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Saw this article at TMP, and thought it was worth noting (quoted below). Nothing we haven't seen before from other sources (most recently PP and Bronze Age Miniatures), but this gives us a sense of cost increase for manufacturers.

What has me worried is how this effects small "Mom&Pop" operations (Hasslefree, Heresy, Pig Iron, etc.). Will some of them go out of business, switch to some other material (e.g. resin), or set up partnerships like Sash & Saber have with Old Glory (i.e. small company does the sculpting and sets the price, larger company does the casting, marketing, etc.)? 

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It's bad news for the hobby, but I fear it is true. Casting metal I have talked to one of my long-time suppliers in the trade this week, and casting metal across the board has spiked alarmingly high in just the last few months. Many manufacturers and casters who have not made any bulk purchases lately are in for a huge shock. What was $3.80 USD - $4.20 USD a pound a few short years ago has soared to over $8.50 USD and higher this month. There are deeply embedded pricing structures in place throughout the metal trade, which means these much higher prices will be with us for quite a while. One casting house I deal with reports that talk within the metal trade is anticipating as much as $10.00 USD a pound alloy. I do not know why prices have spiked so quickly, and so sharply of late and I'll try to report more when I learn anything new.

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Also: what does this do to the secondary market (bartertown, ebay, etc.)? Will manufacturers start buying up tons of minis on the web to use as raw materials, thus driving up prices?

The costs in metal have risen because of the increased demand predominently for consumer electronics (stupid IPOD)... The average home computer contains over $150 in precious metals ranging from nickle to platinum.

Its highly unlikely that any manufacturer would by up stuff off the market like that. The main issue for them would be the consistency in the alloy they would produce as a result of mixing misc. metal miniatures. If they had the right facility they could float the metals and separate the component metals. There is also the issue of getting large enough quantities to justify any sort of purchasing program.

So that justifies an increase in prices of around 27 cents/oz by weight. Which is fair enough. Any more than than though is just the manufacturer ripping the purchaser off. Or planning ahead for future cost rises.

To be frank, for the larger manufacturers where materials costs are a smaller % of total costs because of economies of scale and they charge more for their "IP" element I am unsympathetic as pricing here has little to do with cost and everything to do with perceived value.

For small "Boutique" manufacturers however, I have every sympathy. Particularly those, like say Heresy, which specialise in larger models.

I guess the trade off in the lead vs. resin debate has just shifted a bit for them.

GW could probably cut some costs if they reduced the amount flash on their models. It's rediculus how much I have to take off a model.

If you think GW has a flash problem you should check out some of the Old Glory Line.  I had enough flash left over from three bags of 25mm Barbarians to cast another 10 figs, Some of the flash were in nuggets as big as green pea.

Sorry, but this is kinda OLD NEWS.  Reaper, Crocodile Games and Heresy have all already incresed prices in regards to the higher prices of raw materials.

Posted By Ghaz on 09/17/2007 8:59 AM
Sorry, but this is kinda OLD NEWS.  Reaper, Crocodile Games and Heresy have all already incresed prices in regards to the higher prices of raw materials.

SYR8766 Said: "Nothing we haven't seen before from other sources (most recently PP and Bronze Age Miniatures), but this gives us a sense of cost increase for manufacturers."



As I said, it's not that it's new news, but that it's being confirmed by someone in the industry, but outside the big producers...

  

And I'd hardly call Crocodile Games or Heresy 'big producers'. So what's actually new in this that we haven't seen before?

Sigh.

Ghaz, I posted this because it was an independent confirmation of things we did know (and REAPER is one of the big boys, and you cite them along with Croc and Heresy). I did not make this post to irk you. I've said that three times now. If it pleases you to finger-wag or alert a mod and have this moved, be my guest. If you'd like to get into a classic intrawebs 'Faulkner Fight' (Sound and fury signifying nothing), please feel free to instead turn to your Monty Pythons Flying Circus collection, pop in the 'argument' sketch, pretend I'm there, and have a jolly good time. I'm going to stop sucking up bandwidth now.

So it's safe to say that any company that hasn't hiked prices will very shortly. I'd imagine that between GW's timely price adjustments, and a decent stash of metal or pre-purchased futures, Citadel minis shouldn't be too affected.

This is great news! This is a wonderful excuse to buy lots of new stuff now, before the prices go up!

Seriously though, a typical 28mm infantry figure will go up by about 12p in metal cost. This is not insignificant and could prove a problem to small producers, though people like Hasslefree are presumably selling relatively small amounts to each customer and can hope that the end use will absorb the price increase.

Not a good time to start a big 28mm Napoleonic army.

The way I look at it the amount of time and effort spent on painting and basing a figure is much more than the raw £ cost.

It's a post from this past month as opposed to the August ones?

Nothing wrong with tracking anyone who produces models. Perhaps they
would belong under one thread, sure, but a separate post about a short
article isn't really a reason to argue.

By linking your post, you bumped syr's