Robotech Miniatures?

[tgunner91]

Kevin posted this on a recent update:

"● Rifts® (and Robotech®?) Miniatures. Carmen Bellaire and I also continue to discuss the feasibility of releasing a Rifts® and/or Robotech® miniatures game even if it’s on a limited basis to start. Let us know whether you might be interested in such products.
● In addition to Carmen’s efforts, Palladium has been approached by two different people about making a Robotech® miniatures game. We are currently entertaining the possibilities."

I can confirm this to a degree. This thread appeared on the miniatures page a few days ago with a fellow who is feeling the waters for people who would be interested in Robotech miniatures. He even has a few pictures showing what he has in mind:

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=259670

This could be really good! There aren't really any Robotech miniatures out there at all. FASA had a line of miniatures that were based off Macross but they went away decades ago (and they weren't really good sculpts anyway). There was also another company out there who made some (Iron Horse? Dark Horse?) but apparently they didn't keep the line going for long although they were mentioned in the original Robotech RPG.

Those miniatures are very rare and very expensive... just check ebay! Other than those you have various Japanese plastic models in various scales that are becoming just a rare and expensive!

Now I'll admit, I'm not really a role-player any more. Oh I dabble here and there, but I haven't seriously played in ages. I'm a wargamer, and with that said, I know that there are a lot of you who do both hobbies and I know a lot of you roleplayers use miniatures for gaming. I think this could be a great product that all of us would love to have. Imagine what you could do... Here's a link to a 1/200 scale Robotech game that was played recentally. I don't even want to think about how much money or time this guy spent assembling these models:

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=132819

So seriously, who out there would be interested? Let Kevin know because he's actually giving it some thought and these people who're suggesting this are real gamers who are trying to make it happen.

Here's one of their blogs:

http://robotechbattles.blogspot.com/

He's writing the rules and making scenarios right now for playtesting.

Chime in here or at The Miniatures Page and let everyone know that you're interested in Robotech miniatures:

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg ... 100&page=1

[tgunner91]

Here are some quick pictures to show you what could be:

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj27 ... CT0027.jpg

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj27 ... CT0017.jpg

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj27 ... CT0009.jpg

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj27 ... CT0020.jpg

[DocTom]

I'd buy a robotech miniatures game in a heart beat. Then I would make all my friends play it.

[Lt Gargoyle]

if those are the models for sale sign me up. I do not need the game rules for buying these.
is he only gonna do the macross era or is he working on all 3 eras? I want some cyclones!

[DocTom]

Invid, cyclones bioroids and hovertanks are all things that robotech fans need that have not been modeled in miniature in the past. I hope this project goes forward. Lets do some crowd sourcing for it...

[jaymz]

Count me in

[tgunner91]

if those are the models for sale sign me up. I do not need the game rules for buying these.
is he only gonna do the macross era or is he working on all 3 eras? I want some cyclones!

There are a couple of guys out there wanting to do this. I know one of them wants to do all three eras. I'm curious to see how he would do the cyclone in 1/300 or 1/285 scale. The bigger mecha wouldn't be too hard. But you're not going to get a lot of detail on a 1/300 scale, human-sized miniature. I've seen some very nice figures in this scale, but New Generation seems more like 10mm or 15mm. But who knows, 6mm might just work pretty well.

[Snake Eyes]

I will be first in line to buy Robotech minis if they make them

[glitterboy2098]

if those are the models for sale sign me up. I do not need the game rules for buying these.
is he only gonna do the macross era or is he working on all 3 eras? I want some cyclones!

