D&D 5E I Think We Need A Bigger Shelf

Wizkid's new red dragon 'miniature' up for preorder and it’s a biggun, both in size and price! For $400 you can order the red dragon Balagos, the Flying Flame. This model is over 18 inches tall, and has a wingspan of nearly 2 feet! The wings and tail are detachable.

The miniature is taller than the Tiamat model released last year, although the wingspan isn't quite as wide.

Balagos is a famous red dragon from the Forgotten Realms who believed he was destined to rule over all dragonkind.

D&D Icons of the Realms: Balagos, Ancient Red Dragon

Standng over 18 inches tall to the top of his wings with a near 24 inch wingspan. Balagos, Ancient Red Dragon is an impressive piece to add to any collection or terrifying foe for your gaming table. Contents:1 x Gargantuan Figure- Balagos, Ancient Red Dragon* This item comes with detachable...

www.dndmini.com

 

[darjr]

Thanks for that.

It’s good to know that no one is happy about it.

 

[EthanSental]

They still have the 5% logistics challenge surcharge in place, and the higher prices mentioned in the post…and people seem to still pay at that price point, I wonder how much the MSRP drops “if” things get back to precovid issues, I’m thinking not quite as low as before.

 

[CM]

I'm sure it'll be nice but that price is just absurd.

 

[TheSword]

I had an opportunity to review the price point of this mini with WizKids' Executive Director of RPG's which I posted here:

My quick summary is this:

The price of this mini is indeed high, however this was never the planned price point. Out of control shipping prices (6x normal) and high inflation in China has really increased the prices significantly.

Comparing the price of this mini against the introductory price of the gargantuan white dragon is not really fair as the $100 price point for Arvieaturace was a special price they set to help gain market attention on the mini. As someone who collects every pre-painted mini every made, I knew that $100 for that mini was an incredibly good deal -- I really didn't think they were making any profit off of it. The current price of $200 for the white dragon is in line with the pre-logistics/COVID challenges which are now being experienced.

WizKids' target price point for a mini like this is between $200 and $300. Unfortunately, due to the current shipping and inflationary challenges being experienced domestically and internationally, they had to price this mini at $400, and they really weren't happy about having to set it at that price point.

WizKids continues to view/hope that the current factors affecting their prices are temporary and they do look forward to lowering the prices when these external factors stabilize. The issues/costs affecting domestic shipping currently is having one the greatest impacts on these high prices.

Can I just say how much I flippin love Mini’s Gallery! It’s by far the most useful resource for minis out there.

 

[teitan]

Why? Why? Why even bother? Wizkids isn't even luxury product. I noticed the price on the unpainted's doubled as well. I can get these things in better quality for cheaper from other companies. Dungeons & Lasers is about 30 a pop, Reaper too. Even the new big boy from GW is 150 and a much higher standard than Wizkids and no, these aren't painted but even a beginner painter can do better than the average "premium" painted miniature from Wizkids.

 

[teitan]

My bet is there’ll be a bigger Tiamat

So like their Yawning Portal they'll release another a few months from now with BIGGER wings.

 

[teitan]

Inflation, rising costs of plastics, shipping & manufacturing costs and delay . . . . and of course it's bigger.

And this is a collector's item that can be used for gaming (rather than a gaming item that could be used for display) and is priced accordingly. Pricey? Yes. Over-priced? Well, that's subjective, but . . . . the price tag doesn't bother me. I mean, I'm not buying it . . . don't have the gold or the shelf space, but I'm okay with where WizKids put the price.

It hasn't quadrupled...

 

[teitan]

I had an opportunity to review the price point of this mini with WizKids' Executive Director of RPG's which I posted here:

My quick summary is this:

The price of this mini is indeed high, however this was never the planned price point. Out of control shipping prices (6x normal) and high inflation in China has really increased the prices significantly.

Comparing the price of this mini against the introductory price of the gargantuan white dragon is not really fair as the $100 price point for Arvieaturace was a special price they set to help gain market attention on the mini. As someone who collects every pre-painted mini every made, I knew that $100 for that mini was an incredibly good deal -- I really didn't think they were making any profit off of it. The current price of $200 for the white dragon is in line with the pre-logistics/COVID challenges which are now being experienced.

WizKids' target price point for a mini like this is between $200 and $300. Unfortunately, due to the current shipping and inflationary challenges being experienced domestically and internationally, they had to price this mini at $400, and they really weren't happy about having to set it at that price point.

WizKids continues to view/hope that the current factors affecting their prices are temporary and they do look forward to lowering the prices when these external factors stabilize. The issues/costs affecting domestic shipping currently is having one the greatest impacts on these high prices.

Thanks for the summary, is that why they're Frameworks army builders (orcs, kobolds) are more than double the price per mini for similar GW minis though?

 

[Nathaniel Lee]

The amount of regret I feel every time I see the original collossal dragon from the early 2000’s going for $1k when I had a chance to buy it for fifty and didn’t is SOUL CRUSHING

Same here. I remember seeing D&D minis for the first time ever in a Barnes & Noble in Manhattan—particularly that colossal red dragon—and wondering to myself why would anyone spend $75 on a plastic toy for Dungeons & Dragons... and why this thing was called a mini. Point of order: at that point in my life I figured D&D was no longer a thing (sour grapes more or less because I could never find anyone to play and thought at that point RPGs were never going to escape being "just nerd stuff").

 

[Nathaniel Lee]

It hasn't quadrupled...

Compared to...? The Colossal Red was $75 MSRP back in 2006. Even considering the higher end of what WotC "wanted" to price this new red dragon at (if not for the shipping issues) we would be looking at a quadrupled price point...? Or were you saying that inflation itself isn't at that level?