Upcoming Changes to D&D Minis Line

[Jeff Wilder]

the last huge set was amazing.

IMO, as someone who dropped the minis game and overcame his completism (I have full sets -- and much more more -- through set 15 or 16, but I've bought only singles since), the last two sets have been pretty amazing. Some clunkers, but the average mini is good, and the good minis are amazing.

I'll second the poster who said that increasing the scale will end my purchasing. To some extent, this would be a blessing, as I have plenty of minis.

 

[Dausuul]

I'll second the poster who said that increasing the scale will end my purchasing. To some extent, this would be a blessing, as I have plenty of minis.

I can't imagine them making a significant scale increase. The marginal improvement in sales from the improved quality could not possibly outweigh the huge loss of sales from people like you and me who would stop buying.

DDM is not a casual-purchase product; a single DDM booster is all but useless. The market consists almost exclusively of long-term customers. Furthermore, the pool of potential new customers - people who play D&D, don't buy minis, but would buy them if the scale were bigger - is very small. If they lose a huge chunk of their customer base due to a scale change, the only way they can make up the loss is to recruit more. Where are they going to get them?

Furthermore, there's a loss of utility involved in going to a larger size, if it requires a larger base size as well. You can only fit so much dungeon on a battlemat, and if the squares get bigger (to accommodate bigger minis), the amount of dungeon perforce gets smaller.

Even a slight scale increase - a couple of millimeters - is dubious IMO, since it would curtail their ability to re-use old sculpts and the benefits would be almost undetectable.

 

[avin]

He wrote like he's talking to teenage fans.

fixed for ya

trevor is a nice guy, i like his posts, but i'm entitled to my opinion here, as a 4E fan, who has listened to "exciting news" on miniature line before... "exciting news" who has already been cancelled.

 

[Remathilis]

MAYBE WotC will get around to using the M:TG model of an "Everygreen" set of common and cheap minis (non-randomized, but lots of them and all the common critters you want) followed by randomized "booster" sets that have all the kewl monsters in them.

They came close with the 2.0 DDM game (cept the intro set was neither cheap nor loaded with common critters) but the PHB/MM line didn't do it.

Course, if they REALLY want me back, plop 8 random minis in a box for $10 like during the Harbinger/Dragoneye days. I'd routinely drop $10 on a box just for the lols because it was a good deal. Once the price reached $15 bucks, my DDM purchases became nearly all singles. Now? Aside from the Balor, I've not bought a single pack (partially because I have no need for another Goblin Nosepicker of Thunderdeath Furybeast or whatever from 4e).

 

[avin]

Now? Aside from the Balor, I've not bought a single pack

Did you passed the fantastic Remorhaz??? Heretic!

 

[Peter Lee]

No scale changes.

Ultimately, 1 inch = 5 feet = 25.4 mm, so a 6 foot tall character should be around 30.5 mm in miniature form. (Once you include heavy boots, helmets, etc., some start to push 31 or 32 mm.)

 

[Jeff Wilder]

(Once you include heavy boots, helmets, etc., some start to push 31 or 32 mm.)

... wide, in the case of certain dwarves guarding certain metallic entrance chambers.

 

[Peter Lee]

... wide, in the case of certain dwarves guarding certain metallic entrance chambers.

I inherited 54 copies of that figure when I took over as lead. They watch over my cube.

 

[Shemeska]

It's probably closer than you think, as I linked to in this thread

On a side note, could this be a leaked photo of WotC testing a larger line of minis?

They finally tracked down and served justice to the monsters that took Special Ops Cody hostage a few years ago. w00t!

 

[Derulbaskul]

Because half the minis of them are ugly, or because your parties aren't composed mainly of female dragonborn rogues? Just curious. (snip)

I bought all the PCs but there were some really odd choices, including the dragonborn rogue. Why not do a quick survey first and see what are the most popular gender, class and race combinations then produce PC minis. Too many of them seem like they're never going to see use, except as battlemat filler when there are a lot of minions to be fought.

(snip) Frankly, the D&D minis have gotten too expensive. Also, some of the choices for visible minis were just bizarre. I'm still scratching my head over a My Little Ponycorn, or a mounted warrior guy who is destined to have a warped, wobbly sword, or the thing from Little Shop of Horrors. Don't get me wrong, I like evil plants, but I just don't see that as being a top seller. (snip)

A grey and white spotted unicorn? Seriously, someone approved that as a visible mini? I realise that 4E monsters are sometimes unrelated to the 30 years of history associated with the appearance of monsters from 3.5E and earlier but, if you're going to make a unicorn, make it white. Or black: I could use a black unicorn for my Thayans.

The big problem for me now is storage and then retrieval when I need them for games. I suspect I will soon go back to counters and/or paper stand-ups, both of which I will make myself. They're so much easier to store and retrieve (because I can always simply print more) plus I will start internet gaming soon so I will have another use for the pics.