There are a couple of guys out there wanting to do this. I know one of them wants to do all three eras. I'm curious to see how he would do the cyclone in 1/300 or 1/285 scale. The bigger mecha wouldn't be too hard. But you're not going to get a lot of detail on a 1/300 scale, human-sized miniature. I've seen some very nice figures in this scale, but New Generation seems more like 10mm or 15mm. But who knows, 6mm might just work pretty well.

if you use 1/144th scale, like the Mechwarrior clix game scale, a cyclone would be about 10-12mm tall, depending on how "heroic" you choose to model it, and the larger mecha wouldn't be too big. a macross VF-1 or Destroid would end up about 3.5" to 5" tall depending on model, and those are the biggest types.

though if you go that scale, i'd want multi-part plastics for anything bigger than a silverback. veritechs could easily come in a box with models for all their modes, while Cyclones and ASC powered armor could come in "squad packs" with quite a few single peice models.

i have some japanese 1/144th scale VF-11 battroids, and they're only about 6inches tall, which would make a VF-1 about 5inches..

[jingizu999]

I definitely want to show my support. I think there are enough people like me who are already putting out money for fan projects to justify an official product.

I have a number of the Battletech "Unseen" and have been collecting them since I started playing in '87. I have bought at least one copy of every fan made Macross/Robotech miniature I could put my hands on and have even bought Macross gashapon toys to use for home grown miniatures games. I've even gone so far as to buy an off-scale fan sculpted Regult from across the pond just so I'd have it to display with my "Unseen" units.

I would absolutely love to see officially supported miniatures made available, especially the Spartas hovertank, Alpha fighter, and Beta fighter since they have never had miniatures.

[Lt Gargoyle]

I will be first in line to buy Robotech minis if they make them

Race you there.

i like the idea od cyclones and power armor coming in squad packs. and i have to agree i like th idea of plastics alot. easier to mod.

[Snake Eyes]

I will be first in line to buy Robotech minis if they make them

Race you there.

i like the idea od cyclones and power armor coming in squad packs. and i have to agree i like th idea of plastics alot. easier to mod.

Seriously, Cyclone minis would be really cool

[Lt Gargoyle]

I will be first in line to buy Robotech minis if they make them

Race you there.

i like the idea od cyclones and power armor coming in squad packs. and i have to agree i like th idea of plastics alot. easier to mod.

Seriously, Cyclone minis would be really cool

Yes they would.

[Lt Gargoyle]

They would have to be in stands of like 4-5, bu even so, that would be cool. One stand could be the equal of a "typical" mecha, whatever benchmark you choose you use defining typical here. I would love to see some ASC love her too, especially the battloids as general purpose units!

I want the ASC and master toys to. I mean minatures.

[tgunner91]

"They would have to be in stands of like 4-5"

Not necessarily, I've seen 6mm skirmish games that have infantry models mounted by themselves. Check this out:

http://wpggamegeeks.blogspot.com/2011/1 ... e-for.html

Or this:

http://6mmfubar.blogspot.com/2011/10/chapter-two.html

6mm can look very nice on single bases and you can get a LOT of units on the board. Imagine say a New Generation battle where the Invid have 20-30 troopers/scouts going up against dozens of Cyclones and several Alphas. That's something that 6mm could actually do, and do rather well! I would base infantry (soldiers in just basic armor and Gallants/rocket launcher) in fire teams of 4 or so, but I would single base Cyclones and Cyclones in armor mode in 6mm.

Kind of cool to imagine a board with those minis!

[WilhelmRochRedDuke]

Hello Everyone, My name is Thomas Roache, PE. I'm the developer putting together Robotech Battles. Here is a little blurb to get the ball rolling about my game..

"Welcome to the Tabletop Miniatures Skirmish Game based on Robotech from the Japanese version of the Anime Series Macross. Robotech Battles is a 3D Tabletop Skirmish Game where you can either be human or the alien Zentradi. You are the pilot in control of Devastating Transformable Mecha battling for the earth’s survival, or the alien commander in control of the hordes of giant aliens bent on war and domination. Aerial Dogfights, missile trails filling the sky, and Mecha on Mecha combat give you the player, a taste of the Robotech Universe.
Play out your favorite scenes from the Robotech series in this skirmish game where the fate of the First Robotech war can be decided on the results of your battles.
A few simple things about the game: The game is an action/reaction based skirmish game where your pilots have the means of fully using the environment they are in to travel through the landscape (this includes up and down as well). Missiles are the imaginary third player and act independantly once fired and be careful if they miss. Terrain can be targeted and will blow up if your not careful. Set-up is fast and gameplay is faster."

