"Plastic Sisters of Battle" Topic

have finally arrived. Just not from GW:

link

They look fantastic, but what gives? This company pay off Russian border guards to shoot GW lawyers on sight?

Russia, like China, doesn't really have much respect for IP. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have to pay off Russian border guards to shoot any Western lawyers on sight. That is probably just SOP.

At least they aren't just straight up re-casts like so much of the stuff coming out of there.

Shows what is possible. I doubt that this plastic is HIPS, though. Looks more like a resin variant.

Those are really nice looking – but just like Sisters of Battle. So they may not be available for long.

The proportions look strange. Like the upper torso isn't in scale with the legs, or something.

They are 'War Maidens' so nothing to do with any GW product. Look nice.

GW Legal gets too snitty, HQ in Nottingham will find itself 'annexed' in order to preserve the rights of the native Russian citizens and protect the Kremlin's regional strategic interests.

I like them, a simple yes or no to the product would be perfectly acceptable, do you want them or not? Or is the 'origin' of product hard to swallow? They had the guts to make them that's more than GW had.

Methinks it's more an IP issue than a question of courage. But hey…

The proportions look strange. Like the upper torso isn't in scale with the legs, or something.

Made my day, at last we have a call for anatomically accurate females in sci-fantasy. :)
Less this

More like this

This company pay off Russian border guards to shoot GW lawyers on sight?

Well after the Chapterhouse Lawsuit GW lawyers have very little bite anymore.

Which is why GW is putting out things that they can control.

"Or is the 'origin' of product hard to swallow?"

The origin of the product is hard to swallow. If people don't respect IP rights there won't be a whole lot of incentive for anyone to design any new thing. So if people are out there buying these and GW can't do anything about it, then GW's brand loses out.

If that happens and anyone in Russia or China can make knock-off GW stuff cheaper then it will eat into GW's profits.

"Great" say the haters. "Anything that can damage GW is good for some reason."

But wait. . . the money that was going to GW is now going to someone in Russia. Some of it is going to Putin. Jobs in the UK are going to be replaced with jobs in Russia.

Of course resin Sisters of Battle won't do this alone. As a matter of fact one or two of these companies couldn't possibly supply the demand for GW product over the whole range. But if it is profitable enough more and more companies will come on board and then they will eat out the profit that GW makes.

It will probably hurt other companies that aren't as well established more. People that have recognizable IP, like Hordes and Warmachine, but don't have the market penetration of GW or the direct to customer sales of GW.

Now they don't have the sales of them either so they are less likely to be targets at first.

I think that one could make the argument that knock off bits, like different legs or arms or weapons might make the company that they are derived from more money. I'm not sure that things like these will.

They could, in that people might buy a SoB army now and buy the specialists from GW, but if they crank out a whole range of them then it could hurt GW in the long run.

If nothing else, this might persuade GW to speed up their release schedule for new plastic SoB. I remember when an Ebay vendor was selling resin Eldar jetbikes based on a Jes Goodwin redesign under the label "one-elf sky-scooter" (which did violate IP of course) which sat on the shelf for many years, GW released the redesigned jetbikes not long thereafter replacing the old "chopper" style jetbikes that's been around since the early '90s.

I doubt these are hurting GW very much. 40K has a cottage industry for miniatures that fit perfectly within the 40K universe but not offered (or ever will be offered) by GW.

Like this company for instance: wargameexclusive.com

Does anyone need to fill a Tau samurai niche, or play Death Race 40000?

If GW lets things go OOP then they deserve what they get, let someone else fill the void with knock offs.

But the Sisters are not OOP.

link

Besides, even if it weren't in production they would still own the IP. Do you think it would be reasonable for squatters to live in parts of your house that you don't use or your neighbors play volleyball in your yard when you are out of town without asking?

@Pictors

I stand corrected I thought they were out of production.

Your example of a house and yard has merit!

I would offer another analogy considering what they have done with their other games…

You buy a chess board and start collecting pieces for it. Suddenly the company that makes this chess set announces it will no longer support this product. You still need rooks and bishops to complete your set but now you cannot find them. Ebay is an option for exorbitant prices and even then you have to wait long periods of time for some items to come up for sale.

I will take any alternative offered IP be damned!

Have they actually made any new Sisters of Battle? I mean actual powered-armored Sisters since the 1990's, not the nekkid lady chainsaw squad with dominatrix.

Have they actually made any new Sisters of Battle?

