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Macharius actually looks awesome if given a really good paintjob! I saw a beautiful model painted in a nmm scheme that was mindblowing a few years back.
The problem, Mecha, is it does not cost them nothing. If the models are on the website constantly, an order can come in at any time. That means either you wait until you have enough orders accumulated to fill out a mould or you do what someone else mentioned and do the run for one mini then melt down the excess metal again.
I am not familiar with the process of making the minis but I asume it is not automated.
There has to be someone keeping track of incoming orders, someone operating the machinary and someone packing and shipping
That all costs wages. If we assume that whole process takes an hour then gw loses money on a cast of a single miniature.
Again this is a pilot programme. If you think the 48 window is too short ( which I do, a week would be better) then write on their Facebook page or send an email. They do seem to be receptive to feedback at the moment, especially with stuff like this.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2016/10/18 00:54:46
Chikout wrote: I am not familiar with the process of making the minis but I asume it is not automated.
You can see HERE how a smallish company like Iron Wind Metals (formerly Ral Partha, best known for BattleTech miniatures today) produces metal miniatures.
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
MechaEmperor7000 wrote: If these are made to order it literally costs them nothing beyond the page's banner space to keep it available. There's no overhead beyond the standard metal and resin they should already have for other models.
That's just not true. While they don't have huge carrying costs, they still have the issue of minimum batches and so forth, and that's what the cutoff does. It compresses things into an order period that GW can plan around and reasonably deliver within 28 days. There is also opportunity cost of offering things to be sold in small volumes that compete with things that are "better" for GW.
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Chikout wrote: If we assume that whole process takes an hour then gw loses money on a cast of a single miniature.
This is generally true, where spinning a single model is not profitable. OTOH, if someone is willing to buy up some number of entire wheels, that's different.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/10/18 01:24:15
Chikout wrote: I am not familiar with the process of making the minis but I asume it is not automated.
You can see HERE how a smallish company like Iron Wind Metals (formerly Ral Partha, best known for BattleTech miniatures today) produces metal miniatures.
Cool video. Thanks. The casting process is much faster than I imagined but it kind of proves my point that it involves multiple people to make a metal mini, all of whom need to be paid.
JohnHwangDD wrote: In GW's case, part of that casting time is just finding the mold to cast... The GW catalog is HUGE.
Yep. And when you do find it, you have to hope it's in good enough condition to use.
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
JohnHwangDD wrote: In GW's case, part of that casting time is just finding the mold to cast... The GW catalog is HUGE.
Yep. And when you do find it, you have to hope it's in good enough condition to use.
Or if it's not, that you can locate the green (or a 1st generation copy) just to make a mold. Heck, the work that goes into the process before even beginning to offer the service I'm sure dwarfs the time spent on the actual casting process by an exponential degree. Deciding what to offer, locating the necessary components, budgeting time for the actual labor process, etc. It's not as easy as you think. Not that it's rocket science, but getting the wheels spinning on any project can be quite an intensive process, especially if you're a "big" smaller company, like GW is. Their resources, while vast (compared to you or I, but not compared to, say, Disney), are finite (unlike Disney)
Many years ago, at one of the UK Games Days I went to, GW brought one of their spin-casting machines with them, along with their current production molds, and were taking orders all day and spinning them up on the spot. I didn't look into it too closely, but I'd wager they spun the most popular molds first, as they filled up, and saved the least popular ones for later in the day, just in case someone else wanted that particular model.
What I most miss from the days of metal models was being able to order individual bits. That, and being able to order any individual sprue from the plastics. I built all 7 of my Forgeworld Wave Serpents far cheaper by buying just the two hull sprues and the canopies.
Sadly I think they were destroyed years ago in the great purge along with the moulds for the fimir etc. Presumably the greens and masters may still exist so it would be possible to create new moulds for them if required.
Those molds were still around in the US as of 2003-2004ish. The US factory had their own molds for everything metal from 2nd Ed on, they even had some late RT stuff. Back when the factory was in Maryland employees spun up what ever they wanted and there was very little oversight by the higher ups. Around 2003-2004 some employees got caught casting Squats and the 5th ed Dark Elf Executioners. After that they locked up the molds for the out of production stuff. However before that employees made whatever they wanted when there was no one else around. That's why I tell people if they find an older model on eBay made in pewter, it is not necessarily a fake. For metal the US had most of everything post 2nd ed they had in the UK. They must not have been too difficult to remake because for a while US customers had to wait for shipping from the UK for Arbites with shotguns, because the US mold cracked. It took about 6 months but they eventually replaced it. For a while the US even put RT era metal IG back into production, I got myself a whole platoon of them around 2003.
Back before GW nuked the US White Dwarf team, the old Promotions Dept was allowed to make whatever they wanted, and they usually kept some stuff for themselves They did an entire Ad MechTable for Games Day once that was covered with the Skulz Tech Priests. Almost all of them mysteriously walked off the table when it got back to the warehouse. Those were great days, back then employees could get stuff by weight. I could get my friends to get me a kilo of metal models for about $20.
