I got to say, I really don't like the move to hard plastic with spruces.

While GW fanboys like it, the whole concept of FFG miniatures was ease of setup. Putting the Battle Droids together was a pain and took so much longer than the clones. Another issue is price point. I notice the price is increasing with the Super Battle Droids and the Phase II clones, yet the boxes don't appear to have more plastic and/or more bulk than previous box sets, so why the increase in price?

I love the hard plastic. I have only ever played FFG miniatures games (X-wing and Legion).

I cant wait until the entire line is in hard plastic. Better detail, no missing parts and no bent gun barrels or lightsaber blades.

I bet they will keep the core sets as soft plastic to ease new people into the modeling aspect.

FFG has already expressed the desire to move to hard plastics for all models going forward and to re-do the existing kits in hard plastic as well.

apparently the upcoming waves were the PVC plastic because it was already in process before they switched to hard Plastics.

ive been building not only war games hard plastics but also model kits from plastic on frame for a while.

While I welcome the transition, I did enjoy my time with the PVC models from an ease of assembly perspective.

And unfortunately, the hard plastics are just going to end up being sharper detailed than what the PVC models could retain, Alex Daveys (I believe) said that they’ve pushed that process to its limits, hence the transition

I preferred the PVC as well (game first, models #2) but the move to hard plastic isn't a deal breaker.

Star Wars: Armada, Legion, and X-wing are the only TTGs I’ve played, I have to say, I much prefer the hard plastics. Yes, the droids were infinitely more challenging to assemble, but I also think they were very much more rewarding. So much detail, they just turned out so good!

I’ll be happy to see how the new hard plastics look for other models too.

I really don’t like the hard plastics either. It’s not for me.

Most hard plastic models won't be nearly as bad as the B1s, though.

I, for one, welcome our new hard plastic overlords.

Well, the new hard plastic miniatures do actually have more plastic in them: the sprues. They add more weight, which can increase shipping costs.

I will point out that hard plastic doesn't guarantee that parts won't be missing, I've opened boxes before of GW minis where an air bubble caused a part of the mold to not be filled with plastic, resulting in a "miscast" or outright missing piece. Probably less likely than with the current system where the minis are cut off the excess before packaging, but it is still possible.

Good luck building a droideka out of that restic garbage ) without it looking like its Star Wars CMG counterpart.

Which is not to say that it's a treat to assemble... Still wish they'd opt for chunkier details so as to be better suited for handling.

They need to up their spue design game for beginners sure, but hard plastics is a good thing. Less floppy lightsabers and more/sharper detail? Yes please....

If you don't get what I'm talking about grab dooku and compare his saber to grevious'.

As a veteran of 40k... BRING IT ON!

Never played GW games, but I'm psyched for the switch. Yes, they will take longer to assemble, but the finished product will look much, much nicer. Hard plastic makes having other options and variety in model building a little easier, and that's certainly a good thing. Hopefully, we'll eventually see extra stuff being included on sprues like Warlord does with Bolt Action, so we really can customize individual minis and squads.

The amount of plastic in the box isn't reflected in the change in cost. That's down to different production and design costs overall. I don't know anything about how the pvc molds are made or the casting process. But for polystyrene casting the molds are tooled from solid steel and cost thousands each.

I feel ambivalent about the change. I'm used to polystyrene minis bad enjoy the customisability. But also appreciate the speed of assembly for my Legion minis. Mold lines are tricky on pvc. I quite often can't see them until after I've primed and that means another pass with the exacto or file. I also like the level of detail on my shoretroopers and dewbacks. So I'm not too fussed about that increasing, it might actually be a con for me. We'll see, I expect I'll be happy either way. They've got a way to go to surpass Boba Fett, though, he's just so awesome!

15 hours ago, Caimheul1313 said:

Well, the new hard plastic miniatures do actually have more plastic in them: the sprues. They add more weight, which can increase shipping costs.

😂

They should use less paint on the boxes to balance the increase in weight by the spruce.

Also think about the huge weight reduction when they don't use a plastic bag for every mini. Imo the pack should be 5$ cheaper from that weight reduction!

