Note: the following is my opinion. I am being declarative but I want to acknowledge right off the bat that I am aware that I am expressing opinion. I will happily engage in any pleasant debate, however...
I saw in another thread something that I just couldn't let slide: a poster was saying that Mantic was ripping off and copying GW's intellectual property. That wasn't really the point of that thread so I thought I put my opinion in this new thread.
Here is the essence of where I'm coming from: Mantic makes generic SF and Fantasy models. They make Space Troops, Orks, Ratmen, Zombies, and guys in power armor... ALL of these things appeared in Science Fiction and Fantasy long before Games Workshop put out a single model. ALL of these things have long pedigrees. So, I must respectfully disagree with those who think that Mantic is ripping off GW. Cheers!
On a related side note: GW regularly references real world, historical troops, weapons, and uniforms. Cadians look very muck like almost any modern, post WWII troops. GW tanks look like tanks from WWI. Krieg troops look like German troops... etc, etc... GW has no sole right to doing things like this. Good Sci Fi is always rooted in the real world... again: cheers...