"15mm Space troopers and Space orcs will be no more" Topic

Ok so what is happening with my Space troopers and space orcs.
As some of you know I purchased these figures from MJ Figures some time ago.
They have been on the market for nearly 9 years.
Not really understanding much about figure manufacturing, or what I really wanted to do myself I rushed into buying them.
I have decided to make some big changes to the figures, put my own mark on the figure range.
The figures at present do not fit in with my overall plans, and the way I want to expand the figures.
All the figures except for the jet bikes will be heavily converted.
The jet bikes fit in more to the style that I want which is a much lighter faster moving trooper.
The orcs will be changed to look more like an orcmen , more like a cross breed rather than an orc.
So once the stock goes the figures will no longer be produced.
I am sorry for any inconvience this may cause.

Mike

That is really very unfortunate. I recently bought a couple of packs of each, and they are wonderful figures.

I don't quite understand why they should be removed from the market, when they are simply alien troops with an ape-like body shape, but I hope that the conversions are successful too.

link

Dan

if the molds are still good why not keep them in production in the interum until you can see how well your vision of the line is received…

I agree with Dan. With the exception of the Wartrak looking Ork bikes, I don't see why GW could say anything about your minis. The Marines are a little more of an issue, but the Orks are just that, Orks. I don't think GW or anyone else can prevent you from selling them if you want to do so. Sorry to see these go if that is what happend, they are some of the best Orks out there and really a great loss. Best of luck to you Mike.

Jeff

I always thought GW came up with the word 'Ork', as oppose to the generic 'Orc'?

That is because they are bad spellers. :)

I would advise everyone to get them while their hot. These are perfect figures for a little 15mm spacehulk game. That is actually where I first saw them being used.

link

I must not have seen these miniature to understand the issue with it. Why are you changing the look?

Both orc and ork were used by Tolkein.

Both spelling, orc and ork, were used by Tolkein and actually go back far earlier.

Maybe you could sell the Orc molds off to another company. I think there is still a place for them.

i would suggest that anyone with a clue would want to avoid them like the plague. no insult meant to the present owner, but the evil empire has demonstrated how crappy it's going to be about this.

C&D letter?

"I have decided to make some big changes to the figures, put my own mark on the figure range.

The figures at present do not fit in with my overall plans, and the way I want to expand the figures."

Try reading the post before jumping to conclusions guys. :p

Humm, nice looking figures. Just ordered myself a couple of packs.

Vulture

(My Blog link )

As some of you are aware there has been a few issues with the figures. It is unfortunate but the moulds in their existing form will be destroyed by the end of this month.

I will do my best to get the new figures released early
2010. I have had some coversions done and am waiting on a few more before I decide exactly what way to go with them. The new orc men look vey nice, the other option is to convert some into apes, as they already have an ape like form.

Mike

"Try reading the post before jumping to conclusions guys. :p"

oh dear, that's rather naive ….

I will do my best to get the new figures released early
2010. I have had some coversions done and am waiting on a few more before I decide exactly what way to go with them. The new orc men look vey nice, the other option is to convert some into apes, as they already have an ape like form.

Just remove the orc head and replace it with a mutant head and you've a good post apoc' figure.

at this point gw is probably looking at this quite closely and it's probably not worth the hassle of having to pay for the alterations and then making the new mould just to have them descend on him again. fresh start i'd say.

wolfgangbrooks, you've missed the point. These figures were liked for their resemblance to a larger scale line of miniatures. It's unfortunate that they either have to go, or thesceneuk has decided not to keep making them.

The problem is that some of us like that other game companies look, and background. Some of us also prefer 15mm scifi and have rules we'd like to use with them.

I'm one, I have a 15mm Land Raider and Rhino I scratch built hoping to pick up some of these guys for overall appearance. Unfortunately with the christmas holiday here I can't afford it at the moment and as it sounds, they'll be gone before I get the chance.

"I'm one, I have a 15mm Land Raider and Rhino I scratch built"

expect a visit from gw's attorneys tomorrow morning, COPYRIGHT INFRINGER!!!!

I say bring it sister!

As it turns out, I can do whatever the heck I want for my own use and that's exactly what I'm going to do ;)

Out of curiosity thesceneuk, is this because of outside influence or personal choice?

"wolfgangbrooks, you've missed the point."

How exactly do you figure that? The guy says he wants to make some changes for his own sake, everyone starts off on the same ol' same ol' GW hates all of it's customers because it hates making money fantasy. So I point out their lack of reading comprehension. (Also often on display in the comments of a great many newsposts, GW related or not.)

So, pray tell, what point have I missed?

"These figures were liked for their resemblance to a larger scale line of miniatures."

I know, I've said nothing about that. IP infringement is practically the bedrock of the minis industry at this point. I don't really care, except for the sense of entitlement most people interested in this kind of thing display. "GW doesn't make it in this scale, and I want some. Therefore blatant IP piracy is OK, and I can slag off on GW for not catering to my every whim… especially when I never mention it to them."

