@IdaRed:
How do the HBG minis compare in quality to the units that come OOB?�  By quality I mean details and overall appearance. I’m basically looking to upgrade my 1st edition 1940 games with the new pieces from 2nd edition. The HBG units are actually pricier than a new copy of the game but I don’t need another big box and all the extras so I’m trying to weigh the two options.�  Any advice?
BTW, why hasn’t HBG or someone offered an upgrade kit for 1940 1e owners?
Also are all the HBG minis compatible size wise with OOB minis?�  I want to supplement my A&A games with some of the unique sculpts from HBG.
While I agree fully with my esteemed fellow piece junkie John Brown regarding the quality, compatibility and versatility of the sculpts which HBG has been producing over the years, there are a couple of points that I’d like to mention in case these items are relevant to you (which they may not be, because they’re super-picky points which anyone except obsessive sculpt collectors like me might not even notice).
The HBG sculpts are indeed highly compatible with the OOB pieces, and in fact are more compatible than any other plastic micro-sculpt I’ve come across in over a decade of collecting. Their colours and shades are either identical or nearly so; the HBG sculpts follow the same size conventions as do the OOB pieces; and the level of detail is either identical or very close (sometimes a little better than the OOB detail, sometimes a little less, but always close enough as to make no practical difference). And as John Brown has noted, the range of additional units (and sometimes additional unit types) which HBG has produced is simply fantastic, with even more new sculpts currently in production or being planned.
That being said, I think that it’s usually possible – in many cases – to tell the difference easily between OOB and HBG sculpts…and not just simply because certain models are only found as OOB pieces and certain others only as HBG pieces. The OOB pieces seem to be produced using a harder type of plastic than HBG uses, and as a result the OOB pieces have a more shiny, glossy appearance than the HBG pieces. This of course won’t make any difference if you paint your pieces – but not everyone does so (for instance, I don’t). Probably also because of the differences in plastic types, the OOB sculpts – at least in my opinion – seem to have slightly smoother surfaces. This is particularly notable in the units which have the largest, flattest surfaces: the aircraft carriers. The OBB carriers have flight decks which are highly polished, whereas the HBG carrier flight decks aren’t polished to the same degree, even though they’re certainly flat and smooth.
These kinds of sculpt details aside, the only other point that should be kept in mind about HBG’s great line of sculpts is that, regrettably, their production rate has slowed dramatically over the past year or two. As I recall, the slow-down dates back to the time where the company switched to using computer-assisted design for the creation of its units. The level of sculpt detail increased quite a bit, but for some reason so did the time it takes to get the pieces manufactured. As an example: the two sets I current have on pre-order (HBG Amerika Boxed, and HBG_WW2_USSet22 ) were respectively ordered on March 18 and August 8 of last year, and neither has so far been delivered to me. Updates on the status of HBG’s sculpt projects are posted by Coach from time to time in this thread…
http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=27911.1035
…so you may wish to check there periodically to see what the latest news is.