Glyfair
Explorer
DaveStebbins said:One difference is that molds for plastic are much more expensive than tools/molds for metal. Molding pressures are much higher and most molten plastics can squirt through smaller openings than most molten metals. All this leads to an upfront, non-recurring mold cost which is (my guess) between two and five times the cost of tooling up a metal mini. I'm sure this contributes to a desire to see a minimum distribution level (and thus a certain minimum manufacturing run) of each plastic mini.
I've seen a thread on Mage Knight forums where someone stated the price for a mold for a plastic miniature ran about £10,000 (IIRC, it might have been higher) when he was in the business. Of course, each miniature is often made of a couple of pieces placed together.
The main difference between metal miniatures and plastic minatures is where the cost for producing them goes. A metal miniatures costs more for the metal compared to the plastic. Metal miniatures use rubber molds which aren't too expensive. Plastic miniatures require cast iron molds which is where the bulk of the cost is. When a rubber mold wears out, it is inexpensive to replace. When a metal mold wears out (admittedly, probably less often) it is very expensive to replace.
The price might vary based on the type of plastic used for the miniatures. However, this definitely brought out to me that the production costs for plastic miniatures are more expensive than most would guess by several orders of magnitude.
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