Upcoming Releases XXIX: First Annual 29th Birthday

[klarg1]

Here are some Mad Dogs

First sculpt from IWM about 20+ years old.
2nd is the IWM redo.
3rd is the Catalyst sculpt.
4th is the Premium sculpt just recent.

The Premium sculpt is much larger than the other sculpts.

I don’t want to sadden you, but that first sculpt is closing in on 40 years old at this point. (~35 right now)

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

And was done by Ral Partha, not IWM.

[I am Belch II]

Yeah it was a Ral Partha mech. That one actually came from the 4 mechs Omni pack. It’s I’ve been playing Battletech for 28 years so that how old it is. It is my 2nd favorite mech from the Clans behind only the Timber Wolf. Yes I liked both of them from the Cartoon show!

[ColBosch]

I appreciate the side-by-side pics. They're actually making me come around a bit on ordering some Premium minis.

[Prometheum5]

Here are some Mad Dogs

First sculpt from IWM about 20+ years old.
2nd is the IWM redo.
3rd is the Catalyst sculpt.
4th is the Premium sculpt just recent.

The Premium sculpt is much larger than the other sculpts.

Haha WTF. Why is the Premium Vulture larger than the CGL Plastic? How is this so difficult??

As for the Phoenix Hawk, seems like the skinny limbs are fixed but the head fused to the torso is not, so any argument about the Premium minis having better detail is moot.

[Deckard_2049]

Uh, maybe I made a mistake ordering that premium vulture... after seeing that. It looks off, lower part of legs too skinny, torso is huge, something is deeply off looking about it.

[RazorclawXLS]

Uh, maybe I made a mistake ordering that premium vulture... after seeing that. It looks off, lower part of legs too skinny, torso is huge, something is deeply off looking about it.

No, you are being mistaken now.
That premium Mad Dog is how the actual mini should really look like. The mini from the Clan force pack is the wrongly proportioned one.
The same goes for the new premium Wolverine as well.

There is nothing wrong with them, you are overthinking it.

[Deckard_2049]

No, you are being mistaken now.
That premium Mad Dog is how the actual mini should really look like. The mini from the Clan force pack is the wrongly proportioned one.
The same goes for the new premium Wolverine as well.

There is nothing wrong with them, you are overthinking it.

It just looks a bit top heavy to my eyes, maybe it'll look better in person.

[Aresneo]

Haha WTF. Why is the Premium Vulture larger than the CGL Plastic? How is this so difficult??

According to the recent AMA on reddit the premium minis don't go through the same QA review that every other mini does, hence issues only being found after release.

[Prometheum5]

According to the recent AMA on reddit the premium minis don't go through the same QA review that every other mini does, hence issues only being found after release.

Lmao.  This is the kind of answer that's why CGL can't shake their image as a fly-by-night bunch of amateurs.

[RazorclawXLS]

It just looks a bit top heavy to my eyes, maybe it'll look better in person.

I was being sarcastic. Of course there is "something" wrong with the premium Mad Dog/Vulture. The proportions are completely messed up.

[Scuttlefish]

Lmao.  This is the kind of answer that's why CGL can't shake their image as a fly-by-night bunch of amateurs.

Seems like a perfectly sensible answer given the minis are produced by two different groups?

[Hydrofoil Goat]

Seems like a perfectly sensible answer given the minis are produced by two different groups?

You'd still expect a product that you are planning to sell to go through appropriate QA. There's nothing to be gained from selling a potentially defective product, and everything to be gained from making sure your product is without major flaws.

[jimdigris]

Is it possible that the premium mini looks bigger because of the pose?

[I am Belch II]

It is larger, all parts of it.
So now what one is correct??

[Highlighter]

Is it possible that the premium mini looks bigger because of the pose?

That’s what I thought too. Maybe the legs are extended. But the torso dimensions are larger too. So the whole thing is scaled wrong.

It’s really a bummer. The Premium line would be amazing for alternate variants. It also makes little sense that there isn’t better QA control. Are prototypes sent to CGL for review and approval before releasing? It certainly doesn’t feel that way.

[Prometheum5]

Seems like a perfectly sensible answer given the minis are produced by two different groups?

How can "we don't QA the products we release" possibly be an acceptable answer??