I'm here to just introduce myself and give a little bit of info on Robotech Battles. Currently the rules cover about half of the First Robotech War. I have big plans for the second half and the remaining Robotech Wars (Masters and New Generation) I had to start somewhere, so I started with the first half of the First War. Additional rules and scenarios are in development for bigger combats and better Mecha. but none of that can happen without your interest and support.
I'm independant from Jon, the creator of the great Miniature designs that you have been shown but we talk alot and we feel that if we can give a full game experiance with amazing miniatures than all the better. If you are interested in just the miniatures, thats cool also. I've always wanted to see Robotech on the Tabletop and I hope you have also. All I'm asking is that you take a minute and show your support for getting A Robotech Tabletop Miniatures game and a line of amazing miniatures produced. Let Kevin know that your interested in seeing this happen.
Thanks
Tom
http://robotechbattles.blogspot.com/

[Omote]

I am so IN for Robotech Miniatures... Macross, Southern Cross, Invid Invasion, Shadow Chronicles... all of them. Will buy in massive quantity.

BTW, there is growing voice on FACEBOOK for Palladium Books producing these miniatures. If you can, post to Palladium here and on Facebook to let them know you want your awesome Robotech miniatures! Search out on Facebook: Robotech Miniatures for one guy who is doing a spectacular job on making his own and trying to get the go-ahead from Palladium Books to be the sculptor for this line of minis.

~O

[Lt Gargoyle]

i do not mind the bases as long as they make sense to the game.

i like the idea of custom bases. and i do alot with my minatures i have.

[Alpha 11]

I may not game with them, but I will sure collect them. Though I hope they are painted. Is there a poll on site for this? And yes, I would also go for the Rifts ones too.

[Lt Gargoyle]

I prefer to paint my own.
I am so with you gryphon on the desire to have rifts and robotech mini's. Cross over games here we come.

[rtsurfer]

The samples look really good, looking forward to seeing more.

I would buy them IF minis were released for all 3 sagas, with some of each saga's line being released at the same time to ensure none of the 3 sagas would be left out.

I would personally prefer the minis without a game, in which case I would hope all of the Robotech minis were to scale. Should there be a game, it would probably make more sense to produce them in approximately the same size and not in scale.

Material used doesn't really matter to me as long as you can handle them without worrying they are going to break in you hand, this also might significantly affect cost depending on what scale is used.

I would favor painted versions if the additional cost wasn't too much, but unpainted is fine and I imagine some people would like to give theirs customized paint jobs anyway.

[glitterboy2098]

if there is going to be a game, i'd prefer scale to remain near constant between era's. sure, an Invid scout is small enough to play "mellinium falcon" on the back of a Zentreadi battlepod...but that just means in a game the invid scout is going to have more cover options than the more potent battlepod, without having to resort to hexgrid maps and other such metagaming approaches.


as i've mentioned before, i'd go with N-scale, or about /144th scale. in some wargaming circles. this would result in cyclones being about half of an inch high, the Logan battloid being about an inch high, an Alpha battloid being about 3 inches high, and a Vf-1 battloid being 4.1 inches high. zentreadi battlepods would be about 6 inches, while Zentreadi footsoldiers would wind up between 3 inches and 3.5 inches.

N-scale has plenty of terrain available for use.. N-scale being one of the more common scale for model trains, and for quite a few miniatures wargames (like the popular Heavy Gear Blitz!.) even the high quality train set buildngs rarely go above $10 for a multi-story house.. though inner city large buildings, warehouses, and factories can go for more given their size. but you can obtain lots of terrain pretty quickly this way, and scratchbuilding for this scale is pretty easy.

it would also lend itself well to RIFTS, and if Palladium desired crossover potential, this scale would be my suggestion, give RIFTS generally focus on smaller vehicles and on human sized combatants.

