Dire Bare
Legend
I think a unicorn mini could be a popular item, visible or not, if they just produced a great sculpt and paint job. The "spotted pony" unicorn just looked silly.
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Upcoming Changes to D&D Minis Line
- Thread starter jasonbostwick
- Start date
I think a unicorn mini could be a popular item, visible or not, if they just produced a great sculpt and paint job. The "spotted pony" unicorn just looked silly.
Dire Bare
Legend
This is what I'd love to see from WotC, I have no idea how well it might or might not sell . . .
Continue the prepainted random miniatures line, and use a format similar to the current one. One large or huge mini visible and more random minis hidden inside the packaging. However, it is imperative that each visible mini is so awesome that it makes us all drool with desire. Also, while this visible minis should be somewhat unique and interesting, they should also be something we'd possibly want more than one of. The number of hidden minis needs to be increased. The sets should be small, like they are now, maybe 40 figs, and mooks should be avoided. The minis in the set should be both heroes and monsters, and each mini should strive to be unique and interesting. Heroes should be divided between "generic" heroes (dragonborn fighter) and (in)famous D&D characters.
Secondly, a companion line of unpainted plastic minis should be released, in a format similar to Warhammer from Games Workshop. Turn D&D minis from an accessory line to a full-fledged minis game, and like GW, a lifestyle hobby when you add in collecting, assembly, painting, and playing. The Chainmail game from the 3e days was a good start in that direction. WotC should take on GW! You could buy a box of unpainted and unassembled orc minis for your wargame, and/or for your RPG game. Special characters would be in the prepainted line, but articles on how to strip, repaint, and customize your minis would be easily available.
The two lines would have slightly different focuses, but would be 100% compatible for both RPG and wargaming play. Backwards compatibility for the catalog of existing minis would be important too.
As far as the design of the wargame, I'd love to see a tiered faction system. The first "tier" of factions could be as simple as alignment, good, evil, law, chaos, and unaligned. The second tier of factions could be interesting groups like we had in the Chainmail game. This would provide easy hooks to build your army around, but also provide a flexibility for players to create their own factions and armies.
Continue the prepainted random miniatures line, and use a format similar to the current one. One large or huge mini visible and more random minis hidden inside the packaging. However, it is imperative that each visible mini is so awesome that it makes us all drool with desire. Also, while this visible minis should be somewhat unique and interesting, they should also be something we'd possibly want more than one of. The number of hidden minis needs to be increased. The sets should be small, like they are now, maybe 40 figs, and mooks should be avoided. The minis in the set should be both heroes and monsters, and each mini should strive to be unique and interesting. Heroes should be divided between "generic" heroes (dragonborn fighter) and (in)famous D&D characters.
Secondly, a companion line of unpainted plastic minis should be released, in a format similar to Warhammer from Games Workshop. Turn D&D minis from an accessory line to a full-fledged minis game, and like GW, a lifestyle hobby when you add in collecting, assembly, painting, and playing. The Chainmail game from the 3e days was a good start in that direction. WotC should take on GW! You could buy a box of unpainted and unassembled orc minis for your wargame, and/or for your RPG game. Special characters would be in the prepainted line, but articles on how to strip, repaint, and customize your minis would be easily available.
The two lines would have slightly different focuses, but would be 100% compatible for both RPG and wargaming play. Backwards compatibility for the catalog of existing minis would be important too.
As far as the design of the wargame, I'd love to see a tiered faction system. The first "tier" of factions could be as simple as alignment, good, evil, law, chaos, and unaligned. The second tier of factions could be interesting groups like we had in the Chainmail game. This would provide easy hooks to build your army around, but also provide a flexibility for players to create their own factions and armies.
Jeff Wilder
First Post
As I said, the appaloosa unicorn was not the first in the DDM line. The first was a standard white girly unicorn, decent paintjob and sculpt, and despised.
D&D players would just rather have other creatures. For myself, I know that if I got a "great sculpt and paint job" on a unicorn, at the expense of a "great sculpt and paint job" on, say, any actual monster, I'd be pretty pissed off.
(And don't kid yourselves ... "great sculpt and paint job" aren't inifinite resources in the DDM line. (Insert joke here.) You allot extra paintsteps to this mini, they have to be taken away from another mini. Practically speaking.)
