You don't want to open that can of worms here, you'll hear in a moment you ought to be glad it's not more expensive.
There's also the costs of the machines, upkeep and maintenance contracts on the machines, and the cost of retraining staff to use them. Siocast is a very new technology so there's much higher startup and overhead compared to spin cast pewter.
Some possibilities - -The increased margin on these models is intended to make up for the lost margin on metals. -The materials costs are only a small fraction of overall model cost. -They want to strike a balance between being seen as a "good value" and not being seen as "inexpensive model makers (ie, Mantic)" Regardless, this isn't the kind of information Corvus Belli owes us as customers. Pricing strategies are proprietary information and not something that they'd want out in the public domain. That pretty well goes for any company. If you decide that siocast minis aren't a good value for you, then you'll have to make that known through your purchasing. If demand for the siocast is way below projection, they'll have to respond by either reducing the retail cost or discontinuing the production.
Unless they include them in boxes of other minis to force the purchase if you want any of them right?
Or you can not buy the box, regardless of what other minis are in it. Corvus Belli doesn't have the ability to force you to purchase anything.
Then don’t buy the entire box. If it’s actually important to you, go whole hog. A confused consumer signal will be interpreted by the company in the best possible way for them, not for you.
Good replies Cellican + Colbrook, thanks. "If you decide that siocast minis aren't a good value for you, then you'll have to make that known through your purchasing. If demand for the siocast is way below projection, they'll have to respond by either reducing the retail cost or discontinuing the production." - Well no, I have recourse to means by which I can try and convince them that their decision is not a good long-term strategy; I can raise the point on the forums; I can rationalise and be vocal about something I care about. I'm not just a wallet. Cost of new machines is a fair point, Colbrook. I'm not suggesting that CB pass all the savings onto their customers, just something to acknowledge the vast difference in material cost; especially considering material cost was their cited reason for changing over, right? Siocast bang the drum about the big savings in production using their casting method, and other companies who have gone dual-casting, like CB are about to, have a very hefty difference in their prices. So the evidence is to the contrary.
This is true, but if that vocalization doesn't match the sales numbers, it will be assumed that the opinion doesn't actually represent the majority. And if you, specifically, say "this is a bad value" and then purchase it anyway, then what message are you actually sending?
What percentage of the CB line is converting to plastic? How much is staying metal? How much savings will there really be if only part of the range is converting to the cheaper material?
Or other channels of direct feedback, like the forum, support emails, etc. Experience shows that companies who do that maneuver much sooner go out of business rather than adjust course. Which is, of course, yet another point of concern for us. Last thing we want for CB / Infinity is for them to become the next Rackham / Confrontation. Great game, amazing sculpts, change from metal to new rubbery material, agonizing death. Nope, I'd much rather have them stay in business, just not sure if at the price of quality.
Yeah, I'm obviously coming from a position of concern and care for a company I bloody love. This is a gamble though, and their pricing strategy could have a big impact on its success. Especially when other companies with the exact same production methods are showing a marked pricing difference between the two types of materials. That's not something to ignore, but to address, for CB. "What percentage of the CB line is converting to plastic? How much is staying metal? How much savings will there really be if only part of the range is converting to the cheaper material?" - well, it's supposition at this point right, Arschebombe? But Tag Raid, and all S2< minis will be siocast at a minimum, and no doubt CB are looking to do S2 minis in siocast too, considering they're 1/7th the cost in materials...
This price estimation is way too naïve. There are many more factors than just cost of the material. And you're making way too many guesses. On a separate topic - @Koni please, get Muad'dib a Vostok! Or be a really cool and thematic company and get him one of those Tag Raid giant worm, totally not-Shai-huluds!
Okay, let's here it. I would ask that you address three points in your explanation though UpirLihi - 1) material being 1/7th the cost, 2) Siocast's claims of greatly reduced production costs, and 3) two other companies who produce both pewter and siocast minis both pricing siocast minis at half the price of their metal minis. Like I said, I'd be really happy to be shown to be naive, as it would mean I was wrong, which is good news for CB!
Two 15mm companies, which is a genre where siocast seems to have taken off really well. Lurkio and The Plastic Toy Soldier Company. Machination studios did a great review of PTSC's siocast models here if you're interested. One of his tldr conclusions was 'Once you take the price into consideration, it becomes a great product.' Quite.
Yeah, exactly. And here that which would definitely soften the blow (choice between half priced Siocast and full priced metal) is not present. I think that it's a mistake, but eh.
I actually wish they'd do some kind of promo-figure to showcase the material. Something like a remote or whatever that any army might use. Ooh, they should make a RemRacer out of Siocast, and dump it on the market for dirt cheap or free or something, so everyone could get a good look, both at the material and (for non Infinity players) the companies product standards. It's also worth noting that CB has come a long way in designing miniatures that are easier to assemble and work with. GW seems to design around an art piece that is cut up to fit a sprue, and it can result in some very bad experiences in assembly. There's plenty of GW models that I would buy if they were in plastic, but they are utter shit as is. Horrible material. I've bought a few other resin minis also though and didn't care for them overall.
I think the savings is something that we'll see over time. We all know the price of metals has skyrocketed, being driven by the electronics industry, and the demand doesn't seem to be tapering. One miniature has more tin in it than a cellphone, tablet, TV, or computer, which are high priced luxury goods, and more easily to absorb and distribute the cost. I'm sure we all also are aware of the changes in shipping and transportation as well. Instead of having to keep the prices up with rising material and shipping costs, they're able to more easily regulate them with plastics. In terms of lowering cost, the question is... why would they? If they lowered the cost of a TAG are you suddenly going to buy a bunch of them? Are you going to buy enough to offset the cost to produce, store, and ship? Don't think that the decision to go with plastics is to offer immediate discounts to customers, it's a measure to fight against surging costs.
1) It was already explained, but... Material is not the only cost. You have cost of molds, and number of runs you can do on them. You also have number of successful runs from those. You also have the issue of taking more man-hours to work with a new technology, instead of one that has been utilized for decades. And you also potentially cover lower profit margins for the pewter miniatures in the same pack. And a lot of other factors that may or may not be relevant. We don't have nearly enough information to speculate on this. 2) What about Budweiser's claim that it is the King of Beers? 3) First of all, those are different scale. Different materials perform differently for different scales. Second, we don't know the costs for those companies. They might have gotten a deal from Siocast as early adopters. Or their pewter production might be less optimized than CB's and thus - more expensive. Again, you have virtually no information.
