"CAV prices doubling? Come on Reaper…." Topic

Has anyone else noticed that the prices for Reaper CAV metals have doubled as of about a week ago? A fellow over at LaF pointed this out and I found it kind of surprising. I realize that they probably want their new Bones CAVs to look as appealing as possible pricewise for the Kickstarter that comes in a few days, but that's kind of ridiculous. There are now some CAV's that cost 30+ bucks!

Here's the order the fellow placed two weeks ago along with the prices that now exist. It's in euros, so it may look a bit different for those checking the website now.
07111: Warhawk €6.63 x1 13.27
07092: Thunderbird €9.12 x1 18.25
07082: Revenant €6.63 x1 13.27
24590: Tiger € 9.95 x1 19.90
24542: Conqueror € 8.29 x1 16.60
24533: Knight € 7.46 x1 14.93
24520: Specter € 8.29 x1 16.59
24519: Simba € 12.44 x1 24.80
24516: Dauntless € 8.29 x1 16.59
24514: Gnomic € 9.12 x 18.25
24513: Tomahawk €9.12 x1 18.25
24508: Weasel € 7.46 x1 14.93
24503: Razor € 7.46 x1 14.93

A strait doubling across the board!

I was planning on buying into the KS for some new 10mm units to add to my sci-fi forces. I was not planning on buying much/any metal models anyway, but there s not one model on that list that I'd pay the new price for. I also wonder if this will "allow" them to charge as nearly as much for the bones as they metal's used to cost because they'll be compared to these new prices for metal.

It's also a deterrent to considering buying the actual game, because unless they're going to put ALOT of models into Bones, you're going to have to buy some metal models if you want to grow your collection/force.

I painted some CAVs for Bruce Hirst recently. He sent me twenty (2 each of ten types) with instructions to paint the best cast of the two. They were horrible, horrible casts. Mold slippage, pitting, soft edges, you name it. Unless they made new molds I wouldn't dare to buy a CAV at even the old price.

CAV prices have been going up steadily for years now, this is not a sudden increase. Considering how much some of those CAV mechs weigh in $30 USD for a couple of the larger ones wouldn't surprise me. Casts like that don't sound like typical Reaper quality control. I would have contacted Reaper immediately and those would have been replaced.

If you want to know what's going on then you can always ask directly or at least post in their own forum.

I thought I heard they discontinued, rounded up, and slagged them all…?

Reaper products can always be ordered directly from Reaper. They do cull numbers every year of poor sellers and those go into the NiC list (not in catalog). So a store can't get it through the distributor but it will be on the Reaper website and can be ordered directly. The exception is limited edition and licensed miniatures.

They were horrible, horrible

Sounds like the latest version of the CAV rules as well. :(

So, when exactly does the CAV Bones Kickstarter start? I might be interested if it's a good source for cheap 10mm Sci-Fi minis.

Heisler,
Except that it is sudden! It's a doubling in price of what appears to be every sku, in one swoop. I don't know exactly when it took effect, but the earlier prices above are what they sold for, just 2 weeks before the new prices were ordered. That's not a steady increase.

Chris Palmer,
The KS starts in 7 days. There's a countdown here:
talon-games.com

Thanks!

I went on their website and yeah, the prices are way up there. Doesn't make much sense to me when you're competing against HG and Battletech which are both much cheaper and better established.

If you want steep prices Reaper add around $150 USD to the complete paint set if you buy in pounds, after sending 2 emails they said itwas so they could offer free worldwide postage … and I was free to go elsewhere… a polite way of saying go forth and multiply.

Heavy Gear cheaper? Not for anywhere near the same size model. Same with Battletech.

Do we need them to be the same size?

How annoying. Been meaning to get some true scale Merlins to use as dropships for a year. Now they are $21. USD Don't think I will now.

"Do we need them to be the same size?"

You want to hang an argument on DP9's pricing of a 35mm-tall humaniform model vs. Reaper pricing of a 50mm tall bulky strider with guns larger than the DP9 model? Or that the largest of the Battletech mechs only fall into the mid-range of the CAV models for size?

One example dragged from the Reaper and DP9 sites today: The CAV Centurion is currently priced at $33 USD, and is one of the most expensive I found in my brief survey. I own one (as it is big enough to repurpose to 15mm) and it comes in at 52mm to top of missile pods. The DP9 Naga Southern Strider is, if you point the guns forward instead of upward, also right at 50mm, but is considerably less bulky. DP9 charges $40 USD for it.

Bones is not the answer. I bought two "Bones" pieces, one was fine but the other was warped. I tried the old modelers trick, hot water, gentle bending, cold water to set. Over night the warp reappeared, I tried again, it warped again, after the fifth time I gave up. These were my first Reaper figures and I think that they may be my last, which is a pity because there are a couple more I really need but I don't need them warped.

The HG comparison is not perfectly apt, but it's fairly accurate. Most gamers find HG prices to be ridiculous, but they do sell because they have a fairly strong fanbase and a large and well developed universe.

CAV unfortunately has neither, and being 20 percent cheaper than ridiculous isn't much of an achievement, especially when you don't have the other factors that ridiculous has going for it.

That said, if CAV can get alot of it's minis into Bones and keep the QC up, they could have a shot at sticking around this time. Alot will depend on how good these bones are. I've had pretty good experiences with Bones, though there were a few stinkers in my KS. I think it could go either way. There are alot of long barrels on CAV minis, so it won't be too hard to see which way the wind blows on this one.

I won't do Bones again. I did the first KS and my experience with those has been sufficient for an informed opinion.

Interestingly, at Reaper's GenCon speed painting competition, they used metal minis, and I heard people repeatedly asking for reassurance that they wouldn't be using Bones.

"You want to hang an argument on DP9's pricing of a 35mm-tall humaniform model vs. Reaper pricing of a 50mm tall bulky strider with guns larger than the DP9 model? Or that the largest of the Battletech mechs only fall into the mid-range of the CAV models for size?"

No, but on the fact that no alternatives are being presented, short of EM-4.

Although, Miniature Market still have Falcons Prey boosters for $3 USD…

The reason for the steep price hike is because Reaper stopped production on their cheap lead metal line, which was apparently used for CAV. They don't expect enough CAV metal sales with the advent of CAV Bones to continue running a separate lead based melting pot, so they are back to using the expensive metal used for their metal main line.

It is of course not a bad move just before the KS kicks off either. I'm curious what the bones prices will be. If it's to expensive I'll just not buy them, although I've planned to buy a life times worth of Bones ;-)

The prices are very high though, $22 USD for a Tomahawk, a similar IWM BT Archer is $14.25 USD

Cavalier books in UK still have the whitemetal moulds for most of reapers CAVs.