If you could get pre-painted BattleTech figures, would you?

[Aotrs Commander]

This is not a suggestion that CGL starts to offer that but very much hypothetical what-if question. (While this was prompted by 3D colour 3D printing, I'm asking in a more general sense, so whether it would be pre-painted by 3D printing, painted by a dude or a machine in factory or whatever like the do with kids toys or however they do/did the plastic Pathfinder Miniatures.)

For my sins, my day job is doing 3D printed models. The company I sell my files/models through is sponsoring a show and want to promote pre-painted models. Something I'm not really able to do (even if I was willing), but it made me wonder. While for stuff like RPG figures (most of said companies little companies), I can sort of see benefit for getting pre-painted if you only want one or two and don't really want to paint, on the wargames side, it had been significantly my impression that that the bare majority of wargamers consider painting/collecting to be the main thrust of the hobby, rather than actually playing. (If I believe one impromptu survey, it might be around 50%, possibly even higher.)

So, out of pure curiousity, if in some hypothetical future, CGL was able to offer pre-coloured models (in whatever form that might take, be it painted plastics or 3D colour-prints or whatever), would that hold any appeal?



For myself, even though I regard painting as much a chore as a joy, I wouldn't be bothered. For my wargames stuff, certainly, it wouldn't really appeal to me (especially as it would likely come at greater expense[1].)

Though even I might conside for 28mm RPG figures, since I just can't be arsed to paint them anymore, too much like hardwork. Hell, I when I had my backpack stolen, I had the inusrance cover having someone re-paint replacements and I DID buy some of the aformentioned PF painted minis (at a time when shipping from the US was not bonkers). But I have enough models for roleplaying that I really don't NEED any more.



[1]I mean, just having someone painting it (digitally or otherwise is hard work. Like, I breifly considered the amount of my own produced models and the thought of spending a day or more kludging digital painting for each one and shuddered...)

[wundergoat]

For myself?  Possibly.  However, a few of my players would jump at them.  They want to play wargames with painted minis, but have zero interest in building and painting minis and no inclination to pay someone to do it for them.  Instead, they just play with my collection.

Wargaming has historically combined the building, painting, and gaming hobbies into one conglomerate hobby and some industry players have reinforced that.  In the last decade or so we've seen that change a bit, and it has brought new people into the hobbies.  The thing is, people already in the combined hobby were already cool or at least tolerant of the three aspects.  Having pre-paints isn't really about going after existing customers, its about creating new customers by knocking down barriers.

[Prospernia]

I'd get them orange, for Mars/Mineral-world camo; back in the day, I painted my Centurion grav-tanks orange, and sulfur-colors, as that was the name of the paint-set I had. I was probably influenced by StarCom and Air-Raiders, besides, what type of world would they be fighting over? 

[Pat Payne]

Possibly for mook units. The thing is, I can't see this ever coming to fruition outside of special and explicitly curated releases (like the Star League sets) just as the myriad of different schemes in canon make it to where they'd have to have loads of stock on hand just in case there's that one person who wants a prepainted 13th Doowhackie Gallowglases. There's no way that CGL could cater to every specific unit in lore. They possibly could do some of the biggies like the Marik Militia, or the Sword of Light or the various Crucis Lancers, but with fans for pretty much every unit out there, someone's ox is gonna have to get gored.

Unless they do just pre-painted generic camo units or something.

[SteelRaven]

Sure, bough pre-painted minis from fellow fans before. I'm not the best painter and while I don't hate painting, it requires time I rarely have.

[Joel47]

For me, no. I so dislike having a mini that looks like all the others of its type that I re-pose plastic minis (when it's easy) and mod a lot of them to make variants. Having a painted mini that looks like all the others on the shelf doesn't appeal to me at all. (Now if you can make a 5-axis inkjet head and let me design my own custom paint job online, contact me.  )

But I think they'd do pretty well with the playing public as a whole.

[Charistoph]

This is not a suggestion that CGL starts to offer that but very much hypothetical what-if question.

No, it isn't, as both Kerensky's Orion and Victor Davion's Dire Wolf Prometheus will come pre-painted in their respective Star League Force Packs.

