Cutting off pegs shouldn't take any longer than normal mini prep. Also, many companies sell minis that just glue flat to the base with no pegs and they hold up just five. Just my $.02. Also, the minis fit fine on the bases. The pegs were just designed to fit into the base inserts if I recall correctly.
It's worth pointing out that many of these minis have very small contact surface on their feet. The pegs are nice if your base can accommodate them.
I'm actually a big fan of these hollowed out bases. They make it really easy to apply one of my preferred quick basing methods:
Ingredients:
- sand and/or fine gravel
- terrain putty (I use cheap wood-fill or spackle, but any self-hardening putty works)
- some kind of sharp tool
- cup of water
- bases, models
This works best if you do large batches at once, makes the cleanup easier.
1) push a blob of putty into the hollow part of the base
2) dip it into your sand and/or manually push stones into the putty
3) use your tool on the surface a bit to make some texture
4) wet your model's feet and press them into the base to make an indent for the foot/peg
5) allow the bases to harden, then glue the models on