Mantic "corporation" plastic minis

[Inso]

There are hints of all sorts of miniature ranges and film ideas in every sci-fi sculpt...because they all draw inspiration from everyone else.  The barrel of the rifle looks like a lasgun but apart from that, I could point out lots of similarities to all sorts of IP.

I get a little bored hearing the 'that looks like GW' comment about every new sci-fi miniature that turns up...I guess there was no sci-fi before GW? 

These are OK but not really my thing. I know Mantic target GW buyers but that is just business, I guess.

I see miniatures like this as conversion fodder.  The more conversion fodder out there, the more choice you have to build exactly what you want.  I can't knock that. 

[Connectamabob]

You've kinda got it backwards there. The amount of variation between this and GW is so small that's it's like saying Woody Harrelson doesn't look the same species as Matthew McConaughey. I mean look at them, they're not even the same size, and the shape of the nose... pff. There's masses and masses of sci-fi outside tabletop gaming that looks about as much like GW as Woody Harrelson looks like a sea spider. In fact probably 99% of non-tabletop sci-fi (99.9% of sci-fi in other words) qualifies. I could image bomb the thread, if you like.

The reason that people keep saying "looks like GW" when someone shows off a new sci-fi line is because at least half the time it really does. At the risk of being impolitic, saying it doesn't would highlight ones own insularity, not that of the folks who're saying it does. Also sometimes a touch of butthurt fandom over the implication (or inference) that looking like GW is a bad thing.

[Inso]

You've kinda got it backwards there. The amount of variation between this and GW is so small that's it's like saying Woody Harrelson doesn't look the same species as Matthew McConaughey. I mean look at them, they're not even the same size, and the shape of the nose... pff. There's masses and masses of sci-fi outside tabletop gaming that looks about as much like GW as Woody Harrelson looks like a sea spider. In fact probably 99% of non-tabletop sci-fi (99.9% of sci-fi in other words) qualifies. I could image bomb the thread, if you like.

The reason that people keep saying "looks like GW" when someone shows off a new sci-fi line is because at least half the time it really does. At the risk of being impolitic, saying it doesn't would highlight ones own insularity, not that of the folks who're saying it does. Also sometimes a touch of butthurt fandom over the implication (or inference) that looking like GW is a bad thing.

Alternatively, it is the insular nature of GW patrons that help them to refuse that anything could ever venture far from the GW model? 

It is all opinions and we all have our own.  'At the risk of being impolitic' I am not a GW fanboy (or otherwise...I have boxes full of their stuff) and I would say that the varied nature of my various collections would certainly rule me out of the insular category but when I look at something like the Mantic sci-fi, I can see further than 'it's wearing a boiler suit and armour...it must look like GW'.

What ever people's opinion on the GW-ness of the sculpt, it is all good for the market because they will be cheap, made of plastic and excellent for converting so it is win-win as far as I can see.

Image bomb as much as you like, I'm sure you'l tick all of the boxes you feel compelled to.

[ATP Painting Studio]

As I've previously said, I like them. I don't think it matters if they're Space Opera rather than Hard SF (because basically then we'd be limited to figures in all-enclosing space suits, armoured or otherwise, fighting resource wars on various moons throughout the solar system).

What matters is what Inso said: they're cheap, plastic, and a new source of figures for collectors, gamers, painters and converters alike.

[Glitzer]

The reason that people keep saying "looks like GW" when someone shows off a new sci-fi line is because at least half the time it really does. At the risk of being impolitic, saying it doesn't would highlight ones own insularity, not that of the folks who're saying it does.

That's exactly my point,. Copplestone, GZG and Reaper have done nice jobs in producing SciFi minis that don't look like WW II in Space (or GW-ish as we like to call it) or like they come from an Anime. Even some Minis from the Pig Iron range look different from GW. I cannot pinpoint it to a specific detail, but these minis simply give me the "same war, different time" feeling that is so typical with GW minis.

[Ray Rivers]

To me they all look about the same, which is fairly normal.

Now if we had folks with two heads or three arms or flippers, yep the weapons and the armor would be drastically different. But since we don't all "future" soldiers will look pretty much alike, at least to me.

Pretty much like most historical periods have protagonists who basically worn the same kit and used the same weapons.

Perhaps what we really have here is another thread for some folks to bash GW on. But personally I think that really does a disservice to entrepreneurs who want to create new minis for us to enjoy.

[FunkyBrush]

GW-ish or not. The weapons are the weakest part of this mins.
My first thought was to replace them with Hasslefree or Heresy sci-fi guns.
Anybody knows any other good bits producers?

[Faust23]

That's exactly my point,. Copplestone, GZG and Reaper have done nice jobs in producing SciFi minis that don't look like WW II in Space (or GW-ish as we like to call it) or like they come from an Anime. Even some Minis from the Pig Iron range look different from GW. I cannot pinpoint it to a specific detail, but these minis simply give me the "same war, different time" feeling that is so typical with GW minis.

I concur. Well said Glitzer.

[zizi666]

My first thought was to replace them with Hasslefree or Heresy sci-fi guns.
Anybody knows any other good bits producers?

maxmini does some very good weapon sets contemporary as well as SF .

[tnjrp]

Reaper has done a few weapon sets, Dream Pod 9 HG stuff is fairly well compatible with 28mm minis as well (but a little pricey maybe) and EM4 has some cheap weapon sets as well that probably would fit with the Corporation aesthetic. That's all I can remember off the top of my head that hasn't been already mentioned.

I cannot pinpoint it to a specific detail, but these minis simply give me the "same war, different time" feeling that is so typical with GW minis.

+1

To return to the subject of Infinity and anime, here's an example of some "extremely animeish" I-figures (talking 'bout the ones on the ends of the line):
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jMciWvCLsuo/TvtTOZu2IyI/AAAAAAAACWY/nAQpS9z-B5Y/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg

[Doomsdave]

Which Infinity minis are those?  I kind of like the main leader figure.  She looks like she good proxy for a pulp queen of a remote villainous planet. 

[Ironblood]

in reguards to the max mini weapons, there heavy machine guns are HUGE to the point they dwarf GW space marines.  Dont know aobut scale with the rest of there weapons line.

[ErikB]

...that looking like GW is a bad thing.

Personally, I like a lot of their art.  They do an excellent job, especially with creating archetypical images.

If I were designing my own mini line I would want to make it unique and would strive to make them not look like GW's.  This is not because GW's minis are bad but because they are the biggest, most obvious comparison, and I want to make something different.

Just my two cents.

[Glitzer]

Which Infinity minis are those?  I kind of like the main leader figure.  She looks like she good proxy for a pulp queen of a remote villainous planet. 

Looks like the new Proxies box.

[FunkyBrush]

maxmini does some very good weapon sets contemporary as well as SF .

Thanks, they have some interesting stuff