Or they could just not do the mini at all, and you can have neither the LE mini nor the non existant general release version. LE from a productional standpoint is very differnt to a general release.
You forgot the "I will sell it later for more than the book costs in Ebay"... which is kinda the irksome part.
CB's statement should be "can it nerds, we all know you'd sell your Grandma to Putin for some sweet new minis."
well... I still have some strange book that came with my Joan LE for unkown reasons sitting on my shelf. No clue what it's good for, makes for a decent shelf partitioner. Spoiler The Chibi LE though...
The JSA box including both a spec-op and an HVT is definitely good design, certain modes of play demand both but for a new faction none of the miniatures 'infrastructure' exists. An army box with those and the rules is exactly what you need to not leave players embracing that new army hanging. Unfortunately the specops being limited edition is a bit of a counter to that praise: once the preorders are done, the army box no longer fills all the holes. I have nothing against collectibles and limited releases, they seem perfect for a miniatures game company: they can drive sales, they give designers and sculptors room to play and have some fun, that is fantastic. But I do think CB's approach to limited edition miniatures is definitely awkward, and when people raise critiques they're talking about that awkwardness rather than the concept of a limited edition itself: while there are exceptions CB is known to do a limited miniature by presenting the 'new hawntess', the limited edition is the first sculpt for a new profile and a general release won't arrive for months or years, so if you want to use it in the game you are obliged to pre-order or to scrounge eBay (or the dread Submondo realm of recasters). To me, the best approach would be to release a limited edition for a profile that already HAS a general release. You have the model as a base, the limited ed becomes something where the new sculpt is entirely about having fun: getting super dynamic in posing, adding crazy base details, making an over-the-top reference/homage. That model IS unique, it is collectible, fans will jump at a chance to own it because its awesome and/or because its limited regardless of whether they own the general release model already. In the JSA box example, unless a Japanese specops blister is being produced for this year, I'd have put the Kaizoku in the box part-and-parcel, and made the limited edition one of the Ryuken Unit-9s. If you pre-order this box you get everything for this new army plus Batou with a missile launcher look at that amazing sculpt how can you resist, if you dont you still have everything for the army and there's a Raiden HRL to tide over until a general release of the rocket Ryuken.
I am sad I don't own it, but I don't need it for the product which is Infinity JSA lists containing Mushashi.
Actually it's quite fun as I got a book as a gift and gifter was surprised that there was a miniature with it (especially that it was really usefull miniature for me xD).
My grandma just sits in a sofa watching tv and complains that the world is not as reactionary and right wing as she is*. So I'm not sure she will help in anything, but I'll take those 50€. Cash, if you don't mind. *we don't get along, like, at all.
Thats not what you said though....and.... Just because everyone does it, doesn't mean it's not a stupid, crappy, screw you policy.
Edit: quoted wrong. @Mahtamori A spec Ops isn't even a profile. The limited edition model is literally just a model you could use as your spec Ops, in a very limited amount of tournaments, along with hundreds of other minis... Because spec Ops don't have defined profiles. Fuck me people will find just about any reason to feel like they're getting screwed. Limited edition models suck because people want them but sometimes can't get them, and people don't like dealing with not getting something they want. For CB almost all examples of limited edition models you could define as "needing" have a general release. I don't think you could ask for more from a company on that front without coming off as entitled.
