Pondering a finecast experience

[Bedroom General]

G'day all.
I will ramble on in this thread, it doesn't particularly have a point.
I went into my local GW store to consider getting a Terminator Librarian. This was a big step as my new year's resolution was to buy nothing at full price, (I'm in Australia!) but I wanted to see one as it would be my first fine cast model and I would have bought it too, but for a couple of things.
The store manager showed me the model and I checked for imperfections. I could only see the back of the model, but there were imperfections and missing details, which I pointed out to the manager. I got the other blister (they had 2 in stock) and it wasn't as bad, though still imperfect.
I WAS STILL GOING TO BUY IT!!
The fact that at this point I was even considering that it would be acceptable to patch up a brand new model just boggles my mind!
Anyway the store manager saved me (true story) by refusing to let me open the blister to check the front.
That was a commitment to buy on my part, and I feel, a lack of confidence in the product on his.
The final kicker is that I'd been looking on an American site inadvertently so thought that the price would be $28 or so. When I stopped looking at the model and saw the discretely placed price sticker I gave thanks for the store manager's reticence. $39? (comparison Catacomb Command Barge retails for $55) for one figure? That was crap/imperfect in two examples? That I couldn't open in the store?

I guess the moral is "Stick to your resolutions."

I find it baffling that GW can release brilliant models like the Coven throne and Stone tusk, exceptional scenery like the Fantasy buildings on one hand and this stuff on the other. Its like theres two different companies.
I know its just my experience, and I do hope others differ.
My goodness though, that price was just silly, even by Aus GW standards.

[Cpt Codpiece]

Taking the price comparison away (i really do feel for the lost colony, you guys get the wrong end all the time when it comes to importing stuff, guitars, minis etc) you cant really expect a completley flawless cast every time.

small bubbles are a 2 second fix, voids on the other hand are unacceptable if in places where there is any detail (faces, crests, hands or any finer detail area, back of a leg is an easy green stuff fix for example). miscats are also a no no and GW should be better at spotting these than they are, i have seen examples of the same mini (term libby) with a 1mm miscast where the molds were mis alligned, unacceptable.

but yeah i know what you mean, some times you just have to stick to your guns and say NO

[DrLove42]

So basically your first ever finecast model was defective. As was your second.

And with this you slate the entire line? I've got over 40 finecast models and so far one has had the smallest imperfection in a bit that is covered when you assemble it.

Not allowing you to open in store is understandable. If you open it and don't want it, the guys/manager/store is out 40 bucks. Simple solution would have been buy it, open it, and if it was defective get a refund. Thats the law (is here at least). Least then he'd be able to send it back as defective and get a new one as well

As for Au prices...we know how much is sucks. We feel for you poor people down there on the other side of the world.

[Chaoschrist]

So basically your first ever finecast model was defective. As was your second.

And with this you slate the entire line? I've got over 40 finecast models and so far one has had the smallest imperfection in a bit that is covered when you assemble it.

Not allowing you to open in store is understandable. If you open it and don't want it, the guys/manager/store is out 40 bucks. Simple solution would have been buy it, open it, and if it was defective get a refund. Thats the law (is here at least). Least then he'd be able to send it back as defective and get a new one as well

As for Au prices...we know how much is sucks. We feel for you poor people down there on the other side of the world.

Well, not allowing it to be opened before purchase is understandable, but it's known that finecast does have issues, so asking to open it to see if it's even a flawless product actually isn't that weird. Obviously, you're being unfair to the store owner if you let him open it and decide to not buy it even if it's a good/perfect cast... but obviously you don't have that obligation.

So in general yes, buying it and asking a refund is what one could do, but some stores don't offer refunds but only replacement... and ordering a finecast and going through the procedure over and over again because there is no "good" cast being shipped to the store time after time. That's one way to make a store lose customers. I don't feel like going to a store 3 times a month to get disappointed over an order I had. And GW can't promise that all casts are perfect.

Besides, I think if it's a GW store itself and not an independent retailer, I don't think they're losing that much money over it. Independent stores have to actually order and buy stock, GW stores I feel are just a brick and mortar service to provide their brand/product and sales go directly to GW, who in turn pays employees directly, without going through the hassle of managing their stock by all sales they make (on their entire range of other brands as well). But don't quote me on how GW does their in store stock management, that's just a hunch.

[A HUGE BLUNT]

It thought it was obvious if he opened it he was going to buy unless it was defective, in which case the manager isn't supposed to be selling that item in the first place.

[inquisitorsog]

And GW can't promise that all casts are perfect.

They can't promise all of the casts are perfect, they can control what's shipped though. Some of the problems people have repeatedly run into just tell me that the people doing the quality control didn't have a good examples of what a good figure for shipping was. Or they just sampled some of the figures to inspect and didn't inspect the majority.

If the number thrown around of four percent returns for valid problems on finecast is correct, I think we can conclude there's quality control problems and the product, as a line, is inferior. If they got the QC down right, then I've got no problem with it. However, charging me more for a figure that has a 1 in 25 chance of being seriously flawed because you couldn't bother to look at it before shipping is a classic case of taking your customer for granted. Companies that do that have a habit of not staying around long.

[Mr. Furious]

The good finecast I've received have been absolutely BRILLIANT but the bad ones obviously had zero inspection done before packaging as they were horrible. I love Finecast but they need to step QC up to 100% at least until the line has all of the kinks worked out. On the plus side:GW has fantastic customer service and never hesitates to replace a bad model with no hassle.

[the jeske]

but sometimes the damage is such that you just now that you will never get a good model . We had that with goblin shamans here . each and everyone had his nose broken in the same way . I mean you could just feel that the guy who was taking them out of the mold was either doing something wrong [whole batch 16goblin shamans identical nose damage] or the model is build in a such a way that it is impossible to remove it from the mold without damaging it .

[addamsfamily36]

The terminator librarian is unfortunately a problem maker for finecast from what i can tell. It (from what i have seen on the internet and first hand) as a cast struggles to form properly on one side (always the same side). This is in part due to the complexity of the model and possibly taking what was a metal intended miniature and turning into a finecast version. This is something i have noticed across some of the older more "less defined" pieces. Newer or sculpts with a "crisper" sculpt tend to cast better. This is a shame as some of the older models are really nice. The majority do come out well. Eldrad for instance is a really nice model and because its simple and crisp it cast well. marines (especially terminators) seem a tad bulky and awkward for finecast.

These are just personal observations and i have seen really good casts for all the finecast models except the librarian. it just seems to be the one that lets the side down. Hopefully there is someone out there who has a good cast of him.