Old/OOP models better than their updates

[Evil Eye]

Obviously this is going to be a hugely subjective topic, but what in your opinion are some models whose updates/redesigns are inferior to their older versions?

For me, I can think of a few examples:

The Changeling: I absolutely adore the old metal/resin Changeling model, it might be one of my top favourite Citadel miniatures ever, actually. And I have to be honest, I'm a little disappointed at how the plastic update looks. It's not bad by any stretch, but I feel it somewhat loses out on the simple, sinister evil that the older model exudes. Perhaps it's the extra details and more bombastic pose?

 

Kairos Fateweaver: Again, the new version (the alt build for the plastic Lord of Change) is a nice model, but something about the metal/resin version was really, really creepy and I absolutely loved it. He was so shriveled and decrepit, and looked far more unsettling than traditionally intimidating. I feel the new plastic version kind of loses that in favour of "big scary monster" which isn't quite what Kairos is about.

 

Daemonettes: Yep, you guessed it, these lovely ladies. I actually don't hate the plastic 'nettes and feel with a little bit of putty and conversion they can make very nice models, but most of the older incarnations are infinitely better IMO. The 3rd edition Diaznettes go without saying, but the really old "named" Daemonettes capture the whole "groutesque but beautiful" thing a lot better than the plastics in some ways. The 2nd edition models, admittedly, are probably the weakest of all the incarnations, though I still feel they have some charm.

[Lucerne]

The SAS style gas masked stormtroopers.

[Toxichobbit]

Metal Catachans.

 

Far, far superior than the attrocious plastic versions.

 

The heavy weapons squad and command squad are decent, but the infantry squad is a disgrace.

 

If I was doing a Catachan army I'd use almost all old metals sourced from ebay.

[Marshal Rohr]

Kasrkin/Stormtroopers were miles ahead of Scions. Terminator Calgar and Honor Guard put Primarneus and the guys with cricket bat gladii to shame. Other than that I’m pretty pleased with most update.

[Magos Takatus]

I think my pick would be the Chief Librarian Tigurius. I was quite fond of the old model, though I never actually owned it but the new one makes me think of a guy with a very strange face pushing his way out of a toilet bowl. It's not a terrible model but I'm really not fond of that psychic hood or the odd, angular face.

 

I remember being a bit let down by the newer Asmodai sculpt but looking back on it, I can't really see what I didn't like about it. It must have grown on me.

 

I think for the most part Game Workshop is heading in the right direction with their sculpts. I totally agree with you opinion on the Daemonettes in particular. I would rather trawl ebay for older models than buying the plastic version if I wanted to collect any Slaanesh models. The most recent wave of releases were pretty on point to me though. The Greater Daemon and the Fiends look pretty amazing in my opinion.

[Ranulf]

Metal Catachans.

 

Far, far superior than the attrocious plastic versions.

 

Absolutely. 

 

Kasrkin over the new Scions too by a country mile. The metal stormtroopers before that had some cool features (armoured hood and masks) but weird poses, but i'd still rate them above the plastic Scions.

 

Every single Commissar model from 2nd edition onwards over the plastic one available now...

 

-Ran

[Elzender]

I think 2nd edition land speeders look quite nice, not that I have anything against the current version, but the 2nd ed ones actually caught my eye. Guess I have to blame the 3rd edition Space Marines codex :D, which ironically I got shortly after my brother and I bought the starter set that featured the current design. I actually got a couple of them from ebay a few years ago for my heresy army.

 

Ps: also, while I generally don't care too much about librarians, the old 2nd edition terminator librarians have grown on me (again, the old SM codex is to blame with the one with the rebreather featured inside the back cover).

Edited June 6, 2019 by Elzender

[Panzer]

I actually can't think of any model where I like the older versions better than the current ones. The Diaznettes had far superior poses but literally everything else I like about the current ones better.

The old T'au Stealth Suits were nice but I wouldn't call them better than the current ones as both are very different designs and each of them are great on their own.

 

Mmmh... maybe the Daemon Prince but mostly because the old one had Chaos Marine armour and wasn't a model designed to be used in fantasy as well.

