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Sunday, September 27, 2020

Contributors to Material Preference

Last time (see One Word, "Plastics"), we identified that hard plastic was the preferred figure material from the 2020 survey.  From those results, hard plastic beat out metal as the top choice by ten percentage points (48% to 38%).  Survey responses suggest that the choice between hard plastic and metal changes with age.  That is, younger gamers pick hard plastics as a first choice while older gamers pick metals.  The result of hard plastic overcoming metal figures was a surprise to me but not for many of those responding in the prior post's commentary.  Of course, my perspective may very well be biased by my own age.  While many voiced an opinion that metal was their preferred choice, the top ranking for hard plastic was no surprise.

This time, I plan to examine preferred material choice more closely by considering primary material preference (respondent's Ranking #1) by the factors that may contribute to choice.  The factors or attributes to study are:
  • Gamer's Location
  • Gamer's Preferred Genre (Historical, Fantasy/Sci-fi, or a Mix)
  • Figure Scale (or Size)
  • Gaming Era
Note that these analyses rely upon the assumption that a respondent's preferred material choice corresponds to the respondent's preferred figure size and gaming era.  I will address each attribute individually and then summarize the findings.

Gamer's Location
Does a respondent's location have a bearing on preferred material choice?  Is the mix of gamers and their material preferences distributed across the globe similarly?  When considering first choice between either hard plastic or metal, it is interesting that Continental Europe/Scandinavia prefer hard plastic to metal about two-to-one while USA/Canada prefer hard plastic over metal at about a three-to-two rate.  The UK/Ireland and Australia/New Zealand are about evenly split between choosing hard plastic and metal. 

Gamer's Preferred Genre (Primary Interest)
Responses to this question on the survey were recoded to make a distinction between Historical and Fantasy/Sci-Fi gamers.  To that end, the recoding was, 
  • If the response was either 0 or 1 then the respondent was classified as “Historical.” 
  • If the response was either 5 or 6 then the respondent was classified as “Fantasy/Sci-Fi.” 
  • Otherwise (2,3,4 responses), the respondent was classified as “Mixed” suggesting that both historical and fantasy games were considered rather than exclusively one end of the spectrum.
What do the data suggest?  Well, fantasy/sci-fi gamers overwhelmingly pick hard plastic as their material of choice. Historical gamers prefer metal more than two-to-one.  Hard plastic is given the edge by those gamers enjoying both historical and fantasy/sci-fi gaming.  Seeing earlier results that younger age cohorts prefer hard plastic and that these same groups lean toward fantasy/sci-fi, no surprise that hard plastic is the preferred choice for fantasy/sci-fi.  Similarly, the older age cohorts tend toward historical gaming and historical gaming tends toward metal as a preference.  Again, the results seem reasonable. 

Figure Scale (Size)
Matching up first choice of material with first choice of figure scale produces the count distribution shown in the graph below.
By total counts of respondent first choice by figure size, 25-28mm size is the most popular followed by 28mm Heroics, and then 15-18mm.  When the breakdown of material preference between these top three categories with respect to material choice, 28mm Heroics are dominated by hard plastic over metal by almost four-to-one.  25-28mm figure size is about evenly split between hard plastic and metal.  For figure sizes between 6mm and 18mm, metal is preferred.

Gaming Era 
With so many gaming periods to choose from, it is no surprise that wargaming has something of interest to everyone.  The most popular periods are hardly a surprise.  WWII takes the top spot with Warhammer40k in at number two.  Sci-Fi and fantasy come in at three and four.

Hard plastic dominates Warhammer 40k and shows a comfortable lead over metal in fantasy and sci-fi.  WWII, the top gaming choice, is about evenly split between hard plastic and metal.  With this even split in WWII materials, I would expect the smaller figure sizes to tend toward metal with 25-28mm showing an increase toward hard plastic as more figures become available.   
While past surveys suggested that WWII gaming was popular, with no ranking it was difficult to judge the popularity of WWII gaming.  With rank added into the 2020 survey, the popularity of WWII gaming is evident.  To me, a surprising result although a global conflict ought to hold a global and lasting appeal.

