I paid $13 for this? WFB Cairn Wraith

[MightyOrang]

Just picked up a new WFB Vampire Counts Cairn Wraith because it'll make for a great Necron Lord substitute -- and I just wanted to post a quick review of it.

The Cons[/U

Iit's plastic ... and very very minimal plastic at that. I realize it's supposed to be a ghost of sorts, and that I've been painting far too many burly orks lately, but I'm a little taken aback how little there is to this. It feels like it should be one mini on a sprue of 30 from Wargames Factory, and not from the GW I grew up with.

Following on that, it's very delicate. The scythe and the hands that attach to it are very very thin ... so the room for error (or for conversion that pin, for that matter) is pretty much nil.

The skulls are tiny ... little elfin children skulls that will be of little use elsewhere (and they give you three). This necessarily undercuts one of the central tenets of GW's success: the ability to swap WFB and 40K minis interchangeably.

The size of the wraith is smaller than what I've come to expect from GW's supersized 28mm ... as I say, it feels more like a 'life sized' 28mm from Wargames Factory. I can already tell it'll be too small to be a Necron Lord.

This is a fine mini, but not a $13 mini. Not for a piece of plastic. I get that they're trying to save money by switching away from metals, but we all know how cheap plastic is. After all, we all have loads of cheap plastic around our houses ... the very phrase 'cheap plastic' is what I can't escape. And yes, I know moulds cost money.

[U]The Pros

It's a damned fine sculpt, no matter how much I might complain.

They give you three head options - one of which is full of Necron goodness.

They provide you with a textured base, which is a simple upgrade but one long overdue in infantry models (vice dreds and stegadons, and such).

They provide you with a full painted shot of the model on the cover - long overdue, and helpful in guiding my purchases (yes, this was something of an impulse buy).

Overall Value

I give it a C+. Great sculpt, great packaging but overpriced.

[addamsfamily36]

right before i start, i would like to apologise for the rant you are about to receive.

I can take people knocking finecast because i agree it has some faults. I can understand peoples annoyance at price increases etc.

However the new plastic kits are amazing.

They are beautiful. just pick up the dark elf sorceress and see what im talking about. They are so detailed its incredible. Also the price? its cheaper than they would be in metal, and the conversion possibilities are greater as they are easy to cut up and reposition. They do not break when dropped. they do not chip.

And this comes from someone who enjoys painting a metal miniature.

The lack of plastic is to do with the sculpt. The model is intended to be a floating wraith, not a hulking great muscle bound model. if it was thicker, it would lose the charm that makes it such a great figure. It is also bigger than the old wraith model.

Ok rant over.

[MightyOrang]

Yeah, I get that ... it comes together well ... but since GW prices along the army book lines vice the materials involved (ie: the wraith is a HQ hero choice) it just hurts more than paying $30 for 19 Orc Boys or $30 for 10 Empire Gunners with 500 bits in the box, etc.

As to Finecast, I've yet to take the plunge ... the minis (eg: the DE Haemonculus I looked at and didnt buy to get this guy) just look so fragile.

And you're right ... it's ironic that the self styled 'we're a miniatures company' keeps getting better and better (seriously, I could go one for hours about the 40K Ork Nobs boxed set) is the same one that's alienating its customers with its poorly timed pricing policies. I picked up the WFB Ork Shaman on a Boar for $20 in metal -- rather than the $25 Finecast kit sitting next to it. The metal will be harder to convert, heavier, and more prone to chip, but why spend the $5 extra when everything GW puts out is increasingly prohibitively expensive?

Ok ... end of rant ... thanks for the comment.

[wittdooley]

The metal will be harder to convert, heavier, and more prone to chip, but why spend the $5 extra when everything GW puts out is increasingly prohibitively expensive?

Ok ... end of rant ... thanks for the comment.

maybe it's just me, but those reasons are totally worth $5

[evcameron]

It's also worth keeping in mind that the materials involved is probably a very minor consideration when it comes to pricing plastic models for GW. The cost in producing plastic models is not driven by the cost of the plastic, it's the creation of the sculpt, the molds, the factory process to create the model, the shipping, and all the overhead.

The point I'm making is that you might be getting something like 10 cents less plastic in a skinny model then in bulky orks, not enough to justify pricing it differently.

[Lord Azaghul]

maybe it's just me, but those reasons are totally worth $5

Point 1: I dislike buildings metal mini's so yeah

Point 2: Its an EXTRA 5 bucks, from a CO that I feel has already ripped my face off...so no! :p

Honestly I have found mostl of GW model improvements (especially in plastics - but excluding finecast) amazing - BUT the price is simply too high. And that alone kills the desire for me.

[Sisiutl]

This is a fine mini, but not a $13 mini. Not for a piece of plastic. I get that they're trying to save money by switching away from metals, but we all know how cheap plastic is. After all, we all have loads of cheap plastic around our houses ... the very phrase 'cheap plastic' is what I can't escape. And yes, I know moulds cost money.


You clearly don't understand the economics of creating a model for GW. Plastic molds are more expensive than metal molds. While the actual material may be more expensive to produce the development cost is much greater. That's why typically they do the big popular sets in plastic, troops, vehicles, etc. in plastic while smaller run minis are made of metal, or now finecast, because they anticipate selling enough of the larger kits to make back their initial development cost.

I don't know why you would complain about a model being plastic. Its the easiest medium to model, convert and paint. You wouldn't get the out of the box customization options with metal or finecast, and they would be more expensive.

[wittdooley]

I guess everything is really comparative.

At GenCon, I made a bunch of individual model blister purchases, which is what we'd liken the new GW plastic blisters to. A few samplings:

Tales of War Wallace Mason - $19 - A bit high, but probalby worth every penny. A beautiful, bulky fig.

Mercs Minis Entire Kem Var Line - $10/blister - Worth every penny. Great dynamic poses.

Privateer Press Jarl Skuld & Alain Runewood - $18 / $14 - I like Jarl, but prob a bit expensive for fig size. I think Runewood is mediocre, and his helmet crest is misshapen badly.

Soda Pop Miniatures Candy & Cola Chibi - $10 - Solid piece of pewter, can't wait to paint.

FWIW, the $13 for a customizable blister is right in the middle of the pack price wise, and towards the top in terms of sculpt quality.

[addamsfamily36]

the only downside i would say against the new plastic individuals is that technically, you can have Hero choice wraiths as well as Rare unit wraiths.

As an individual Hero, £8 is cheap in comparison to fine cast and metal. I picked up a finecast lichepriest and it cost me £9.50 i think. It was a nice sculpt but the casting was not as good. In metal it would probably cost above £10. However as a plastic the wraith is £8. Vs a boxset of troops you are correct, £8 for one plastic mini is a lot compared to a box of say 10 minis with extra bits priced at £20, but that has always been the case with single minis versus troops.

However, to buy 4 wraiths to make a unit, £32 is a steep. But i would find alternatives especially to give some variation to the unit.

But all in all, i think £8 is actually a reasonable price for the detail, bonuses of being plastic and cheap when compared to finecast and metal.