All of the old molds were packed up and sent to Tennessee when the factory moved to Memphis. They are probably in storage somewhere.
This weekend, games-workshop.com has been taking orders for the first batch of Astra Militarum Made To Order kits.
A few of the kits proved so popular that they have extended their ordering until Wednesday, to make sure you don't miss out. So, if you want to add a classic squad of Kasrkin, a Steel Legion Commissar or Sly Marbo to your army, order yours here today:
https://goo.gl/O9R5SL
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
Gamgee on Tau Players wrote:we all kill cats and sell our own families to the devil and eat live puppies.
Kanluwen wrote: This is, emphatically, why I will continue suggesting nuking Guard and starting over again. It's a legacy army that needs to be rebooted with a new focal point.
Confirmation of why no-one should listen to Kanluwen when it comes to the IG - he doesn't want the IG, he want's Kan's New Model Army...
tneva82 wrote: You aren't even trying ty pretend for honest arqument. Open bad faith trolling.
- No reason to keep this here, unless people want to use it for something...
Would be nice if they previewed what faction/race they are going to do next, Imperial Guard this time, Orks next, then Empire, then Space Wolves, Tyranids, Chaos Dwarves etc ...
Gamgee on Tau Players wrote:we all kill cats and sell our own families to the devil and eat live puppies.
Kanluwen wrote: This is, emphatically, why I will continue suggesting nuking Guard and starting over again. It's a legacy army that needs to be rebooted with a new focal point.
Confirmation of why no-one should listen to Kanluwen when it comes to the IG - he doesn't want the IG, he want's Kan's New Model Army...
tneva82 wrote: You aren't even trying ty pretend for honest arqument. Open bad faith trolling.
- No reason to keep this here, unless people want to use it for something...
There doesn't have to be anything sinister about it. They are using existing equipment, with existing molds, for minimal production costs to generate a profit.
My gut feeling is the selection each week will be whatever someone over at GW wants to add to their personal collection.
adamsouza wrote: There doesn't have to be anything sinister about it. They are using existing equipment, with existing molds, for minimal production costs to generate a profit.
My gut feeling is the selection each week will be whatever someone over at GW wants to add to their personal collection.
Or it’s just market research they get paid to do. Even if they just break even on the sales of old minis, the data they gather about what sells/what people want can be used to plan future projects. When a lot of their “new” stuff is retro things dragged out of the old days, what better way to gauge interest?
Chikout wrote:Cool video. Thanks. The casting process is much faster than I imagined but it kind of proves my point that it involves multiple people to make a metal mini, all of whom need to be paid.
What do you mean people need to be paid? They were paid when the molds were made. Of course people are getting paid, nobody ever said they were not. Do you think people work for free? Not sure what you are trying to say here.
Agies Grimm:The "Learn to play, bro" mentality is mostly just a way for someone to try to shame you by implying that their metaphorical nerd-wiener is bigger than yours. Which, ironically, I think nerds do even more vehemently than jocks.
Everything is made up and the points don't matter. 40K or Who's Line is it Anyway?
Auticus wrote: Or in summation: its ok to exploit shoddy points because those are rules and gamers exist to find rules loopholes (they are still "legal"), but if the same force can be composed without structure, it emotionally feels "wrong".
Chikout wrote:Cool video. Thanks. The casting process is much faster than I imagined but it kind of proves my point that it involves multiple people to make a metal mini, all of whom need to be paid.
What do you mean people need to be paid? They were paid when the molds were made. Of course people are getting paid, nobody ever said they were not. Do you think people work for free? Not sure what you are trying to say here.
Sorry that was an over simplification in reference to an earlier post which said it cost nothing to have a permanent catalogue of made to order stuff. The biggest cost in a venture like this is the salary of the people who receive the order, find the mold, cast the mini, pack the model etc. You either need to hire people specially or take people away from doing something else. If you are casting models one at a time it will probably cost more than you make in sales. If you can find a way to encourage lots of simultaneous orders it becomes a lot more financially viable.
shade1313 wrote: Many years ago, at one of the UK Games Days I went to, GW brought one of their spin-casting machines with them, along with their current production molds, and were taking orders all day and spinning them up on the spot. I didn't look into it too closely, but I'd wager they spun the most popular molds first, as they filled up, and saved the least popular ones for later in the day, just in case someone else wanted that particular model.
What I most miss from the days of metal models was being able to order individual bits. That, and being able to order any individual sprue from the plastics. I built all 7 of my Forgeworld Wave Serpents far cheaper by buying just the two hull sprues and the canopies.
My first Games Day was in 1995.
They had the machine there churning out the original ninja style 40k assassin. Still one of my most prized miniatures.
-- $k 
-- 9k 
-- 6k 
-- 4k 
-- 
They did an entire Ad MechTable for Games Day once that was covered with the Skulz Tech Priests. Almost all of them mysteriously walked off the table when it got back to the warehouse. Those were great days, back then employees could get stuff by weight. I could get my friends to get me a kilo of metal models for about $20.
& 
Ultramarines, 3rd Co. and friends, 16k+ 
4k 
4k Points
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