There have been rumors of new plastic SoB for at least two years. Supposedly new minis are already designed, but GW hasn't given the green-light for their release. Here's the last update from bols: link

I believe the current SoB figures are so old they're among the last 40K figures designed by Alan and Michael Perry.

>is the 'origin' of product hard to swallow?

Not at all. As far as I am concerned, I have no problems buying stuff from Russia.

I have trouble buying from outside the EU, but that concerns US companies as well. Custom hassles me indiscriminately here :-)

While these use the SOB as models, I have no problems. Its not that GW invented all their stuff – they borrowed heavily. As these are no recasts I will gladly incorporate them into my SoB army (that ran out of new stuff for almost a decade now) – when I get a chance to buy them at a decent price.

GW has left the back door open for these to be produced.

These are blatant and undeniable copies of Sisters of Battle.

These aren't 'inspired by' them… the only way for them to be more like Sisters of Battle would be as direct recasts.

If it was my design and someone had just blatantly stolen it, I would be mortified.

"GW left the back door open"? No they didn't… someone smashed the window, walked into their home, rifled their posessions and stole what they wanted.

Yeah people get pretty up in arms when Russians copy something. The entire UK and US garage casting industry gets a free pass tho. Unlicensed xenomorphs? Sweet! Unlicensed battlestars? Sweet! Unlicensed Dr. Who? Just keep 'em coming!

They don't get a free pass from me… they are worse than the Russians because what they do is done in the knowledge that it is illegal here… At least the Russian IP thieves are only immoral… ours are illegal and immoral.

"GW left the back door open"? No they didn't… someone smashed the window, walked into their home, rifled their posessions and stole what they wanted.

Oh and design better miniatures than GW as well.

Oh and nothing Immoral about this.

GW is not providing the miniatures so someone else did and did a better job doing it.

If you wrote out a famous poem by a famous poet and then put your name to it, it would be plagiarism.

What this company has done is the miniatures version of that.

It is immoral because they didn't come up with the design and didn't get permission to use it… no matter how well they sculpted it, it isn't their design.

As I said before, if it was my work that had blatantly been copied without my consent, I would be very upset. I would also imagine that if it was a small company having its design work stolen, it could lead to the demise of the company.

I know that you have a 'thing' about GW but just because they are your least favourite company, it doesn't make IP stealers any better.

Theft is theft… even if it is just pens from the stationery cupboard of a multi million pound conglomerate… Intellectual Property is still a 'thing' and if stealing it is within your moral compass, then no amount of me saying how bad it is will change that.

100% agreed with Mithmee. Welcome to capitalism at it's purist from. There is a demand for a product and someone chose to meet that demand.
Hence, the back door was indeed open.
GW have been borrowing from the very start. There is close to nothing produced by GW that's doesn't have a precursor somewhere. That's the nature of the beast. Sure the SOB are one of the more original ideas, to an extent. But hey… Joan Of Arc.

Oops. OK
Pictors- thanks for the linked product line. Yes these are still in production so Intrtract my statement about the one back door.

Capitalism in its purest form… exploitation for profit with no remorse, morals or responsibility…

Hmmm…

Blatant copying of an existing profit goes a bit beyond that but I guess we all have our opinions and I guess, legally speaking, if there isn't a law against it in the country of origin then there is no problem…

Morally is a bit different but then, if it's all about the dough then morals don't matter (apparently)… it's just about being able to get what you want as cheaply as you can and to hell with how you get it.

it isn't their design

Actually it is their design unless you can prove that they copied a GW design actually.

GW is the biggest offender of stealing someone design and then trying to make it their own.

GW has even stated that if you buy their miniatures it is illegal for you to convert it.

Well excuse me once I brought that miniature it is mine and I can do would whatever I want with it. The only thing that I cannot do with it is make recast of them.

They had for years ran rough shod other others then they actually had to fight a Lawsuit and they did not fair all that well.

I'll bow out now :)

Obviously opinions differ and some see this blatant copying as fine, others don't.

Not a GW fan (the company I mean. I like the games just fine), but I'm on their side here. This is blatant IP infringement. These aren't "not-SOB". These are Sisters not made by GW.

GW has even stated that if you buy their miniatures it is illegal for you to convert it.

When and where did they say this? This sounds incredibly stupid even for GW.

It was in one of their legal flyers from over a decade ago.

They actually did state this.

Remember this is the company that went after many sites where fans of their games would post stuff.

link

link

They know that the players can put a better game together then they can.

This abusive activity went on until they got smacked around in the Chapterhouse Lawsuit.