Alternatives to WotC Minis

[Mythmere1]

Ask this question over at Maxminis.com, and there's at least one other minis site, but I don't use it. People at maxminis could tell you. Maxminis is almost all DDM and mini enthusiasts.

I'm probably going to be very short on money for the next year, so since you're polling I can't honestly say I'd be a buyer. But I can also say that if you'd come out with this line last year I probably would have dropped in the neighborhood of $100.

I like plastic minis because they're durable, more than anything else. I can paint better than the pre-painted stuff, and enjoy painting, but it takes time - and at $3 per lead mini or more I like the low price point on the plastic minis even when I am flush.

 

[Troll Wizard]

I chose “Maybe - depending on price and quality,” though I have one other factor which is selection.

I am tired of fighter platemail two-handed sword, dwarf with axe, cleric with mace

What about
Fighter in chainmail with flail with shield
Fighter in scale mail with short bow
Fighter in studded leather with long spear
Fighter in banded mail with two battleaxes
Fighter in breastplate with mace and scimitar
Fighter in chain shirt with dagger and short sword
Dwarven cleric in scale with shield and hammer
Dwarven rogue in leather with two handaxes
Dwarven fighter in chainmail with heavy pick and shield
Dwarven fighter in banded mail with heavy crossbow
Halfling fighter in scale mail with light crossbow
Gnome fighter in banded mail with sling

There are so many weapons and armor combinations that have not ever been touched. I personally like to have the minis resemble my character as much as possible.
I assume you are going with box sets in order to improve your chances that retailers will stock your proposed product line. So make box sets of 8-16 minis each with different poses and equipment combinations. Try to not duplicate exactly what WOTC and other minis manufacturers have done with specific minis. If you are the only company that has the set with the scale mailed half-orc holding two heavy flails, then people pretty much have to come to you.
Also I fully realize that your initial production runs are not going to match the quality of WOTC latest packs, but honestly I am not that picky. I also recognize that being a smaller company you may not be able to invest in a large enough production to match WOTC in unit price. Yet your overhead should be lower since you are a smaller company and you are not going for large sets of 60+ with the development costs that would incur. So I am hopeful your shelf price will only be a little higher than WOTC. So fill a market niche that no one really has addressed and I will buy your product.

If there is a choice on bases I prefer round bases over square ones.

 

[NewJeffCT]

I agree. There is nothing that will ever look better on a table then a well painted metal mini. But with trying to raise a kid and other responsibilites, I just don't have the time anymore.



OK. So if a new line of miniatures was released that looked just as good but you could pick and choose what you wanted, would you buy them? Do you normally use miniatures for your games? If so which ones?

I would then probably vote maybe, depending on the finished product. I'm very particular about my paint jobs & my collection of minis - human soldiers should match my Warhammer FB Empire Army's red & black color scheme... though, I could use differently colored minis as reinforcements from a different region of the Empire, I guess.

When I get the chance to game, I use minis, but we have not used them as much under 3E as we did in 2E days (believe it or not!)

 

[Mythmere1]

I agree on the round bases. Some people play on hex battlemats, and some (me) don't like square bases b/c they occupy an entire square with the base. I think wargamers might disagree, though.

Since your first run will probably be of dubious quality, I'd do monsters, not characters.

 

[diaglo]

my hat of the overpriced randomized pieces of Stuff for d02 WotC knows no limits

 

[Li Shenron]

...what I am proposing are miniatures based off the monsters in the SRD and compatible with the worlds most popular roleplaying game. Basically, a line of minis that everyone would have an immediate use for which would focus on both monster and character figures.

This is another reason why I don't like WotC's lines. There are IMHO too many weird minis, especially from Eberron (because they want to promote sales in their other area). But also for example there's an abundance of slightly different monks (basically all bald barechested males). I consider myself a very "generic DM", and I would have absolutely no use for those. If I wanted to play Eberron, I would like to be able to buy Eberron minis, and even if they were random, at least I'd like to have a random Eberron line, not Eberron minis scattered in all the sets. This sort of problem goes away if random packaging is dropped, even if the idea is not to sell individual minis, but rather to sell boxes of 5-10 specific minis.

Anyway, about metal minis... those are of course nicer. If you are good at painting, otherwise they can be awful. They are definitely better, but IMHO it becomes an entire new hobby (double time, double cost), and the vast majority of the players I know personally cannot afford that. But, for those who can there are probably plenty of brands already for metal figures... as such I think that your company should have an easier time to aim at the plastic low-cost minis, which still have an open niche.

 

[fiddy]

I'd suggest trying to tackle some of the things Wizards hasn't hit hard with their line yet...

mounted figs - they've done only one so far, I'd consider it a bonus if you've got mounted and dismounted versions of the same fig

tiny figs - again only one so far, would be nice to see some

summonable creatures - they've done some of these, but people always seem to clamor for more

PCs with uncommon weapons - a dwarf that's using something besides a hammer or axe for example

As for whether I'd buy them, if they were an acceptable quality and price sure. As far as what 'acceptable' quality is, I'd say the Wizards later releases are pretty good (when the minis are on the table and I'm 2ft or so away). And for price... I've seen some plastic animals (farm, forest, ocean, and some other 'settings') for sale at some local hobby/craft stores that come in a clear tube of ~15 animals for ~$7. They're a little out of scale for D&D (too big by about 20-30%), but they do use several colors per figure (not little green army men). If you can approach that, I'd definitely purchase some.

Even if you can't quite reach that cost level, I'd definitely be interested in knowing when you come out with your minis if you decide to proceed.

 

[Li Shenron]

Aw, how didn't it come to my mind about the weapons... those suggestions above are great!

 

[Seeten]

I think you have a good idea here. Particularly the 10 orcs 10 goblins 10 kobolds 10 zombies 10 skeletons packs. We always need more. Lately, we could have used 10 ratmen 10 asaathi packs too(Scarred Lands) but 10 Lizardmen could work for Asaathi even.

I completely agree with the previous poster on equipment variety. Trying to find a Half-Orc with a Great Axe was SO frustrating. I ended up buying one from GW for $20. 1 lead miniature(pewter, really, I guess.) Platemail with longsword/shield. Axe/Shield. Hammer/Shield. Every 1 hander + shield. Scimitars are not Drow only, for example.

Other armors for Fighters. Same for others.

I'd buy a fighter pack of 10 platemail fighters(each with variable weaponry), 10 chainmail fighters, etc.

I have lots of money and I just need well thought out products to spend it on. I dont buy poorly designed/implemented junk, but I do buy well designed and thought out products frequently. I also have no problem with paying for quality. If its quality, and you charge more, I'll support you. If its junk and you are reasonably priced, I won't. If its well thought out, but poorly made, I'll give you a production run to iron it out, and support you in the meantime to iron out your process, but you dont get too many kicks at the can.

 

[kengar]

I voted yes if reasonably priced. I enjoy painting my own figs, but I only have so much time for that. I wouldn't mind saving that time for painting character and important NPC/monster figures and using plastics for the grunts.

By "reasonably priced" though, I mean less than $2 a fig (small/medium critters like orcs). Anything more than that isn't worth it. A pack of 10 kobolds with assorted weapons/poses for $12-15? You've got my money. $3-4 a figure? Forget it.