GEG 'Dead Man's Hand' Figures - a brief review

[philhendry]

A few days ago, when he heard I'd ordered a couple of sets, one of my friends asked: "Do you have any GEG figures yet? I'd be sorta kinda interested in them (assuming they're compatible with Foundry, which seems to be an unknown) but one review makes me a bit wary about QC."

To which I replied, on receiving the figures this morning:

As far as the figures are concerned... The sculpting is quite nicely done, and I like most of the poses - other than the ones who are looking in a different direction to that in which their gun is 'aiming'. They average out at about 27 - 28mm sole-of-foot to eyeball - though there are almost none standing completely upright, so it's hard to judge. They look significantly bigger than the Foundry and Dixon figures I have, which average out at 25mm sole-of-foot to eyeball.

Quality Control-wise, they're the twins of the Ronin figures from Northstar - not great, but not unacceptably bad. Out of fourteen figures, two have bad mould slippage, and I shall probably be asking for replacements. One other has very slight slippage. The mould lines are pretty noticeable almost everywhere, and there's a fair bit of flash. There are 'tags' all over the place. Unlike the review you link, I don't think there will be "several evenings' work" involved in getting them ready for painting, but they aren't great, particularly at a premium price. Having said that, Keith from Aventine would probably have put 'em all straight back in the pot and started again.

Someone, who's doing a lot of mould-making and casting for some of the 'better known' names in the industry, isn't really up to the job. It's a pity that those 'better known' names aren't either complaining (and getting improvements) or seeking a new caster. Or is it that we wargamers are too accepting, and are happy to spend twenty quid (okay, I got a discount, they were 18), and then spend "several evenings" cleaning up sub-standard castings, with never a word of complaint, so those companies don't realise that there's an issue.

Packaging is DVD boxes... They look nice, but are the most useless way of packing figures. Indeed, they're worse than useless, as they have the 'clips' to hold DVDs in place, which serve to bash the figures as they 'slop' from one end of the, otherwise empty, box to the other. One set of figures were in a 'bubble-wrap' bag, which protects them a little; the others were just in a grip-top bag in the DVD box. Not acceptable... I hope I can straighten all the guns without 'casualties'.

Having said all that, I do like the figures, and think they'll paint up a treat.

Cheers,
Phil

[Earther]

Ouch. Poor show Northstar.

[NickNascati]

I completely agree with you.  I painted up to sets of Ronin figures for a friend, and spent far too much time cleaning the figures up.  Maybe if they got rid of the silly DVD box packaging, the price point down!  I will say that the IHMN sets seem better cast.

[Gibby]

Casting quality is becoming an annoying issue for me. It seems we are to just accept spending hours cleaning up tons of mould lines and mould-slippages as being part of the hobby; even from, as you say, big names in the industry. If even one manufacturer can ensure their castings are near-perfect every time (Aventine are a good example) then why can't others do it?

EDIT: For my part, this comment was not aimed at North Star as everything I have got from them has been fantastic. My little rant was more of a general moan at the hobby. Sorry for not making that clear.

[NickNascati]

I just opened a similar topic on TMP, maybe if enough of us complain, the manufacturers will listen!

[philhendry]

I'm sorry - I can't join in - I'm banned!!

[Cubs]

I painted up some of them for GEG (North Star Ronin too) and mine were okay, but did need a bit of cleaning up in fairness. Not bad enough for me to return, as you say, but I did tut a bit at the mould lines. But then, I always expect to have to trim models and am oddly suspicious if anything isn't needed!

I remember when I did some Prussian Jaegers for them though, they were awful (although again the models were really nice), needing a lot of carving and hacking to bring them up to spec. I told Nick at NS, who told me to return anything straight away in future and he'd replace them, no questions.

I guess the moral is to let the company know straight away, so they can put it right.

[nicknorthstar]

In regards to castings, I will never tell someone to accept figures they are not happy with from North Star. We've got a no quibble exchange policy and always will have.

The DVD boxes

You two don't know what you're talking about. What absolute nonsense about what is just a piece of packaging. You're supposed to throw it away. It's just an receptacle for getting figures from A to B. It protects the figures a lot better than a blister pack! Is that what you are suggesting we use instead? 'The clips bash the figures' What rubbish.

We chose the DVD boxes for Ronin because there are too many figures for a blister pack. The cover we put into the DVD matches the Osprey rulebook so they look good on a shop shelf but more importantly we can put a photograph of the painted figures on the back as a painting guide.


What is your alternative suggestion then, my well informed friends? Nascati thinks the DVD boxes are too expensive, well they are a lot cheaper than a printed cardboard carton I can tell you straight away.

Unbelievable. 

[Cubs]

In regards to castings, I will never tell someone to accept figures they are not happy with from North Star. We've got a no quibble exchange policy and always will have.

Well boys and girls, there's your answer!

[Gibby]

Quite so. I have edited my post to clarify my intentions. I would also like to state that I have had nothing but good castings from North Star. Apologies for any offence, Nick.

Oh and I love the Dead Man's Hand Desperados set I got. Great figures!

[NickNascati]

Nick,
         I stand corrected.  I do apologize for any offensive remarks.  Believe me, when I get the money I am waiting on, you will be getting a fair chunk of it.

                                                                         Nick

[Cubs]

On a slight, but related tangent, I used to sell kitchenware. I was talking to a Le Creuset representative (the big cast iron cookware from France ... same company who made artillery for the Germans!) about the price of their stuff.

I asked why it was so expensive compared to other enamelled cast iron cookware and they said it was due to their quality control. Any pot that isn't absolutely perfect, even one with a minor cosmetic enamel imperfection, gets binned. They don't even sell 'seconds', they just bin them.

It means their cookware has a reputation for excellence, but by Jehovah you pay for it! You can't completely check every single piece that comes out of the mould because that would be prohibitively expensive for us as customers, so I guess we just need to bring it to the attention of the company if we get something we think is of an unacceptable quality.

I repeat, if we don't tell them, they're not going to know! Honest feedback is unvaluable to any company and the only way they can improve.

[NickNascati]

One last thought from me on the subject.  While it might have been Northstar figures that started the discussion, from what I have read, they are really not a problem compared to Perry and Warlord.  The Perrys in fact are aware of the casting problems!

[nicknorthstar]

Ok, stopped being cross now. 

Just between you and I, the Ronin was moulded and cast by the same guy who does Perry................ Moulds back with us now.

[NickNascati]

Very happy to hear that.  By the way, both the Ronin sets and the IHMN sets I did were a joy to paint once I got going.