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Generally, I think the improvement in variety and build quality means the overall standard has improved, but there are certainly some exceptions in terms of my personal preference. The one that immediately springs to mind for me is the old 3rd/4th ed. metal meganobz. The new ones have a much better variety of cool bitz and whatnot, but the overall sculpts just aren't as good; the old ones look convincingly like a nob whipped up in a whole bunch of armour while the new ones look like a pile of armour with some ork body parts stuck on the front and sides. I've spent far too much on the old ones from eBay since picking my Ork army back up a couple of years ago.

 gnome_idea_what wrote:
I like the old Deff Dreads. Dunno why though.

I generally really like the newer ork stuff, but I also prefer the old deff dreads.

Not really, Krieg doesn't have older models and I really freaking like the Scion box (I also have at least 5 Stormtroopers of each previous model variation, and I prefer the Scions one)

i also like the sponson turrets on the older metal and plastic predators. Where the sponson turret looked armored and kinda like something off a WW1 tank. I think the current predator is a fine model, but I like the old plastic and metal one too.

Raptors!

They had cool archaic armor which was ambiguous as to whether there could be a 'normal' Marine under it all.

Raveners!

I love the Nightmare Snake vibe, with the split jaws, atrophied legs (pythons do have vestigial "spurs"), and the unusual imitation of scutes on the underside of the tail, but I also love how divergent it is from the typical Tyranid build without completely losing that identity. Really fit in with the vanguard/mutant offshoot theme the 3rd Ed Codex was pushing. Tyranids have gotten aesthetically dull now with how everything looks more like a modified Gaunt or Warrior...

Agreed on the Raptors. The new ones are pretty damn busy as a design. Cool, but lacking the elegance of design of the older ones.

Oh yeah, love those old Raptors. Sick models.

Yeah, the 'nid miniatures from that era are sweet.

I tell you one kit I'm not going to miss when it's replaced though. The catachan plastics.

I miss the variety of Imperial Guard infantry models, that we used to have in the 90's. And I don't just mean the models that are no longer made or for sale, because they still sell some of the old ranges. The difference is that in my opinion, they haven't aged well, and I would have liked if they had relaunched some of the old Imperial Guard armies, like Valhallans and Mordians.

Although, it has to be said that Victoria Miniatures pretty much has that area covered, and I would probably consider her miniatures, if I was planning a Praetorian/ Mordian army today.

On that theme, for those of you who bemoan loss of the old designs, Forge World has several models now which are influenced, or based on how Space Marine vehicles used to look. I could say almost the same thing about the DKoK Leman Russ kits, they certainly do a lot to strip away the newness from the current plastic kit.

Oh, and for the record...I vastly, VASTLY prefer old Terminator models to almost all of the current ones (the only grip being the "leaning forward" issue you had to contend with on most.



To me, Terminators are extremely heavy duty, slow, plodding, boarding units. I imagine they'd have exceptionally limited mobility in their arms, and almost zero turn in their helmets. Think bomb-disposal suits. Anyone who's played Space Hulk, or the video game version knows what I mean. Slow, ponderous...their only protection being absurdly thick armour.

I can't stand the super animated terminator armour that is increasingly common in almost all of GW's designs:






This stuff looks absolutely terrible to me.

As someone who only started the hobby in 2011, I can't say I miss them, because most of the old metal kits were being phased out. But I definitely agree about the old Chaos models (Particularly the Lords and characters) and the old Stormtroopers.

Also for some reason I find myself drawn to Rogue Trader marines - something about their comparative early sci-fi goofiness appeals to me.

I love the old chaos lords, the one holding the space marine head in his powerfist, and the combi melta hand is one of my favorite GW models like ever.

The old DE are complete gak, like terrible looking, its absolutely hilarious.

The older Logan Grimnar resin model is really nice, especially a lot better than the current one (and I actually really like that model!)

The Karsnik are amazing, they are gonna be my stand in Inquisitorial acolytes.

I liked the old Metal Necron Wraiths better than the new ones. Even though they always frustrate me to glue together lol.

@ Elbows

Those are great points about the terminator models. I always thought tactical dreadnaught armour really did make you into a walking tank, slow and ponderous but almost unstoppable. Those new ones don't really have that same feel.

I prefer suitability in my models too, which is why I wish they'd tone chaos down a little.

I miss how most SM in 2nd ed did not have silly amounts of badges, loincloths, cloaks, gegaws, and dodads dripping off them. Most of which serve absolutely no functional purpose but to get in the way. A few honor seals, sure fine. But a cloak???? Loincloth???

I don't miss those silly banner poles that SM sergeants and dreadnoughts had.

I think the vehicle designs for SM are much, much nicer now. The idea of a 40th century tank with an open, manned turret always was ridiculous to me. And the Land Raider was jut pure ugly.

Overall, I think the minitures they produce now are much better ... with the exception of unneeded gegaws on SM.

Edit - I hadn't realized how thin they had made the arms and legs on the newer terminators. Those do look wrong.

Pretty much no across the board except a few space marine HQ choices. Older models, are metal, ugly and mono pose. GW has improved what they produce to an amazing degree. Plus anything old has been redone by forgeworld in a manner that makes it look decent.

What makes the average metal model ugly?

