79 replies to this topic

[Demoulius]

Hello guys and gals from the TT forums.

Ive ordered my 25th anniversary box and am waiting anxiously until it arrives since ive got some spare time though im looking up unboxing videos to see if i can get some glimpses of the minis.

What I can see though suprises me a little. Most of the mechs that they show have really thin arms and legs there also appear to be lacking some details (like missle racks on an atlas) but that could be a variant issue...

Now I get that not all models in the box ouwld be premium quality but the thin arms and legs seem abit cartoony to me... Are all boxes like this or are these exceptions?

And if theyre like this how hard is it to fix? I already play games from games-workshop where they have green stuff, which is basicly a putty that you can use to fill gapes and shapes parts of a model with. Would this medium work to get the models to look abit less... Wonky? Buff up the arms/legs, add missle racks and other such things?

Thanks in advance

[Dirk Le Daring]

The two premium mechs are of excellent quality. The others are rather poor quality. Unfortunate, but that's the way the Mercedes Bends.

I think you will be happy with what you get.

Overall, I am happy with my purchase.

Edited by Dirk Le Daring, 11 June 2012 - 09:06 PM.

[Sarcastro01]

The mechs in my set that were bad were beyond help. No amount of greenstuff was going to fill the warped armor plates or other disfigurements. Fortunately there weren't too many and they weren't the most popular designs anyway. For the money though (my starter bought online boiled down to about $1.50/fig) they're a great way to get started.

The REAL joy of the anniversary set are the super high quality boards you get. VERY nice compared to the paper maps.

[Karl Streiger]

As every body wrote the starter minis are broken. Thanks to MWO - however i have a plan to make them better - some tons of miliput mixed with green stuff to boast the torso the legs and arms to made them wider - however it is a slow process. - A reason why i hope to see some schematics of the redesigns.
And actually the Stalker is binding all my resources.

Edited by Karl Streiger, 11 June 2012 - 10:30 PM.

[Demoulius]

Cheers for the replies guys seems my fears were right though

If the putty stays attached to the minis though im sure (well at least hope) that they can be salvaged

Might repose a few as well if possible... They all seem abit bland. Arms alongside the body bland how hard is the plastic? Is it easy to repose?

[Karl Streiger]

Nothing a saw and a sharp knife can't fix.
Some torsos and arms are kitted together - no need to cut them just take momentum and pull

it seems that they are a little harder then normal GW miniatures - isn't that bad because i have seriuously damaged some GW miniatures after a surgical strike with my hobby knife.

The hunchback is a flatfish so i try to bolster the torso with putty

[Scrawny Cowboy]

I have also purchased the 25th Aniversary Edition Starter Set. I was disappointed with the quality of the mechs, but considering all the other items that came with in the box it was very much worth the money. The one thing that really bothered me was my Awesome was missing his right arm. Not-so-Awesome.

[Fynn]

If your going to use GS to bulk up the mech's, make sure you give em a damm good wash first, as the crapy plastic used may not hold the GS (or any paint) very well, so drop em in warm soapy water and give em a good bath first.

just a surgestion from an old school modeler of about 30 odd years kit building.

[Atlas3060]

B3RZ3RK3R, on 12 June 2012 - 12:36 AM, said:

The one thing that really bothered me was my Awesome was missing his right arm. Not-so-Awesome.

Catalyst is willing to help with miniature replacements.
http://bg.battletech...ic,16789.0.html

That link goes to their replacement thread with information on how to get the Awesome fixed up or replaced.
I too agree that the initial minis (except the Clan ones) are of low quality, but we got them from China and it was like pulling teeth to get that handled. There's a whole rant by Randall Bills (The guy in charge of Catalyst and was Line Developer of Battletech at the time) about the entire business process.