The other historical periods of Napoleonics, Ancients, and 18th Century tend toward metal figures.  Besides the overwhelming popularity of WWII and Warhammer 40k, another surprise, to me, was the relatively few numbers of respondents listing ACW as a first choice.  I suppose ACW gaming may have a national or regional appeal, perhaps, similar to Pike & Shot gaming?

Summary
After two posts examining hard plastic figures as a top choice and the relationship between material preference and a variety of possible contributing factors, I will step out on a limb and make the following generalizations about a respondents' top choice of hard plastic.  Those preferring hard plastic as a first choice of figure material are more likely:
  • Under the age of 51
  • Living in Continental Europe, Scandinavia, USA, and Canada
  • Having a primary interest in fantasy/sci-fi gaming
  • Gaming with 28mm Heroics
  • Playing Warhammer 40k and fantasy/sci-fi
Perhaps not revolutionary findings but useful, reinforcing generalizations, nonetheless.  In my mind, at least.

Given the data presented, what conclusion does the reader reach?

50 comments:

  1. So I'm over 51,in the UK,playing primarily (almost exclusively) historical in 25/28mm,haven't played 40k for a decade or more and I'm more hard plastic than metal, I guess I started out in scifi/fantasy and was assembling the first plastic multi pose kit by GW in the 1980s and kept buying their plastic kits ( as well as their metal figures) into this century and only really got back into historical gaming once there were plastic kits available. I also wonder if the availability of an affordable metal figure manufacturer in the US ( old Glory) scews the numbers a bit?
    Best Iain

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    1. Hi Iain. Plastic vs metal in the UK is about evenly split as is the split between plastic vs metal in the 25-28mm figure size. Over 51 in the UK, I expect to lean toward historicals. Given these attributes, you seem normal!

      Having an inexpensive metal maker in the USA would seem to put the thumb on the scale for metals in the USA over plastics but the survey data does not hold that notion. In USA/Canada, hard plastic is preferred to metal by about 3:2 margin.

      Thanks for weighing in on this topic!

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  2. It used to be the case that the UK had the larger manufacturing base for figures - I don't know whether that is still true, but I imagine that if it is, overseas postal costs may be a significant factor in what material people actually go with.

    Other than 15mm WWII, 15mm and lower scales don't really have a significant plastic presence ..... yet!, but I am sure that will follow, but for now, lead dominates in those scales across the spectrum of periods.

    There are 3 big plastic manufactures in the UK, Perry, Warlord Games and Mantic Games - though even their combined sales may well be dwarfed by Games Workshop, who also dominate plastics. But considering the concentration of these companies in the UK (Nottingham I think), it surprising that the UK has some sort of parity between metal and plastics sales.

    I wonder whether age is another driver in scale adoption, as there is common talk on forums of gamers moving up a scale as their eyes get less reliable for painting?

    Most of the lovely figures that are coming through the Kickstarter 'everything in one box' type product are plastic and I am guessing that a lot of these have an appeal to the under 51's and that non-historical will be more prevalent, plus reinforcing the findings that fantasy / Sci-Fi in plastics, bought by the under 51's is a significant group.

    As an aside, sometimes the reverence that I hear gamers give to metal over plastics, reminds me of 20 years ago when 'some' camera enthusiasts thought camera film was right and proper and that the new devilish digital malarkey would (or should) never catch on :-). So maybe there will always be a sort of old school rearguard action in all such changes.

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    1. Norm, as always, you bring up a number of interesting insights. I will single out your surprise about parity between metal and hard plastic figure preference in the UK.