This comes down to a question of would you like to see more?

Honestly, while they job they do is better than my potato painting, how easy would it be to track if that Kerensky Orion is mine and not my opponent's without modifying it even further?  And if I have to modify it a little, why wouldn't I just paint more of it?

[House Davie Merc]

I might consider buying pre-painted mechs if it was an entire group.

For instance a specific lance or company painted exactly the same with the same materials.

IMHO-the coming sets with a SINGLE painted mech aren't a great idea.
If they end user ever wants a matching group they are NEVER going to match that paint job.

The only way I will buy any of those sets is if there is a specific mech I want in the box.
The painted mech will either be stripped to plastic or sold/traded off.
I don't like having to pay extra for something I don't want.

Paint a usable group or NONE at all.

[Caesar Steiner for Archon]

Anything you give me I'm just going to turn into 2nd Donegal Guardsmen. If they're pre-painted that's just an extra step for me.

[House Davie Merc]

Anything you give me I'm just going to turn into 2nd Donegal Guardsmen. If they're pre-painted that's just an extra step for me.

It's an extra step that you'll be paying a premium for.
That initial paint job isn't going on it for free.
Many will be paying a premium for something we don't want and
then have to spend more time and resources to remove it.
I'm personally hoping they change their minds and make the same
sets available without the paint.

[RifleMech]

If I had money, I'd buy minis painted or not. I'm not that picky. I could always repaint if I didn't like it. Presuming I was in the mood to paint. Painting was never my favorite thing. Just putting a mark to identify friend and foe was enough and let my minis pull double duty. But I wouldn't complain if they came painted.

I could see packs with each mech painted in a different unit's colors so players to give players ideas on paint jobs, and save them time. I could even see lance to company sized packs for more celebrated units. But I think they'd mostly come in generic camo. They could be anyone's mechs then. Maybe with a variety of decals for specific units?

[klarg1]

I would not preferentially buy pre-painted minis, and don’t really want to pay a premium for them, but I am not particularly bothered by the prospect.

Pre-paints can be great for players who want more than gray plastic but don’t want to paint.

I probably *will* buy one or more force packs with painted minis in them, so I guess the most honest answer is “yes”?

[Rebel Yell]

I might consider buying pre-painted mechs if it was an entire group.

For instance a specific lance or company painted exactly the same with the same materials.

IMHO-the coming sets with a SINGLE painted mech aren't a great idea.
If they end user ever wants a matching group they are NEVER going to match that paint job.

The only way I will buy any of those sets is if there is a specific mech I want in the box.
The painted mech will either be stripped to plastic or sold/traded off.
I don't like having to pay extra for something I don't want.

Paint a usable group or NONE at all.

This is the way.

[jrvk777]

Short answer, yes I would.

Longer would be - it depends (on a lot of factors), price, quality, utility, etc.

Sidenote:
I do envision a future where users would have 'customizable' color wraps of our favorite schemes, that we could just 'paste' on our unpainted mechs, and when we need another scheme, just strip out the old wrap, and use the new one. I can dream, can't I? 

[worktroll]

Paint a usable group or NONE at all.

Not perhaps as hardline, but in this direction. Having one Star League-themed Orion doesn't help one field a Star League force, unless one is confident enough to try and match the factory paint scheme.

(Which is perhaps a thought - if they're pre-painted with the paint kit colours, then it would be possible to get a simple scheme which can be copied by non-expert painters.)

I enjoy the whole forming, modding, and painting side too much to be really interested in pre-paints. And I'd never get the 'Mech I wanted in the scheme I wanted at the moment. But I'm not the target audience, so it doesn't bother me much.

And remember - this is just CGL trying the waters, to see the reaction. Imagine if they invested in 10 Clan 'Mechs in Ice Hellion colours, or a company in Capellan Reserve colours, and the sales tanked? (Yes, I know, it's likely to be AFFC, Clan Wolf, DCMS, Jade Falcon, and Ghost Bear only.)

I do think though there's a synergy if they can use the Army Painter paints to do the pre-paints, to provide an on-ramp for people who want to match those paintschemes.

