Just blame price increases to higher fuel costs. Though I’m sure the price of metal is going up it’s not something I see in my daily life. So it ends up sounding like an excuse just to raise prices. Where as higher gas cost is something I can relate to and understand since I experience it almost everyday. The two are linked anyway! So just blame our societies dependency on the combustion engine. Or, blame Bush for starting a war that has plunged one of the largest oil producing regions into chaos! Now thats a headline I can understand. “Because of George Bush we are forced to raise the price of our miniatures.”

The price of metal might seem like an old excuse, but it is really valid. My family works in an industry where metal is purchased daily, and the cost has risen exponentially in the last few years. If the trend continues, we might just see one of the best reasons for companies to convert to using alternate materials. Honestly, I am surprised that miniature companies have been able to keep prices as low as they have. So many have made an honest effort to hold off on price increases as long as possible and remain transparent with us in their public relations. I appreciate that.

have a look at this :

http://www.infomine.com/Investment/HistoricalCharts/ShowCharts.asp?c=Tin

Wow, well before this gets to far. My intent was purely comical, with sort of a sad but true feel to it. Thought I achieved that by making a ridiculous connection between the war in Iraq with the price increase of miniatures. I apologize for anyone who may have misunderstood.

We are going to have to stop carrying the line, or at least take it off re-order. It finally jumped the shark in terms of price. It’s a huge bummer, but the game is hard enough to get any real traction with, and this isn’t helping. Oddly, rather than just metal, I would have to assume the Euro is playing a big part in this too. We certainly dont have the currency going in our favor currently….

Scary how much tin prices have increased. I’m assuming this is price per ounce. Is this the main ingredient in the white metal that they use? Or does it differ per caster? My guess is that most 28mm minis are less than 1/4oz, and if they use other cheaper metals it comes out to anywhere from less than a dollar to $2 per mini?

I’m also curious how much of the price of a mini is from the metal/ingredient cost vs. labor/design/admin/marketing (well, I’m sure there’s not much cost in marketing that is spent).

well after two years and only around 50 cents per model, its not that bad.
it is well within reasonable.

There is no lead in Infinity minis, by the way - very strict laws in Spain about this, apparently.

At around 7% over 2 years this works at or about the European rate of inflation, so seems totally reasonable. Costs everywhere are rising. I’ve just come back from a work conference (I’m a Finance Director) and the big topics of discussion were spiralling costs of production and the “credit crunch”. We’ll all have to tighten our belts I think.

Frankly I’d much rather have this transparent “accross the board at X%” price rise which everyone can follow than the sort of sneaky tactics of rereleasing boxed sets with a lower price but a MUCH lower model count and often chucking in a switch from metal to plastic that certain other manufacturers indulge in!

And as I’m getting the Infinity rule book for my birthday in a few months’ time, I’m not too put off as you only need a handful of miniatures to play the game as far as I can see. What seems more offputting to me is the amount terrain I’m going to have to create before I play a proper game - but that’s a different story….