      The parity that the survey data shows may be puzzling on the surface. Underneath the hood, survey respondents from the UK held the largest percent of respondents of age over 50 and the largest percentage of historical gamers of all other countries. Given the demographics mix and the historical gaming leaning, I am not surprised that these contribute to bringing the plastic/metal mix into a roughly equal percentage of preferred figure material.

      As for rearguard actions by Old School survivors, the old generation often finds itself fighting a new adversary using old technology and obsolete tactics. Some things are very difficult to change.

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    2. That does seem to harden the evidence that the 51+ who likes historicals will have a greater preference towards metal than other sections of the gaming spectrum.

      As always, the further interest would be a comparison of say 3 years back and 3 years forward to detect shifts in that balance, but I suspect that in 3 years time, the resins will have more significantly entered the market to unhinge that comparison.

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    3. Victrix Games and Plastic Soldier Company have large plastic ranges too.

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    4. Ah yes indeed, I have boxes of both and should have remembered them. so that is quite a big UK plastics manufacturing base when taken together.

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    5. Norm, it seems very convincing from the survey that the 51+ historical gamer prefers metal. Does this result suggest metal will be an increasing rarity on the gaming table as the older generations muster off for a different theatre? Hopefully, this question will remain in the annual survey and can be tracked over time.

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    6. Steve, two more plastic manufacturers to add into the bucket!

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    7. Norm this create a HUGE plastics base from the UK.

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  3. Interesting. I am definitely and older gamer. For 25/28mm I prefer hard plastic/resin to metal for weight and transport and also variations in figure poses. All my historical gaming is 6mm and almost all metal due to years of collecting. I also game in 6mm for some sci-fi and fantasy, but mostly in 25/28mm for them. I do have quite a few 25mm metal sci-fi from the 80's.

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  4. I wonder if some of the preference in Australia and New Zealand has to do with locally produced products, which have typically been metal due to the expense of setting up production in plastic. Most of us I suppose have always purchased the bulk of our collections from overseas, but when purchasing local products these have generally always been metal or resin.

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    1. Thanks for your input, Lawrence! If buying local means buying metal, that is what you do. You have a couple of great metal manufacturers in Eureka and Castaway Arts.

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  5. My answers were metal, ships & Napoleonic. But I do have several hard plastic ships, and a few resin ships with more on the way from the UK. The majority of my troops are metal, some 1/72 soft plastic, no resin at all.

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    1. Thanks for your responses to how you answered the survey! Your shipworks are works of art.

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  6. Fascinating reading Jonathan. As a 10mm gamer and as mentioned before, metal is currently my only option in terms of purchasing. I know you can buy printed models but these are 12mm, like the forthcoming 12mm plastics, and to be honest I'm not impressed by the quality and worry about durability. This is due to a previous life in the prototyping industry!

    I do wonder about how much regional location affects purchases, as other have mentioned above. I know if I go into my local modelshop I can buy boxes from Victrix, PSC, Perry Minitures etc, but no metal miniatures. So for a new entrant into our hobby, this is an easy option, ditto for parents buying presents etc. I now from when our kids were young, buying a Nintendo game meant that when they got home it was just a case of plug and play. I doubt very much they would want to go down the route of sourcing various packs of miniatures to play a wargame, much rather going down the battle in a box as championed by GW et al.

    I'm surprised that they seperated out GW40K and Age of Sigmar from Sci-Fi and Fantasy, when in fact that is what they are. If you combine 40K with Sci-Fi it comfortably comes out on top as the most popular 'era'.

    With regards to the popularity of ACW gaming, it has its adherents like any period, but has never been as popular as Napoleonics or say the SYW in the UK, based upon my experience. I'm sure it's much more popular over the pond for fairly obvious reasons.

    Once again thanks for analysing the data and making it easy to digest for people like me!

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    1. Steve, I am very pleased to see that you find these survey explorations fascinating. We are of the same mind in that respect. Doubly good that my ramblings make a bit of sense to you!

