Preiser quality…

[Keep It Rusty]

I'm a huge fan of Preiser. I think they make excellent figures.

But what gives about the quality of them these days?

Check out the attached. One is the ad, the other is the real photo from Amazon. Take the figure in the apron. The paint job is leagues apart, that's one thing, but then look at the gap between his arms. In the Amazon photo it's completely filled in (presumably during the molding phase).

Disappointed to see this. It sucks all the life and reality from them that made Preiser stand out. And it only takes a second to see the quality they were once putting out when you look at the F&SM...

[Dennis Bourey]

Thanks Craig, I will look through my stash today. Never realize that. Dennis

[Dennis Bourey]

Craig, I don't see that in the kit's I have. Must be a mistake or something newer then mine? Dennis

[deemery]

Well, molds, even injection molds, do wear out.  (There are a couple molds that Don Tichy should probably replace...)  But you'd think the painters would catch this as part of a quality check before they start.


dave

[swisstrain]

Well, the other question that has crossed my mind, are all those figures sold on Amazon really Preisers', or are some of them knockoffs?

[Keep It Rusty]

I thought that about Amazon. How official are they?

But then I noticed a similar thing with ordering from PreiserUSA.

There's just a very noticeable difference in quality between the ad photos and the box you receive...

Dave, I'm inclined to agree about the wear on the molds, but I do expect some QC as they work down the production line.

Maybe I'll reach out directly.

Thanks for letting me vent!

[tct855]

Craig,
          My thoughts are similar to what's been discussed so far; about the worn molds etc.  Having said that, it wouldn't surprise me that the ones in the advertisement are possibly the prototypes or professionally cleaned up (de-flashed) and clear coated, even possibly hand painted.

Where in the molding process a worker(s) could simply paint the half molds with paint in the the right places on both sides, the pieces joined and the injection completed and therefore heat melting the paint on the figures and then after cooled, many workers finish hand paint the eyes etc. detail touchups?

Well just my 3-1/2¢ worth here (inflation) , Dennis makes a good point as well, I'm curious to look at my figures as well... Hummm? on second thought, I don't really care, because I never really cared before either-so long as I'm not painting figures.  *side note: I bought that big bag of unpainted ones some 20 years ago thinking I'd save some money and after 90 mins of torture and having watched 6-8 jars of paint start to harden up right in the jar with the tops open, I figured let someone else do it.

Question, since someone seemed to notice an advertising and compare to the actual product comparison.  What of buying fast food (yuk, I know) the advertisement looks so perfect and delicious, yet the flat-fake meat sliding off-can't find the special sauce etc. ugh! I've said enough...    

Or how about a nice looking engine from a manufacturer that the kid is driving in the advertisement and when we open the box -flip a coin! are the gears cracked?   Point made~
                                                                                                                                                                                                      Thanx Thom...
https://youtu.be/zJs9p-VNORw?t=244

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uT0_qTv3b4

[Keep It Rusty]

All valid points, Thom.

My counter would be that this isn't an inferior product. Or brand. Unlike a Happy Meal, we pay top dollar for this gram or two of plastic, that is sold as "carefully hand-painted". As we're paying for the workmanship in these tiny figures, it's why I'm so put out that the ad photos are not a true likeness to what we receive.

More pointedly, it seems to be a recent decline in quality than something outta the gate...

Thanks for your comments!

[Rail and Tie]

I buy just about all my Preiser figures from Eurorailhobbies.com. I don't think I have ever seen paint quality that good like your ad photo. They have never been that accurate in HO scale, but more blobby like the latter.  If I remember correctly they are molded in Germany and painted and packaged in Mauritius (labour costs).


I can say that the paint quality has diminished a bit over time depending on the age of the figure set.


Its odd that photos of HO sets 10465 to 10472 all show very nicely painted figures, while the rest show typical quality. The set that Craig has in question is 10471.  Must of used photos of the prototypes instead of production versions.  Almost all of the photos in the catalog show more realistic version of the figures.

Preiser 10471 HO Pedestrians -- American Pedestrians (eurorailhobbies.com)

[Keep It Rusty]

Thanks, Darryl. Interesting find.

I can say that the paint quality has diminished a bit over time depending on the age of the figure set.

I recently received a set where the flesh color was lazily painted on, covering some clothing. It's little things like this that bother me (in relative hobby terms, of course). I do re-paint most of the Preisers I use now.

[ACL1504]

I compared many of my older Preiser figures still in the box to those I purchased recently.

The quality of painting is definitely obvious on the new ones. And, I agree many of the Preiser stock photos are old and display the quality of old.

it's a shame!

Tom

[Keep It Rusty]

Thanks for checking your stash, Tom. Did you happen to notice a difference in casting quality too?

[ACL1504]

They seemed to be the same to me, but I didn't look up close.

Tom

[Rail and Tie]

I forgot to mention. I repaint just about every figure anyways. At least a few washes and some pin washes to make features stand out more...
... and almost always make it worse by trying to paint eyes on the figures.  Most of my figures look like IGOR from Young Frankenstein!

Thanks, Darryl. Interesting find.

I can say that the paint quality has diminished a bit over time depending on the age of the figure set.

I recently received a set where the flesh color was lazily painted on, covering some clothing. It's little things like this that bother me (in relative hobby terms, of course). I do re-paint most of the Preisers I use now.

[jerryrbeach]

Craig,


I have some Preiser figures I bought over 35 years ago.  While the casting flash is not as prominent as on the newer figures, it is still noticeable IMO.  I paint all my figures, usually stripping the prepainted ones, though I purchase most figures unpainted.  I spend time with an Xacto blade scraping the flash from them before I prime them for painting.  I still find flash on a few that I feel is objectionable when I start painting.  Those get the flash scraped off and are primed again.  I am less than impressed with painted figures, especially given their cost.  It does take time to clean, prep and paint them myself but I feel the result is well worth the effort.


FWIW, I paint most of my figures during the summer when I am busy with farm work.  I can see progress even if I only find 15 minutes to work on them.  I paint the figures in groups, usually priming 25-30 at a time.  That way I can take one color and use it to paint a few figures at the same time.  FWIW...