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Reaper prepainted minis - how was the result?
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<blockquote data-quote="humble minion" data-source="post: 4086345" data-attributes="member: 5948"><p>No evidence, but my gut feeling says you're wrong here.</p><p></p><p>You assume your 'average consumer' is not on ebay and then cannot or will not be able to buy skeletons for 19c each or whatever. I'm not so sure about that these days (and Reaper's prices vs secondary market prices basically rule Reaper instantly out of contention for any customer who IS on ebay), but we'll let it slide for the moment. But your assumption implies that this 'average customer' buys his/her minis in person from a games shop. A games shop that has already been selling DDM for years.</p><p></p><p>I'd reckon it's odds-on that pretty much every prospective customer Reaper has, already owns a considerable number of DDM. Sure there'll be a handful who refused to buy randomised packs, but to be honest (as in any internet boycott) I reckon they'd be a fairly small minority. As a general rule, the vast majority of people who like to use minis in their D&D game (and Reaper isn't going to sell to those who don't, after all) will have already bought a bunch of DDM. These people are Reaper's market segment. And they already own a horde of goblins, orcs and skeletons. I'm not sure why they'd buy more. Much better to sel them stuff they don't have already but which, thanks to WotCs random booster and set obsolescence policy, is difficult or expensive to find.</p><p></p><p>The point about certain demons/devils no longer existing in 4e is well made, but that's a pretty specific case. A lot is going to stay the same. A large, riderless red dragon would do well for Reaper, I reckon. Targeting the iconic D&D monsters that WotC made as rares in out-of-print sets, and the creatures that appear in large groups yet are rare sculpts would be the way for them to go, imho. Giants, dragons, mounted figures (goblin worgriders, skeletal cavalry, human mounted archers or knights), quite aside from the obvious lesser fiends like bearded devils and vrocks. Another option (market research permitting) could have been to produce a range partly inspired by the monsters found in one of the Paizo Adventure Paths, to give yourself a guaranteed market, at least to start. I know as a Savage Tide GM I'd be all over bar-lgura, succubi, jungle tribesmen, and a nice big 'Demogorgon', and I don't think any of these are economically unviable ideas. (Kopru might be a different matter, though!) Admittedly though since Reaper is working using their metal range as a starting point I'm not sure how possible this would have been with the sculpts they have available, but I do think they would have benefited from a little more daring and lateral thinking when it came to the way they approached the market. </p><p></p><p>I'm not sure about the economics of it of course, but from an outsiders point of view, a large range of sculpts with smallish print runs and higher individual prices might be the way to go. It's just really hard to believe that enough people (except maybe your odd lazy Warhammer player) will pay so enormously far over the ebay odds for skellies and goblins.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="humble minion, post: 4086345, member: 5948"] No evidence, but my gut feeling says you're wrong here. You assume your 'average consumer' is not on ebay and then cannot or will not be able to buy skeletons for 19c each or whatever. I'm not so sure about that these days (and Reaper's prices vs secondary market prices basically rule Reaper instantly out of contention for any customer who IS on ebay), but we'll let it slide for the moment. But your assumption implies that this 'average customer' buys his/her minis in person from a games shop. A games shop that has already been selling DDM for years. I'd reckon it's odds-on that pretty much every prospective customer Reaper has, already owns a considerable number of DDM. Sure there'll be a handful who refused to buy randomised packs, but to be honest (as in any internet boycott) I reckon they'd be a fairly small minority. As a general rule, the vast majority of people who like to use minis in their D&D game (and Reaper isn't going to sell to those who don't, after all) will have already bought a bunch of DDM. These people are Reaper's market segment. And they already own a horde of goblins, orcs and skeletons. I'm not sure why they'd buy more. Much better to sel them stuff they don't have already but which, thanks to WotCs random booster and set obsolescence policy, is difficult or expensive to find. The point about certain demons/devils no longer existing in 4e is well made, but that's a pretty specific case. A lot is going to stay the same. A large, riderless red dragon would do well for Reaper, I reckon. Targeting the iconic D&D monsters that WotC made as rares in out-of-print sets, and the creatures that appear in large groups yet are rare sculpts would be the way for them to go, imho. Giants, dragons, mounted figures (goblin worgriders, skeletal cavalry, human mounted archers or knights), quite aside from the obvious lesser fiends like bearded devils and vrocks. Another option (market research permitting) could have been to produce a range partly inspired by the monsters found in one of the Paizo Adventure Paths, to give yourself a guaranteed market, at least to start. I know as a Savage Tide GM I'd be all over bar-lgura, succubi, jungle tribesmen, and a nice big 'Demogorgon', and I don't think any of these are economically unviable ideas. (Kopru might be a different matter, though!) Admittedly though since Reaper is working using their metal range as a starting point I'm not sure how possible this would have been with the sculpts they have available, but I do think they would have benefited from a little more daring and lateral thinking when it came to the way they approached the market. I'm not sure about the economics of it of course, but from an outsiders point of view, a large range of sculpts with smallish print runs and higher individual prices might be the way to go. It's just really hard to believe that enough people (except maybe your odd lazy Warhammer player) will pay so enormously far over the ebay odds for skellies and goblins. [/QUOTE]
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