"Defiance Games Plastic SF Marines Up for Order" Topic

Certainly, the plausibility and the quality of the DG's Alien Wars background fluff would be a legit TMP scifi board subject… Of another thread altogether but still.

Both DF and GZG's universes/fluff seem plausible to me.

Any SF universe that has plausibility is not welcome in my head. Far better things to beat up on DG over.

Or do you really think a dead dude can use his telepathic powers, fueled by the sacrifice of litle Psychic kids, as a Galaxy-spanning Lighthouse, that The Kzinn would really put up with all the puppetteers nonsense or that Darth Vader was originally going to be Luke and Leia's father?

Pat

'Or do you really think a dead dude can use his telepathic powers, fueled by the sacrifice of litle Psychic kids, as a Galaxy-spanning Lighthouse, that The Kzinn would really put up with all the puppetteers nonsense or that Darth Vader was originally going to be Luke and Leia's father?'

yup, ;-)

This maybe of interest (Xeno_RG @ LAF = Richard Gaulding @ TMP)…
link

That is the word from Tony -- boxes started printing on Monday and, in conjunction with sprue production, they should have enough to start shipping next week. I haven't asked, but I'm assuming the goal is to get enough to ship all outstanding direct and distributor orders rather than doing it piecemeal. It's gonna be a lot of fun for Tony, Howard, Tim, and a couple of local volunteers packing all those boxes!

We have production figure samples of these Marines 'in-hand' now.

We will be taking them to SALUTE 2012 for anybody who wishes to view them, please speak to Jed on our game-demo stand TG07/GH15.

Sorry its so brief, things are a tad rushed pre-SALUTE.

/Dee

They finally posted an image of the bonus figure for those who pre-order.

the detail seems to show up better on that Gunny model – which is unfortunate as, IMO, it's hideous. The pose is terrible – looks like he's ready for a brokeback mountain 'adventure – come n get me boys' rather than anything else (not that having a gay marine sergeant is wrong – unless nothing has changed in the future of the USMC), the face is awful too – I assume though this is another digital to print sculpt – just someone playing with 3D software and not a sculptor? Looks like a step backwards.

Much, much better casting though which gives me more optimism for the bugs. :-)

But that isn't an actual model.

I did Defiance a diservice by mistakenly posting the huge pictures of the pre-production castings because having just seen the production sprues that Jed had with him at Salute (haven't received mine yet)I can honestly say that the improvement over the ones I have is immeasurable! Casting and moulding is sharp and detail is quite crisp. Whether you like them or not is another matter.

Cheers David! The final versions will be to you shortly! Along with "Gunny". ;-)

But that isn't an actual model.

shame, the detail looked good despite the figure being fugly.

Why no sleeves, elbow pads? Otherwise rather nice useful figures.

So, have any paying customers received their figures? Close-up pictures? Reviews??

Pat

I wonder if the people who preordered will have to wait for their miniatures until Tony "pulls the trigger" on this model and all the inherent delays that will be caused by this.
Will this also mean that retailers will get the models before those who pre-ordered? Are we going to have another situation where he sells pre-ordered stock to other people in order to generate more money?

The bonus model has been done for a while, actually.

Interesting that per the website they have had to change the title and logos from USMC to UAMC as the former is copyrighted – I had thought that might be well be the case (esp the use of the motto etc) as for example the RCMP did that years ago

Richard, is this like when you said that the bugs were in production or the marines were in stock?

Because the actual model sent to Tony et al is in a tacky blue colored plastic, plus I don't have (and haven't asked for) permission to show the picture.

But, it. Here you go:

That's the sample. The real one should be in the gray-colored stuff you are all familiar with.

So by 'done' you meant 'test castings'. Has the trigger actually been pulled?

he still looks really camp LOL

United Americas Mincing Core :-) – can you do the next ones as a policeman, red indian etc ;-p

And of course – we now have 10 pages – but do we actually have any figures in customer's hands? [as opposed to reviewers or "insiders"]
And when are they likely to be available in the UK?

Gary Flack 26 Apr 2012 2:07 a.m. PST:

And of course – we now have 10 pages – but do we actually have any figures in customer's hands?

There may be some but generally speaking no. According to Richard, the date for packing and posting is set tho (but obviously he can't tell us what it is) so we probably won't get another 10 pages (-:)

Retailers are to be expected to get the Marines in "short order", according to the "Gunny" thread OP. No specific word about UK IIRC tho.

Richard's posts have been so accurate thus far, who would question what he says?

Hey, only one I was inaccurate on was the Bug, and that was more me being ed off at the constant screeching about "IT DON'T SAY PREORDER ON PAGE ONE!"

They're getting boxed up today, by the way. I suppose if the truck breaks down they won't ship but, you know, barring mechanical error the post office stamp will be 4/26/12 or 4/27/12 (maybe 4/28/12 if the boxing takes longer than expected).

Did lying about the Bugs make you feel much less bleeped?

I didn't know USPS takes in parcel post on Saturdays but then again, why would I know such things.

I got an e-mail this morning saying that the Marines are now shipping.

I don't remember being on any mailing list… but there you go.

Take it on face value :).