 

Overall GW keeps producing better and better models and I can say that I'm not wearing any kind of nostalgia glasses in that regard I guess.

[sarabando]

all the old plastic marines over the primaris nothing to do with Primaris hate i just think the Torso/legs/arms/head/weapon etc split was better, aslo how all the marine kits were compatible it was a golden age. 

[Magos Takatus]

I'd forgotten to mention the Land Speeder. I still prefer the 2nd edition one to the modern bumper car. :p The Javelin attack speeder that Forge World produce is a nice nod to that era.

[Trench]

I may be in the minority but I never liked the Diaz daemons, nothing wrong with the sculpts in terms of quality but for me they are a great example of that period of 40k I dislike most that the fun charm of the settings seemed to get forgotten,  GW started taking everything way too seriously in all aspects but then I love the 2nd edition era content.

 

Speaking of 2nd edition, most of the Eldar models from that era I prefer to those that have come since, especially the classic Harlequins, although I like the current versions too.

Edited June 6, 2019 by Trench

[FlamingDeth]

I'm going to go with Asmodai. The current one is just kind of boring, and the old one set my expectations of what the iron skull mask of interrogator chaplains was supposed to look like.

 

Special shout, even though I don't think he really counts, to Belial, because him not having a model at all was better than the pigeon toed nonsense they gave us, and historically converting up a Belial was a sort of right of passage for DA players.

[Brother Cambrius]

I was actually chatting about this yesterday with some peers.

 

In terms of the new models, some have come out very nice indeed, notably the new Devastator and Assault squad multi kits (although there is a small handful of metal Assault Sergeants I hold dear due to their characterful posing), the new(ish) Vindicator and Sternguard and Vanguard. Looking back at the old metal monopose character models (like the old Chaplain with skulls everywhere), some of the plastic variants since have been a major improvement in appearance and in proportion.

 

A few though have fallen wide of the mark in places. Whilst I hold no animosity to the new Daemon Prince mode, (I really do like the wings and tail additions), I find it to be a much less menacing model than the metal/resin 3rd. Ed version. It might have something to do with how it looks like it started as a Chaos Marine before it achieved Apotheosis. The Imperial Guard veterans goes without saying, I really did like the Kasrkin unique look, but were still identifiable in fitting in with the classic Cadian flak armour, the new Scions look a little too rounded and cartoony for my personal tastes.

 

All in all, some are hit, a good amount are miss, but I think we might see improvements in the next few Quarters of this current GW era.

 

Cambrius

Edited June 6, 2019 by Brother Cambrius

[Chaplain Raeven]

I like the old metal SM scouts better than their current plastic version. Love the classic speeders as well.

[Vykes]

Man, I can't add anything that others haven't already said with the exception of the metal space marine scouts, the old pain of a metal brick chaos dreadnought, and the old metal Cadians: I massively prefer the older lighter armoured ones over the football helmet version we're stuck with.  I was also one of the sorts who didn't care for the kasrkin and prefer the modern scions over them but behind the old rebreather stormtroopers.  

 

Old 2nd edition Landspeeder, old Diaznettes are so many times better than the 2nd edition or the modern to my sensibilities that it's not remarkably funny, the old Tau stealth suits over the bobble heads, some of the old metal sergeants and captains of the Space Marine line (still looking for that 2nd edition one with the bolter and fist, he was in the 3E battle report in the main book too if I'm not mistaken), 

[Brother Cambrius]

I like the old metal SM scouts better than their current plastic version. Love the classic speeders as well.

 

To clarify, do you mean the Scouts with the ponytail/mohawk hybrid, or the metal variants that we have in plastic today?

 

Cambrius

[Pacific81]

People have already said the Cadians/Catachans vs. the previous metal versions so I won't repeat those. 

 

Going back some way, the 2nd edition plastic marines were cheap, but miles worse than the previous metal ones that had come at the tail end of Rogue Trader.

