I know that most of your guys probably aren't sifting through my older posts so it's not something that jumps out but I've removed almost all pictures of the 1/285th scale Robotech models.
The main reason is that I don't want them being used to promote any potential Robotech game. The minis grabbed a lot of attention with potential players, which was fine at the time but now that I won't be involved with the project I want to avoid generating any confusion with new readers.
I've been getting a lot of emails about the minis asking if they'll still be used, or about what plans might be in place etc. All I can say is that my versions will not be used at all. I have no clue who they might be getting to do sculpts or what quality they might be or even "if" they are going to actually be produced.
I wasn't privy to any information other than what we'd discussed relating specifically to my minis. So that means when it comes to what can we expect to see? Well, your guesses are as good as mine.
From what they've made available on their website, Palladiums newest announcement said they have the rights arranged with Harmony Gold, but at this point they are at the most basic stages of development and indicates they don't have sculpts sourced.
They may have the rights to make miniatures but that doesn't mean it's an ironclad guarantee that anything will actually be made. You can always buy rights to a product and choose not to exercise them. Will we see minis? I have no clue. Will they be any good? Again I have no clue.
They seemed to be looking for the lower end of industry pay standard so IMO that doesn't bode well for sculpt quality. If they decide to fund it properly maybe they'll get some top notch sculptors, but if they are looking for average or lower pay then the miniatures will reflect that.
(which is also why I don't want people thinking my sculpts are the ones be developed by Palladium)
They want a product made as cheaply possible with maximum profit, which is a standard business practice. However my personal feelings are that if you have a well sculpted professional product you will see far greater sales than a run of the mill sculpt that you could get from Reaper or Iron Wind for example.
I was willing to scrape my teeth in order to get the mini made as it's something I was passionate about. It's a tremendous amount of work to sculpt a 30-40 model range especially if you are trying to juggle a team of freelancers. They may find artists willing to work in that price range but I don't think the quality will be there and the time lag will be massive. I'll be interested to see what type of product (if any) they manage.
What about about rules? I have no clue.
Rules weren't really one of the things I was pushing, I was working on my MSIA adaptation simply to have something to show minis off with and generate interest with. It was never a serious consideration to begin with as my primary concern was with the miniatures themself.
Palladium's announcement only mentions them producing the miniatures as accessories for their RPG line, there's no mention of a miniatures rules system. Maybe that's something that will be addressed in the future or it could be an indicator of a line exclusively of miniatures and rules may not be a feature, I'm not sure.
Regardless of how it pans out I'm sure people will use them with Battletech, or Tomorrow's War or whatever system they are partial too. Likely any of those choices would be better than a Palladium system anyways so I don't see that as a loss.
I do want to say thank you for all the kind comments and support I've received about the minis. It's encouraging to get that stuff and know that there are fans out there. Parting with Palladium at this point is a very good thing, I've gotten some serious notice from other companies and it's generated several sculpting commissions for custom mecha. It's also freed up time to work on my own personal sculpts again. It's going to allow me to focus on my own designs which grants me a lot more creative freedom and personal satisfaction.
I also thought I'd share a bit on insight from several former Palladium staffers which is well worth the read. It also gives me a further reinforcement that not working with them on the project any further is a major blessing.
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?74137-What-s-up-with-Palladium-and-BTS&p=1445566#post1445566