Definitely agreed on the chicken-leg Terminators. Definitely skipped leg day when you imagine how skinny they'd be if you took the armour off.

Means when I do truescale marines I have to cover them up with doodads and geegaws...

The previous Plaguebearer and Horror models, much nicer designs and capture the essence of what they represent much more effectively.

 Rootbeard wrote:

Raveners!

I love the Nightmare Snake vibe, with the split jaws, atrophied legs (pythons do have vestigial "spurs"), and the unusual imitation of scutes on the underside of the tail, but I also love how divergent it is from the typical Tyranid build without completely losing that identity. Really fit in with the vanguard/mutant offshoot theme the 3rd Ed Codex was pushing. Tyranids have gotten aesthetically dull now with how everything looks more like a modified Gaunt or Warrior...

3rd ed Nids was aesthetically a complete mess and the designers new it (Jes Goodwin has said they were very rushed for time which is why you got the ugly Ravener and the Xenomorph Queen as the Hive Tyrant). The Ravener is the second ugliest model they produced for Nids back then next to the Tyrant Guard, which has ungodly levels of "what the feth is that gak?" going for it.

The older chaos space marine raptors pictured previously in this thread definitely look cooler than the current models.

Those older daemonettes that we can't have now because boobs are offensive in a universe of unending violence and horror.

At least now we get combi-crossbows. That seems like a totally viable weapon, a worthy successor to the flintlock torch.

How could I forget the non-crab-people Daemonettes?

The Juan Diaz ones are just better. All lechery aside, they're just closer to what I imagine daemonettes to be. Viewed through the eye of mortals, they're supposed to be sensuous and enticing. Seeing as I'm a mortal, that should be the case with the little plastic versions of them...

I wouldn't even be averse to there being male daemonette models to balance things out. Make them bare-torso'ed toned but not ripped dancer-types. Wouldn't be as fluff-breaking as you'd think. They're deamons. They do what they want

I can see that the new kits are a superior in a lot of ways but the 2nd ed stuff is what got me into the hobby and will always be my favourite time of design.

I don't agree about the terminators. The old static look makes them look ineffective in a fight; they look too ponderous to strike at initiative, too static to shoot a gun anywhere but forwards and too slow to move 6" a turn. I think the current poses are dynamic enough that you can imagine them being functional but they're still not going to jump, climb or run

I don't dislike the current horrors (I like them a lot) but it's a shame the 4th edition horrors are gone- the ones that had pink and blue horrors splitting. Blur horrors clawing their way out of pink horrors' giant mouths

 Snake Tortoise wrote:
I don't agree about the terminators. The old static look makes them look ineffective in a fight; they look too ponderous to strike at initiative, too static to shoot a gun anywhere but forwards and too slow to move 6" a turn.

That used to be what terminators were for - breaching into enclosed spaces such as space hulks and methodically crushing anything they encountered. They weren't today's teleporting strike force complete with dance poses and extra bling, the armour was initially developed to protect maintenance crews for plasma reactors iirc.

Necron Warriors and Scarabs much better in their original shapes.

Harlequins much better new.

And so on....

 Imateria wrote:

 Rootbeard wrote:

Raveners!

I love the Nightmare Snake vibe, with the split jaws, atrophied legs (pythons do have vestigial "spurs"), and the unusual imitation of scutes on the underside of the tail, but I also love how divergent it is from the typical Tyranid build without completely losing that identity. Really fit in with the vanguard/mutant offshoot theme the 3rd Ed Codex was pushing. Tyranids have gotten aesthetically dull now with how everything looks more like a modified Gaunt or Warrior...

3rd ed Nids was aesthetically a complete mess and the designers new it (Jes Goodwin has said they were very rushed for time which is why you got the ugly Ravener and the Xenomorph Queen as the Hive Tyrant). The Ravener is the second ugliest model they produced for Nids back then next to the Tyrant Guard, which has ungodly levels of "what the feth is that gak?" going for it.

I quit the hobby for a few years, that miniature got me back in. There's more menace in that face than most of the current tyranid line.

 Snake Tortoise wrote:
I don't agree about the terminators. The old static look makes them look ineffective in a fight; they look too ponderous to strike at initiative, too static to shoot a gun anywhere but forwards and too slow to move 6" a turn. I think the current poses are dynamic enough that you can imagine them being functional but they're still not going to jump, climb or run

I feel like there's something to this. Yes, I like the idea of Terminator armor being an encumbrance in a wide open area, but the old ones looked too statue-like for me. Yes, the new ones are less bulky, but with decent posing they look like ponderous juggernauts that have built up momentum, which I like.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Imateria wrote:
3rd ed Nids was aesthetically a complete mess and the designers new it (Jes Goodwin has said they were very rushed for time which is why you got the ugly Ravener and the Xenomorph Queen as the Hive Tyrant). The Ravener is the second ugliest model they produced for Nids back then next to the Tyrant Guard, which has ungodly levels of "what the feth is that gak?" going for it.

The Ravener looks fine compared to the rest if the 3e range (eyesore doesn't begin to describe the Hive Tyrant), and probably looks nice when next to models from the current range, but it's nothing too spectacular.

Ghazghkull used to actually look like an Ork.