[Sakieh]

Some things that make he production of miniatures for Robotech difficult is that Harmony Gold will, likely,
try to make sure the miniatures can ONLY be used for Robotech. There are many people who go hunting for the
Dark Horse miniatures(I know..I was trying to get one of their fighters recently) for large sums of money, and the
people who try to buy the Ral Partha miniatures(or, worse, the people who recast the Ral Partha/Dark Horse miniatures!)
are generally NOT buying them for anything Robotech related. In many cases, they are buying them for Battletech,
the game that originally had licensing issues(really complicated...and tends to start Flame Wars) that Harmony Gold
got them to stop using the Macross, Crusher Joe, and Dougram art(and even some things that were original art, that
Harmony Gold said was too close to other stuff). This does create a potential issue with making them since, it runs
the risk of diluting HG's IP ownership of Robotech and Macross.

All that said: Please give me Robotech minis! I will be in line REALLY quickly to get some!

[glitterboy2098]

actually HG didn't get them to stop using the Unseen in battletech.. FASA removed them themselves after liscensing issues arose to avoid possible issues.

and players using the minis for purposes other than the official game doesn't do **** to HG's IP status. if another company were to start making a for profit game using the robotech minis without HG's approval, then there would be a problem. but if people want to buy robotech minis for non-robotech games, all that does is drive up the sales of the minis. it would have zero effect on the IP's of any of the games involved.

now, would HG want to keep a robotech minis game and a rifts Minis game sperate IP's? probably. would that prevent the minis and rules being compatable/ not really. look at the wizkids heroclix game, and their Haloclix game. the two use the same basic rules, and similar sized figures..but the two are seperate liscenses and as long as Wizkids didn't try to make official crossover rules, there was no IP issue. unofficial Fan made stuff doesn't effect IP unless the fans try to make money off it or the fans claim it is 'official product'.

[Lt Gargoyle]

i think even if the rules are basically compatible its not gonna be any different then the role playing games. they are both compatible, yet have their own basic system.

[Lt Gargoyle]

i do not want them to be heroClix, nor do i want random packs. it makes building an army to play with over priced. I do not mind my cyclones or smaller units to be small.
I can agree $20 a pack for the bigger models. I do not want any to be metal as i like the idea of converting them. And heros will still be given the same basic model as the other.

[rtsurfer]

Someone pointed out in the Protoculture Times Robotech group that all mecha should be the same scale since Robotech is multi-generational and by the time of 3rd gen there are mecha from all 3 generations fighting together.
glitterboy2098, N-scale sounds like it might be a good idea as it provides a lot of choice for accessories and while Robotech is based around mecha there are trains, vehicles, buildings, plants, people, etc in all 3 gen environments. Wonder how this scale change would affect costs estimates?

[glitterboy2098]

Someone pointed out in the Protoculture Times Robotech group that all mecha should be the same scale since Robotech is multi-generational and by the time of 3rd gen there are mecha from all 3 generations fighting together.
glitterboy2098, N-scale sounds like it might be a good idea as it provides a lot of choice for accessories and while Robotech is based around mecha there are trains, vehicles, buildings, plants, people, etc in all 3 gen environments. Wonder how this scale change would affect costs estimates?

