That's it; I am done buying minis'!

[hectorse]

Am I the only one who thinks this thread is hilarious?


"I gave WotC more money that they'll ever make for up to 10 casual DDM gamers and I hate them, I won't be buying stupid quantities of minis again!!!!"

come on

 

[SavageRobby]

And, just as if not more importantly, if you have the time to do so. That's the big issue for many people - not lack of skill, but lack of time.

Well, I'm in the both category. I suck at painting (and I tried, really), and I have neither the time nor inclination to get better. And lets be fair, too - prepainted plastics are much cheaper than most metal minis.

...but the fact of the matter pre-painted paint jobs do suck. Their on par at times with 10 year olds paint them.

I see why people use them, but it doesnt make the paint job any less crappy.

Hey. They're about as good as my paint-jobs, and I'm WAY over 10!

 

[portermj]

I'll third (or forth, or whatever) the mention of Auggies. I have over 7,000 D&D minis, and collected multiple complete sets of each release until the last set - and probably at least 2K of those came from Auggies. He's has been my go-to store since Giants of Legend (and man, thats been awhile now), and has consistently been one of the lowest priced, most reliable sellers out there.

Heck, I'd credit Andrew (Auggie) with being a huge factor in driving the secondary market price of minis down. He was the first seller I saw to consistently price his minis 25% below (often more) what others were charging, even as WotC raised the minis prices. He was the first seller I saw to offer flat shipping, too.

Let me add onto the Auggie's love, $234 for a complete set of Against the Giants is amazing. I defy anyone to emulate the AtG 60 figure set using nonrandom minis for less than $234.

I like stuff like Confrontation and Games Workshop, but they are really expensive. Plus transporting my Warhammer figures to an RPG session without breaking them if difficult.

As for Legendary Encounters? Errrrr. Their "I'm technically not a Mind Flayer" Mind Flayer is ok for the price. Not so much with the orcs and skeletons. As for the Larges? Well let me put it this way, if the Legendary Encounter Purple Worm ran into the DDM Purple Worm in a locker room, the LE Purp would feel a strong urge to go out and get an H2 or a red sports car.

DDM is good for people who are starting a minis collection, want a lot of figures, and want to cover more than just the standby Humans, Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, and Skeletons. For someone who already has an extensive collection, DDM isn't really for them, but they may be interested in getting singles of some of the more off beat offerings.

For people who don't believe in pre-painted minis or randomness, DDM really isn't for them. Fortunatly there are a large number of miniatures companies that can appeal to a wide array of tastes.

 

[Mindseye]

I'm thinking about joining the original poster with this one.

I bought 2 boxes of Giants today for approximately $40 at my FLGS. The rising cost, combined with the random nature (I actually got decent pulls), have put this into a price category I don't think I'm willing to deal with anymore. 16 random plastics versus the next hardback release or a boardgame (almost) just isn't a choice I want to make.

Time for me to try the secondary market as well.

 

[carmachu]

Hey. They're about as good as my paint-jobs, and I'm WAY over 10!

I'd bet their better than Wotc's. I mean, the DM was using a elven ranger or something and we were wondering if it was a dark elf....It was brown and had some light silver for metal stuff and thats about it....ugh.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

People, please don't compare Reaper to DDM; they're apples and oranges.

Reaper is much higher quality sculpts, made of metal, and much more expensive on a per mini basis. Reaper is great for buying NPC and PC minis. Reaper sucks for buying large numbers of monsters.

DDM is generally not as high quality sculpts (though there are exceptions, usually rares), made of plastic (and therefore lightweight), and much cheaper on a per mini basis. DDMs are great for large(r) numbers of monsters and NPCs.

You need to purchase accordingly. I used to buy Reaper minis and for around $70 I'd get 10-15 minis. For that same money I can get ~100 or more DDMs off the secondary market. And those 100+ minis probably weigh about the same as the 10-15 Reaper minis.

I think DDMs are reaching a saturation point. I know my purchasing is on the decline, for no other reason than lack of interest. I have thousands of DDMs and I don't need masses of minis like I used to. I still buy Reaper minis on occasion, but it's always to fill a particular niche that I'm lacking in.

If I had to bet on Reaper or DDMs going out of business, I would bet on Reaper before I bet against D&D. Those Reaper plastic minis wouldn't exist but for the fact that the DDMs have significantly cut into Reaper's market share.

 

[Fifth Element]

Sorry I hurt your feelings, but the fact of the matter pre-painted paint jobs do suck. Their on par at times with 10 year olds paint them.

I see why people use them, but it doesnt make the paint job any less crappy.

Didn't hurt my feelings (the internet is not a good place for sensitive people). But it's hard to pull your meaning out of "Random pre-painted just really sucks ass". I agree that the paint jobs for DDM can be pretty bad (though some are good enough). But how was I supposed to know what you were actually saying from such a broad comment?

 

[Doug McCrae]

DDMs are great for large(r) numbers of monsters and NPCs.

You're saying DDMs are for DMs?

 

[Fifth Element]

People, please don't compare Reaper to DDM; they're apples and oranges.

I think the only reason Reaper was brought up was Legendary Encounters, not their metal minis. Reaper has positioned these as direct competition to DDM (for RPGers anyway) - what's their slogan, "Because your encounters should be random, not your minis?" or something to that effect? Comparing them is terribly relevant.

Obviously LE is good for getting specific monsters you might not otherwise get from DDM - mind flayers tend to be rares, for example. But their release of skeletons and orcs in the first wave was puzzling, since most everyone already has a bunch of those, and the price point is too high to buy them in bunches.

 

[Jack99]

Am I the only one who thinks this thread is hilarious?


"I gave WotC more money that they'll ever make for up to 10 casual DDM gamers and I hate them, I won't be buying stupid quantities of minis again!!!!"

come on

I definitely do not hate WotC. In fact, I am sure plenty of the other regular posters would label me as a fanboy if asked.

And about the amount, it is worth noting that just about all things in my country are significantly more expensive than in the States.