[Colt Ward]

It is larger, all parts of it.
So now what one is correct??

I would go with the CGL mass produced ones- same materials, same techniques, and all off the same volume calculations.

The first company doing premiums were able to get them the same size- Black Knight, Stormcrow, etc.

[Greatclub]

I would go with the CGL mass produced ones- same materials, same techniques, and all off the same volume calculations.

The first company doing premiums were able to get them the same size- Black Knight, Stormcrow, etc.

The first company was doing traditional resin casting. Old, off the shelf technique.

Apparently they're using "dualcast" or similar for the newer ones, those are only a few year old and still under patent. They're still working out the bugs on shrinkage & proportion.

Which makes QC absolutely necessary, but that might not have been realized when the contracts were written. This isn't being done in house.

[Scuttlefish]

You'd still expect a product that you are planning to sell to go through appropriate QA. There's nothing to be gained from selling a potentially defective product, and everything to be gained from making sure your product is without major flaws.

It’s not like the minis are falling apart or anything, compared to the quality of the old Battletech minis they’re still pretty good. They’re just not as good as the ones in the forcepacks.

[Scuttlefish]

How can "we don't QA the products we release" possibly be an acceptable answer??

Because it’s all being done by a third party

[Highlighter]

Because it’s all being done by a third party

The minis bear the CGL and Battletech and Topps logos.  Why wouldn't CGL QA them to ensure the product positively reflects the brand?  Unless CGL actually doesn't care, which doesn't make sense to me.  Or maybe CGL is terrible at contract writing and left out the QA requirement...

[Hydrofoil Goat]

It’s not like the minis are falling apart or anything, compared to the quality of the old Battletech minis they’re still pretty good. They’re just not as good as the ones in the forcepacks.

Quite aside from the fact that "Premium" should absolutely be better than forcepack minis given both the branding and pricepoint, "not falling apart" is not at all the QA standard used by any company.

[Scuttlefish]

Quite aside from the fact that "Premium" should absolutely be better than forcepack minis given both the branding and pricepoint, "not falling apart" is not at all the QA standard used by any company.

Technically correct in that Iron Wind Metals clearly doesn’t have that as one of their standards.

[Youngblood]

Feels like there is a LOT of misinformation about 2019-and-onwards CGL premium and non-premium miniatures going on in this thread.

[RazorclawXLS]

It’s not like the minis are falling apart or anything, compared to the quality of the old Battletech minis they’re still pretty good.

What are you talking about? What does falling apart have to do anything with these premium miniatures, when they are sold unassembled?

They’re just not as good as the ones in the forcepacks.

That's the rub. They are marketed as premium, so they should be better that the regular releases. In material quality, possible posing, weapon loadouts, crisper details.

Not come with misproportioned bodies and/or limbs (Rifleman, Mad Dog, Phoenix Hawk), cost-cutting mold changes (Phoenix Hawk), miscast parts and/or details (Hammerhead, Black Knight), mirrored body part and/or weapons (Stormcrow), missing parts (Black Knight), etc.

[I am Belch II]

Im just hoping for releases this week.
It was a big letdown at Adepticon this year, but shipping is shipping.

[Tyler Jorgensson]

Im just hoping for releases this week.
It was a big letdown at Adepticon this year, but shipping is shipping.

Same… to have the Davion Manual and UrbieLAM pack sooooo close yet soooooo far was depressing (I am in no way complaining about shipping or delivery: I know it gets there when it gets there). I’d turn around from my table and there three feet away were those beautiful UrbieLAM’s. I’m sitting in a Solaris Tournament and like ‘man how fun would it be to use those!’ Attempting to Trial Catalyst members to use them in the tournament… so disappointing ;)

[Geg]

Same… to have the Davion Manual and UrbieLAM pack sooooo close yet soooooo far was depressing (I am in no way complaining about shipping or delivery: I know it gets there when it gets there). I’d turn around from my table and there three feet away were those beautiful UrbieLAM’s. I’m sitting in a Solaris Tournament and like ‘man how fun would it be to use those!’ Attempting to Trial Catalyst members to use them in the tournament… so disappointing ;)

Just wait until the UrbieLAM sells out in under an hour.

[I am Belch II]

 

Just wait until the UrbieLAM sells out in under an hour.

That's what Im waiting on.