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Sunday, June 30, 2013

PuppetsWar and Third-Party Model Pricing



One of my friends posted a link to PuppetsWar, the other day. They're a third party miniatures maker with some cool sculpts that are clearly intended to work with 40k. I like a number of their figs and they have some cool stuff coming out (particularly some demonic dogs that'd make perfect Flesh Hounds). Of the stuff that's out now, I think I like the bikes, Ork vehicles and SM aircraft best.

When shopping though, and especially when shopping for third-party stuff, I want to save money over what official GW things cost. Or I want sculpts that offer something GW's don't, either in craftsmanship or in subject matter (or both!; looking at you, Kingdom Death). The Ork vehicles here look good, but do they look good enough to justify the cost the way KD figs do? Ork trukks etc. are among the easiest scratch builds to throw together using cheap kid's models/toys, plasticard and a little ingenuity. PW sells their trukks $16 cheaper than GW, though, and they look good so it might be a good option for a less-ambitious modeler/gamer.

Would I recommend these figs to someone looking for a little variety or to save some cash? Maybe. Essentially, the problem is that depending on the kit, the prices can be really high. It's getting to the point where shopping at Tiffany's for my wife would be cheaper than even browsing the GW online store. And that's the main reason I ever consider third-party figures. But when the third-party makers charge 20 bucks for a single SM biker, what's the point in shopping for unofficial figs? Variety is nice, but I don't know that it's worth this much to me. On the other hand their flyers are a good deal cheaper and that's very convenient. I suppose it matters which unit you want and how many you need, but I'd recommend checking and double-checking the prices against other brands because the prices at PW for non-vehicle kits are just not competitive enough to make an army out of their models.

Seen any third-party stuff that looks great and costs right? Post it up! I'd love to hear what else is out there.

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