How much does it cost to produce plastic? (1 Viewer)

larso

larso

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I looked into producing a line of plastic Anzacs about ten years ago. For various reasons I ended up going with a metal range, which I folded up about 5 years ago. What I'm wondering is, what would doing a set of eight plastic figures cost these days? I'm not going back into it but I'm curious as to what members might have learnt/heard about the costs of the process.
 
My guess would be about $5000 at least, per figure.
I rember talking to a guy a few years ago who did produce 6 plastic Civil War figures and I think he said to do those was in the $25000 range, now that was about 4 or 5 years ago.
Gary
 
Good idea for a thread Larso,I have been curious myself.
 
Some of the required elements are
a sculpter
a moldmaker
a plastic manufacturer
distribution
advertising
storage
 
The Blackcat Russians , 8 poses, 3000 bags of 16 figures each { minimum run} cost me $15,000 by the time I paid for mold cutting , production,assembly, packaging , shipping by Container vessel and rail transport.
That was some time ago.
3 years ago I looked into doing my metal Civil War figures done. Price was up 20% as I recall. I wanted them done on sprues, Like hat or Italeri plastics. I designed them so packs, hats, and lots of arm variations would fit different figures.
I had 32 { 4 x 8 figure sets} troops I wanted done on sprues for the versatility of making LOTS of different figures .
Told no. Factory wants the assembly work and will not manufacture without that extra work and $$$. Shot my design scheme to hell. $$$ up front too.
I saw a rather large investment of $60,000-$80,000 and not done the way I wanted.
Oh well, Kids are College age, economy was poor, I just decided against it.I'm just a hobby guy anyway.
Too bad, they would have been great.
I gave up finding mold work in the States,Shocking high cost for making steel, aluminum high pressure injection molds.Actual cost of shooting the figs in plastic is about the same here as anywhere else.
FubAR
 
Because mold making here in the States was x 4. Mold making is the expensive part. China, while still expensive, is far less than a company in the USA, IF YOU CAN FIND ONE TO ACTUALLY WANT TO DO IT.
Most of the old equipment{ so I am told} does not exist here anymore.All sold off to Foreign companies years ago. Nobody does it here.All computer programmed and such now. I was quoted $40,000 for 8 figure set by 2 different local business's.Not counting production.My toy soldier friend is an Executive at Nike. He cannot get it done there either. Far too expensive.
Actual injection molding, sure they are everywhere and cost is pennies per figure. Getting the mold made , there's the big $$$.
China will not make the molds for you and then send to you to find a local guy for production. They want the production assembly and packaging.
Not en expert, but these are examples of what I have found.
I just spincast my figs in metal. I can do that alone.
FUB
 
Gary, that was probably me that quoted you $25,000 for a set of 6. That number was high. That was before i was totally done and still estimating high on the shipping costs. I think for my set of 6, I paid about $18,000. that doesn't take into account the costs of running a business (website, marketing, signage, ect.). I think you'd want to have a solid $20,000 before getting started, assuming your looking at 6 poses. Add about $3,000 for each additional pose.

that was 3 years ago, so prices have probably gone up.

Beau
 
I recall Richard Conte on his web page once saying it cost him $100,000 to bring out a box of plastics (no idea
how many boxes included).

It is certainly not cheap. Since payment up front required you would need to be very sure can sell them quick to
get your money back. Once you start thinking about good guys and enemy you are talking about big money.

A lot of confidence and deep pockets required. Distribution vital as need the volume to make it work.

Brett
 
Discussions I have had with individuals indicate it is about 1/10 the cost to make the mold in China. The problem with making the mold in China and getting back to the states (if the Chinese manufacturers would permit it, based on comments above) is the weight of the mold. Being steel (??) it is very heavy.
 
"Gary, that was probably me that quoted you $25,000 for a set of 6. That number was high. That was before i was totally done and still estimating high on the shipping costs. I think for my set of 6, I paid about $18,000. that doesn't take into account the costs of running a business (website, marketing, signage, ect.). I think you'd want to have a solid $20,000 before getting started, assuming your looking at 6 poses. Add about $3,000 for each additional pose.

that was 3 years ago, so prices have probably gone up."

Thanks Beau, that helps a lot. The quotes I got ten years ago are very out of date but they were substantial enough at the time. In the end I asked myself, what would I regret more, doing them or not doing them? Obviously the second, though as I've said I did metals which meant my outlay overall was about half. If I was doing it again, I'd try to strike a deal with one of the existing makers to have them bring my line out for me. There would be the matter of a commision then (so even more expensive) but they know what they're doing and I think it'd help a lot.
 
"The Blackcat Russians , 8 poses, 3000 bags of 16 figures each { minimum run} cost me $15,000 by the time I paid for mold cutting , production,assembly, packaging , shipping by Container vessel and rail transport. etc"

So they're yours! I really like them and they had a prominent place in my Battle of Waterburg (US Civil War vs Napoleonics). I particularly liked how you had several advancing figures, each done slightly differently. I always wondered why no more lines came out - now I know.
 
Marxmaniac said:
Discussions I have had with individuals indicate it is about 1/10 the cost to make the mold in China. The problem with making the mold in China and getting back to the states (if the Chinese manufacturers would permit it, based on comments above) is the weight of the mold. Being steel (??) it is very heavy.
Click to expand...

I own the molds on a 6" long Titanic. The hull mold is a large block of steel that can only be moved by a pulley
system.
 
I'm still intrigued by all this.

I've just read an article by Tom Stark from this time last year, which said the BMC lady soldiers cost $55,000 - though I think that includes sculpting, production and shipping. Does anyone know a breakdown for this? Also, was the mold made in Asia or the States?
 
Would it be less expensive to produce 3d printed figures than plastics?

Then you could print to order and have less storage expenes.
Benjamin
 
Yes, Benjamin, some parts of it would be cheaper. 3D printing can make the master copy stuff cheaper. And if you were just making a set to please yourself, you could have masters and copies done for quite reasonable money. I'm sure it opens up possibilities and some savings.
 
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