It seems like every time I get caught up in real life and am away from hobbies for a bit, a company or community disappears! (Poor Relicnews forums...). Fortunately, VM is still here, even if the direction is going to shift a little. One thing I might suggest is trying to increase the outreach of VM: seeing things pop up on Warseer and Dakka are really good for exposure, I think, so maybe people here could use their natural reach to post 6 mm-related things on other gaming sites (e.g. painting logs, battle reports and so on).
As I've been reading the interesting points in this thread (the eBay point in particular is a good one!), I've noticed that there seem to be several classes of miniature buyers in the 6 mm world at the moment, many caused by the appearance and disappearance of GW's games over the years. Unfortunately, several of those groups have quite different ideas about what kinds of miniatures they are interested in, but I think one solution is to do something similar to what's already been done with the HH-esque Novan Elites tanks: make several vehicle chassis ranging from small versions up to large versions, and let players use different sizes for different purposes.
For example, if one was trying to represent the humble Space Marine Rhino (from GW's classic game Epic (TM)(R)(C)(TM)) one could make a 'true' scale infantry carrier chassis, and a light/mini tank. The light/mini tank could be about the same size as the classic (and definitely smaller than 'true' scale) Epic Rhino, and make an easy stand in (especially with detachable turret). One might even only need one extra chassis on the small end of the scale, since the 'true' scale infantry carrier might be about the same size as the GW-scale Land Raider. Anyways, perhaps some food for thought about future things.
Since I've noticed it, and I spent the minute writing out all the points anyways
this is some of the major divisions of 6 mm collectors in the wild that I've observed (and not all are mutually exclusive):
- GW-scale 'faithful': these veteran gamers or new fans of GW's particular scale and style prefer models that match the old GW offerings (recognising that GW was fairly loose with scale itself!). I imagine most are veteran gamers with large collections from the past.
- New collectors of 6 mm games: these gamers don't have large collections or are interested in starting armies afresh. Now they don't have to conform to GW's scale, they're freer to choose scale, and it seems many like things to be in 'true' scale, e.g. where 10 marines can fit in an APC.
- EA gamers: these particular gamers want to make successful armies for a particular game (e.g. EA), even if those armies are a bit contrived because of the rules system. This means they sometimes want eclectic models rather than complete or more 'standard' ranges.
- 'Background' gamers: these gamers want to make armies that suit the background regardless of game system they play.
- GW aesthetes: these players like GW style but are happy or content to see new interpretations that only broadly reflect the originals.
- Non-GW aesthetes: these players either dislike GW aesthetics or don't mind what if their miniatures are GW-esque.
Perhaps someone has a different impression of the community? It might be worth starting a new discussion thread about this in particular. It could make an interesting resource for manufacturers who come here.
In closing, I thought I'd say something about my own ambitions to collect 6 mm miniatures. I'm quite interested in the GW Eldar aesthetic but while the basic Eloi infantry are good, the range is very limited if one wants to explore the wider range of unit types in EA. And (definitely no offence to Evil and Chaos's fine efforts!) the tanks are not quite the bat-wing aesthetic I would really like and can't find elsewhere. I think this inability to make a varied force really limits what you can do, especially with EA's peculiarities. Even for modern warfare, the range is lacking aircraft, helicopter, and battle tank niches (as examples; arguably, their tanks can do APC, MBT, and helicopter roles but there still isn't much variation).
But I am definitely a big fan of the design and cast quality, and the true scale approach (which I think is really admirable). Alas, lack of an existing (convenient) 6 mm gamer environment nearby, the general cost of miniatures gaming (including being in Australia) combines with my severe lack of time and spare energy to keep 6 mm gaming as a pipe dream only, despite the stellar rules and miniatures available. Perhaps that's the biggest thing: perhaps economic slowdown and the failings of the Western ultra-consumerist model are now actually starting to cut into the time and energy available for artistic endeavours like miniatures gaming?