It's also on the news at DG site:
link

The actual text says more @ "packing" but all the same, it can't be many days now…

When you claimed that the marines were in stock and they weren't, would you consider that accurate?

we'll have the first few thousand boxes out over the next few days!

People have pre-ordered thousands of boxes of these things? Seriously? and not one 'Where the Hell are my Marines I preordered in November WAAAAAAA!' thread, when people start threads complaining about other manufacturers taking two whole weeks to ship their toys?

Nowt so queer as folk.

Pat

Possibly a good number of those "few thousand boxes" are intended for shipping to retailers/distributors rather than directly to customers.

Marine boxes at Hobby Bunker, taken with the blurry camera commented on so many times.

So . . . does this count as "in stock" yet?

Here's some painted up by Markos Eugene:

More at the site: defiancegames.com

The hickups along the way have been unfortunate, but it's cool that these are finally here. I like the fully enclosed helmet and think it would be a pretty easy conversion to remove the rolled up sleeves and paint the bare arms like they are covered. Probably greenstuff or etch some sleeve/glove lines at the wrist as well.

I'll check with my local store to see if any distributors they use have these.

So . . . does this count as "in stock" yet?

Yes, because they're in stock. At no point before this was that true. I've mostly stayed out of opining on this because I don't really know anything about the WGF/Defiance history. But they weren't in stock before and I didn't appreciate that it was consistently made unclear.

These look nice enough though, and I tend not to wish ill on anyone without good reason, so here's hoping for the best for Tony and co. But please, next time, use meaningful words that express what's actually going on so we're not upset by the lack of clarity.

+1

how come the camera is only shaky/blurry for the right hand side of the picture (where the DF boxes are) yet we can see the left hand side nice and clearly? very strange….

Here's how to do it in future, where the following is all one post:

Hello TMP!

We just wanted to let everyone know that our very first 28mm (1/56 scale) hard plastic set – USMC Infantry – for our Alien War range is now available to purchase!

<cut the next 10 pages and several months>

Here's some painted up by Markos Eugene:
<picture>

Shipping now.

More at the site: defiancegames.com

No renders of one set of legs, no pictures of boxes, no hangers-on telling everyone "For the record, some trivial garbage… give me validation pleeeaaaase", no shaky videos, certainly no releasing sub-standard test frames into the wild, no painted figures of a lower standard than that in the above picture, no possible copyright violation, no taking money before product is ready, and in general no making public announcements at all.

In return, there will be no bloated threads on TMP, Lead Adventure, Dakka, or Frothers (thought the Frothers one has been unbelievably amusing).

You need to do promotion, yes, but once product is in hand.

Richard, yes, that means in stock. Distinctly different than when you wrote they were or the five months that the website claimed they were, when in neither case that was the truth.
This store has got them, who has them that preordered them?

Maybe the picture's shaky because the photographer was in a hurry. Why would he be in a hurry? Well, see that stack of product on the floor to the right of the picture? What if, and this is pure supposition, what if someone had gone into the hobby shop with some empty (maybe full) boxes, slapped them on the hastily emptied shelf and taken a quick photo before the angry shop staff came to see who was messing with the stock?

Packed over the weekend and on the shelves Monday? Good postal service, almost supernatural :)

Obviously the above isn't true, the hordes of vocal fans shouting about how they got their orders are testament to that.
Oh, wait…

Good job on those figures to Mr. Eugene, more proof positive that when these arrive, they will be substandard tripe not worth the cost they're asking. Those boots! Those helmets! good god, are they dreadful figures.

Matakishi you're a very suspicious man, but now you mention it could/does look like that…………

I suppose that could be the case but . . . Hobby Bunker lists the Defiance Marines as being part of their inventory so . . .

link

Also, I finally found something that expresses my opinion of all this mess:

YouTube link

So they've got them before the pre-order customers?

A quick googlemaps says that Defiance is located within 5 miles of Hobby Bunker. Basic logic suggests that the mail arrives to a closer destination before it arrives to a farther destination.

Edit: Actually, I just realized Defiance Games doesn't have their address posted on their website, aside from "Boston" (they should change that). According to the order confirmation e-mail I received, Defiance Games is located in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Hobby Bunker is located in Malden Massachusetts, a few mi/km to the north, a.k.a. a short drive.

So now there's a photo of what may or may not be empty boxes on a shelf at their local gaming store?

Could be worse I suppose, could be a render of some boxes on a shelf.

Well now our laugh at a 6 month episode of 'How Not to Run a Gaming Company' may be coming to an end I find myself slightly nostalgic already.

Here's hoping the German boxset comes with too many arms, has mickey mouse in the logo without permission, takes 7 months to actually reach anyone who paid for them and along the way there's fake letters from the postmaster general and an armed robber to explain why it isn't Defiance's fault and they aren't remotely incompetent. Cheers!

The Warstore set me an e-mail saying mine shipped yesterday so . . . 3-5 business days?

Well here in the UK Dave Ryan of Caliver Books is advertising them at £23.99 GBP a box or just under £70.00 GBP for 3 in his latest mail shot
So hopefully that means they are on their way to the UK if not here already
Hopefully …