😂

15 hours ago, Caimheul1313 said:

I will point out that hard plastic doesn't guarantee that parts won't be missing, I've opened boxes before of GW minis where an air bubble caused a part of the mold to not be filled with plastic,

Or just straight up missing one of the sprues and GW customer service won't replace it unless I mail the box to them at my own expense.

2 hours ago, Achinadav said:

The amount of plastic in the box isn't reflected in the change in cost.

Regardless of actual costs, they will increase the MSRP if they believe that buyers perceive an increase in value.

As someone who keeps armies for decades, hard plastic is only a good thing if detail is poorer than technically possible. Those hard styrene super skinny lightsabers are gonna go brittle and snap off. Having built armies out of pretty much everything, my favorite for this hobby remains slightly unrealistic sculpts cast in metal. It just works all around better for the multi-faceted activity that is a model wargame.

With the current plastics you really don't have to worry about the miniatures breaking like harder plastics. AS far as detail goes, once the figures are painted, you probably will not be able to tell the difference between the current and the harder plastic versions.

For people just picking up SW Legion or SW Armada or SW X-Wing it is so much easier at the moment to get into the game faster than it will be to have to glue everything like you do with GW stuff.

We shall see if this is a good move. My bet is it will not be for 2 reasons. Higher prices and more complex setup. I suppose playing the 500 point game will not be a big deal, but if you want to pick up multiple armies for 800 or more point games the higher prices start adding up.

Maybe it’s just that chamge is refreshing but I really like the soft plastic. It has its pros and cons but I like it a lot.

I haven't seen an improvement yet.

I've dealt with everything from lead to finecast, non-off poison resin casts to GWs finest sprues. I still see lots of figures cast in what i call "tough bones" material. It looks like all the new minis are in this material unless the new tanks are going to be the first to shift.

I don't see a big difference in quality or customization YET.

20 hours ago, Tri3 said:

once the figures are painted, you probably will not be able to tell the difference between the current and the harder plastic versions.

That's the thing. Most people can't paint well enough to get the most out of the detail levels we already had in the 90's, prior to the ever upward push for more and more detail. Which would be fine if we weren't supposed to pay more the privilege of those details.

You are right. More to more details means nothing if painter are not good enough to paint them. But hard plastic is not only to add more details. It is also to have the drawing more precise. I hate to have unnecessary details (that is why I am buying less to less GW minis) but to have a "better definition" on some parts of the minis (weapons, belts etc...) Make them easy to paint. Especially if you use washes.

Also, in my opinion to have the best definition it is better to go for resin

I just want hard plastics so I can use plastic glues! I hate that I have to use super glue on the soft plastics because it takes so long to dry and set.

As a new member of this wonderfull community, I was suprised when I found out the Clones were made of PVC.

I prefer hard plastic because my clone weapons are all bent! Mildly annoying.

2 hours ago, buckero0 said:

I don't see a big difference in quality or customization YET.

Customization? Not so much. Quality? SO MUCH.

I've assembled 12 sets of stormies now (I just sold my initial 6 sets from when I bought-in a year and a half ago and painted 6 new sets) and I know at least half of those DLT-19s were bent bad. Even a few of the HH-12s were wonky. The lightsabers are almost all droopy (excluding Grievous in hard plastic). Heck all 3 E-webs I bought had a curve to them, and some of the gun legs were bent). My Imp guard all had droopy staffs too. (I think my DLT snipers were one of the only soft plastic models with extended pieces not to have droop).

Not a single droid limb/gun/anything came droopy/bent/curved... and those limbs were much smaller and less dense than everything that drooped in the soft plastic except the sabers....

That said, the droids were a little more brittle. Those guns need to be clipped very carefully, but I didn't have a single one break out of 3 core sets worth, so it wasn't an issue.

On 12/8/2019 at 3:21 AM, Tri3 said:

Putting the Battle Droids together was a pain and took so much longer than the clones.

I'm assembling rebels from starter and it's a pain - I can't cut mold lines and hands do not fit right for some figures. Hard plastic has to be way easier to assemble.
(and yes, I have WFB experience)