39 minutes ago, twincast said:

They are toys, not food, and more importantly in cardboard boxes, so the air doesn't bother me too much.

As for the horrid mountains of plastic baggies so far: While I'm (sadly) sure that most people throw them away, at least they can be of further use for tokens and stuff. (Unlike the rip-open single-use ones by LEGO etc.) The same can't be said of this sprue. Even the old Citadel plastic kits (Cadians, Termagants,...) aren't that wasteful. Well, I guess the sprues of a single B1 box could be enough to make a small building out of, but who does that?

I've used sprues to build machine gun nests, tank traps, barricades, rubble, to hold assembled riders during painting, to fill hollow spaces to reinforce models, and probably even more uses that I can't recall right now.

1 hour ago, That Blasted Samophlange said:

while we get the pieces in little baggies, they are likely produced on a sprue.

Well, obvi... Oh dear, so they have always been this wasteful? Granted, one would expect them to melt and reuse the sprues, so maybe that is why they haven't bothered yet to improve their mold-making process.

23 minutes ago, Caimheul1313 said:

I've used sprues to build machine gun nests, tank traps, barricades, rubble, to hold assembled riders during painting, to fill hollow spaces to reinforce models, and probably even more uses that I can't recall right now.

My point was that a lower percentage does this than reuses baggies and that thus more plastic goes to waste (dumps) with this sprue than usual.

If they're not shipping on sprue, there's probably a good argument to be made for sparse layouts as it makes it easier to ensure everything is both clipped off properly and organized together assuming they stick with the 1 model per baggy thing we've seen.

Good point. Doesn't change that they should've stepped up their game for these droids we're looking at, though.

Many model kits have sprues loosely arranged like this. It's usually for either the customer to be able to remove the bits more easily, with less risk of damaging them, or because of the properties of whatever particular blend of plastic they are using dictates the mold design.

I like it, will be easier to remove all the pieces.

21 hours ago, GreatMazinkaiser said:

Err... assuming these are made out of styrene that shouldn't be necessary. I've never had to clean a single one of GW's sprues; resin is another story.

I've been building styrene models for decades and I can assure you that mold release is definitely a potential issue for styrene parts. My experience with GW plastic is that their release agent is not very problematic for painting, but plenty of manufacturers do use some pretty greasy release, so cleaning them first ain't a bad idea.

Air doesn't cost anything, though there does seem to be more sprue than actual model. That looks close to the dimensions of one of their boxes. It's possible that size is on purpose so it doesn't rattle around so much in the box.

I was kinda wondering myself why so many people were worried about the "extra" space. Shelf presence isn't likely to change, so even with less things in the box (assuming the black tray isn't necessary or all the little baggies), it'll likely be the same size as a unit box is now.

Quick info about packaging sizes for those interested:

A lot more factors play a role. Shelf space/visibility is known, difficult to steal is a minor advantage too, but there are a few other things:

First of all, things in this world are moved on palettes and in containers with standardized volumes. Your packaging needs to allow a fully packed palette to meet those standards, so it needs to add up to exact measurements along each side. Otherwise you need extra padding (extra cost) and might have problems with stack stability in warehouses, especially if the items are of relatively light weight (as plastic miniatures often are).

Another factor is that not every size of packaging is equally expensive - unprinted cardboard boxes are not immune to the economy of scale. While FFG is pretty big, they ll get the best quotes from their manufacturers for certain standard sizes the manufacturer prefers to use.

On top of that, cover artwork doesnt look so good if upscaled or downscaled a lot from its intended design. Especially script and artwork becomes hard to read, or needs to be printed larger (relatively) to the artwork underneath, making the whole packaging unappealing. There are a couple of frame sizes that the human eye likes to look at, and going above or below that significantly is not good for recognition or appeal.

Next thing is crushing resistance. This is related to the stacking mentioned earlier: If you fill up palettes REALLY efficiently with plastic, the weight of the entire thing will be **** on the cardboard boxes on the bottom. While smaller containers are generally more resistant to crushing, its a matter of mathematics. Suffice to say, its easier and cheaper to make larger boxes from less durable cardboard, than to make smaller boxes of high quality to withstand the pressure.

Last factor (from me. This is not an exhaustive treatise on this obviously) is shipping damages. There are a number of typical damages or incidents happening during transportation. Most of them involve bumping, squeezing or scratching/ripping. Larger packaging (the outer layer on the stack, anyway) works as a better bumper/cushion for the entire shipment. In addition, chances for the product inside the damaged packaging to survive and be able to be sold off as transportation damage, or as replacement parts for customer service, is higher with roomy, large packaging allowing for some movement of the miniatures.

Source: I run a logistics company for a couple years now.

That extra space in the box is saving you from having to file complaints about broken models and bent cards all the time. Like @Kaiju pointed out, I've unloaded pallets that had no extra space in any box and anything inside. That was the most damage I've ever seen to a single pallet that hadn't been run into by a forklift.

some air is good!