      Local shop purchasing is an option that I do not have. I have not picked up any figures from a hobby shop in probably twenty-five years. I wonder if our local Hobbytown even carries historical miniatures? I am sure they must carry a few but the store is all of the way on the other side of town and ordering from home is SO easy.

      As for breaking out WH40k and AoS from the fantasy/sci-fi genre, I suppose it is such a large portion of this genre that lesser games or figures would be lost in the crowd. Certainly fantasy/sci-fi with WH40k and AoS included is the largest group, by far.

      For ACW, I am sure it is a regional/national conflict to game. Being in the USA, we are fed a steady diet of ACW related books, movies, documentaries, etc.. That must drive up interest in the period. I know gamers who concentrate solely on this period or at least have ACW as their main focus of interest. That result is one reason I was surprised to see ACW as few respondents' first choice. Our view is always tainted by the window from which we peer.

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    2. You and me both brother! I am usually shocked, just plain SHOCKED that the ACW is rated with such little interest. It’s the Best horse and (rifled) musket conflict there is. People don’t appreciate a good civil war... I’m all exasperated; I’m gonna have to go watch Glory over again. 😀

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    3. Stew, you are funny! People really don't appreciate a good civil war. Not much flushes the existing system out like a good civil war.

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    4. If we compare ACW to Napoleonics I'm fascinated that the ACW Plays such an important role. We sometimes had some Gamers who wanted to start with the ACW, but after some preperations and 2 armies painted up they sold everything. Maybe the uniforms are too boring to our European eye (?) or we would miss great cavalry charges (I don't know how often ACW-Gamers Focus on the great cavalry battles of the ACW).

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    5. Boring uniforms, no great cavalry charges, perhaps a conflict that is little understood to Europeans (or understood too well) could all be reasons for ACW lack of popularity. Leader personalities are fascinating so that is no reason to discount this conflict.

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  7. Hi Jonathan. I prefer Metal over Hard Plastic- have only done one set of Resin Figures and hated the experience. Cheers. KEV.

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  8. My two cents worth - do fantasy/sci-fi gamers overwhelmingly "pick" hard plastic as their material of choice, or does their choice of genre pick the material for them? GW/40K etc is predominantly if not exclusively plastic - and linking back to my own reasoning for choosing plastic occasionally from your previous post Jonathan - fantasy/sci fi gamers don't pick plastic for reasons of economy - those GW etc figures are at least as expensive as top quality metal figures! Does age come into the genre people pick to play in - I am not sure it does....I have been wargaming with recognisably "grown up" type rules since I was 13 or 14 and its always been historical - started with WW2 Aifix, then ACW and Napoleonic using the same ranges, then started getting a few Minifigs at around 15 or 16 years of age. I think I mentioned it previously, but the latter Airfix ranges - WW2 Germans and Brits etc - that came out in the late 70's, were beautiful sculpts and if they had been produced in hard plastic back then, maybe a lot of us would not have moved on to metal at all? (Although there is always the draw of much greater range of potential era's in metal - which is still true today) Personally, I doubt resin will take off in the same way as hard plastic - its quite brittle and most manufacturers seem to want to charge a premium for it, so creating 200 or 300 figure armies would be prohibitively expensive. The relationship of age to material choice is also problematic - is there any evidence that gamers move into metal as they get older, or is it just that, like me, people who started gaming in the 70's or 80's have always used metal as their primary material, and we are all now hitting the 50's and 60's age bracket. Scale isn't so much of a surprise - very few plastics are available under 25mm scale - certainly 15mm or smaller, there is next to nothing available at present. Also my gut feeling is 15mm is a scale that had its heyday in the 90's, so people of a certain age probably have huge collections and stick to that scale now because they have so invested so much time and effort into those collections over the last 30 years....

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    1. Keith, you ask some very good questions!

      Your first question about demand driving supply or supply driving demand is really a chicken and egg problem. My hunch is that supply drives demand especially with the advertising from all of the glossies concentrating on hard plastic at present.

