SST Box Design

[Carloss]

What style do you like better, the more recent model pictures, or the old box art? I personally love the box art, I get to see the models enough as it is, but what do you think?

 

[nanite]

I like the new generic box.

Cuts cost.

 

[logan]

Hehe, and I disagree.. a 50/50 poll, lol...

 

[Carloss]

not anymore, I forgot the creater of the poll can vote...

 

[erion]

Tied again.

They're Painting and shooting pics of the models anyway. Why pay extra for art? Even GW have stopped doing box art on everything but their battalions/battleforces in favor of pictures of the actual models...

 

[pictorsstudio]

It depends on the art. If it's good art I would prefer that but if it isn't very good then pics of the figs, well painted, is better.

For SST so far I would go with pics of the figures.

 

[Carloss]

But there action and excitement in the art, the pics are dull and boring.

 

[Makoto]

Voted "box art" simply because I enjoy it.
However if it does increase the box cost significantly don't hesitate with switching completely to picts of the models.

 

[Carloss]

I bought a box of LAMI because I saw the box art, which turned out not to be on the box...

 

[mthomason]

Got to sit on the fence for this one.

I prefer box art to minis (photos of minis should be on the back). But if it's going to put the price up noticably then I prefer a plain brown "recycled" box with no art whatsoever and a crappy-looking label if it can be done for 10% cheaper . If it's just a matter of a few pence then I say go for the nice artwork.

 

[nanite]

Ok, so along with cutting costs, the standard box with model pictures also give SST products a homogenous look.

Also, I feel that several of the box art pieces detract from the product, by wither being too muddy or inaccurately portraying the model. For example, the basic plastic MI box, and the warrior bug box don't exactly showcase the product as you will be receiving it, and ascetically the covers don’t appeal much to me personally. The same goes for the hopper box, and while the tanker art is a lovely piece, it really isn’t the tanker that you’re getting in the box.

And I really can't say that the Reliant art, or the WASP art is an enticement to buy.

Oh, and can you imagine the buyer’s remorse if someone bought Stalwart Field Generators on the basis of cool box art?

I think painted pictures are an honest and good choice.

 

[Carloss]

show some stalwarts flash freing a warrior, and there you have it! And the tanker seems to me to be a model problem, not a box problem.

 

[nanite]

show some stalwarts flash freing a warrior, and there you have it! And the tanker seems to me to be a model problem, not a box problem.

Right, but then you open the nifty box, and see four sticks... Buyer’s remorse.

Also, there's less need for lead-time and preparation. The minis are being painted anyway, as erion mentioned, so that's one less thing to commission, once again reducing cost, and getting us our models quicker.

And again, there's the cost savings in having mostly the same box, with sticker-pictures and descriptions, so Mongoose can order more in a run, and get a bigger discount from the supplier.

At least I think that's the way it works.

 

[Carloss]

You have the model pics on the back! I thought that was given...

 

[nanite]

You have the model pics on the back! I thought that was given...

Right, but if the model pictures are going to be there anyway, putting them on the front reduces cost, and removes another step in production.

 

[mthomason]

What about just making the front of the box transparent (at least a window under the product name) so we can see inside in the same way we can with a blister pack? No more getting it home and saying "aw heck, theres just these two sprues inside"

 

[byram]

model pics

 

[militaryfanatik]

Photo Shop. That way can se the model and then you get a really cool picture, almost like art. Either way I am gonna buy the stuff. Just box it up and ship it out.

 

[Aniyn]

I really don't see how not having box art would get us our figures any faster, i think the fleet mdels kinda disprove that.

However, bad box art (IE CAPs/Warriors, female Caps and Brains) is worse than just pictures of the models.

 

[veon]

Box art can be cool, but I would say its probably better on big box sets where the artwork really snows out, a good example would be the mock ups of the 7th edition WHFB starter set, which has box art and also shows the miniatures and looks pretty nice.

Really in the end though, its going to hurt no one if mongoose decides to just snap a pic of their minis (which are painted so fine these days you can't complain) instead of paying an artist to make the front of the box and everything.

In the end I am going to be buying whats in the box anyway and the artwork on the front will probably just be thrown away...