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How 3D Printing is Upending the Miniature Industry
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<blockquote data-quote="JohnLynch" data-source="post: 7683321" data-attributes="member: 6749563"><p>I'm torn as to trying to prophesy how this will go. Book stores do very much seem to be closing down more than they are opening up, but this has been the case for years now. The death of the book store is a protracted and long event that I can't help but wonder if they will never die. Music stores on the other hand died much more quickly and are effectively dead (I know of a handful of stores that continue to exist across Australia). Music has the distinct disadvantage over books in that the physical format that is produced is not really meaningful (or at least hasn't been since records were largely replaced with CDs). Books on the other hand have a quality that people today still seem to place quite a bit of value on (whether that value will be financially sustainable longterm is unknown). Miniatures that are printed by 3D printers seem to me to be in the same boat as music rather than books.</p><p></p><p>At the moment the quality (from what people are saying) is lacking. But how long that will remain the case is anyone's guess. D&D Miniatures have never been of the highest quality (painted metal miniatures seem to be the best in terms of quality, but that is literally a paintstaking process that at least part of it is required by a human being to manually perform). While Wizkids can stay ahead by increasing the quality (although also increasing the cost to the consumer or decreasing their profit) it's only a matter of time (IMO) until 3D printers can match the quality of Wizkids. Given the great demand for miniatures sold as singles (which I believe is non-viable for Wizkids unless they drastically increase the cost) the print on demand miniatures are going to take off sooner or later. The legal issues they've faced in the past are trivial. Anyone can produce a miniature for the Tarrasque so long as they comply with the OGL (see the Pathfinder Bestiary book for a picture of the Tarrasque that WotC cannot touch). How long until a 3PP runs a kickstarter to get the industry's best artists to create artwork for the most popular OGL monsters out there and then hires someone to convert those into 3D printer templates? WotC couldn't stop them (so long as the artists complied with the OGL). I believe it will happen sooner rather than later. The only hold up (IMO) would be unfamiliarity with the technology and waiting for it to be cost-effective (although kickstarter can alleviate that to a degree). That doesn't mean Wizkids will stop producing miniatures. But it will mean that the cease and desist orders would slow down somewhat.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JohnLynch, post: 7683321, member: 6749563"] I'm torn as to trying to prophesy how this will go. Book stores do very much seem to be closing down more than they are opening up, but this has been the case for years now. The death of the book store is a protracted and long event that I can't help but wonder if they will never die. Music stores on the other hand died much more quickly and are effectively dead (I know of a handful of stores that continue to exist across Australia). Music has the distinct disadvantage over books in that the physical format that is produced is not really meaningful (or at least hasn't been since records were largely replaced with CDs). Books on the other hand have a quality that people today still seem to place quite a bit of value on (whether that value will be financially sustainable longterm is unknown). Miniatures that are printed by 3D printers seem to me to be in the same boat as music rather than books. At the moment the quality (from what people are saying) is lacking. But how long that will remain the case is anyone's guess. D&D Miniatures have never been of the highest quality (painted metal miniatures seem to be the best in terms of quality, but that is literally a paintstaking process that at least part of it is required by a human being to manually perform). While Wizkids can stay ahead by increasing the quality (although also increasing the cost to the consumer or decreasing their profit) it's only a matter of time (IMO) until 3D printers can match the quality of Wizkids. Given the great demand for miniatures sold as singles (which I believe is non-viable for Wizkids unless they drastically increase the cost) the print on demand miniatures are going to take off sooner or later. The legal issues they've faced in the past are trivial. Anyone can produce a miniature for the Tarrasque so long as they comply with the OGL (see the Pathfinder Bestiary book for a picture of the Tarrasque that WotC cannot touch). How long until a 3PP runs a kickstarter to get the industry's best artists to create artwork for the most popular OGL monsters out there and then hires someone to convert those into 3D printer templates? WotC couldn't stop them (so long as the artists complied with the OGL). I believe it will happen sooner rather than later. The only hold up (IMO) would be unfamiliarity with the technology and waiting for it to be cost-effective (although kickstarter can alleviate that to a degree). That doesn't mean Wizkids will stop producing miniatures. But it will mean that the cease and desist orders would slow down somewhat. [/QUOTE]
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