      The question of AGE and MATERIAL PREFERENCE also remains unanswered. With this one, only time may be able to tell as those aging gamers leave the hobby. Will their demand for metal figures be replaced by demand from younger generations? Certainly something to watch over time.

      If only the older generations are buying metal figures, how do we explain the number of metal manufacturers remaining in business? Perhaps most of the Old guard are like me and continue buying lead even though I may never realize seeing them in their painted state?

      Excellent stuff! Thank you!

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  9. Great post Jonathan. I must be A typical, I 52 and metal is my master. I've tried the plastics and nearly had a meltdown glueing the buggers together. I've gotta admit if you're starting out on a new project then plastic is the way to go, they're a hell of a lot cheaper than metal for a start, but just far to fiddly for me!! My eyes and dodgy and my patients are wearing thinner by the year!
    I'll be gloss varnishing my figures before too long......

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the post, Ray!

      Another aging metalhead! Excellent! Gloss varnish? Is that the next step in our march to extinction?

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  10. It's interesting to see the clear Preference in Continental Europe for plastic. Nevertheless 1/72 doesn't seem to be of such a great importance. It's no surprise that 18th century wargaming is played mostly with metal figures, if you check ouf the production of plastic manufacturers, which are mostly focussed on WW2 and Napoleonics (HäT for example).

    Great post as always.

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    1. Yes, the preference for plastic in Continental Europe was an interesting result. Living on the Continent, why do you suppose that is, Andre'? I began with 1/72 plastic figures 50 years ago. at the time, there was little choice and poses were not suitable for building large units or armies. That may be one reason I drifted away from plastic and switched to metal.

      Very pleased to read that you enjoyed this post! Thank you!

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    2. The manufacturers are from Europe and continued producing 1:72 figures since the 1990s (Revell, Italeri). Zvezda even tried to built up own rules for gaming with their minis (Age of battles) and it seems to me, that there were conventions in Russia using the rules and toys from this very impressive manufacturer (from the Quality of the scultps which are even more detailed then 28-30mm figures). In our Sweetwater-forum somebody wrote that it is surprising that we changed from 1:72 to 28mm although we already had very well produced figures in our hands. I have the Impression that wargaming is not such an old Hobby in Germany. I didn't know any wargamers when I was a teenager in the 1990s. Maybe many switched from 1:72 to 28mm but still had the low prices in mind when they started their armies.
      Some years ago we had a small shop in Freiburg selling Tools, paper and other Things for artists and which had a small room with miniatures, buildings etc. and most of them were in plastic. I can remember that the owner told me that the historical miniatures are bestsellers and most of them were Warlord-plastics. Perhaps the lower Price is the reason.

      I know the Airfix-minis (Washington's army and British for the AWI) you are maybe talking about. The market of figures at this time was too small. You often had infantry but no cavalry or the artillery by Airfix was just looking laughable.
      The manufacturing of plastic miniatures in 1/72 exploded during the 1990s. I remember myself in a model-shop in Berlin around 2000 completely fascinated facing such a wide selection of different periods and manufacturers (HäT and Strelets had a numerical overwhelming Output - Zvezda had an overwhelming Quality).

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    3. Fascinating look back upon the plastics market in Germany. Thank you, Andre'!

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  11. Interesting and definitely a good talking point ....if only we could all go to the pub to discuss. Well as previously stated I am pretty much fine with both plastic and metal and mix it up in armies where I can get away with scales and size variation. So you have me thinking why to I choose the figures and models I do. It is definitely not the material as one of the previous posts said. First comes the period, second comes the sculpt quality, third comes the depth of the range and fourth and very importantly comes cost. So some examples when I collected my Greeks, victrix were the obvious choice, excellent sculpts (slightly too much detail) great range and fantastic value. Now I have several foundry and black tree units but that was because I liked the figures eg I have naked foundry Spartans and plastic victrix. Thinking this through most of my collections are similar mixes although some are only available in metal ie 6 mm and 10 mm. I understand the feel of metal is nice and having just painted another unit of AWI they are often nicer to paint. So in summary for me it isn’t about the material, consistent painting and basing makes an army look great and ultimately they need to get on the table.🙂

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    1. Matt! Very good to get your thoughts on this matter. It would be an enjoyable time to get together to discuss such heavy debates as metal vs plastic. We would have a grand ole' time, for sure!

