Just to weigh in on the PVC vs hard plastic....

From a gaming standpoint, the durability of PVC and the lower production costs (usually resulting in cheaper minis and faster releases) is a point in it's favor, but that's about it. As folks have said even after reshaping spears and such, they can re-warp out of shape in the future and once their painted the hot-and-cold water method is out so you're basically stuck with using a hair dryer and hoping for the best. As has been said above, I think the Runewars PVC figs are perfectly satisfactory, better than Descent, assemble easily and are very well designed to take into account the limitations of PVC. However the fact remains that they are PVC figs and there are definite limitations to the material.

I'm going to say that from a modeling standpoint multipart plastics are superior to PVC in almost every way. Mold lines are easier to clean on hard plastic, they can be easily sanded/filed, the ability to use solvent glue means that miniatures can be assembled even more quickly. They are easier to break, but they can also be easily repaired. Further, they hold thier shape and hold detail better and aren't suceptible to heat warpage.

I understand folks desire to defend the material-of-choice of their favorite game/company and for a game company trying to crossover from boardgame to full-on-miniature wargaming, PVC is probably the best choice, but that doesn't change the fact that High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS or Hard Plastic) is simply a better material for modeling.

As for those referrencing Imperial Assault figs, they are lovely figs, are just about the pinnacle of PVC gaming minis, and honestly have all the detail I'd personally require in miniatures, but they are still not "state-of-the-art" when it comes to miniature sculpting and detail and as long as they are made of PVC they never will be.