[Promptus]

I'd think even poor quality plastic mechs would trump the original paper counters. ;-)

[village idiot]

Yeah, they're definitely better than the paper counters, that's for sure. And cost / mini, if you presume all the other box set content is "free", they're still a great deal, which makes me more forgiving.
Several of them even look good after you clean them up. (heck, gotta do cleanup for metal minis too, which are $10+ each)

It'd be awesome if they all were the same 'high quality' sculpts as the Summoner and Hellbringer in there though. Maybe next time?

As someone else said, the thick cardboard game boards are awesome, and a major upgrade. Overall the best box set they've made for BT, though there's room for improvement on the mini front.

[Demoulius]

Atlas3060, on 12 June 2012 - 05:30 AM, said:

Catalyst is willing to help with miniature replacements.
http://bg.battletech...ic,16789.0.html

That link goes to their replacement thread with information on how to get the Awesome fixed up or replaced.
I too agree that the initial minis (except the Clan ones) are of low quality, but we got them from China and it was like pulling teeth to get that handled. There's a whole rant by Randall Bills (The guy in charge of Catalyst and was Line Developer of Battletech at the time) about the entire business process.

Do they also replace broken/missing miniatures if you bought the models some place else? If I bought it from them dirrectly I would have payed 3 times more then im paying right now, even with 10 pounds delivery cost

Miniatures do sounds alot better then paper counters and washing them in soap first kinda makes it sound like theyre made from resin. Some of the mold residue that sticks to the plastic?

[Atlas3060]

Demoulius, on 12 June 2012 - 12:40 PM, said:

Do they also replace broken/missing miniatures if you bought the models some place else? If I bought it from them dirrectly I would have payed 3 times more then im paying right now, even with 10 pounds delivery cost

Considering how some people bought them in stores and used this form I think it is worth a shot friend.

[Demoulius]

Thats a good point actually just hope the service wont be needed at all offcourse

[Demoulius]

Sorry to bump this up... The item has been listed as beeing "not in stock, but arriving soon" for about.... 4 or 5 days now

The box is still beeing made right? Seems like the store doesent use the same defenition as for soon as I do

[Fez Findie]

Honestly, that was a good call on'em. Cheaper miniatures means you get a lot to start with right off and can easily build up from there ^^ So while not sayin' they are great by any means, you can do wonders with paint and there was a lot of'em I prefer that over a handful of quality pieces on the start.

[Oppi]

I've got the german version of that starter set. Playing many other TTs (Warhammer, Warmachine, The Uncharted Seas etc) I really don't understand why they don't try and make better miniatures. I mean, the Summoner and Hellbringer in the box are simply amazing, especially when compared to the other plastic mechs in there (but the metal mechs I have can't compete either). If Battletech had better miniatures, I'm sure it would be alot more popular among players (don't know what it's like in the states, but over here in germany I do have trouble to find BT enthusiasts).

Edited by Oppi, 14 June 2012 - 01:30 PM.

[Karl Streiger]

The best thing is as far as i have recognized it some mech sculpts were payed by fans. For example the adequate Sunder. Other IWM sculpts - for example Warlord, TItan II and the brand new Thunderbolt IIC - were not
To improve the quality they have to kick some of the sculpters that made the initial prototype - of course i would hardly do anything similar - but that isn't my job right?

[KeeperVS]

Yeah I'm very happy with my set, now just have to find someone to play it with in the Kansas City area. I found that the Commando in my box was broken, contacted Catalyst and they are sending my another one. That's customer service, replied to me within the day and had it shipped the next.

[Baltodox]

I just got my box set today. I ordered it off of amazon and almost all of the figures were okay excpect for my 2 of the 24 normal ones were broken and my thor was already built. It seemed like somebody had only touched those few mechs and another which had an arm glued on. Still the thor is actually put together quite well so don't care too much about that. nothing else was touched. It looks like the one of broken ones was also glued back together but still came appart. Also the box set was not listed under used. However I must say I am still very impressed with the general quality of the mechs and all the stuff you get in the box set