      So you are clearly a material-agnostic. Whatever allows you to accomplish your goals of building a great looking army and getting it onto the gaming table. I like that! I really should give plastics a proper try. When you mix metal units and plastic units on the table, does the different weight of the units throw you off a bit when moving figures around?

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  12. Interestingly and a point in case I have literally this evening finished painting an AWI Virginian unit by foundry in metal and sat next to them on the table is the recently constructed AWI Plastic perry regiment.

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    1. I find that when based on MDF that my plastic Italian wars pikemen still have a decent amount of heft,I'm with Matt, happy to use whatever is best, cost is a major driver though, fascinating discussion by the way!
      Best Iain

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    2. I imagine that if I was a young guy starting out today, cost would be an important factor in my decision and plastic would likely be the way forward.

      Thanks for confirming that the heftiness of a stand is not so noticeable where plastic or metal.

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  13. Well despite a heavy leaning towards plastics, I definitely don’t fit the summarized profile:
    - 62 years old
    - live in the South Pacific
    - have zero interest in fantasy/Sci Fi
    - prefer large (non-heroic) Historical games
    - NEVER played Warhammer or any other fantasy/SciFi game

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    1. Hi Mark! These are tendencies only. If someone said to me, "I am a hard plastic wargamer, what does that tell you about my preferences?" I would answer that you are likely,
      Under the age of 51
      Living in Continental Europe, Scandinavia, USA, and Canada
      Having a primary interest in fantasy/sci-fi gaming
      Gaming with 28mm Heroics
      Playing Warhammer 40k and fantasy/sci-fi

      these are central tendencies and you do not fit this profile at all. You are an outlier in your preferences and talents.

      If you asked the question above, I would be wrong in my response, for sure, but when I say "winter" you think June, July, and August.

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    2. Or of you were sitting in my office at the moment and saw the horizontal rain lashing against the window and heard reports of the snow and freezing temperatures in the south of the country, you would add September to that response to winter!

      ...of course I am an additional anomoly because I was born in Canada.

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  14. 57 years old. Canadian.

    28mm is my choice for pulp, LOTR fantasy, 7YW and ACW because I want the figures to have visual appeal. Mostly metal, some Perry plastics LOTR and ACW to stretch the budget.

    20mm was my choice for WW2 skirmish but that interest has waned. Mostly plastic because that's what the 1/72 model kits I used are in but a few AB metals from UK.

    15mm is my choice for WW2 tactical. Mix of Battlefront metals and Resin and Plastic Soldier Company.

    In general I prefer metal figures, and most of my hobby purchases come from UK suppliers. I mostly dislike plastics because of the difficulty of assembly, but the Perry / PSC figures are a happy exception.

    Recently I stuck my head into a gaming cafe and it was mostly teens to twenties playing GW 40K w unpainted plastic, which seemed like a generational thing. In my experience, many in the young GW crowd seem indifferent to painting.

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    1. Michael, you provide some excellent feedback. I especially like your insight into the young generation's seemingly indifference to playing with painted figures. Did you participate in the GWS?

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  15. Metal only for me, I like a bit of weight and I cannot be doing with sticking things together unless they are vehicle kits. I admire what some people do in plastic but let's just say I am of a mature age. The fantasy/sci-fi genre must push plastic to the front of the queue? No doubt metal will eventually go the way the rest of my world has gone, but I will go down fighting, literally :)

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  16. I have plenty of metal on hand, and more to come. No plastic or resin likely except terrain! :-)

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