No, not true. Look at the Zombiecide boxes or Kings of War. Those boxes have tons of detailed plastic minis at a decent price. The molds might be the expensive part, but once those are done the actual cost of each box is very very small. So lets say the mold cost $5,000 and the contents plus packaging cost $3. If you only produce 1,000 units your total cost is $8,000 or $8 per box. You then sell the box to the distributor for $12 who sells it to the game stores for $24 who then sells it to you for $48. Your profit is only $4 per box at this point. For a larger profit you have to sell a higher volume to increase your profit per box. Producing 2,000 units at the same price point increases profit per box to $6.50 per box.
Remember though BattleTech isn't as popular as it used to be so the VOLUME isn't there. The actual cost to produce for the most part is tiny even though the molds are the most expensive aspect. Overall it is not the production that is expensive but the volume of production. If you are unwilling to invest in the production then yes it will end up losing money, but thats more of a marketing/management issue.
