15mm Crimean prices.

[zebra55]

Just been looking at the 15mm Crimean ranges available and was stunned by the prices of the Minifigs range  from Caliver books.
 £3.30 GBP for 8 figures   or about $5 USD , 4.70 Euros.

 Not value for money at all , the words "rip off" spring to mind.

 

 

[black hat miniatures]

Just been looking at the 15mm Crimean ranges available and was stunned by the prices of the Minifigs range  from Caliver books.
 £3.30 GBP for 8 figures   or about $5 USD , 4.70 Euros.

 Not value for money at all , the words "rip off" spring to mind.
 

£3.30 for 8 figures is cheaper than Essex Miniatures, for example.  Caliver's prices will include VAT (as do Essex's) and Dave employs 3 full time casters.

I don't see anything in  that price that is a rip-off...

Mike

[NTM]

Yep £3-£3.50 seems to be the standard rate for a pack of 8 figures.
If you think that's expensive I suggest you steer clear of AB Napoleonics or Eureka WWII. Cheaper brands are out there but they tend to be either lower quality or sold in very large packs which can lead to a lot of unused figures negating any saving made figure for figure.

[Firescale Whack]

With the current exchange rate AB figures work out about 60p a figure correct? Which I don't think is too shabby at all.

[Rob_bresnen]

Personally I have heard it said that some people went into 15mm because it was more economical that larger scales. The rules set my mate down the club uses has 8 figures on a base, with 4-5 bases per unit (battalion I think) so that is £14-18, or £18-21 if I want to have some skirmishers too.

Victrix sell 56 28mm plastic figures for £23- that's two battalions of 24 and a few left over for skirmishers.
Warlord Games has 36 for £20, and Perry Miniatures have the same deal.

It strikes me that 28mm is a more economic scale if you want to do big battalions, so long a their are plastics for the figures you want, and there are more coming on line all the time- Warlord are doing Portuguese and Spanish next.

Why don't they make 15mm Nap in plastic. Now that would be economical. Plastic solider company makes 15mm WW2 and sells 141 for £21 (that is at least 4 battalions in my mates rules-25% of the cost of metal)

Edit_ Just noticed you were asking about Crimean not Napoleonic. Sorry for butting in, but the basic point still stands. Why so few 15mm plastics?

[monstermunch]

Hi,

  they do seem fairly pricey when compared to Irregular Miniatures 30p per 15mm foot figure

 and Lancashire Games selling 10 figures for £2.60 , with regular discount sales.

 Surprised anyone still buys these Minifig figures at £3.30 a pack and Caliver still trading with these prices.

 Pat.

[LawnRanger]

Zebra
 We aint in the 70's any more .. how much is a pint now and a chocolate bar.

A good size army will cost you around 150 quid and will last you a life time .. how many football games would that get you into OR a round of golf  4-5 / 8 rounds ?

 If you want to bitch about prices then I would take a look at some of the moon monkey stuff (GW ect,,,) now thats Takes the P*** but each to there own .. 

£3.30 is about right for a pack of good 15mm cast .. end of the day the suppliers have to live .. if you aint happy dont buy from them ..

IF you still dont want to pay that much then i would say take a look at 10mm stuff around £5 for 30 figs and most rules  would use the same size bases as 15mm  so no loss there .. maybe thats the way you should go..

Happy gaming LR


.

[Firescale Whack]

Zebra
 We aint in the 70's any more .. how much is a pint now and a chocolate bar.

A good size army will cost you around 150 quid and will last you a life time .. how many football games would that get you into OR a round of golf  4-5 / 8 rounds ?

 If you want to bitch about prices then I would take a look at some of the moon monkey stuff (GW ect,,,) now thats Takes the P*** but each to there own .. 

£3.30 is about right for a pack of good 15mm cast .. end of the day the suppliers have to live .. if you aint happy dont buy from them ..

IF you still dont want to pay that much then i would say take a look at 10mm stuff around £5 for 30 figs and most rules  would use the same size bases as 15mm  so no loss there .. maybe thats the way you should go..

Happy gaming LR


.

Yep, couldn't agree more. It isn't the 70's anymore and the quality of figures definitely confirms this.

[elefant66]

Perhaps  Dave  will put on his santas hat and do a winter price -off sale like Splintered light minis or  Black tree design .

[INOFF THE RED]

ALways a  difficult one to answer- it's often people on a higher hourly wage than even my casters who tend to whinge about price.

The main cost in figure production is wages, not metal. So to compare a large company like mine with one man band doesn't quite match up. I think Bacchus did a great post on TMP about the actual cost of figure production and extra costs for larger companies

Listening to people about prices one a major factor in the UK AND US MInifigs operations going bust. On the other hand we get busier every year, having recently taken on more staff to cope

 15mm are actually under priced when compared with 28mm, not that that means the price of those should come down!  but when you now pay nearly £1 for some plastics, £1.25 for a hand made piece of metal is cheap


I am not surprised that the majority of posters have a more sensible attitude, it';s one of the reasons I love Lead ADventure . Other miniatures forums are available, but why bother!

Back to Play Santa to the world

Dave

[twiglet7]

I agree with most of the comments, Dave has to make a profit to stay in business and to buy up Minifigs. It would be a great shame if the large Minifigs range was lost to gamers, so  paying £3.30 a pack seems reasonable. I'm sure most 15mm gamers have some Minifigs in their collections, glad they are still available.

 Pete.

[fastolfrus]

Not to mention the huge variety in the Minifigs catalogue - they cover most eras and nationalities, not just the common stuff

[grant]

The gall! To expect a business to make a profit! 

[FifteensAway]

Well, I do believe in the profit element but seventy-five cents per figure USD for 15s (base price x exchange rate x a very conservative 20% shipping cost) is a bit higher than the 'normal' cost for a 15 mm figure over the last ten years. 

There has been a pretty steep increase in the last few years and when that gets added to the shipping costs, it does make it seem less of a deal.  But it really boils down to whether or not you want the figures.  If you want them, you pay for them.  If you're only 'thinking about it', price can put you off. 

Maybe the OP hasn't bought figures in a while and is just suffering from a dose of sticker shock.  I sure did when I bought figures after a layoff for a couple of years.  Got over it and adjusted to the new reality.

Of course, I am in the enviable position of being at the end of collecting figures for my various and sundry collections - which include a LOT of minifigs - amongst many, many other brands.  My next step is commissioning a few figures no one makes or seems likely to make.  If all goes well in 2016, I will be done collecting figures (except for the odd bit that turns up I can't say no to.  I've become very good at saying no, however).

[Bunny]

If you want to do Crimea look at Pendraken 10mm figures.  Nice figures at good prices.....