Pathfinder 1E Plastickrack - Pathfinder Miniatures Edition

giant.robot · Jan 28, 2012

I picked up one of the boxes of these minis the other day. Overall I'm happy with the contents of the box as I got some Goblins to use for one of my characters. That being said there's some aspects that really disappoint me:

The cost of single minis is borderline ridiculous. I know Paizo isn't a charity but $4 for a single mini is a lot of money. At their most expensive DDM minis were about $3 each through a booster box.
There's a ton of wasted cardboard and plastic with every mini. I don't want the minis to break in transit but I hope there's some other option available.
Some of the paint jobs look a little flat like they're unfinished. It's hard to tell if this is a stylistic choice or a defect.

Squire James · Jan 28, 2012

The Orc Warrior I nickname the "Why me? Orc" because of its slightly up-tilted head and annoyed expression, as if he were shaking both fists to the sky and asking "Why me?".

The Troll I nickname "Baron Underbite". All sizing issues aside, where did its upper jaw go? They also had platform shoes... almost like they were aware they were smaller than they were reputed to be.

There are as many Goblin Heroes as Goblin Warriors? What exactly IS a "Goblin Hero" anyway? And where were their flamethrowers? Given how they were colorfully described in the early Adventure Paths, you'd think they all carried them!

The Chimera called and asked what challenge rating it needed to be to get a mini as awesome-looking as that CR 6 Ettin. Baron Underbite's also a bit jealous!

No real complaints about the set. Just snarky comments.

Olaf the Stout · Jan 29, 2012

The 1 mini per box thing I don't quite get either. It seems like a whole lot of excess packaging, some of which is surely adding to the cost, at least in some small way.

Erik, what was the thinking behind only having 1 mini per box (or 2 in some cases)?

Why not 3 or 4 at least?

Olaf the Stout

Erik Mona · Jan 30, 2012

WizKids has had a lot of success with that product format in their other brands, and wanted to give it a shot with Pathfinder Battles. I suspect they think the hardcore collectors will buy them by the brick or the case, whereas the lower price point for individual boosters make them an easier add-on purchase at the register, or makes them more affordable to gamers on a limited budget.

The excess packaging is an issue that has been raised many times, and it's something we're encouraging them to explore.

--Erik

MerricB · Jan 30, 2012

The price of the individual boosters here at my FLGS in Australia is pretty scary: AU$5 for a small/medium, and $9 for a large. And the Australian dollar is worth *more* than a US dollar at present.

TheAuldGrump · Jan 30, 2012

Oz prices, by everything I have seen, are kind of insane. A friend was looking for foam core board and was horrified at the price per sheet.

And it seems to have little to do with the value of the AU dollar.

I can understand it a bit for shipping, but given that a lot of those same things need to be shipped to the US as well, and still run cheaper in the States....

The Auld Grump

MerricB · Jan 31, 2012

Shipping prices are a problem - it cost me $50 or so to have my case shipped to me - but there's an also unholy amount of gouging going on. The price my FLGS puts on it is actually fair considering what they have to pay for them.

For me to get my case shipped to me from the US cost about $60; so I got my minis for about $270 all up. It is something my FLGS can't compete with...

Cheers!

TheAuldGrump · Jan 31, 2012

MerricB said:
Shipping prices are a problem - it cost me $50 or so to have my case shipped to me - but there's an also unholy amount of gouging going on. The price my FLGS puts on it is actually fair considering what they have to pay for them.

For me to get my case shipped to me from the US cost about $60; so I got my minis for about $270 all up. It is something my FLGS can't compete with...

Cheers!

That is just plain ridiculous.

Not the only time I have heard it, either - Games Workshop in particular is actively blocking online retailers from the States and Europe from selling to the folks in Oz, so they can gouge even more.

A saner approach would be to allow Australia to get some competitive prices, but they'd rather do the gouging themselves.

Mantic, on the other hand, are more than happy to have Wayland Games and others ship their stuff to Oz - going so far as to make a video on the subject. (Mantic mocks GWs tactics fairly often - things like 'When we changed production of our wraiths to resin instead of metal we did what any company would do, and doubled the number of figures per package without increasing the price' - when GW switched to resin they upped the prices, and no increase in number of figures....)

The Auld Grump

Olaf the Stout · Jan 31, 2012

MerricB said:
Shipping prices are a problem - it cost me $50 or so to have my case shipped to me - but there's an also unholy amount of gouging going on. The price my FLGS puts on it is actually fair considering what they have to pay for them.

For me to get my case shipped to me from the US cost about $60; so I got my minis for about $270 all up. It is something my FLGS can't compete with...

Cheers!

My FLGS had a similar issue with the D&D pre-painted minis. Even though the Aussie dollar rose substantially in value vs the US dollar (from around 50 cents to the US dollar to about 90 cents to the US dollar) the cost of all the WotC products remained the same for them.

It meant that instead of forgoing about $20 per minis case in savings by buying through my FLGS, I was forgoing about $100 per minis case in savings. I like to support my FLGS, and I was happy to pay a bit extra to do so. However, when the difference got that large (through no fault of their) I just couldn't justify paying that much extra per case.

As mentioned by The Auld Grump, we have similar issues with GW minis here in Australia. Even avoiding the discount sellers like Maelstrom Games (which have now been banned by GW from selling to Australia), I can order minis from the GW online store in the US or the UK, pay a heap in postage and still get them for cheaper than buying them from GW in Australia. Is that messed up or what?

Olaf the Stout

TheAuldGrump · Jan 31, 2012

Well, I have my PB minis now...

I agree that the troll is on the small side - I will be using him as an adolescent troll, he actually looks younger and less craggy when placed next to the Reaper Pathfinder troll as well as smaller.

I got three ettins for some reason, but only one Large spider.

The dire rat is freakin' big. It looks like he could eat the gnome that was packaged with him, and still have room for dessert.

I have the ogre next to a DDM ogre from Harbinger (I think) - much taller than the DDM figure, not bad, over all.

The frost giant is a frost giant. Not at all bad, looms nicely over the humans. I kind of wonder why a frost giant was chosen over a hill giant, but that's personal choice.

My favorites are the lich, the medusa, and the druid. I have an extra of the druid, so I will paint it up to give a webcartoonist that I know who has a character that looks a bit like this druid.

The gobbers... lots of them. But then you use lots of goblins.

The manticore... I kind of expect him to sound like the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz. Not a bad sculpt, he just has a similar face....

Most of them could benefit from a dip.

The Auld Grump