4E Miniatures Buying Advice

[Gort]

Something I'd like to see Wizards do is sell categorised miniatures based on the monster manual - or even be as specific as selling miniatures per module! I know I like to run encounters of all one creature type from time to time - today I ran two Shadar-kai chainfighters, two Shadar-kai gloomblades, and a Shadar-kai witch. So wouldn't it be nice if I could buy a box set that entirely consists of Shadar-kai?

Or I could buy a box set with a bunch of kobolds, goblins and hobgoblins for Keep on the Shadowfell. Really, I've never bought a single miniature direct from Wizards (always going through resellers) because of the ridiculous "random selection" model they've gone for.

 

[blargney the second]

If you're planning on getting into DDM figures, I really recommend patience. Don't try to fill your entire collection in one swell foop. Rather, accumulate them over a period of time and let accretion do its magic.

There are a few reasons for this:
1) Different versions of the same creature have different looks. This is useful for identifying them when they're actually on the table and individuals sustain different afflictions. Likewise, it can be nice to present a motley crew rather than a uniform one.

2) They also have different stats. Just the other night I grabbed my bag of troglodytes and by using the different stat cards was able to make an encounter suitable for 9th level PCs with no prep work. So handy!

3) A particular sculpt may be rare in one set and a very similar one may be common in the next. This alone can save you a lot of money, but requires a lot of patience.

4) You'll find killer deals come up occasionally. If you hit those when you find them, you can even get some rares for quite cheap.

-blarg

 

[blargney the second]

Part two of blargney's DDM-buying guide.

It can be worthwhile to buy randomized minis, so don't discount it completely.

I've used more of the randomized minis than I ever expected I would. Maybe the players go someplace you don't expect, or maybe an adventure comes out that you want to run that features a particular monster. Sometimes a sculpt you thought you'd hate turns out to be your favourite of the bunch, and other times it will have stats or a write-up that really gets your gears turning. The point is, let yourself be inspired by the randomness. It may take you someplace fun that you never expected.

So here's my guide to buying DDM:
1) Browse the set galleries on the wizards site for sets that you dig.
2) If you'd like all of the rares and one or more of the rest of the set, buy a case of it. (don't spend more than $135 or so)
3) Once you've received them, fill in holes with the secondary singles market. If you're going to buy any randoms, always get them first before cherry picking the rest.

I hope this helps!
-blarg

 

[Kesh]

Part of the fun of DDM is not knowing what you're getting from the packs. Occasionally it's frustrating (I don't need another Changeling Rogue, dammit!), but often it's exciting to get a new monster you've not seen before.

That aside, I tend to look to Paizo for singles. I also noticed that Magnificent Egos is doing some plastic unpainted minis now.

 

[portermj]

If you have the time or the inclination, buying boosters by the case at discounted prices and selling or trading the unwanted minis was how I built up my DDM collection. Now I just find it easier to buy complete sets.

As others have said, buying commons from singles sites is also a good route. If you see a piece you'd like but is too expensive, I'd hold off on getting it. Many of the most popular monsters have had cheaper resculpts. For example, if you think you might want at Large Black Dragon but don't like the price of the current version, wait until next set.

Legendary Encounters are ok, but not only are they more expensive but the line is really small, just a quarter the size of Harbinger. I imagine they are great if you literally have no minis and only want to run the most generic monsters: Orcs, Skeletons, etc. Not really Reaper's fault. There just doesn't seem to be a business model for meshing DDM's depth and price with LE's nonrandomness.

 

[blargney the second]

This seems like an appropriate place to quote Merric's Law of Miniatures: Non-Random Packaging, Cheap Prices, and a Large Range of Figures: Choose two.

 

[Hawke]

I was looking at some Dreamblade figures online that may fill some of those roles... I'm having some trouble figuring out the size. I saw a WotC post about using Dreamblade for D&D Minis that suggested they worked as Large figures (2x2) but have seen some other images that make me disbelieve. As my group is about to embark into the Feywild, I think many might be useful, but I'm still unsure of the size

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

If you do get into buying random booster/cases, as it's been suggested, you can trade the miniatures you don't need for some you indeed might need. Also, some rare miniatures are pretty bland from a RPG perspective, but are worth a lot on the competitive DDM scene, so you might be able to trade 1 rare for multiple uncommons and commons to build your hordes.

As for Dreamblade miniatures, the biggest problem, to me, is the square base. The base fits for a Large creature, but not all miniatures actually qualify as Large creatures. There are a lot of miniatures that are more of the "tall medium" size (~the first DDM flesh golem). I got a bunch of uncommons and commons for cheap, and I separated most of them from their base with a large exacto knife. All I need now are generic, round, plastic bases to glue them on.

AR

 

[TarionzCousin]

Second, the secondary market is your friend. You can get piles of mook minis online for 30-50 cents apiece. I highly recommend it.

Are there any online stores that you recommend?

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

The "common" minis are cheap yeah 50 pence or so.

I've got tubs of "kobolds", "bugbears" etc, from nealry all the sets.

I'd recommend putting small labels, Dymo or whatever, on top of the bases, so you can identify them in a fight, like "1", "2" etc, makes it much easier to note which kobold is which in a fight!
Although minion mechanic in 4th ed makes "Mooks" easier ot run, not all enemies are mooks...


I'm going to buy a lot of thin, strong magnets and glue them to their bases, and buy the new magnetic grid roll up mat I've seen.
Plastic minis topple over too easy. But on the plus side, they don't weight a TON!! Urgh, mini boxes filled with lead ones weigh far too much.

The WOTC plastic mini animals are mostly pretty good, and I like them. There's even "bat Familiars" which are cool.

I LOVE the clear plastic minis for ghosts and elementals, very nice!

humanoids vary in quality though.
generally larger minis look better.

Keep nice metal minis for PCs