Lots of people complaining all over the place about how expensive Zvezda figures are, and lately (see the thread below) Strelets figures too. Sometimes Caesar comes in for a walloping as well.

So are they expensive? And if so, how expensive are they?

Tracks and Troop has Zvezda Hot War figures for €3.61, and if you don't live in the EU you can knock about 20% off of that. That's £2.67 or US$3.29. And you get 5 figures.

The Strelets sled set costs £4.96 at Model Hobbies, so approx. twice the price of the Zvezda Hot War set in the above paragraph, and you get 13 figures, a horse, and a cart (according to the box cover).

My question is, at less than £5.00, are they expensive? When I was a kid, sure, £5 was a lot of money. But we're not kids any more, and £5 will just about buy you a beer these days.

Some people say we need to get "the young folk" interested in "the hobby". If they do Warhammer or Flames of War, could they get anything for less than £5.00? I think not. I think Zvezda have done a good thing for "the hobby" - a set of rules and inexpensive figures to get "the young folk" hooked.

I think the Zvezda mini boxes are okay -I think in Antics about £2.60 so it is FAR cheaper that getting, say, a single Warhammer or D&D figure. I want to get some of them as they do fill gaps in, say, Soviet or German WW 2 sets.
Strelets sets of 48 figures for under £5.00 are good. I think people get confused when they buy online and see "Free postage" but the box costs £7-8.00...that is because it is NOT free postage! The extra money on the box IS the postage. I once saw an Airfix box of 1/72 scale WW 1 French at £1.90 (??!) I thought great because...ah, because I did not look at the tiny writing below of £7.00 p&h so I was paying the proper price plus postage...the £1.00 was just a "catch you" trick.

As a rule if you can buy the sets in a shop (or Model hobbies online)then they are good value.
I think with Caesar and a couple other companies the problem is that they are asking far more than others (in my local shop Caesar goes for £6-7.00+ depending -on what I do not know!) for less figures. From 40+ down to 30+ or less and even PSR has noted this. Quite honestly, if Caesar stuck to 40-50 figures like they used to then the price is fair they could become the biggest seller BUT look at the price: WW 2 German Combat Team One -23 figures for £5.68 now THAT I would argue about. And their Fantasy set of Lizardmen £6.29 but all I see on the box is 11 (figures)? I'm still looking as they are not in my shop and all mention is of 11 poses so if that was all in there (and I hope I'm wrong!) THAT is expensive.
But, yes, overall, 48 figure packs and the Zvezda mini boxes (while they are still available)are great value!

Lizardmen is 34 figures for £6.60 at Harfields. How many Perry or Citadel or Battlefront minis can you get for £6.60?

34? Excellent! I think I know what I'm ordering this week -though fantasy is a distraction for me! Could you buy ONE Citadel miniature for that price? Again, a set I'd like and the price seems right.
Thanks for the info!

Just working on the Lizard men at the moment (going for the simplest colour scheme I can - very little shading just a few washes). I paid £6.99 a box - 34 figures plus 6 weapon and shield sprues. The same goes for the ratmen, and I think they're worth i. It's going to take 6 boxes to get an army near the size I want but ar £40 that's not bad, if they were 28mm you would just be getting started.

Overall - as I understand it - the price of plastic is largely determined by the price of oil, perhaps we'll see the prices drop when the reduced price works through.

Sounds good. Y'know, if Strelets just bagged unsprued figures they could recycle all that plastic! But getting a fantasy army going at that price IS cheap!

I don't know anything about short-run plastic figures and kits, but my understanding of "long-run" stuff is that the cost of the plastic is a tiny fraction of the costs. On another forum, I asked how much it costs to make a mold and I got the answer, £40,000 will get you a small uncomplicated mold, for a lorry cab for example.

Similarly, the masters don't cost very much relatively speaking either. A master for a Tank Mark V, for instance, costs about £150. Hint Hint, Strelets!

But they're not expensive figures, so we can moan about something else now! How about all the holidays our democratically elected governments take at our expense; how much do their holidays cost us!

I don't find Strelets-R box prices particularly expensive even now, and nor are Linear-B box prices, but I do find that European sellers of Linear-B products charge a lot for postage to the UK. I am therefore frustrated to find that sets that I really want are to be sold by Linear-B, not Strelets-R. I understand the point that these sets are being sponsored by Linear-B and they would probably not otherwise be made, but it would be good if they could find a British seller.

and, as an after thought, if PDA is paying £5.00 for a pint of beer, then he needs to get himself to Lancashire, where we pay £2.80 per pint.

I seriously gave up. Model Hobbies are not stocking the. The prices ARE high to buy into the UK. But as I understand it the sets are limited like Strelets sets so it is either buy from Europe or miss out. Sadly, I'm going to have to miss out!

"European sellers of Linear-B products charge a lot for postage to the UK"

I dont usually buy from the UK for precisely the same reason postage is too much except for the odd seller... so much for the free market...

I think there has to be an number of sets produced to justify the tooling and the tool itself is going to vary in cost based on a lot of different criteria...

Think about it for a moment though.... if only 3000 sets are produced from a short run tool/mould and they retail at 6-7€... and compare the difference in average price between single and multi-tool sets...

How much does it cost to make a sort run tool? its not rocket science as they say....