Like I said, I didn't mention it before. But since you did…

I know, I know, I really ought to know by now never to post on TMP or any other minis message boards. :p

"So I point out their lack of reading comprehension…"

Perceived lack of reading comprehension was more like it. :p

I read and understood what the OP had written. I then asked if it was a C&D. That was not a conclusion jump or faulty reading skills. It was inference with a request for more info if it was available and able/willing to be shared.

I wasn't really talking about you. More JRacel and The Evil Morlab. If you want to take offense I won't try to stop you.

And since you apparently want to take offense; He made it abundantly clear it was HIS decision. If it really was a C&D he's chosen to say nothing about it and is misdirecting, but why would he bother? The cynic in me knows that he could get plenty of pity buys if he'd chosen to break out the big crocodile tears of "The big mean bully company is scaring me."

And if it was a C&D letter, there would just be an end to it, no 'until supplies are gone'. So yeah, lack of reading comprehension. You want to take issue with it? Tell me the place and we'll meet to have a slap fight about a passing comment on the internet. Whatever.

internet tough guys, gotta love em

Merry Christmas, Ben from a fellow Kentuckian.

I have to say I like the line just as they are. I have some 100 or so of the Orcs and will not likely buy into a half Orc type of SciFi range. With all the other new lines out there, it better be really great, to compete with them. As is the rage is just great, but I will have to see how the new ones go. If this is an IP issues I would point out all the other lines of Orc like minis in 15 out there. If those company's can sell them the Scene should be able to keep there range. Another thing would be to sell them to a bigger fish, one that GW will not touch. 15mm UK sells the AA range, and if you ask me they are blood axes if I have ever seen one. One of the reasions I have the AA ones is they looked just like the Blood axes I sold off on ebay yeas past.

So if this range is canned, I most likely will not buy into a half orc race.

Noel

Merry Christmas to ya, Privateer.

Grabula:"internet tough guys, gotta love em"

I knew I shouldn't have erased "sissy slap fight". In other words it was a joke or sarcasm…or both. :)

wolfgangbrooks

Not to beat a dead horse, but since you decided to single me out, if you did a little research, this line had issues when it was part of MJ. There appear to have been C&D letters way back when and the latest issues with The Scene appeared as that company was on a new crusade of C&D letters, so we assume it has to do with that that Mike is having to rethink the line. I could be wrong, but I will not push the subject. My intent was not to create an issue with you or anyone else on the issue of IP, but rather to express my disappointment at these minis going away in their current form since I like them and have a fair number of them. If this is Mike's decision great, if this is due to C&Ds from a certain company, oh well, guess they win. Normally folks don't come out and say it was a C&D since that has it's own issues. This appears to be a non-issue now since Mike has made his decision and we wish him the best on that endeavor.

Jeff

I'm sorry but I didn't single you out, and I definitely didn't mean to start anything. However it seems egos are easily bruised around here.

If there really was a problem "way back when" then it was unethical and quite probably illegal to sell the figures to The Scene in the first place. Also, if people did stay quiet when C&D letters are received then that whole stupid recent IP "controversy" wouldn't have happened.

In addition, this isn't the first time The Scene has thought about taking these off the market. (Indeed it's seemed to happen practically once a month this year.) And I don't even follow the company. :p

My original point still stands. He made his intentions and reasons perfectly clear in his first post. It was a "non issue" as you say from the start.

For your information, these products were taken off the market once before, some 6 or 7 weeks ago. They were off sale for three weeks. That was the first time since I have owned the range.

Mike

Sorry wolfgangbrooks, no bruised egos here. I agree that I think the folks that sold the line to Mike should have been more forth coming with details about possible problems he might face over IP issues. I am very grateful to Mike for having gotten these back in production for as long as he has been able to and look forward to seeing where he can take the range in the future with his conversions. While many of us are sad to see the old line go, I am certain Mike has had more than his share of issues with this line and would love to get back to selling some miniatures without the drama.

Happy Holidays,

Jeff

Hit the nail on the head there Jeff
I am concentrating on moving forward and getting some new figures done.

Mike

JRacel:"I am certain Mike has had more than his share of issues with this line and would love to get back to selling some miniatures without the drama."

People were creating their own drama and that was why I first posted the thread. So please don't try to foist that on me.

Plus, I seriously doubt this thread has stopped him from doing anything. :)

Thesceneuk: "For your information, these products were taken off the market once before, some 6 or 7 weeks ago."

At least three times in the last few months I remember seeing news messages about the line being sold out, not for sale anymore, or back in stock. I was exaggerating, note the qualifiers in the aside;'seems like' and 'practically'.

"I am concentrating on moving forward and getting some new figures done."

*sigh* Which is exactly what both of us said in the first place…