shouldn't effect costs too much. most of the figures end up 2x larger.. but with larger figures you can also use weight and materials saving methods like hollow parts (zent pods, being the biggest, could be cast in resin or plastic with 2-3 part mainbodies, with hollow insides. other large mecha could use similar multi-part design to not only reduce the materials required, but also to allow greater posability and in theory, customization (the latter opening up the option for players to build their favorite IMU's.. )

the fact that most of the mecha in robotech are smaller (ASC and New gen eras), what with hovertanks and bioroids (20ft tall), Logans (12ft tall), Alpha's (36ft), etc, really will reduce costs. though you'll want to price the Macross era stuff such that they can compete with the japanese 144th scale gashapons and plastic model kits..which generally run $10 for gashapons and non-transforming, up to $30 for the highly detailed fully transforming kits. of course, shipping costs from japan tends to be killer, even if you order from somewhere like hobbylinkjapan. and most of those japanese kits and gashapons are currently OOP, so it's all "while supplies last". of course, they've generally focused more on the Spinoff series instead of SDF macross itself, so while you have lots of VF-11's and VF-19's, and so on..there aren't all that many VF-1's, destroids, and zentreadi mecha.. (though last i checked HLJ had a supply of zent MPa and FPA kits in 144th scale still on hand for about $10 per.. not very popular i guess..)

(edit; checked.. HLJ.com no longer has FPA kits in 144th scale.. they have MPA's, VF-11's, VF-11MAXL's, and VF-17's..)

[rtsurfer]

On http://www.facebook.com/RobotechMiniatures, he suggest 1st gen in N-scale would be about $30 each and says people are already balking at $15 each. I understand he wants to maintain a high level of detail and quality but that seems a bit pricey when Toonami can produce painted 1/100 scale transformables/poseables for about the same price. Not to mention there are ~1/300 Macross sets of 6 on ebay for about $35. Yeah I know that's not really a fair comparison since his are hand crafted and the others are mass produced.

I don't plan to game with them so I will probably get the 2nd & 3rd gen ones, if they are ever released, but not the 1st gen if they are not all in scale. Additionally, the wider the selection and availability of props and accessories in their scale the more likely I am to buy these.

[glitterboy2098]

part of it is resin tends to be more expensive than plastic, and metal worse than resin.

if HG wants to do a miniatures game for robotech, i'd suspect they'd arrange something with a company able to use plastic..

[Bill]

The idea that plastic equals less expensive is not necessarily true, gentlemen. The initial start-up costs for plastic figures are much greater than metal or resin and the price advantage only comes out in enormous runs. If you can guarantee that a market capable of supporting that kind of production run exists, it's a good investment. However, unless the long rumored (since '07) live action Robotech movie becomes a reality and blows up huge, I don't see it being realistic. The franchise has a loyal fanbase, but not a very large one.

[rtsurfer]

Didn't the early MPC volumes sell out at 15k? Although I believe sales have significantly dropped on more recent MPC volumes and other Robotech collectables/toys.

[Seto Kaiba]

Didn't the early MPC volumes sell out at 15k? Although I believe sales have significantly dropped on more recent MPC volumes and other Robotech collectables/toys.

If what Harmony Gold staffers have revealed about MPC sales is on the mark, it's doubtful they've ever actually sold out the entire limited run of one of those toys. In many cases, they supposedly never reach the halfway mark, even after they had dropped the cap from 15,000 all the way to 5,000. They get a couple hundred at a time, and when those sell out they just order a few hundred more... lather, rinse, repeat until sales drop off, they stop reordering, and announce "SOLD OUT" when their existing stock is gone. (Usually thousands of units short of the actual limited edition limit.)

Most of the MPC toys capped out at less than 5k copies, they also axed the run of shadow betas because the sales on the others versions were too slow.

IIRC, the limit on the "limited edition" MPCs was set to 15,000 units for the VF-1s and Alpha fighters, cut to 10,000 for the Betas, and cut again to 5,000 for the Cyclones, Maia's Shadow Fighter, and the canceled Shadow Betas.

