"Quality of Warhammer Old World figures?" Topic

I am fortunate never to have jumped on the GW bandwagon, but a local store carries a ton of their stuff. Anyway, I was in there yesterday and I heard 20-something man tell his companion that he was worried about the quality of the figures since GW was simply reusing old and possible worn out molds. I thought that was interesting.

Can anyone comment on the figure quality? Are they good figures, or not?

Depends.

Some of the old figures, which were cutting edge 20-30 years ago look a bit dated. Ok, a lot dated.

But GW can do nice stuff – from the newer AOS figure I thought the Nighthaunts were very impressive, I find the Orks pretty dire but I always have.

The old world stuff looks to be a mix of new and relatively ancient figures so overall "variable quality".

The mold quality shouldn't be a factor, if those molds were originally cut in steel. Those molds can last for decades. Tamiya still has a kit in releaser that was originally released in 1968.

Damon

That's right – I should have clarified that I was talking about sculpt quality

That's right – I should have clarified that I was talking about sculpt quality

On that I absolutely agree. The Common Goblins released with the OnG army are pretty dire. They were dire back in 6e when I bought them the first time. At least now, with 25mm basing, they'll rank up.

I have less issues with the Orcs than I do with the common goblins. To the point that if I collect an OnG army, I'll either do Night Goblins using the later figures (the old figures got released too!), or go 3rd party for my goblin troops.

Damon.

This picture sort of says it all. The old minis look very old compared to modern ones. Anyone buying chunky lead historicals probably won't notice.

Depends on the figure. A lot of the older ones had character while a lot of the new ones look technically brilliant but don't capture that same sense of wonder.

nostalgia aint what it used to be

They're not old. They're "retro". And everyone knows that retro is cool.

They are bringing back an old game, after all. The fans and the way in which they are/can do it means entirely new figure ranges are not an option.

It would be cheap and easy for them to replace centrifuge moulds if there are any issues, as I'd assume they kept the tins/master moulds.

The moulds for injection can wear and have issues, but can be repaired also.

I would doubt there would be any visible issues. They appear to still have the original dates on the sprues, so that would suggest the original moulds.

I would doubt they would release figures with obvious issues. PS Finecast! Doh! But that's exactly why they wouldn't want a repeat.

They have adjusted some metal figures to be more appropriate for resin casting, refining details. But this may also suggest the loss of the tins or master mould that made them.

Due to the nature of rereleasing ranges that were originally endlessly tacked on, tacked on over many decades, there is of course variation in quality/style.

The only other option would have been complete overhaul that would be costly and only put off fans.

It is good that they are releasing so many figures. The orcs have loads available, older, newer, brand new, and real old. Something for everyone, whilst producing a cost effective rerelease of the universe.

The problem with the new stuff like AOS is all the fragile sticky hooky bits that are a pain all around.

WFB had a style that is less difficult. The sprues were easier to deal with as well as being nicely spaced out with arranged pieces that you can actually get a tool inbetween.