Dire Bare
Legend
Oh, I remember that unicorn too, and I have a few in a box in the garage somewhere. I'd disagree that it was a desirable or decent sculpt.
When I say I think that a unicorn with a good sculpt could sell well, I'm not just talking a "technically" good sculpt, but also a desirable sculpt.
I've seen plenty of pictures, both in D&D products and elsewhere, of some pretty badass looking unicorns. Make an awesome sculpt of one of those and I think it'd do well.
The unicorns seen so far in the D&D minis line are just blah. Not interesting looking or desirable at all, IMO.
Windjammer
Adventurer
pawsplay
Hero
eh, well the problem with the PH line is that it didn't provide unique race/armor/weapon combos that we hadn't already gotten.
Out of the PH1 & PH3 there was only 1 figure for race/armor/weapon combao that hadn't been done before (ignoring 4e specific races).
At least thats why I only bought one pack.
Out of the PH1 & PH3 there was only 1 figure for race/armor/weapon combao that hadn't been done before (ignoring 4e specific races).
At least thats why I only bought one pack.
Remathilis
Legend
The PH line got smacked because it was schizophrenic as to whom it was trying to sell to.
As a Player, it was a waste because there was a small chance I'd actually GET a figure that matched my PC at all (if I'm playing a female gnome bard, I'm waiting a LONG time for that Mini). If I did find something suitable, I got 2 extra minis I might never need/want. I'm assuming it'd be pretty rare that a player played 3 different PCs that just happened to be a warforged cleric, an eladrin invoker, and a female halfling paladin, for example.
As a DM, I had the same problem (buying all the sets in case one of my players rolls up a female dragonborn rogue) which took away from my Monster Manual purchases.
If WotC wants to make money on PH line, take a tip from Reaper and sell them INDIVIDUALLY BLISTERED. Three-Packs were a waste. I'd buy a decent pre-painted Mini for $3.99, and bonus if you throw in the dumb power card.
Heck, if the aftermarket says anything, you could probably sell the whole frackkin MM set in small blisters. 4 goblins in different poses for 3.99? Sold. A minotaur for $6? Done. A large dragon for $10? Who wouldn't? Reaper makes a killing on Pewter/Lead minis this way. If there is no skirmish game, why not Blister them and sell them a slightly-more than the ebay sells the singles.
As a Player, it was a waste because there was a small chance I'd actually GET a figure that matched my PC at all (if I'm playing a female gnome bard, I'm waiting a LONG time for that Mini). If I did find something suitable, I got 2 extra minis I might never need/want. I'm assuming it'd be pretty rare that a player played 3 different PCs that just happened to be a warforged cleric, an eladrin invoker, and a female halfling paladin, for example.
As a DM, I had the same problem (buying all the sets in case one of my players rolls up a female dragonborn rogue) which took away from my Monster Manual purchases.
If WotC wants to make money on PH line, take a tip from Reaper and sell them INDIVIDUALLY BLISTERED. Three-Packs were a waste. I'd buy a decent pre-painted Mini for $3.99, and bonus if you throw in the dumb power card.
Heck, if the aftermarket says anything, you could probably sell the whole frackkin MM set in small blisters. 4 goblins in different poses for 3.99? Sold. A minotaur for $6? Done. A large dragon for $10? Who wouldn't? Reaper makes a killing on Pewter/Lead minis this way. If there is no skirmish game, why not Blister them and sell them a slightly-more than the ebay sells the singles.
Non-random, cheap, prepainted does not exist. Sorry, it just isn't going to happen. If it could, someone would be succeeding at it. Reaper couldn't even come close to turning out the pre-painted minis in any number at all.
$3.99, for 1 pre-painted mini? They'd have to sell waaaaaaaay more copies of that than could possibly sell to make money.
You can have random, or you can have cheap "army men" quality, or you can pay a lot more....those appear to be our choices given the technology we have today.
$3.99, for 1 pre-painted mini? They'd have to sell waaaaaaaay more copies of that than could possibly sell to make money.
You can have random, or you can have cheap "army men" quality, or you can pay a lot more....those appear to be our choices given the technology we have today.
The after market exists because they can make a lot of minis and sell them for cheap, so the aftermarket can sell them for cheap. If reaper was making a killing, someone else would be coming in and underselling them.
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