[Lt Gargoyle]

This is great and I would buy lots of minis

My points would be:

1. They need t be supplied unpainted so we can paint them.
2. The New Gen figures should be a larger scale than the macross stuff and maybe come in two scales, one for battling mecha and another in the GW 30mm scale so we can have cyclones and characters at a nice size and be able to mix in characters from other games, also maybe do the invid scout and enforcer/soldier at this scale as it still shouldnt be that large. This would be great for RPGs
3. Please do all the Invid mecha including the new Overlord
I hope this project takes off

I prefer to keep the entire model line to one scale. I am not woried about trying to make my robotech game cross over with My warhammer stuff. I will use them in rpging as well, i think it would be great for PCs to have a great visual effect such as that.

[Lt Gargoyle]

Well, dont I feel like a dinosaur.

When I graduated college 15 years ago I was the only sculpture major who took the time to model figures and stuff, people called me crazy for not just doing life casts. Seems I'll be called crazy again, but for slightly different reasons ;P Oh if I only had a nickel...

Regardless, its very interesting to lean a bit about the mass production world. Thankfully, there will always be a place for traditional skills. Certain buyers of things like art and furniture value things that are "hand made". Once in a while "crazy" pays off. I'm not extinct just yet.

Now, if there were only a cool mini game simplified enough for me to play with my kids...It would be great to see Palladium run with something similar to the idea I floated in the Rifts Mini thread in the All Things Palladium forum.

use games workshop system for gaming demos when playing with your kids. the four F's: fours, Fast, Ferocious, fun.
fours, everything hits, wounds and saves on four.
fast; your into the thick of it within the first turn.
Ferocious; Models die!
Fun; self explanitory here. But at GW they made us make a story and make sound effects and ect.

Once your kids get older then you begin to break them into the real rules.

[Bill]

I am against unpainted minis, as they don't sell, and you will never sell the volume as games workshop does.
If you want to paint the damn things, buy the model kits from Japan.

There's no chinese child slave labor available in the US, so the price for offering pre-painted figs would be too much.

Also most of the kits made by Bandai, Araii, Yamato are all made in China (but sold under Japanese labels)

mech_dude is correct, you can't afford pre-paints if you use domestic production. Also, dedicated wargamers tend to dislike prepaints because the quality is usually lower than what they can produce themselves. Unless the game is a mass-market smash, those are the guys that will be buying the majority of these figures too. You may want one of each, but wargamers will literally buy an army of them.

[glitterboy2098]

most dedicated wargamers are also going to want the scale to be consistant across all eras, even if it means the Cyclones and logans are tiny. it simplifies gameplay since you can use 3D terrain and "true line of sight". if the figures are at different scales you either have to be playing on a map scale so huge that your basically moving 3d markers around a topographical map, or your forced to use a hexgrid and non-scaled terrain. both of which make the game less interesting to play, and argueably less of a miniatures game.

[Tiree]

You can always paint over a painted mini!

[Bill]

Fortunately, I won't have to. You're not getting prepaints.

[Colonel Wolfe]

Doubt I'll invest in them unless they have ASC era models....

[Lt Gargoyle]

Hey thanks for the tip Lt Gargoyle. I'll look into that. In my Christmas grab bag I requested HU as a game I might try with my boy, but soon found it was far to complicated and would require me to basically re-invent its rules, and Im no game designer. It was that Christmas morning as I watched my son playing with a spinning top ( Bayblade) and lego mini figures ( he basically ignored the rest of the lego set ;P ) when I thought of the idea I shared in the other thread.

lego sells board games for kids that use figs and such. Try those first. if he's able to comprehend the board games get him onto something else.

try to play risk then axes and allies first. then mini's. you then can work him to building and painting models.

I agree that those who will truly be the big buyers of these are the true wargamers like myself who will spend hundreds if not thousands on full armies. I also would like consistant size for the models.

[rtsurfer]

Besides that, what is to stop people from buying 1 of each mecha they're interested in then using them to mold a whole army for themselves and maybe even their friends. I wouldn't be surprised if a significant number of war gamers are already experienced at molding duplicates of existing pieces plus IINM the kits are readily available, reasonably priced, and there are both written and video guides on how to do it online. I wouldn't be surprised if Palladium ends up needing collectors and non war gamers to even make them profitable and worth their trouble.

