WOTC plastic minis deserve to be in metal!

[S'mon]

The big advantage of bendy plastic minis - my 3 year-old plays with them: and they SURVIVE!

They also survive being knocked around in the suitcase I take to the game. OK they're not as pretty, but their utility for me is vastly greater.

 

[Oryan77]

Plus, when I used metal minis, I had to work out at the gym just to be able to carry a shoebox full of minis.

Now that I'm all buff and I now use plastic minis, I can carry shoeboxES full of minis. I still make my wife carry all the books though, those dang things are heavy. Any chance on getting plastic books?

 

[Mark CMG]

I definitely would not want DDM to sacrifice durability for detail.

This is my stance. When I look to DDM, I am not looking for detail or outstanding sculpts, nor even good paint jobs most of the time (though some can be egregiously bad). Setting aside secondhand MK figs, DDM are the go-to line for cheap mass-produced figs, particularly on the secondary market. Don't ever change.

 

[Peter Lee]

Indeed, the specific grade of plastic is chosen for durability and safety concerns. I don't want people to open up a pack of miniatures to find weapons broken in two, skeletons with a broken spine, etc. I want people to be able to throw their PC into a bag filled with dice and not worry about the figure breaking. It does unfortunately teach bad habits -- too many times have I seen players scoop up a pile of minis with one of my painted figures among them. Instant aneurism

You would have problems with metal figures losing fidelity as well -- rubber molds deteriorate, but the better the mold is made the longer they last.

 

[Nadaka]

Plus, when I used metal minis, I had to work out at the gym just to be able to carry a shoebox full of minis.

Now that I'm all buff and I now use plastic minis, I can carry shoeboxES full of minis. I still make my wife carry all the books though, those dang things are heavy. Any chance on getting plastic books?

Yes. Its called a kindle|iPad|netbook and a lot of PDFs.

 

[El Mahdi]

WOTC plastic minis deserve to be in metal!

Hell Yeah they do! They could single handedly make Metal popular again. I think they should call themselves "Band of Orcs" or just "D&D" (for Death & Dismemberment) and model themselves on 80's thrash metal with an added modern flair...

...Any chance on getting plastic books?

They already exist...they're called pdf's! (WotC just doesn't make them anymore...)

Indeed, the specific grade of plastic is chosen for durability and safety concerns. I don't want people to open up a pack of miniatures to find weapons broken in two, skeletons with a broken spine, etc...

Personally, I prefer the plastic minis now. Bent sword? Don't worry about it. Just dip it in hot water and Voila!...it's as good as new again. They are also light years easier to modify than metal minis. So much easier to customize (super glue actually works on them...and works well!). Repainting though can be a pain, as it's hard to remove the original paint without damaging the mini. And repainting over the original paint lessens the details even more. But overall, I definitely prefer them.

 

[Peter Lee]

Personally, I prefer the plastic minis now. Bent sword? Don't worry about it. Just dip it in hot water and Voila!...it's as good as new again. They are also light years easier to modify than metal minis. So much easier to customize (super glue actually works on them...and works well!). Repainting though can be a pain, as it's hard to remove the original paint without damaging the mini. And repainting over the original paint lessens the details even more. But overall, I definitely prefer them.

When you get the chance, check out Castle Ravenloft -- I tried to pick the best sculpts over the history of the DDM line for that game, and you can see some great detail in the unpainted versions that is hidden with some of the painted versions. The Berserk Flesh Golem is an outstanding example. So many details!

 

[frankthedm]

-- too many times have I seen players scoop up a pile of minis with one of my painted figures among them. Instant aneurism

Swapping weapons with sewing needles, pins and X-acto blades really cuts down on careless handling of minis .

When you get the chance, check out Castle Ravenloft -- I tried to pick the best sculpts over the history of the DDM line for that game, and you can see some great detail in the unpainted versions that is hidden with some of the painted versions. The Berserk Flesh Golem is an outstanding example. So many details!

The tubby wargs from harbinger are a fave of mine. All the sculpt choices were solid, though the fireball-skeleton will be love it or hate it and kobolds seem a bit out of place. Thanks for getting non random packs of minis to the market. The board game disguise is pretty good in its own right too.

 

[MerricB]

As someone who has been recently getting a few BattleTech metal minis... I detest metal with a passion. A complete pain to assemble, paint and transport. The advancement in detail doesn't seem that much better than those of good plastics... and is often obscured by problems with the casting.

Cheers!

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Reaper uses greens that get molded directly. Other metal-based companies seem to operate the same way. I don't believe there are any virtual sculpts involved nor any way to really use them, but I could be wrong.

Reaper does use digital design for their CAV line. Article.

While I prefer metal and hard plastic, the reason that I like them is also the very reason why I think that the WotC plastics would be a poor choice for conversion. Detail is soft and shallow, and because of the nature of how the miniatures are made, many would need to be multipiece. This last was not a bad decision on WotC's part - it allows much more dynamic poses, but does mean that 'some assembly required' comes into play.

That said... I would like to see the remorhaz in metal.... (The purple worm on the other hand... a woim is a woim, metal or plastic, I'll take 'em both.)

The Auld Grump