It's just a little thing, but I think that GW standards have dropped slightly in terms of plastic mini construction (and perhaps even painting ). Does anyone think when they see the new PLASTIC Galadhrim Warriors, Warriors of the Dead, Ents, Trolls and perhaps even the new Fell Beast + Nazgul (picture can be found Page 2 'Plastic Fellbeast on the horizon-Now with Sneak Peeks!!' in the New Realeases Thread) that they may look alittle unrealistic and 'cartoon-ish'? To me they are just not as 'sharp' as the metals used to be.

But then again it's not really GW's fault. I guess it is alot harder to make a plastic mould have sharp lines and edges than a metal one... Also it does (HOPEFULLY) make the prices of these items alot cheaper, lighter and of course, easier to paint!

Give us your opinion.

Gw are just gettign lazy. If they put just 1/3rd of the time to put into 40k and Fantasy combined then they might actually be quite good. GWE have seem to forgot that it's one of the MAIN Systems!!!!

Too be honest, I'm not that fussed about GW minis any more - for a lot of things I'll be looking elsewhere to find things that fit my vision of Middle-earth, and while it is a shame that GW are caring less and less about LotR, they only really did it to cash in on the success of the films. Expect to see an upsurge in quality to coincide with TH, followed by another decline when the hype dies off

It's not GW's fault really though if you think about it. Many Lord of the Ring miniatures are no longer based on images from the movies and stuff and the sculptors who made many of the models for LOTR we all know and love have left GW now and Fantasy sculptors are sculpting LOTR which is why we are seeing the new style of sculpting. And to be honest I don't mind the new styles of miniatures, they're just different to that we used to be used to, they're still way better than the majority of the companies.

Actually RC, you do make it sound like GW's fault - if they really cared, they'd make their concept artist(s) study the film designs carefully, and as they have to get aproval from New Line they could easily get in contact with WETA and use them for input. Further, they could have got the old sculptors to liase with their replacements on the best way to sculpt properly propotioned minis.

I'm with Dinadan on this one. If GW cared even a little bit about the LOTR system and the people who have been loyal to it (and them) since the games' release they would be doing everything possible to maintain that distinction between the sculpts of LOTR and their other two 'fantasy' systems. One of the reasons I fell in love with SBG was the fact that, unlike WFB and 40k, the people really looked like people, the horses really looked like horses - it was believeable - it was tangable - and that was exciting. Ok so yes, they had the films to go off, but does that give them an excuse to deviate from the origional concept just because the films are a few years old now? Personally, I don't see GW logic here - ask any LOTR fan and almost 100% will say they prefer the 'old-style', better proportioned, less fantasy looking models...so what advantage is there in deviating from that? And no GW, laziness is not an excuse.

As for my vote - I'm a "don't like it but have to lump it" kind of guy. I don't see my purchases of GW models doing anything but decreasing until the hype surrounding the Hobbit films gives GW the kick up the ass the really need to start giving a damn about LOTR again.

i mean there are no Easterlign Chariots and i know that the "Barchoth" which where a major tribe of Easterlings had alot of them (From my research into the fields of Celebrant for the Build me an army) sometimes they just ignore the books completely.

Dinadan's got a point, though GW doesn't have to make deals through New Line and get WETA to design stuff for them (they've got their hands full of Middle-earth already). It isn't hard to imitate what WETA's done with their designs...just look at my DeviantART gallery! All of the designs in there are based on or inspired by something that's come out of their design studio.

The models are getting more cartoony simply because GW are trying to appeal to a larger audience base. Sure the old models are great, but new players and painters may find them a bit daunting to paint, especially when Warhammer and 40K models are quite a bit bigger and bulkier, and therefore easier to paint. Thus, dis-proportioned models and cartoonish designs are what sells models: easier to paint and they fit in with what everyone else is already buying.

Actually, if you think about it, WH and 40k minis could be considered harder to paint purely because the ammount of 'bling' everyone wears

I never said they could get WETA to design for them, just ask them for input. I wouldn't be suprised if some of the WETA employees are wargamers themselves, and I'm sure those would jump at the chance to help out designing minis. Plus PJ is an avid wargamer - after all, he put Alessio Cavatore, the Perry Twins and one of the other GW sculptors into RotK and as I recall, he gave personal feedback on the mumak kit.

Well GW are making new models that don't have exisitng imagery, but I think the main problem is that they aren't pumping in the same resources as before. LotR seems to have taken far more of a backseat and so sculptors are probably allowed a lot more free reign when designing their models.
That said, I do like quite a few of the new models like the Nazgul and multi-part troll. The WotD don't seem that bad and while I admittedly haven't seen the Galadhrim in the flesh they seem alright, though I understand the disappointment of unfulfilled potential.

Ironically, bar Saruman, the newest batch of minis actually look very good and go against this trend

Time to break out the humble pie...?

Dînadan wrote:

Ironically, bar Saruman, the newest batch of minis actually look very good and go against this trend

Something I've noticed with all the newer releases is that anymore, if a model is based on a character from the films, they don't sculpt the face to match the actor. The new Saruman and Eomer's costumes look fine, but their facial features are like bad caricatures of Christopher Lee and Karl Urban.

Makes me like painting models from back in the FotR and TTT days when they actually looked like the actors.

Makes you wonder if they're having licencing issues As I recall, the Sharky and Worm minis were sculpted with their faces covered up for that reason.

They might be worried about potential future licencing issues? If they're taking steps to preserve the models, that can only be a good thing for us players. As to whether that's good for the models or not, I suppose it's subjective. If you want something that's the same as the inspirational films then maybe it's a bit of a let down, but at least it still fits with the imagery. But many people are quite happy buying models from other companies that don't look like the movie at all and are people's own interpretation of the stories.
Personally I prefer the movie imagery, but there hasn't been a big drop off to complain about really. It's still easy to tell whose who.