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<blockquote data-quote="Wofano Wotanto" data-source="post: 9644290" data-attributes="member: 7044704"><p>Of course they do. Usually it's related to the amount of metal used in the casting and the number of individual parts involved (which is why you'll see little sprues with smaller bits attached directly to the basing tab now and then - marginally easier to cast and de-mold that way), and some sculptors do earn more than others. Sometimes the prices are just inexplicably higher or lower than you'd expect too, although in Reaper's case it may be based on experience with how rapidly a sculpt wears out the mold, since that impacts costs to. Other factors can get involved too, like "charity donation" figs often being a bit more expensive.</p><p></p><p>Looking at a few of your examples:</p><p></p><p>That Ed Pugh tribute (RIP) uses as much metal as any two human sized figs (maybe three for slender sculpts with tab bases) and is priced accordingly. </p><p></p><p>Stitch the halfling is literally the most expensive pack that comes up if you search for "Halfling rogue" and that's due to that cute little chest he comes with. If you look at the overall results from that search (after you filter out the Bones and actually-a-dwarf models) single halings range from ~$4 for some older figs up to a high end of ~$7-8, with most of the pricey figs either having cloaks (which add a lot of volume and use more metal) or details that probably result in higher-then-normal reject rates (another added cost even though you can just melt them down and try again - an advantage of metals). Moreover, Stich has been available in both metal and Bones plastic, one of which (no longer available) came without his chest and cost $5 versus $7 for the same materiel with chest, making $9.49 in metal the highest cost. That's something that isn't always true when searching for specific figs, since the more modern Bones Black material is on par with metals for costs and sometimes higher, again presumably because you'll get different reject rates in different materials and Bones can't be easily recycled.</p><p></p><p>You'll also note a general trend toward older figs being a little (or even a lot) cheaper than newer ones, not because of any particular difference in quality but because old sculpts have long since been paid off (and were paid for in rates from 20-30 years ago) and the molds refined to minimize rejects - and in some cases inertia, where no one's bothered to update the prices for slower-moving stuff in a decade or more. There's some old Warlord stuff (Reaper's last stab at a fantasy minis game) that's still the same price as it was 15 years ago, and costs have risen since then.</p><p></p><p>Lot of factors go into minis pricing even before you start factoring in distribution or having stuff cast on contract -something Reaper does a fair bit of.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wofano Wotanto, post: 9644290, member: 7044704"] Of course they do. Usually it's related to the amount of metal used in the casting and the number of individual parts involved (which is why you'll see little sprues with smaller bits attached directly to the basing tab now and then - marginally easier to cast and de-mold that way), and some sculptors do earn more than others. Sometimes the prices are just inexplicably higher or lower than you'd expect too, although in Reaper's case it may be based on experience with how rapidly a sculpt wears out the mold, since that impacts costs to. Other factors can get involved too, like "charity donation" figs often being a bit more expensive. Looking at a few of your examples: That Ed Pugh tribute (RIP) uses as much metal as any two human sized figs (maybe three for slender sculpts with tab bases) and is priced accordingly. Stitch the halfling is literally the most expensive pack that comes up if you search for "Halfling rogue" and that's due to that cute little chest he comes with. If you look at the overall results from that search (after you filter out the Bones and actually-a-dwarf models) single halings range from ~$4 for some older figs up to a high end of ~$7-8, with most of the pricey figs either having cloaks (which add a lot of volume and use more metal) or details that probably result in higher-then-normal reject rates (another added cost even though you can just melt them down and try again - an advantage of metals). Moreover, Stich has been available in both metal and Bones plastic, one of which (no longer available) came without his chest and cost $5 versus $7 for the same materiel with chest, making $9.49 in metal the highest cost. That's something that isn't always true when searching for specific figs, since the more modern Bones Black material is on par with metals for costs and sometimes higher, again presumably because you'll get different reject rates in different materials and Bones can't be easily recycled. You'll also note a general trend toward older figs being a little (or even a lot) cheaper than newer ones, not because of any particular difference in quality but because old sculpts have long since been paid off (and were paid for in rates from 20-30 years ago) and the molds refined to minimize rejects - and in some cases inertia, where no one's bothered to update the prices for slower-moving stuff in a decade or more. There's some old Warlord stuff (Reaper's last stab at a fantasy minis game) that's still the same price as it was 15 years ago, and costs have risen since then. Lot of factors go into minis pricing even before you start factoring in distribution or having stuff cast on contract -something Reaper does a fair bit of. [/QUOTE]
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