You may be right there, but the shift in production & costs could also be attributed to the length of time the movies have been around. When they were all fresh in people's minds then sales of the miniatures would be higher, while keeping production costs bearable.
That is not the case now ; their sales are based on a smaller, but dedicated customer base such as the forum members here and ultimately smaller sales means higher pricing to keep the line in production. They aren't going to go back to the cheaper metal / plastic options (at least for now) so we just have to live with it.
I keep harping on this point , but like it or not GW is a business and their number one aim is to make money. It really doesn't matter how much we all might be happy (or not) with the pricing, or support or complain about this it isn't going to change drastically any time soon.
They have made moves to reward us in offering GW models in warbands that are overall cheaper than the blisters, but while this may seem a small offer it should still be taken as a sign that they do listen to us and where possible they will show their appreciation in this way. Like it or not, the fact is FW do produce some beautiful models for this line but the price tag is sometimes unfortunately hard to stomach, but given the choice between the line dying out and having to use proxies or putting up with the price tag I would have to choose the latter.
Personally, I have faith that in time the pricing may become more reasonable given time and good sales. They have renewed their liscence and are continuing to support a line that has been in production for almost 18 years without being take oop at any time. Warhammer & 40k are the only other properties of GW & FW that can lay claim to this longevity and to be honest, the models FW have produced so far are stunning. I can't wait to see what is in the pipeline
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/happy.gif)