Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => General Wargames and Hobby Discussion => Topic started by: Atheling on October 21, 2019, 09:03:43 PM
-
This from Foundry in their newsletter:
To reflect these changes in pack contents as well as the ever changing rise in the cost of raw materials we will be implementing our first price rise in over 7 years to our Vikings, Normans, Saxons and Ancient Germans in one week on October 28th, before a site wide change in the near future.
This gives you one week to get these new and increased packs for the same price as the old 6 figure packs!
Most of our standard 6 figure packs will stay the same at £12, our 8 figure packs will increase to £16 and 3 Model Cavalry packs to £15.
I think that's a little too expensive for a company that has not managed to produce any new miniatures of quality for many years.
Just my opinion. Please discuss :)
-
Not sure there's much to discuss. I haven't purchased Foundry miniatures in a long time, but they'd be under the same normal scrutiny; "Does this miniature warrant it's price tag in my eyes?".
Some of their stuff may slide off that scale in which case they lose a sale or two...other stuff may still warrant its price tag in my opinion.
-
Fair comment.
There are certainly a lot mini's that I would happily buy from them as prices are now. I'm not sure that will be the case if I end up paying £15 per pack. Especially , as I outlined above, when they haven't produced anything of quality since Mark Simm's Viking range.
-
Yep, I have to say Foundry is in the "old guys" gaming company bracket for me. Some nice classic minis, and some solid sculpts (love some of their Gladiators that I have), but they're definitely not on the radar unless I'm looking for really random stuff.
-
With the way material costs have gone up over the last couple of years be prepared to see price rises across the industry
-
Curious that they bring up this now that Toofatlardies is developing a ruleset for battles between germans, gauls and romans... and themselves are buying that stuff. Just saying.
-
I have always loved Foundry's figures. However they have been priced high.
Now, I do think that other companies have raised their prices over time so that
Foundry is now competitive. This will put them up higher for me. Living in the US I
always have to include shipping into the cost of buying figures. Given that and how long
you have to wait to get your figures from Foundry, I will likely pass on future orders.
-
2 pounds a model, 5 pounds a mounted one sounds fair to me. I only hope their blisters won't contain too many of the same figs. Let's face it, almost all manufacturers have raised their prices in recent years, even Black Tree...
Yeah, I can live with that.
-
Their fantasy stuff is stupidly priced so this isnt going to help it in any way. I mean a SINGLE ORC (as in your usual horde of hero-murder-fodder) is £5 before postage. With postage its £10. For the same price I could get a better sculpted GW plastic orc hero, a resin orc hero or to make it a bit more obvious for £30 I can get 20 plastic orcs, 10 orcs riding boars or even 5 giant orcs from GW or.....5 metal orc bowmen.
-
A mate of mine used to work for Foundry and I was talking to him the other day.
Trouble is that Foundry were a premium product many years ago - compared to its peers (maybe Hinchcliffe, Minifigs) consistent sculpting, detail, yabba yabba yabba.......
Unfortunately, the current figure sculptures & makers have matched and surpassed them (as have the marketing strategies of the manufacturers), so they are no longer 'premium' but still try to charge premium prices.
Sales have dropped off, so they put the price up (or changed the blister contents).....so it goes on.
I actually like Foundry figures but tend to buy them second hand......
-
Gosh, it’s been a long time since we had a ‘aren’t Foundry expensive’ discussion... used to happen all the time... ::)
Which should perhaps tell us that for several years after the current new management took over and changed their pricing and p&p structure, they were indeed pretty competitive for a good while.
And while they haven’t produced anything new in years, why would they? Because they have a hell of a back catalogue, including many ranges that have really stood the test of time, and (in some cases) still compare pretty favourably with stuff that’s being produced today by other makers.
In terms of price, well I guess you’d have to compare it to the products of all those guys who USED to work for Foundry but now work under their own brands. Perry, Copplestone, Owen, Sims, Saleh et al...
Steve Saleh is now charging 4 quid for a 28mm foot figure. I love his latest work and I’ve bought a lot of his Lucid Eye product. But it makes 2 quid for a Foundry figure look quite economical, even if the figures are 10, 15 or 20 years old...
-
Gosh, it’s been a long time since we had a ‘aren’t Foundry expensive’ discussion... used to happen all the time... ::)
Which should perhaps tell us that for several years after the current new management took over and changed their pricing and p&p structure, they were indeed pretty competitive for a good while.
And while they haven’t produced anything new in years, why would they? Because they have a hell of a back catalogue, including many ranges that have really stood the test of time, and (in some cases) still compare pretty favourably with stuff that’s being produced today by other makers.
In terms of price, well I guess you’d have to compare it to the products of all those guys who USED to work for Foundry but now work under their own brands. Perry, Copplestone, Owen, Sims, Saleh et al...