 

One of the worst follow-ups for me was probably the old Epic Eldar Titan, and the quite different one that replaced it with the Epic Armageddon release

 

http://www.tanksandtrolls.co.uk/images/miniatures/40k%20vehicles/Warlock%20Titan/Eldar%20Warlock%20Titan%20%288%29.JPG

 

I'm not sure if the sculptor was going for some kind of skeletal/HR Geiger type look, which I don't think quite worked. 

 

http://miniwars.co.uk/images/made/images/uploads/miniatures/dscf1666_03_300_300_s_c1_c_t_0_0.jpg

[Chaplain Raeven]

Oh yeah, now that Vykes reminds me of it, the old loyalist Venerable dreadnought was a beast compared to the plastic one now. I scoured Ebay for a long time when I heard of its existence.

I like the old metal SM scouts better than their current plastic version. Love the classic speeders as well.

To clarify, do you mean the Scouts with the ponytail/mohawk hybrid, or the metal variants that we have in plastic today?

Cambrius

The metal variants of the current ones. I like their poses and faces more than the current ones. I actually recieved some as a gift last month.

[Magos Takatus]

I'm reaching for one here since I have found out that it was headcanon but there was a 2nd ed Chaplain with a half bionic face that my friends and I used for Chaplain Cassius of the Ultramarines (I'm sorry, I'm really laying into you guys today). I think it was a much better model than the official one who just decided to leave his skull sticking out. Even if it's not an official model for Cassius, I still think the original model was better. :p

 

Did I get this from an old battle report or something? I know that Captain Tycho was in a battle report as a generic Blood Angel captain before he got his unique model in Codex: Angels of Death, I'm wondering if Cassius was the same?

 

Oh and yeah, that Warlock Titan looks so much better than that Lego Phantom you found. It would be an okay model in it's own right but it is really shown up next to the original Eldar models. What was it with the 3rd ed era and dodgy Eldar miniatures?

[Toxichobbit]

I'm fairly certain Cassius wasn't in a battle report until he had an official model.

 

However, Cassius' artwork in the 2nd ed Ultramarines Codex bears a striking resemblance to the classic metal bionic-faced Chaplain, so my guess would be that's where you're making the connection.

 

I think the Deathwatch Cassius beats them both, personally.

[SickSix]

The last metal Terminator Chaplain is 1000% better than the new plastic termi chaplain that looks like he has been TP'd by punk kids.

[Brother Cambrius]

The last metal Terminator Chaplain is 1000% better than the new plastic termi chaplain that looks like he has been TP'd by punk kids.

 

I will never be able to unsee that again... Damn you! :P Reminds me of old Brother Demosenthenes from TSOALR. 

 

 

The metal variants of the current ones. I like their poses and faces more than the current ones. I actually recieved some as a gift last month.

 

*snip!*

 

Ahh yes. I got a stack of them from my friend who got me into the hobby after he sold them off a while ago. They need a bath in the 'Fairy Power Spray, but I look forwards to painting them. I agree wholeheartedly though, their poses and faces do look much better. The Scout pack is one in dire need of updating in the future imho.

 

Cambrius

[Magos Takatus]

I'm fairly certain Cassius wasn't in a battle report until he had an official model.

 

However, Cassius' artwork in the 2nd ed Ultramarines Codex bears a striking resemblance to the classic metal bionic-faced Chaplain, so my guess would be that's where you're making the connection.

 

I think the Deathwatch Cassius beats them both, personally.

Good point. I had to rummage through the old Codex Ultramarines to doubt check myself earlier. That is a pretty good piece of artwork. You're right about the young Cassius, he's a massive improvement.

[Robbienw]

I’m going to have to go for 2005 terminator calgar being a lot better than 2018 primarneus calgar. The detail and posing of terminator calgar is just so much better.

 

Also the original Escher. I like them better than the modern plastics.

Edited June 7, 2019 by Robbienw

[Ishagu]

I’m going to have to go for 2005 terminator calgar being a lot better than 2018 primarneus calgar.

 

Also the original Escher. I like them better than the modern plastics.

Disagree on Calgar. Once you've seen both models side by side it's no contest. I'm saying this as someone who actually owns multiple of both models.

 

That being said, I love the old Daemonettes more than the newer ones.

 

Generally the updates have all be pretty good?