[rtsurfer]

Palladium Books® Weekly Update – March 22, 2012

UPDATE: Robotech® Miniatures. There seems to be a fair amount of interest from fans in Palladium doing Robotech® miniatures. We also have been approached by, I think, four different gentlemen interested in doing Robotech® miniatures with us. I hope to start giving these guys a call next week to see what they have to offer. We may also be doing a new poll in the next week or two to get a clearer idea of what gamers would like to see. We’re getting excited about the idea, but we have a long way to go, including talking to Harmony Gold about the restrictions and costs of the license. That probably means keeping the figures small, but the one sample we’ve seen from one of these gents is impressive to say the least. Looking into it, but the release of new game books is priority number at the moment.

[Rabid Southern Cross Fan]

Oddly enough, I would be interested in models of the Destroids/Zentraedi Pods from The Sentinels in addition to the Southern Cross and Mospeada ones.

[rtsurfer]

Oddly enough, I would be interested in models of the Destroids/Zentraedi Pods from The Sentinels in addition to the Southern Cross and Mospeada ones.

I would also like to have those but don't give them ideas for more sets to release ahead of Masters/Southern Cross lol One thing I don't get, people keep saying Southern Cross mecha doesn't sell, then why did HG and their licensees release 4 versions over 10 years?

I personally endorse the idea of releasing a few from each line then producing more for the line that sells the best or pieces consumers have requested in numbers. There will have to be inexpensive stand ups for the game away so people can start playing before all of the pieces in a line is available plus not everyone can buy them all or in numbers right out of the gate. I'm afraid they will never get to a second line, over the last few years MPCs and other Robotech toys haven't been able to complete release of their sets or variants. Any pieces that aren't selling well could be bundled with popular ones to make sure they don't get stuck with them.
I would suggest releasing them in an order something like: Skull One, Officer Battlepod, Hovertank, Red Bioroid, Alpha, RCB, Max's VF, FPA, Ajax, Invid fighter bioroid, Beta, Enforcer, Armored VF, Battlepod (with the aft cannons loose and a separate set of light & heavy missile pods), Logan, Blue Bioroid, cyclone group, shocktrooper, then request.

If they are molded in pieces which it seems they are, why not sell them unassembled & unfinished. Let gamers finish them and save some money on their purchase. Even though some of them would be small, I'd like to see ALL sagas to the same scale.

Palladium might be better off having a more expensive hand crafted metal line, but also buying the cad files and hiring a company that can produce inexpensive plastic pieces.

Oh, it would be nice to also see a capital ship line featuring vessels from all 3 sagas to scale.

[ShadowLogan]

Maybe it would be better to not think of releasing them by section of the series, but rather one whole series all at once.

Unless you have leveled enemies you can get the ~127 units (Mecha and vehicles, not starships and similiar) already covered by the RPG. How many units are in a typical minature series release? Heroclix games I played are ~150 IIRC w/each getting 3 levels, if that is typical then RT could do the entire series if they don't do leveled mini's in one go.

If one is not concerned with model variations or such, the number is a bit lower (~106) and can be lowered again w/customized parts and again if some of the mundane vehicles don't need to be covered (VC-33/27, Spiderbug, Goose Shuttle, IMUs, etc). That would still mean some trimming to make leveled units work or unique characters (1 level)

[rtsurfer]

If you only manufacturer the tv series mecha, for the first saga there's 62 or more pieces. VF-1S, 1D, 1J, 1A, 1R, Elint & 3 Super VFs (all 3 mode). Armored VF, Rick's plane & Minmei's plane. VF with boosters and launchers, Transport with launch tank, 3 Transports, Lancer II's, Drone fighters, & work pod. 2 Choppers & AWAC. Monster, Spartan, Defender, Phalanx, Tomahawk, VF-4, & Orguss Battloid. Heavy & Light Zent Warriors, 2 Power Suits, FPA, & Fighter. Officer, Officer with thruster, Standard, Light, Heavy, & Recon Battlepods. Recon & Transport. That's not including the overarmed VF (with tail missiles), 2 fighters in flashback, VF-X, & the support vehicles.

