Great Unclean One Evolution

Many miniatures that have been in the production line have evolved significantly over the years. Ranging from Primaris upgrades of notable independent characters through to more generic icons. Today, I wanted to quickly visit one in the latter category: Great Unclean Ones of Nurgle.

On the left of this image is a Great Unclean One from the Realms of Chaos era. On the right is a modern plastic Great Unclean One. Both have been in my collection since purchase near release day (although I am parting with the older metal one).

There are some obvious differences. The older one is made of metal and is fundamentally not quite as crisp in the details department as the newer plastic. Of course, telling this apart from the improved sculpting is something else entirely. Striking also is the difference in height with the new miniature towering over the old one by a factor of about two. On the table top, they would both have the same impact, but I have to say that the newer plastic does it much better for me than the older metal. 

Speaking of the sculpt, there are some ranges of miniature which have become a bit less grim dark and more jovial and less proportioned. Chief among them are the Death Guard / Plague Marines. I really don't like the newer sculpts and strongly prefer the older metal ones and forge world resin versions. Plague bearers also seem a bit less grim than previously - especially the one with the mouth piece for a war horn. However, I think the Great Unclean Ones have gone in slightly the opposite direction. Although the older one is still grim dark, it does have some jovial elements like the tongue, and even the mouth in the belly. Compared with the new version, there's little left of the comical variety and it has been replaced with more thorough grim dark overtones. 

Weapons have also been upgraded. The original Great Unclean One did not have any wielded weapons (other than magic spells). The new one (and intermediate ones) all have access to swords, flails, daggers and the like which mark them apart. I like the plastic weapons mainly - but the intermediate Great Unclean Ones with the metal sword - not pictured - is not one I was fond of to be honest. 

Of course, with the plastics, there's more scope for customization as well - potentially. With my plastic one I've mixed the parts up significantly as I was using it for 30k daemons wherein it doesn't particularly matter if I have a bell, or a sword attached to the miniature. I really like what I've created here - and I think readers would agree that my paint work has improved over the decades too!

These are just my thoughts of course. Are there any evolutions out there that you really like (or ones that you think have gone in the wrong direction?). For me the evolution of the Great Unclean One is a triumph.