[Lorcan Nagle]

Randall did say at GenCon last year they intend to put the Pantone codes for the colours online at least.

[S2pidiT]

If I liked the way the mini(s) are painted, yes. I don't have many of my own painted, but I'd rather spend the money on the minis themselves than on paint jobs I'm not interested in.

Why yes, I collect way more than I play...

[This Ends Tonight]

I would be interested, and the product may be viable at market, if they offered pre-painted forces and kept the cost reasonable. Something like two lances painted in the same scheme for $100 MSRP. A company would be better, but going above $100 would likely be a mistake. Then you could do representative scheme for each of the five houses, and/or you could do famous mercenary groups who could slot in along with your own painted forces if you had them. From a sales point of view, if you could sweeten the pot with faction specific custom dice and/or an objective marker mini, stuff like that I think people would really be inclined to grab them.

[spotH3D]

No.

I plan out what units I want to paint for, and even if the prepainted one was in that unit, I'm sure it won't look like my other units.  So that's useless to me.

So now I'm paying money for crap that I'll resent having to remove before hand.  So I'm not happy about this half rear ended experiment with the Star League packs.

The only way it would sort of work is if the unit in question had a unique one off paint scheme, and maybe Victor Davion's Prometheus falls into that category.

Even so, why would I ever want more than one of them?

Maybe a lance pack of all units painted could work, but that would be a lance I won't be happy to add more units painted to, because it won't look the same.  And then I'm in the situation of stripping 4 mechs if I want to use them as something else.

I could be wrong, but this seems like the answer to a question nobody asked. 

[EvanD]

Maybe if it's a generic camo scheme for mook units. Otherwise, there are too many paint schemes to anticipate that it would look like something I need for a particular game. And since you'd have to concentrate on one unit, let alone one faction, in order to have a viable selection for force creation, I couldn't see it working well for new players or Catalyst.

[Aotrs Commander]

I could be wrong, but this seems like the answer to a question nobody asked.

That was my impression about pre-painted models generally (aside from as I say, for RPGs where you may only want a few models); I'm honestly surprised how many people are tentatively in favour of the idea. I was expecting much more answers like yours. (But on the otherhand, I hadn't twigged that CGL were experimenting with the concept.)

[thedancingjoker]

Personally no, I don't want  to buy Pre-painted minis.  As a thing for the game as a whole: Yeah I'm pretty ok with it and maybe it will be popular.  Some folks want pretty colors that they don't have to put on themselves and that's fine.  As far as for me I'll either avoid pre-painted products or (like with the single painted mech int he Star Leauge packs) I will buy it and strip it if it needs it, or just prime over it if the paint isn't that thick.

[Col Toda]

I pay a guy to paint my stuff . He is so good that he  has a que that is weeks long . I am hoping he can fit me in when the Summerset Striker and Mercenary vehicle packs come out.

So no I wouldn't I can't imagine it would be a good job . And effects talented people's livelihoods

[BattleTechKerensky]

1000% Yes!  I just no longer have the time or the patience to paint minis. Also my hands are not as steady as they once were, so even if I paint a mini (very rare these days) it isn’t very pretty and just some color at best.
I could see CGL doing faction/unit colors or doing generic battlefield camouflage for nonspecific lances/stars. The real problem I see is that the painted minis would need to be done in limited batches (an added expense I’m sure). They wouldn’t want to be stuck with hundreds of painted minis for a faction/unit that nobody wanted.
Double edged sword really…

[MarauderD]

Never say never, but for me, probably not?  One off is probably fine, like Kerensky's Orion.  But I'm going to want to paint the majority of what I buy--like 99% of it. 

[General308]

This is not a suggestion that CGL starts to offer that but very much hypothetical what-if question. (While this was prompted by 3D colour 3D printing, I'm asking in a more general sense, so whether it would be pre-painted by 3D printing, painted by a dude or a machine in factory or whatever like the do with kids toys or however they do/did the plastic Pathfinder Miniatures.)