Steve Saleh is now charging 4 quid for a 28mm foot figure. I love his latest work and I’ve bought a lot of his Lucid Eye product. But it makes 2 quid for a Foundry figure look quite economical, even if the figures are 10, 15 or 20 years old...
My issue would be less with Foundry's pricing (some of their ranges still have a high-enough appeal to me) and more with their (IMHO) increasingly unpredictable casting quality over recent years. It may have been a phase, but in 2017 it got so bad for me that since then I haven't bought Foundry unseen (i.e. only at shows or second-hand with pics of the actual items).
That said, if the moulds are in good shape and the casting is good, I quite like them and will continue to purchase them, depending on my level of interest for the particular project and after evaluating any suitable alternatives.
-
I've noticed a slip in quality as well as postal service times, it used to be order early enough and it'd be sent out that day, now you're talking a week at least.
I would buy more if they would do 'half' packs, I see plenty of minis I want but not wiling to fork out £12 just to get my hands on say one or two out of the pack.
-
I would buy more if they would do 'half' packs, I see plenty of minis I want but not wiling to fork out £12 just to get my hands on say one or two out of the pack.
Don't give them any ideas! The way this will work out, most likely, is that the two figures you want are split over two half-packs! lol ;)
-
Hi
Attention, it seems to me that the rise in prices concerns only certain ranges, including the Vickings and company precisely!
In the end today the prices of Foundry is in the norm: many brands have significantly increased their prices (I think TAG becomes very expensive!) And I do not even mention the price of brands like Steel Fist that makes that it is out of the question that I buy these figurines (not to mention that they are so big that they are not compatible with other brands!)
And Foundry has a real quality of engraving, and some ranges are very complete or even unavoidable (the "India" range for example) Even some ranges from casting Room Miniatures are ultimately very successful, that's saying!
And at Christmas they make excellent promotions!
And then ... it's not like I did not have enough figurines and projects (and you too huh!) In short I can support a small price increase as I buy less and less figurines (and it's a great thing, my girlfriend totally agrees with me, which is rare so it must be emphasized!)
In short: Long live Foundry!
-
Hi
Attention, it seems to me that the rise in prices concerns only certain ranges, including the Vickings and company precisely!
In the mail I received, they stated more or less clearly that the price rise will start with the mentioned ranges and will then be rolled out to the remainder of their catalogue. I wouldn't expect them to do otherwise, from an economic standpoint.
-
Don't give them any ideas! The way this will work out, most likely, is that the two figures you want are split over two half-packs! lol ;)
Like the ninjas...
Used to be 2 packs of 5 figures at £10 each, now 10 for £24.
-
I have never understood the argument about figures being old so they should be cheap. it costs the same to manufacture and spin up a mould of old figures as it does new ones...
Dave Ryan at Caliver always gets the same complaint even though he is employing casters to do the work.
Mike
-
I have never understood the argument about figures being old so they should be cheap. it costs the same to manufacture and spin up a mould of old figures as it does new ones...
Can't you really think of any costs that would only apply around the initial release?
And please don't extrapolate anything from that. I'm just asking that one question for a quick check. ::)
Regarding Foundry prices...as someone who started with GW, I think all historical miniature prices are still basically zero or can be rounded to that. lol I used to pay £2 for bog standard rank and file 20 years ago. And based on the size of an average gamer's lead pile, it seems that buying new minis is still the least painful part of this hobby. ::)
However, I do admit that I've seen some pretty dodgy casts from Foundry in recent years. Especially with their £5+ fantasy stuff, I'd dare to expect a bit better than that.
-
I have never understood the argument about figures being old so they should be cheap. it costs the same to manufacture and spin up a mould of old figures as it does new ones...
Dave Ryan at Caliver always gets the same complaint even though he is employing casters to do the work.
Mike
While I understand, the cost of manufacturing is the still the major factor in producing I have never understood why Wargames Foundry hasn't used other means of production that would lower these labor intensive processes. Thinking about machine cast resin (from the existing master models) or even hard-plastic production (thought that may not suit their existing sculptures), changing production methods may cost money but guess that they should be able to explore these methods as other outfits are capable of doing this. That said they have lovely miniatures but not sure they can compete with more modern ranges at the increased price tag.
-
Correct me if I am wrong, but £2 per model is in the high end of the scale. I mean, many companies charge between £6.50 and £7.50 per 4 models packs (between £1.62 and £1.87 per model), although others, like Front Rank or Perry brothers (they don't need to pay the sculptor! ) charge £7.50 per 6 figures pack (£1.25) Plastic models are cheaper, of course (£37.50 per 60 models, as in the latest Victrix release, which would be 62 pence per model)
Now, I don't mind to pay more if I believe that the goods are worthy of the price asked for them. Alas, it has been long since last time I felt the compulsion to buy Foundry's stuff.
