Those items are not a bad deal. Especially considering how many things are out of stock at a lot of online stores.
The only mini I realy miss for my Bak collection is a Taskmaster - unfortunatly 37,56 € is still to steep if I have to pay for two minis that I don´t need and hard to resell. Oh and 50,- € Iggy is in a urgent need for a resculpt paired with new and shiny Silverprime-like-rulespack ;-)
That is recent though. Last september is just seven months ago. Last thing my USARF got... I do not even remember, because I did not play that long, and I joined the Infinity in 2019. Maybe I am mistaken, but it feels like it was years without anything new in one of my sectorials. I am not complaining, just saying, that some factions see years of drougth, when others saw pretty regular releases for the same years.
I mean, that's just CB's release cycle. New sectorials get filled up with the things they need. Older, complete sectorials are left alone for the time being, save for an ITS addition here and there. But I understand that as a player of one of those sectorials, one wishes to get at least something new once in a while. Which is why I guess everyone is so excited for JSA, because it's been ages since a new JSA unit came out (Samsa doesn't count).
Samsa 'Bugmen Kamen Rider' does count for real in my radar. I only wish JSA would have a profile for Samsa where he is riding a bike.
JSA did get some new sculpts in the last couple of years. New O-Yoroi, new Shinobu Kitsune, new ninja, new Karakuri. It is a "complete" sectorial, but it is still getting support, unlike some other sectorials.
Yes, but actually no. At the same time, JSA got new skulpts of models which actually did not need a refresher. O-Yoroi for example, because siocast. USARF actively lost units. Is it because the refresher is on the way? Repac? Resculpt? Discontinuation? Time will tell.
While I'll not contest your point about USARF, the old O-Yoroi is the oldest CAD mini in the entire range and was in sore need of an update.
But... But old O-Yoroi is amazing looking! Do not get me wrong, I am not griping at all. I like JSA, my whole debate to start an Infinity was JSA or MO, because I wanted a HI army with swords. And I am all for the new models for them. And while USARF is, indeed, feature complete, they have models steadily pulled from the range. Man, the hoops I had to jump through to get a Devil Dog with a heavy shotgun or Desperadoes. I have this long con scheme to get me a box of Desperadoes from the "middle of nowhere, Illinois". I ordered them on 17th of may, 2023. Today, they were discharged from the customs. It was a USPS to a friend of a friend of a friend in Washington DC, to a friend of a friend in Munich, to a friend of a friend in Poland and now finally to my friend, who will give it to me, because "middle of nowhere, Illinois" is a tiny local shop in a tiny local hamlet with the site that has it's last update in 2019, and they simply do not do international shipping. Yes, my sectorial is indeed feature complete. And while I do not phisically have quite everything in it, I have everything I want. But the hoops, man, the hoops I had to jump through to get this everything. It just feels a little sad, to be left, not forgotten, not neglected, but in this perpetual state of just existing, where you technically have all the tools, but boy howdy would I like an army, which does not start with an Unknown Ranger or Van Zant.
I get it, but like @Papa Bey implied, some sectorials NEVER recieved a few critical models. Even some of the newish ones. For instance, RAMAH is still waiting for a Mutkar Red Fury, Ghulam Grenade launcher, and Horlak Sniper. At least USARF had their models actually exist. But that is how the cycle works. At least their has been good progress on CHA, MRRF, and QK.
Yeah, the old yoroi was a great miniature and didn't look old, like other tags.I dont like the actual one, and the old i cant find it for cheap enough, so im using the new marut.
Well, yeah, I guess that is a drawback of being a small developer. I am not complaining either way, believe me, I am just saying that, while this cycle is better overall for each faction, when they get the spotlight, the lack of, anything, really, in the process can be a little bit frustrating, because you want to play with new and cool toys no less that that other player. Personally I am feeling that sectorials like USARF need to be dropped entirely. They are too small, too niche, and they are not worth the development time. I am all for the CB doing better, and doing better is equivalent of spending less time on corner cases. Take each faction, take two sectorials, unique distinct sectirials, make them, Tohaa the rest. In case of Ariadna, keep Tartary and Kosmo. Drop USARF. In case of PanO, drop MO, keep Varuna and Svalarheima. And this is me talking, I play both USARF and MO.
MO is going nowhere, no matter how it does as a sectoral. It's one of their top selling sectorals. It's the bait for ex-GW and Warma/Hordes players. May new players see the "space knights" and think it's cool.
I also think it is cool, and I enjoy Infinity much more than a Warhammer. But come on, Seraph us cool! Big ass robot with cross for a visor and a big ass sword.
The moment CB drops factions entirely is the moment I stop playing Infinity. May your wish never come true. I'd rather have them invest into sectorials steadily and continuously, even if it's just rules updates, than to ever take any of the incredibly flavorful options to play this game from people forever.
I am afraid of a Privateer Press fiasco, that is all. Symptoms are there. Bloat in units (physical products), and in factions, unwillingness or fear of dropping anything, which leads to destribution and manufacturing problems. You need to manufacture a lot of niche products and end up with huge stock of picemeal and low demand, and shops are afraid to stock your products, because they take up a lot of space and ties up the capital. The end result is, when push comes to showe and the life of a company is on the line, comes nuking of both the game and the world to reboot it. To make space for new models, to clear old stock. That is how my beloved Warmachine died for me. Also what I was referencing is exactly what you described. Rules support with no model support or made to order support. More time for "mainline" factions and sectorials, less time in limbo. Easier to manage. I wish CB and Infinity the best and a lot more years in the run.
CB have actually been keeping the catalogue size fairly consistent for a while now. Several factions have had their model ranges go OOP, like Tohaa, Caledonia, Acontecimento, Steel Phalanx (they came back) to combat SKU bloat. They've also repacked SKUs into larger boxes (Support Packs, Code One boosters, current IA repacks, blister consolidation) and are being more canny with new releases, doing mixed boxes of troops rather than individual blisters or boxes all of the same unit.
