Looks like a good halfway house figure for those of us do not go down the full fantasy road

Ron

Very good fellows,but i agree with the most.
I would buy them only on the normal way

I'll add my two penny worth, Love the Viking with the shield, although not my period, would buy in the normal way.
Hopefully this will happen. Please!

I don't mind the kickstarter/indiegogo format. Keep in mind that, in most cases, the company will be releasing the figures the normal way too. Doing it this way let's them make sure there will be enough sales to justify the cost of molding and casting. If the campaign fails to meet it's goal (set by the company and listed at the top right of the indiegogo page), everyone who pledged gets a refund. There's a small difference between indiegogo and kickstarter here. Indiegogo takes the funds when immediately when you pledge and holds them until the campaign ends (automatically refunding you if it fails to meet the goal). Kickstarter does not take anything until after the campaign ends and only if it is successful.

The risk on the buyers part is the company will get the funds and not be able to carry through on their promise. In a case where you've got a company with a good reputation (as far as I'm aware), one that's made figures and should know the costs involved, and one where the sculpts are completed, I'd say there is very little risk. Basically you are pre-ordering the figures and, in return, get a reduced price.

Anyway, these look like great figures. And, if the campaign is successful, I'm sure they will be sold as a normal part of their line

Good evening everybody,
I have to admit that we did not expect to raise so much doubts or questions with our announcement.
First of all, we would like to assure all our loyal clients and fellow modelers that you will be able to purchase these figures in any usual way: from our own webstore (www.castleminiatures.com), from your local hobby shop or from your trusted dealers like SK Miniatures or Red Lancers.
These miniatures will be available as soon, as we deliver last figure to our supporters on Indiegogo.

Actually, Bailey gave answers to all your questions and I have almost nothing to add. Even if campaign fails, we will produce them as we did in the past.
Our campaign was launched in order to make sure that we have enough funds to produce these figures fast without running a risk to run out of silicone, resin or packaging.

As for the name "Tales of the North", Steve, the figure that you've mentioned is not ours anymore. It is produced under a different brand.

Best regards,
Alex from CASTLE Miniatures

great news !

Fantastic!

I love this Vikings !!!

We may be overthinking this a bit here!

Thank you for your support, guys!

More of Torstein.

Sorry to take this a bit off topic still...

Steve, that article doesn't contradict what I said. If the campaign fails to meet it's funding goal, the money does not go to them and instead is returned to you. That is the Indiegogo policy. If the funding goal is reached (which is what that post is talking about), then company/person does get the money and, as I said before, "the risk on the buyer's part is the company will get the funds and not be able to carry through on their promise."

As you said, you're talking about Indiegogos in general and I was speaking more to ones like this. Here we have an established company with a sculpt. In this case it is essentially a pre-order model with little to no risk. Is Castle Miniatures (or a company like them) really going to default on a project for a few thousand dollars and destroy their reputation and business? I highly doubt it. (Again, I know you're not implying this company would)

Now, when you've got an Indiegogo or Kickstarter from an unknown person/company, you've got to use your better judgement. As you said, the companies aren't required to deliver and you can get left with nothing. However, the vast majority of figure ones have been fine (though delays in delivery are common). I can only think of one that ran into major issues and, last I heard, they were trying to deliver what they could and not just vanishing. Personally, when I look at a figure project my concern is more on the quality of the figure. Pretty concept art does not mean a good figure, so I refuse to commit to a project that just has art and no example sculpts (or at least very far along WIP sculpts). But I also take what I read and know about the person running it and decide whether or not they have my trust.

I've backed 34 kickstarter projects and another 5 Indiegogo ones. While some have hit long delays, not a one of them has up and vanished. Some are still working on the project, but they've been posting updates with photos of the product so I have no doubt they will deliver when it is done. The rest have delivered their product as promised.

So should you be wary of Indiegogos and Kickstarters? Sure, you've got to use your better judgement. But are the majority of companies on there just trying to scam you and steal your money? No. I'm not saying none of them are, there are definitely examples of bad ones, but most are legitimately trying to use these sites to make their idea/product a reality.

Steve, I believe that article is incorrect. This is direct from Indiegogo's site:

"Fixed Funding campaigns that do not meet their goal
Contributions made to any fixed funding campaign will be refunded in full if the campaign has not met its funding goal by its deadline. Contributors will receive these refunds in their PayPal accounts or issuing credit card within five days of the campaign's end."
https://support.indiegogo.com/hc/en-us/articles/526876-Refunds-Can-I-get-my-money-back-
In general I do agree with you, there is risk involved in these and people should evaluate the project/company before backing. And there's nothing wrong with waiting until these products go into regular production and are sold through the store. No one has to back indiegogos if they don't want!

Rolf the Bald

I will just get mine from SK Miniatures no problem .

Cheers David