Vamp
I know very little about plastics apart from the line in the film "The Graduate"- "Ben, I have one word to say to you- Plastic!".
That line didn't do too much for me then and definitely doesn't do too much for me now-plastic military soldier figures don't do it for me either. Not being a plastic collector nor ever will be I don't understand your comment above but have deciphered it as perhaps uncomplimentary or maybe it's just delivery information, which in itself will be an exceptional event coming from Conte?
Whatever! but it prompted me to chew the cud a bit with my old dark undead pal about plastic figures per se.
I understand an appreciate (I really do
) the benefits of why some collectors put together a plastic army
-price for a collector on a meagre or tight budget
-easy to cut and re-sculpt (assume RC's new Spartans have been manufactured this way deliberately to help collectors get those unique poses without having to hack the lumps of plastic)
-collectors can build up a significant amount of troops quite swiftly and cheaply.
-childhood memories of playing in the dirt.
-and I believe what you guys have posted here on the forum that Conte's plastics are the very best on the market.
However, as far as I'm concerned all the above are insignificant when equated with the downside of plastics
-even with a professional paint finish you can still easily identify the base material-that wafer-thin smooth base stand always gives it away in most cases.
-the lack of any weight-I've seen over exuberant kids knock against a collectors dio at a TS show and scatter his plastic troops like a bowling pin strike.
-a lot of plastics I've seen seem to have convex/concave bases making it devishly difficult to get them to stand properly.
-re-sale value for a whole collection-peanuts or less! I've seen an army of hundreds of plastics go for less than 60 bucks on e-bay.
But by far the worst thing about practically all plastic soldiers that I have seen especially in the new softer material is those bloody droopy- bendy Springfields/Spears/Swords/Pennants/Flags or whatever the figure is carrying in his mitt. I have seen a preponderance amount of this at shows, even in catalogues & magazines and on members dios posted here (yours included) so I am assuming these crooked rifles that look like bows etc cannot be straightened successfully. That alone would drive me absolutely crazy when building and displaying a dio in plastic and therefore makes it metals only for me.
Am quite prepared to be slaughtered in print for the above comments by you and any other plastic collectors
and after all it's just my view but also my incredulity of why (cost apart unless of course that's the sole reason) a particular collector still prefers plastics
Reb