The cost of it all
A news item on TMP prompted me to check the Empress Miniatures website and there I found that a pack of 4 figures now cost £8.00, meaning a single metal 28mm historical miniature has now broken the £2.00 mark. I can remember when 28mm metals first went above £1.00 each and there was a lot of grumbling. But now £2.00 - Ye Gads!
Looking at the cost of the "best" 28mm metals (Perry's, Empress, Foundry as a sample) they currently average out at £1.69 for a metal figure. Perry's are the cheapest at £1.33 each, Foundry next at £1.75 and as mentioned Empress at £2.00. Whether a Paul Hicks sculpt is "better" and "worth more" than one of the Perry twins is a matter of personal taste. I have some of all three and many more sculptors' work besides in my Old West collection and they are all lovely figures and have their own merits.
The cost of everything is going up so it was inevitable that miniatures did. It would seem a lot of hobby companies have absorbed costs for awhile but now they've had to increase their prices.
Does this mean that the days of metal 28mm historical armies are beyond many people? Well that depends on so much, but ultimately as with most things it comes down to personal preference. After that, the two most important factors are probably how much disposable income you have and what are you trying to achieve.
If you have deep pockets then you can absorb this and carry on as normal. If like me you have a number of interests that all take a bit of your cash, then the cost is something you must consider. This has led me away from 28mm in recent years.
I do love the detail and character of the figures, but as a solo gamer the cost of assembling two forces has meant that I no longer actively collect this scale. The advent of plastics has helped of course, but you can't get all you need in plastics. I'm not saying never again (which gamer has that much willpower?), but unless it's the elusive Perfect Project* then I'll look at another scale.
The other question is what are you tying to achieve? We've established that for me starting a new 28mm collection is prohibitively expensive and this is so even at platoon level. And if I want a game that actually looks like a battle I'm now looking at 10mm or 6mm, as even 15mm and 20mm are getting quite pricey.
And here's how many miniatures you can get for the cost of one average metal 28mm at £1.69:
- 20 6mm (Baccus or Rapier prices)
- 8 10mm (Pendraken prices)
- 3 15mm (average of Peter Pig and Essex prices)
- 3 20mm (Newline prices)
* The Perfect Project - the one where your favourite manufacturer brings out the most stunning figures for the period/conflict you've always dreamed of playing.
We have been here before (a long long time ago) and it gave birth to 15mm, so in some respects, it seems that ‘what goes around, comes around’.
ReplyDeleteWe were also in a world in which the cost of living across the board meant that for many, keeping their head above water and paying the bills / providing food meant that being left with ‘discretionary’ spend was not an option for many.
The last 20 to 30 years has in general allowed discretionary spend to become part of the fabric of privileged society, I suspect that we are in the process of stepping
back to how things used to be and we are about to see some of the terms of hardship re-enter the wider language.
I think you've hit the nail on the head here. In the financial crisis of 2008 it seemed a lot of people were in "crisis" because they couldn't take the 2nd holiday that year rather than not being able to put food on the table. And I suspect it will be the same now with a lot of people as you say leading a very privileged life due to low rates on borrowing having to take a reality check.
DeleteI've been a long time 6mm fan. Essex Miniatures Sassanian was the last large figure size army I bought and that was around 30 years ago. I have in recent years bought into Ronin, Frostgrave and F&IW and each could easily translate into an army of reasonable size, 100-150! And the price is higher now.
ReplyDeleteHahahaha then you are a true gamer. I doubt my larger figure time is completely over but I do a lot more planning now before starting to spend as the cost soon adds up doesn't it.
DeleteNorm makes a great point. It is certainly starting to feel like I'm returning to the early 1970s.
ReplyDeleteI certainly have been working my way down through smaller scales over time. Even 15mm is cost prohibitive for someone who likes to build armies. Funnily, I was buying round MDF bases (about the size of an English penny) when I realised that it would actually be cheaper to use the pennies instead of MDF for bases. Bizarre!
I agree totally Richard. At 50p a go I'm looking at 15mms as being only for small/skirmish engagements for new projects.
DeleteHahahaha yes that's always struck me as crazy. It's cheaper to actually use 1 and 2p coins than buy similar size bases.
The 15mm strike me as being quite expensive. I haven’t bought many in recent years but they seem to have suffered more from inflation than other scales. A rough guess is that the price per figure has doubled in 10 years for 15mm and gone up by 1.5 to 1.8 for others. Metal isn’t the reason as there should be 6 or so 15mm figures to one 28mm but I suppose the labour input may be a bit more. Such is capitalism.
ReplyDeleteYes 15mm does seem to be the scale where the cost has crept up the most. I fear for 15mm manufacturers as a plastic 28mm is around the same cost now as a metal 15mm.
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