Why the D&D Miniature Line Failed...

[Kunimatyu]

I think the prisoners and farmers are actually quite useful for an RPGer, and aren't some sort of death knell (heh) for a minis line.

Wizards just found out that their minis game no longer justified hobbling the potential of their RPG miniatures line, that's all.

::waits expectantly for Aboleth miniature::

 

[Drowbane]

"Why the D&D Miniature Line Failed... "

Failed?!

Haven't you heard of the new WotC minis line? They call it...



D&D 4e.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

The thing is, I can't see any evidence that making the DDM line appeal to roleplayers was much more than an afterthought. The random minis, limited distribution, etc are all marketing approcahes pretty much exclusively tailored for the CMG market — not for RPG players.

I disagree. I collected the minis, from the beginning, for RPG purposes. I didn't start playing the skirmish game until about the seventh set.

I don't know what you mean by "limited distribution" -- I saw boosters for sale in chain book stores, and bought quite a few on Amazon -- but the randomization appealed to me because (a) I wanted plenty of minis for my games, and (b) I understood immediately that randomization would keep the price manageable.

 

[jdrakeh]

I disagree. I collected the minis, from the beginning, for RPG purposes. I didn't start playing the skirmish game until about the seventh set.

I think you might be the exception that proves the rule. You're easily the largest collector of DDM minis that I know of online

I don't know what you mean by "limited distribution"

CMG minis are distributed in specific sets with limited production numbers being built in to the product line (i.e., X number of minis are produced for set Y and then, once those minis have been sold, no further minis are produced for set Y). It's a notable difference between how CMG minis and minis for full-blown wargames are marketed.

Most minis for full-blown wargames are available and in production for a given rule set (say, Warhammer 40k 5th Edition) until the rule set is retired. CMG minis are distributed in comparatively limited numbers specifically because it makes those minis in older sets harder to find and, thus, more desireable to collectors.

Granted, this phenomena does also present with regard to minis for traditional wargames, but to a lesser degree largely because a vast majority of minis distributed for use with a specific traditional wargame rule set become obsolete (or forbidden) under the new edition of the rules. Traditional wargames are not generally designed with the goal of creating a collectible market for their minis.

Indeed, I would argue that this is the largest distinction between CMGs and traditional wargames — the intentionally limited production of certain minis is what makes the minis of a given collectible miniature game collectible.

 

[Herschel]

The thing is, I can't see any evidence that making the DDM line appeal to roleplayers was much more than an afterthought. The random minis, limited distribution, etc are all marketing approcahes pretty much exclusively tailored for the CMG market — not for RPG players. I think, in the beginning, WotC simply chose to cater to the wrong target audience and hasn't tried to retool the line with an eye toward servicing RPG players until very recently.

I disagree with the first sentence. I would agree it was an interesting way to play the "middle ground" that probably didn't target either segment as well as it could have. The distribution was only part of it and was copped from other games, but if you look at many of the sculpts, they were designed more with RP in mind. How and why would they have not? They were marketing on the D&D name.

Some of the best early sculpts were also great skirmish pieces, which did drive demand for those pieces up (Orc Champion, Ogre Ravager, Orc Warrior, Displacer Beast, Human Blackguard with four-of-five being rare slot miniatures) but remember "Merric's Laws of Miniatures":

Non-Random Packaging, Cheap Prices, and a Large Range of Figures: Choose two.

WotC went with the latter two, for good or bad, and tapped in to the CMG market also. Now they are attempting to take a middle road on all three: Semi-random miniatures, medium prices and a decent range of figures. We'll see if it succeeds.

PS: RPGers are also not as captive an audience. They'll put any old mini on the table if it works, not even use minis or use a soup can for a dragon, if needed. However, if they also play the competitive skirmish game, they will buy far more exlusively from the WotC line.

 

[Dinkeldog]

Failed?!

Haven't you heard of the new WotC minis line? They call it...



D&D 4e.

Which was what some people called 3E, and then 3.5E. Please don't do that here, thanks. Don't need the Edition Faithful lining up for the next Edition Battle.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Same here. I like to know what I am buying. I want to buy minis so that I can use them in my games, not simply to collect them and brag about how "rare" my latest figure was. (Not that there is anything wrong with that; it's just not my style.)

I decided a long time ago to use tiles instead. The night before an adventure, I download all of the pictures of the monsters that I need, and then I print them out on Avery disk labels. Peel them off, stick them on some foamboard, and cut them out with an Xacto knife. Presto...I have exactly what I want, in exactly the right quantitites. And after the game, I sort them out into little brown envelopes, label them, and file them away for future use.

I used to do something similar. Except I would print mine on paper and then laminate them, rather than stick them to foamboard. It worked well (and still does for some of the creatures I don't have the minis for) but counters don't have the "coolness" factor that the minis do.

I found my players react differently to the minis compared to the counters. For example, in my Shacked City game, I put the Beholder mini down on the table at one point and the reaction from my players was priceless. I don't think I would have gotten the same reaction if I put a Beholder counter on the table. It still would have been good, no doubt, but not as good as an actual mini. Sure, the minis cost more than the counters but for me it is worth the extra cost. YMMV.

Olaf the Stout

 

[megamania]

I have not read all of the replies thus far but to me why the DDM series "fail" was as following-


1) repetitive humanoids
2) economy
3) mature game line (games tend to last so long until something else arrives)
4) the whole 3e vs 4e business.... I'm a 3e person and many miniatures have changed to fit 4e rather than my 3e
5) General prices (getting harder to afford figures even on e-bay and the such)
6) Big companies want bigger profits. If it is only steady or slowing down then rather remain safe they would rather find / produce the next Magic :The Gathering (aka- the hell with the loyal buyers)
7) unstable quality of production (paints I'm looking at you)

 

[Staffan]

AFAIK, a big reason they went with collectable minis was that it allowed them to produce a wide range of miniatures and only having them take up a small number of product slots (SKUs). A small number of SKUs makes it a lot easier on the retailers, who just order three cases of Harbinger (or whatever) instead of having to decide to order 10 Orc Warrior minis, 15 Hobgoblin Warriors, 5 Human Wizard, 3 Worgs, and whatever else.

 

[JoeGKushner]

AFAIK, a big reason they went with collectable minis was that it allowed them to produce a wide range of miniatures and only having them take up a small number of product slots (SKUs). A small number of SKUs makes it a lot easier on the retailers, who just order three cases of Harbinger (or whatever) instead of having to decide to order 10 Orc Warrior minis, 15 Hobgoblin Warriors, 5 Human Wizard, 3 Worgs, and whatever else.

No.

I say no because at one point, after they started, they were going to do some 'themed' packs that would also be in one SKU. The one I remember was a bandit attack that came with several bandits (looking at Harbringer and that's Human Thug U and Human Bandit) and one owlbear.

They didn't do it because they feared it would cut into people buying the random ones.

Small number of SKU does not equal random.