For my sins, my day job is doing 3D printed models. The company I sell my files/models through is sponsoring a show and want to promote pre-painted models. Something I'm not really able to do (even if I was willing), but it made me wonder. While for stuff like RPG figures (most of said companies little companies), I can sort of see benefit for getting pre-painted if you only want one or two and don't really want to paint, on the wargames side, it had been significantly my impression that that the bare majority of wargamers consider painting/collecting to be the main thrust of the hobby, rather than actually playing. (If I believe one impromptu survey, it might be around 50%, possibly even higher.)

So, out of pure curiousity, if in some hypothetical future, CGL was able to offer pre-coloured models (in whatever form that might take, be it painted plastics or 3D colour-prints or whatever), would that hold any appeal?



For myself, even though I regard painting as much a chore as a joy, I wouldn't be bothered. For my wargames stuff, certainly, it wouldn't really appeal to me (especially as it would likely come at greater expense[1].)

Though even I might conside for 28mm RPG figures, since I just can't be arsed to paint them anymore, too much like hardwork. Hell, I when I had my backpack stolen, I had the inusrance cover having someone re-paint replacements and I DID buy some of the aformentioned PF painted minis (at a time when shipping from the US was not bonkers). But I have enough models for roleplaying that I really don't NEED any more.



[1]I mean, just having someone painting it (digitally or otherwise is hard work. Like, I breifly considered the amount of my own produced models and the thought of spending a day or more kludging digital painting for each one and shuddered...)

Yes I would by prepainted figures.  I would rather spend what time I have playing anyways.   In fact my only disapointment in CGL's little pre paint test they are trying is only one mech in the pack is prepainted instead of the whole pack.

[Rob Bendig]

I think pre-paint on one-off hero mechs is fine but not so sure about a whole lance of pre-painted. So far, the lance packs always have me picking and choosing between them. e.g. my Dragoon's are a Firefly, Hoplite, Shogun, Archer, Annihilator, and Marauder II - only two of which came in the actual Dragoons pack. If the whole pack had been painted Dragoon's colours, that wouldn't work out. But a single Blue / Gold Archer would have been okay.

[butchbird]

Personally, no. While I don't particularly like painting (altough its very relaxing with a whisky and some music), I take a weird pride in "making" the units myself. The right mix of paints for that 4th Tau Ceti Ranger's bronze, managing to paint something that relatively looks like the Draconis Combine symbol on the Proseprina Hussar's striking paint scheme, doing a good kit bash with all the plastic cut to the right dimensions...Yeah, got carried away.

But...If I can link this to a thread of a few years ago...

There had been a question about wether battletech was a "miniatures game" or a "boardgame". I'm not sure I agree with the very question, as neither answer is really what I think BT is (yes, there's miniatures and yes, I can just carry along one sole box and go have a game at a firneds, but...y'know, its a miniature wargame...with maps,... still use the 3rd edition "boards" myself sometimes) but lets carry on with this distinction.

For the "board game player", I doubt they'd be willing to pay the extra bucks on miniatures which they won't go overboard with in terms of quantity anyway.

But for the "miniature gamer", I can definitely see it. From what I've seen from browsing online stores offering used miniatures, the well painted ones tend to sell pretty well. In some more...shall I say mainstream?...franchises, I was quite surprised at the profit margin between a mint miniature of spiderman versus a "used" well painted one.

Another indicator is that even small stores in small markets sell their used and well painted minis a hefty price...or so it seemed to me, I don't know much about WH40K, but those minis were costly by the unit, it really struck me...and like I said, I'm in a sparsely populated area, the number of miniature gamers must be pretty low.

There's definitely a market, but it might get more complicated to appeal to a sufficient number of buyers for a more obscur franchise.

[worktroll]

Just one thing to consider - Leviathans sold as well as it did (could!), with the (lightly) pre-painted minis being a big attraction to new gamers. The ability to put something on the table right after you bought it can be very powerful.

Of course, there are differences:
- drastically smaller SKU base
- no 'installed user base'
- all available minis were painted in one of 2 schemes

So let's see what the market response is.

[krazzyharry]

I think the Essentials box was a missed opportunity.  If Yen-Lo-Wang and Legend-Killer (or the others that came as cardboard standees) came pre-painted it may have increased sales even more.  I would be more than happy to pay for a lance pack with the four of them painted.