As I have pointed out elsewhere, Robotech is one big series were off screen, mecha from all 3 sagas interacted. Not just in the background of the 3 Robotech sagas but pre-Macross, Malcontent Uprisings, & Sentinels. Ideally Palladium would release all of the mecha minis at one time which will probably only happen if they go out of country to have them produced. Otherwise mecha from the 2nd and 3rd sagas will be laminated cardboard cutouts or paper if the fans have to print and cut them out themselves while 1st gen will be a mix of minis and laminated stand ups.

I hate to be all doom and gloom but I honestly don't expect to ever see the 2nd and 3rd sagas released as minis unless all 3 sagas are releases together either at one time or in batches. As I said earlier, I believe if people start collecting minis from all three sagas they are more likely to collect most of the minis especially the core pieces. Otherwise, if 1st gen is released first and doesn't sell well or people get tired of spending $15 a pop on the 1st gen, especially if they buy multiples of each piece which is likely, there will be no 2nd and 3rd gen sets. Besides that, they may be hard to find and a bit pricy but there are 1st gen minis already available, just look at mech_dude's collection on his blog, while the same can't be said for the 2nd and 3rd sagas. I don't know about other people but I don't plan to start buying the minis until 2nd gen and Invid pieces are available.

[Lt Gargoyle]

Besides that, what is to stop people from buying 1 of each mecha they're interested in then using them to mold a whole army for themselves and maybe even their friends. I wouldn't be surprised if a significant number of war gamers are already experienced at molding duplicates of existing pieces plus IINM the kits are readily available, reasonably priced, and there are both written and video guides on how to do it online. I wouldn't be surprised if Palladium ends up needing collectors and non war gamers to even make them profitable and worth their trouble.

If this was the case then GW and other minature company would be dead. Most people do not do this.

I understand the cost reduction issue. However, when planning a product that is based on a universe that has been around for decades and whose players have a tendency to horde collections, the question of material should be looked at with other existing game systems in mind.

Take a look at Ebay and you'll find that metal miniatures are still traded with collector value:
- you rarely get a bagged "bunch"
- most likely some miniatures are more sought after than others
- prices tend to go higher and lower, but people do appreciate new and used miniatures alike

When we look at gaming systems that used plastic miniatures you'll find:
- bags of stuff that nobody wants (Mage Knight anybody?)
- people sitting on seemingly worthless collections (Mechwarrior Dark Age being such a dud)
- thus, a general reluctance to spend money on something that will live only for a moment

Do you remember these RAFM miniatures for the Mekton game? As hard as they are to find nowadays they're still traded and appreciated.

I'd bet body parts that a new metal miniature line would help the game last longer, sell better and generate a bigger impact over time than with plastic counterparts.

PS: You're probably right with lead being mixed into these minis. I don't know how they were done. They could contain anything, so I painted them to mask the surface.

I doubt they will have an issue because the minatures are plastic. In a day an age where hobbiest like to model and alter them, plastics have found thier mark. Metal is expensive and is a pain to convert. And this is likely gonna be a hobbist type game.

[winterdyne]

Hi. I was asked to paint some of the prototypes. Here's what I've done so far.

http://www.winterdyne.co.uk/maz/images/commissions/paulson/regult_tomahawk.jpg
http://www.winterdyne.co.uk/maz/images/commissions/paulson/regult_tactical_done.jpg
http://www.winterdyne.co.uk/maz/images/commissions/paulson/tomahawk_done2.jpg

[rtsurfer]

winterdyne, beautiful painting job.