yes, I try to get every deal I can get but the price alone is never a reason for me to not buy a kit. It's rather: Is it worth to put that money down for a model I don’t need right now and will lie around for years to come?
So, I would never buy GW at full price, but when they offer something nice that fits my armies I'll get it eventually.
It's rather high shipping prices and taxes I try to avoid, so ordering stuff from USA post-democracy or UK post-brexit is quite rare for me.

Eilif: Extra bits is a good one, I also value kits higher if they come with lots of useful bits.

Sgt Cortez: I started earlier than you but I definitely remember thinking those LOTR kits were really good value at the time. Of course they later went nuts with the Hobbit game and became less good value but it was a good time to be into Middle Earth wargaming!

Do I want it enough to pay what they're asking?

stroller wrote:
Do I want it enough to pay what they're asking?

My logic also. If I want it enough to pay the price, that's about the extent of the process.

I will only value kits with extra bits if these bits have any use at all. Like magnetizing weapon option and such. Random jigsaw pieces from modern GW kits are rarely useful nowadays. The old design kit setup of leg/torso/arms/head was nice because you could use other kits (or now, 3D print bodies) to use those extra arms and stuff.

Or when a dual build kit allows you to build both unit with little effort. Like the Tyranids kit for Zoanthropes and Venomthropes. I always found it way too expensive but building both units from the same box actually make it a pretty good value!

 Skywave wrote:
I will only value kits with extra bits if these bits have any use at all. Like magnetizing weapon option and such. Random jigsaw pieces from modern GW kits are rarely useful nowadays. The old design kit setup of leg/torso/arms/head was nice because you could use other kits (or now, 3D print bodies) to use those extra arms and stuff.

Or when a dual build kit allows you to build both unit with little effort. Like the Tyranids kit for Zoanthropes and Venomthropes. I always found it way too expensive but building both units from the same box actually make it a pretty good value!

I agree. That's why I love kits from companies like Northstar and Wargames Atlantic. Very much the 2000's GW kit experience with lots of modular parts that can be swapped across kits and sometimes across brands. Most historical plastic companies are similar though often smaller and more "True" scale than sci Fi and fantasy kits.

Current GW kits offer little in this respect.

 Eilif wrote:

 Skywave wrote:
I will only value kits with extra bits if these bits have any use at all. Like magnetizing weapon option and such. Random jigsaw pieces from modern GW kits are rarely useful nowadays. The old design kit setup of leg/torso/arms/head was nice because you could use other kits (or now, 3D print bodies) to use those extra arms and stuff.

Or when a dual build kit allows you to build both unit with little effort. Like the Tyranids kit for Zoanthropes and Venomthropes. I always found it way too expensive but building both units from the same box actually make it a pretty good value!

I agree. That's why I love kits from companies like Northstar and Wargames Atlantic. Very much the 2000's GW kit experience with lots of modular parts that can be swapped across kits and sometimes across brands. Most historical plastic companies are similar though often smaller and more "True" scale than sci Fi and fantasy kits.

Current GW kits offer little in this respect.

The hobgrots kit I think comes with a full extra mini short a head and base. It’s basically a pick which leader you want. But it really does seem silly to bother since basically every player ends up with an extra mini and no head for it every box.

stroller wrote:
Do I want it enough to pay what they're asking?

This all day, every day.

It really just comes down to:
Do I like it enough to own it?

See, I try not to own models i dont like. Because if I dont like it, what's the point in spending $ on it, time building/painting it, & the space it'll take up?

So you guys have no sense of how much a miniature "should" cost, it's all completely individual?

My brain just doesn't work like that I think! There are lots of miniatures I really like where I just think they are not good value for money.

 Da Boss wrote:
So you guys have no sense of how much a miniature "should" cost, it's all completely individual?

My brain just doesn't work like that I think! There are lots of miniatures I really like where I just think they are not good value for money.

Cost is considered after I've decided wether or not I like the model enough to own it.

To try to answer your question on "should" cost, da Boss....

In my opinion it should cost more than it costs to produce - if you don't make a profit, I can't buy another figure next day/month/year.

The price should reflect my perception of the quality, and my expected gain from building painting and playing it - or displaying it. I COULD work out a value per play, but.. cba...

but as ccs says it IS individual: I have zero interest in grey knights for example: I like neither the sculpts nor the backstory, so for ME they have 0 value. Others have equally valid but wildly different values for those same figures.

That is a very good question and I want to thank you for asking it, because it really made me think.

Points per Euro indeed is a pretty bad way to look at it. Because honestly, GW characters might be a lot of points, but they're not worth 30 Euros for a single figure to me. At the same time, a box of twenty Goblins that's supposedly worth 60 points or something is worth more to me than a box of three human sized figures who are worth a couple hundred points.

So, for me, it's more about how many figures I get per Euro spent. There, I make a distinction between regular sized figures and bigger ones. Cavalry and Ogres need less figures per Euro to be worth it really. The material also plays a role. I personally hate working with resin, so I definitely try to avoid that. I also dislike complicated builds (like you see with some modern GW minis), so that also decreases the value to me. Metal on the other hand is worth more to me because I enjoy painting those more.

Personally, I'm in the opposite camp. I don't really find much value in units. They feel repetitive to paint and quickly removed in games. I get a lot more value out of models that are more unique and stand out more on the table.

Granted, that's partially why I prefer games like MCP or Judgement. Perhaps the best example is preferring Shatterpoint to Legion. These games provide unique models that play significantly differently from one another. The price per model is generally not great, but I have more fun painting them and feel like they have a lot more impact on the game too.

That makes perfect sense to me but something in my monkey brain just wants big armies and big units. Couldn't tell you why, but I am honestly happier batch painting 40 night goblins than painting one warboss!

I'm a fan of both Skirmish Games and Big Battles. In both cases I lean into miniature agnostic games.

The leeway in miniature choice makes a question like this much more pertinent because I have a much bigger range of options than someone whose choices might be as narrow as the official model vs 3d printed versions.

 Da Boss wrote:
That makes perfect sense to me but something in my monkey brain just wants big armies and big units. Couldn't tell you why, but I am honestly happier batch painting 40 night goblins than painting one warboss!

I liked big army’s right up until I finished my undead army. And I have never wanted to do it again. So big units haven’t been particularly exciting now.