30 quid for a single plastic WoTR figure anyone?

[Captain Blood]

Well, this is a tidily painted single Perry plastic WoTR figure on eBay...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WARS-OF-THE-ROSES-FOOT-CAPTAIN-Painted-28mm-Perry-Medieval-/261765803469?ssPageName=ADME:SS:SS:GB:1120

But £24.99 nice?!!! (Plus £4.10 postage). Yes, someone has bid at that price.

That's pretty much thirty quid for a single Perry plastic figure - 90% of which is plate armour, which takes very little in the way of painting...     

Well - fair play to the seller. I don't begrudge him (or her) the right to earn a crust, or get lucky from time to time. Or for people with plenty of money to spend it however they wish, but...

Has the world gone completely bonkers?!

[gamer Mac]

Looks like a way for you to earn a fortune, Richard

[Ray Earle]

It's up to someone what they are willing to pay I suppose. The seller does put a fair few figures up on eBay and they're nicely painted.

But, as you say Richard, £25 for a plastic figure?! 

Madness.

[SaxonBlackwater]

20 quid for a box of 38 of these, that's just under 950 pounds you could make off a box of them!

[Elk101]

Oh. How do retract a bid on ebay again?  

That is rather a lot.

[EndTransmission]

Wow. Some people have far too much money on their hands!

[Orctrader]

I've seen some of his auctions before.

...full-time, professional figure painter...

And if you look at his feedback, this is his standard starting price. 

Good luck to anyone who can make a reasonable return on figure painting.

As to whether or not it's worth the price?  Well, I think it's more a case that many painted figures sell for too little rather than this is too much.

And with this painter, looks like he has a decent following of collectors who know what they are getting each time.

[M Blakey]

I could swear that the painter is our own very talented Cubs... correct me if im wrong

[Ray Earle]

Nah, I don't think it's cubs. Style is completely different.

[M Blakey]

Ahh shame... just this seller had some Victorian steampunk for sale and i thought it was very similarto cubs back then... adding 1 and 1 and making 4 again

[smirnoff]

Has the world gone completely bonkers?!

Yes

[clibinarium]

Say it takes three hours to paint a figure to that standard, its not a great hourly rate for skilled work. Maybe with the armour its not as much work as the native American he's selling, but its swings and roundabouts on this kind of stuff.

I certainly couldn't afford it, nowhere close. A unit would be astronomically expensive. But for the quality of work on offer I don't think its above the odds (or below).

[Captain Blood]

I've painted a lot of these particular figures, and I can promise you, with the plate armoured figures, it is nowhere near 3 hours work. An hour to make, prep, prime and base, and an hour to paint, max, to this standard.

It's true that compared to what a lot of people earn an hour in business, painting wargames figures is miserably poorly paid. But at the end of the day, it's about what it's worth, not how long it took to make. It's a plastic figure, intrinsic value, about 30p. It's had a very tidy paint job. Which is maybe worth a tenner. But 30 odd quid? Barmy.

Still, as an old friend of mine and auctioneer always says about the antiques business - an antique is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it...   

[Arlequín]

I certainly wouldn't pay it... yet as has been said, if it's what you are basing your livelihood on, time, cost, material and a whole ruck of other things all add up. Clearly there is a market too.

[Mad Doc Morris]

However, it has to be said, it's very nicely painted. Not my choice of colours and pose maybe, but a very smooth paintjob. It would definitely take me a few hours, not counting practice time to reach that level and high quality tools.

Would I pay (or charge) that price, though? Certainly not. Many freelancers don't or rather must not charge hourly wages. I've done a fair bit of qualified research, professional proofreading and translation, and the rates are ridiculous if broken down to 'per hour'. But that's the market.

That said, if this guy has built up a client base willing to pay his prices – good on him! He's convinced people that his work is certainly worth it, and that's no mean feat.