Poor Miniature Quality Control

[godsgopher]

I recently purchased the smaller Klingon fleet box for a friend and have started working on them as a Christmas present. I was shocked to discover the awful shape the miniatures were in! The amount of excess flash on the pieces as well as the warped detail on some of the models was very disheartening. All I'm seeing is the result of very poor casting not a poor mold if I'm not mistaken. Now I have been a miniature gaming for enough years to know that "flash" is par for the course however what I'm seeing on these pieces is truly excessive!

Worse of all was the resin cast C8 Dreadnought. There are very clear injection mold blocks left on the pieces both on the wings and especial forward and center on the hull. The amount of work that is going to be required to cut off these resin columns is extreamly discouraging. Given the quality of these pieces I'm reluctant to invest further in them.

I'm going to be a tad snake bit when considering expanding any future fleets despite my love for this exceptional game system.

 

[Banichi]

Ahhh. Posts like this take me back to the good old days of B5acta, and those glorious moments of "how the heck am I going to deflash/fill/put together this".

My octurian battleship still rates as one of the happiest "thank the gods it did sort of go together" moments, I've had in all my time wargaming.

I thank mongoose for the education in putting together metal minies.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Godsgopher, I am very sorry to hear this - unfortunately, some issues can sometimes fall through the quality control net. However, if you contact me at msprange@mongoosepublishing.com, we will get replacements to you immediatly.

 

[billclo]

Matt,

Is the mold for the Klingon E4 not working right? I have 6 E4s, and every one of them has a mis-molded right wing and warp engine. They were bought at different times.

Banichi,

This isn't anything new. While I wasn't around during the B5 days, occasionally when I mention the ACTA game system to a potential player, some of them say ah yes, I remember the awful B5 minis that had to be recalled. I think it's just the way the Ohio facility operates. One has to wonder if they are union run and just don't care or what?

 

[Lincolnlog]

Management dictates the quality and quantity of work that occurs, whether a shop is union or not. I also doubt a small operation such as this would be union anyway. Not going to get into a philisophical debate over Unions, but 90% of my problems have been with guy that manages the Ohio facility. Doesn't respond to Kelly Georges e-mail, drags his feet on mailing out replacement parts, I could go on and on.

The rise in price of the fleet boxes by 50% are extremely troubling. There is a local LGS that was selling this stuff hand over fist. When the price jumped he can't even sell the rule books now. There is panic over just unloading current stock. I want to contiinue with the 2500's but man the price combined with the problems in the past, I just don't know.

I know I irritated the Mongoose Infantry guy with a similar rant, but bottom line line is, demo'ing is selling. It's hard to support (even though we are already out there playing in public constantly, believe me we want more players) a game when it's its own worst enemy.

Love the game and will play it always, but unfortunately, going for the slow dime versus the fast nichol is hindering encouraging the community from growing. Not to mention that the price increase may not have been neccessary if the QC issues didn't exist. Has to be expensive to do multiple mailings on almost every order. Matthew's response above is typical, and the entire UK Mongoose team, Matthew, Kelly George are customer service heros. Matthew has sent me parts from the UK because of long delays getting parts sent from Ohio.

Also, the ADB team in Texas deserves Kudos. An order from ADB is always 100% perfect (although the boxes are always open from being re-inspected), and arrive on my door within 2-3 business days after placing the order. ADB doesn't tell you they shipped it unless they have shipped it! Makes me wonder why, since this is a joint venture they never have more stock on hand. If distribution in the US was handled by ADB there would be way less complaining. Orders would arrive in a reasonable time, and you would get the correct contents in the box.

 

[bolive]

I have bought 6 fleet boxes, 4 squadron boxes and 3 individual ships. The first two fleet boxes and squadron boxes had problems. Missing pieces and miscasts but I contacted Matt and he replaced the ships even when all he would have had to do was send me the missing part. This was back at the start of the year when they first made the switch from resin to pewter. All of the subsequent boxes have been great nothing that an x-acto and a file couldn't take care of. I plan on buying more ships just as soon as they are available. And if something isn't right I am confident Mongoose will make it right. I don’t expect perfection because I’m not perfect. But I do expect problem to be corrected because that is what I expect from myself. And so far Matt and Mongoose have not disappointed me. My 2 cents.

 

[Banichi]

Hiccups happen. But Matt has always been awesome when it comes to fixing problems.

 

[scoutdad]

To echo previous comments, early run minis (especially the resins) were attrocious, but the later production runs are vastly improved.

there are still glitches.
I think the E4 master may have a flaw as all 10 of mine have a slightly deformed right wap engine nad they were bought at multiple times, so probably not from the same casting.
The resin C8 looks horrible when received, with resin lugs hanging off hte under side... but they snap off with finger pressure nad rarely leave a divot that can't be repaired with just a bit of putty.

But all in all, production values have greatly improved over the first few received.

 

[Stu--]

It is definitely true that the newer casts are *much* better than the first ones I received, and the metal mini's seem better than the resin ones, too.
It's also true that the model quality is variable.


However, Matt (and his staff) are great when it comes to customer service.
I've had several replacements so far, all without any messing around - so I don't think that can be beaten, a simple email off to mongoose has resulted in replacement models arriving at my door within a week. Big thumbs up in that regard and I'd encourage you all to do the same if you receive miscasts - Matt will sort the problem.

 

[McKinstry]

I've been completely pleased with my Gorn and other than the Kzinti resin dreadnought that while not bad, still requires more work than the metal BCH, the Kzinti are fine as well.

Other than a few Klingons, I haven't had any real complaints about any models since the switch to metal.

 

[GamerDude]

...
I know I irritated the Mongoose Infantry guy with a similar rant...

Being the "MI Guy" referred to I'd like to clarify Lincolnlog's comment.

He did not irritate me. Simply put there is *zero* I could do besides forwarding his comments on to Matthew - and explained these kind of comments best come from him not me.

Personally I completely understand his points they are quite valid. I just can't do anything about them one way or the other.

I do appreciate he chose me to approach about the issues.