Making minis that sell well, but NON RANDOM

Dannyalcatraz · Aug 4, 2011

There is still the market saturation problem. Were it not for the random minis I picked up with DDM, I'd still be using ONLY the vermin, skeleton, goblin and Orc minis- and others of similar commonality- I bought back in 1978-82.

Now, I've bought a few of those since DDM, but only a very rare few.

ThatGuyThere · Aug 4, 2011

Dannyalcatraz said:
There is still the market saturation problem.

Soooort of. Yes, there are gamers - like you - who would say, "Blah. I already have all the (insert mook here) I need", and skip the line.

But there are (hopefully) always new gamers, and there are more than a few people in the RPG hobby with a complete-ist, gotta-catch-em-all mentality.

For instance, I have all the orcs, skeletons, and zombies I need. But I'm eager for the chance to spend more money on plasticrack.

Edit - Could use more Elementals and Monster Summoning animals, though. Hint hint, WizKids.

Dannyalcatraz · Aug 4, 2011

But there are (hopefully) always new gamers, and there are more than a few people in the RPG hobby with a complete-ist, gotta-catch-em-all mentality.

Marketing non-randomized minis is a bit like being a shark- move or die. If too much of your product line is tied up in the basics, you're going to need a constant stream of new minis buyers coming into the hobby. I don't really see that happening.

There will probably be new "Me" type gamers who buy a bunch of stuff- 'cause my minis collection is stupid huge- I'm damn close to being able to field a force of 100 unique skeletons. Ditto Orcs or Goblins. I could probably assemble similar forces of Humans, Elves and Dwarves...covering all kinds of "types."

I have tubs of as-yet unopened minis, including one that is all Chainmail.

But even I have a saturation point.

(And if you game with a guy like that, who needs to buy more skeletons, orcs or goblins?)

ThatGuyThere · Aug 4, 2011

Dannyalcatraz said:
I'm damn close to being able to field a force of 100 unique skeletons. Ditto Orcs or Goblins. I could probably assemble similar forces of Humans, Elves and Dwarves...covering all kinds of "types."

I have tubs of as-yet unopened minis, including one that is all Chainmail.

...it's not polite to brag.

Dannyalcatraz · Aug 4, 2011

ThatGuyThere:
Your addiction is greater than mine!

Well, I've been at it since 1977...

As for the Chainmail, well, when it was announced it was to be replaced by DDM, existing stocks at my FLGSs went on DEEEEEEEP discount, so I swallowed them up.

S'mon · Aug 4, 2011

Dannyalcatraz said:
There is still the market saturation problem. Were it not for the random minis I picked up with DDM, I'd still be using ONLY the vermin, skeleton, goblin and Orc minis- and others of similar commonality- I bought back in 1978-82.

Personally I hardly ever use most of my original lead minis from ca 1984, unless it's a villager or a very specific figure like the Thief I use for my PC Larsenio Roguespierre. DDM bendy plastic figs are just so much easier to use, transport, abuse...

That goes doubly for orcs, goblins, & such. The exception is wolves - I have some DDM hyenas but have never managed to acquire any DDM wolves, so instead I use old "Worg & Rider" lead minis, minus the rider.

Cergorach · Aug 4, 2011

S'mon said:
Personally I hardly ever use most of my original lead minis from ca 1984, unless it's a villager or a very specific figure like the Thief I use for my PC Larsenio Roguespierre. DDM bendy plastic figs are just so much easier to use, transport, abuse... That goes doubly for orcs, goblins, & such. The exception is wolves - I have some DDM hyenas but have never managed to acquire any DDM wolves, so instead I use old "Worg & Rider" lead minis, minus the rider.

I had become careful with mixing metals with DDM plastics after an 'incident', tossing a DDM plastic at someone isn't really detrimental for the mini or the 'victim'. When someone grabs the metal mini in a mini 'fight' and the whole rooms squeals in fear "NOOOooo!!!" you have to rethink your mini strategy ;-)

So since then I only use metals on very special occasions with the disclaimer "Warning metal miniature on the table!", I of course have a DM punishment metal in case of ugly rules discussions... *grins evily*

btw. No chewing on the metals and certainly no swallowing, those things are toxic!

mcbobbo · Aug 4, 2011

Print-on-demand?

mmadsen said:
Print-on-demand could theoretically work too.

Has anyone looked into this yet?

Dannyalcatraz · Aug 5, 2011

S'mon said:
Personally I hardly ever use most of my original lead minis from ca 1984, unless it's a villager or a very specific figure like the Thief I use for my PC Larsenio Roguespierre. DDM bendy plastic figs are just so much easier to use, transport, abuse... That goes doubly for orcs, goblins, & such. The exception is wolves - I have some DDM hyenas but have never managed to acquire any DDM wolves, so instead I use old "Worg & Rider" lead minis, minus the rider.

Quality has improved over the years, but I still prefer some of the ones from "waybackthen"- not just for monsters but for PCs as well.

Its a matter of the beauty of the particular sculpts...as well as the fact that I simply have oodles and oodles of minis of some kinds. You get 10 ________ from Heritage, 12 from Ral Partha, another dozen from Grenadier, 20+ from Chainmail, etc.- and the next thing you know, you're just grabbing whatever minis you have at hand.

Cergorach · Aug 5, 2011

mcbobbo said:
Has anyone looked into this yet?

Print on demand for miniatures you can do with 3D printers, Shapeways.com is such a service, there are a few issues though price, resolution, fragility, color. There are materials that allow you to print your mini in color, only the resolution is horrible, the material isn't smooth. If you want an Ogre printed in the smoothest material (Frosted Ultra Detail), your paying $40:
Ogre with club by marfsplat on Shapeways

And someone still needs to make the 3D models of the figures you want to print...

Also some of the materials are quite fragile, others quite robust.

Making minis that sell well, but NON RANDOM

Dannyalcatraz

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ThatGuyThere

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Dannyalcatraz

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ThatGuyThere

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Cergorach

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