My next comment may be controversial, but I will stand by it.
If people want to recast the rare units that GW refuses (for whatever reason) to recast, then I will buy them!
Putting aside my OCD to collect all the rare units for my armies for a minute, the high elf spearmen are not fit for function, these come with broken spears, straight from GW, whilst the swordmasters and phoenix guard are a lot more robust.
I would quite happily replace all my 10 units of spearmen with these alts, just because I know I will not be putting models back in my case at the end of a game with a few more missing spears!!!
Obviously I do not want to purchase, them at £30 a unit for new or recast, but as long as I know what I am buying then, I for one have no problem with it!
Recasting is bad for the hobby in general. Not only is it a crime (IP violation) but it also discourages companies like GW from carrying lines like Warmaster. The reason we see stuff go OOP is lack of demand for a line-- recasting didn't cause that problem but it certainly would contribute to it if it happened more often. It also lowers the quality of the minis out there, since most recasts I have seen (and, no, I've never bought or owned one) have been of extremely poor quality. And recasts are usually fraudulently presented as the real thing-- which hurts buyers
and sellers who have no intention of ever going anywhere near a recast.
I sympathize with the situation, since obviously we're all in the same boat with this. I've re-glued my HE spearmen more times than I can count-- I recently bought some steel rods to reinforce the broken spears. My DE Corsairs and Dwarf Rangers constantly break off at the knees. My B5A Elf Cavalry's spears break fairly often too. And that's with a great deal of tender loving care. Plus, I've been aching to own a unit of Dragon Princes for years.
You're right in that the game isn't played nearly as much as it was back in the day. But it does seem to have stabilized thanks I believe to Warmaster Ancients. And frankly, Warmaster players have wrestled with support issues since the game first came out-- I recall my local game store saying that GW was dropping support for the game less than a month after it came out, when all that was out were the High Elf and Undead armies. Yet the game has held on, and frankly has received a lot more support from GW than we could have hoped for (Exhibit A: the marvelous Araby Army, a whole new force that isn't even represented in warhammer).
Losing Kislev, some rare units, and a few sculpts from existing units is a small price to pay for continued support in general from GW. The Copplestone minis only add to the range, and Eureka is actually
growing their 10mm fantasy line, so if nothing else we hopefully won't need to pay US$50 or more for bears in the near future. We already have several good High Elf infantry alternatives that are NOT subject to breakage. Add in MM and OG and you have figures and rules for nearly any historical period or fantasy setting, with very few exceptions.
Plus we have a very professional fanzine that isn't hit with cease and desist letters from GW. And a downloadable rulebook that gives us the tools we need to recruit new players. Things aren't all roses in the WM world, but things are ok, and I'd be very angry if a few players took matters into their own hands and ruined things with GW by winking at a recasting market. I realize that's not what you're calling for but somebody has to say this.