-
Foundry has an odd way of doing things. They seem quite rigid and user unfriendly in how they sell their products. I love their old figures - the Perry sculpts mostly - but their insistence on a set postage fee and large packs (presumably to make things easier at their end) puts me off making any orders. Maybe they just don't have the staff and/or infrastructure and need to keep things simple to stay in business.
-
The price increase for postage has clearly worked as a friend in Ottawa, Canada received his recent order within 7 days of ordering.
As for figure price increases they are always going to happen even if the range is an old one - the price of metal does not change.
I must be lucky with quality control as I have had very, very few figures with casting defects from them and I have been buying them for around 30 years, any defective figures have been replaced by Foundry.
The only thing that I find odd about Foundry is that they do not discount VAT for overseas orders. This was not so much of a problem when the free shipping was on an £80 order but that has gone up to £100 and Canada Customs have been active this year hitting orders with import duties.
I for one will continue to buy from them as they have a lot of ranges that interest me and despite their age are still as good or in some cases better than some of the new ranges put out these days.
-
While I understand, the cost of manufacturing is the still the major factor in producing I have never understood why Wargames Foundry hasn't used other means of production that would lower these labor intensive processes. Thinking about machine cast resin (from the existing master models) or even hard-plastic production (thought that may not suit their existing sculptures), changing production methods may cost money but guess that they should be able to explore these methods as other outfits are capable of doing this. That said they have lovely miniatures but not sure they can compete with more modern ranges at the increased price tag.
Do you mean the Prodos/Archon casting processes or the more readily available spun cast resin?
-
In this day an age with the so many options in the hobby i find it odd that they don't have anything new. So many of their sculpts are still great but quite a lot are out dated and the hobby has moved so much in the last 10-20 years. They need new sculpts to stay relevant imo.
-
In this day an age with the so many options in the hobby i find it odd that they don't have anything new. So many of their sculpts are still great but quite a lot are out dated and the hobby has moved so much in the last 10-20 years. They need new sculpts to stay relevant imo.
Afaik they dont actually have any. Their effectively a larder of multiple ranges they've inherited and just sell them
-
I painted some Zulu War miniatures for them many years ago (10? 15?) which were a new release, but I think they binned them because some of them were truly terrible sculpts with some glaring mistakes - cuff decorations missing on one side, 6 fingers on a hand, missing epaulettes - that somehow slipped through quality control. It's a pity because they had some potential, but they looked rushed and like the work of a sculptor still learning their trade so probably not up to their own expectations.
-
Probably I am the minority, but I do no think the price rise is unwarranted, and certainly the fact that they keep in production on of the biggest assortment ever it is already extremely commendable.
But of course in the age of internet bashing and complaining are easier... o_o
-
Just to clarify, I like a lot of their mini's and own a large number of them and love the sculpts too.
My only real gripe with the Foundry price increase is simply that there is no quality output.
I realise the production costs keep going up and Brexit probably isn't going to help matters.
-
They actually have two and bit rooms worth of moulds and sculpts, some never released, some which complete ranges and some which are whole ranges in themselves.
What they DON'T have is enough staff to go through all those moulds and boxes, whilst also casting, posting and working the shop.
The price rise seems fair to me, especially as the pricing of some companies is similar or higher. In the historical side of the industry, some companies keep the overall price down by keeping their own prices far too low to make a real profit. IN the fantasy and sci-fi market, the 'GW standard' keeps prices high.
Foundry has some great sculpts, admittedly somewhat aged now, but I agree that they have been surpassed by others. Plus, by employing a pretty much skeleton staff, they keep costs down but have little or no flexibility to get things 'new' into moulds. They also pay royalties to past sculptors, so make much less of a profit than you think.
And finally, the costs to run a Wargames business are going up, and will rise higher. Too many businesses, fighting for the same materials, up against far larger, bloated businesses, plus the pound versos the dollar, etc. The Foundry business plan is 'survival level', with many more companies finding themselves or already in the same mode.
-
Don't know why they can't give their product away for free! But even then, there would be whiners complaining about something!
-
Don't know why they can't give their product away for free! But even then, there would be whiners complaining about something!
Sorry, I'm not whining, I'm merely making a point. See earlier post :)
-
Do you mean the Prodos/Archon casting processes or the more readily available spun cast resin?
Recently saw the advert of a new machine for casting and was more thinking in that way, looked really fast and convenient.
See - https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=OMyHRHS6sDs
-
Folks, I don't think this is going anywhere.
Basically, it boils down to if you think the new price is justified for a large, stylistically mostly coherent variety of older figure ranges or not, and that is essentially an individual decision.
If Foundry need to increase prices to cover their costs, that is a fair entrepreneurial decision. It is your decision as customers whether to continue buying or not, or to look for potential alternatives.
I'll lock this topic now, as there most likely won't be any other outcomes than those, and for plain ranting feel free to take it to other audiences who are more inclined to it, with moderators taking a more lenient approach.