Isinfier - B&C
Regarding the plastic characters, and that rumour of 'Imperial Fist upgrades';
I spoke to our local Geedub staffer today, and he's heard from the top-down that the plastic upgrade sprues (for older marines) have only just paid for themselves, and that he's been told by a member of the Warhammer Community team that the rumour true, and close to release/reveal. Interestingly, the same applies for the much older Black Templar upgrade sprue. We should be seeing more than just the Imperial Fists, but he wasn't certain if it was just going to be stuff for Primaris; the implication he got from the WHC staffer was it would be both.
As for plastic characters, they've started to move away from the smaller clampacks because they generally don't pay for themselves; a similar problem to some of the older metal character models. This is why there are more 'characters' that are simply retooled/marginally altered products from the core ranges (Primaris Lieutenants, for example, or some of the smaller Nighthaunt stuff). Geedub are more interested in producing larger centerpiece characters (look at the Nighthaunt as an example) because they seem to sell better.
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"Plastic Renegades/Dark Mechanicus in the Blackstone Fortress box set are very likely a step towards a dedicated Lost and the Damned release for next year, to tie in with the rest of the Chaos releases planned."
Take that with a grain of salt, but he's generally been reliable.