A problem with the miniatures industry.

[Dire Bare]

Let me first state that I think it would be nice if mini companies made some more various character models. I really do agree with OP.

However, I occasionally sell painted miniatures on ebay and other places. The miniatures that get me the most money for an auction for my effort painting are more scantily clad females. The dreaded chainmail bikini fighters and sorceresses dressed in gauzy fabric.

The difference for me is really noticeable - a regular character figure I paint usually tops out around $45-$55; same painter, same effort for a scantily clad female character miniature $75-$85.

Now, the bonus for me is that I do not have or use many scantily clad females - so selling them is a little easier (I've grown to hate selling my painted models).

But, if I want to make a little extra cash and paint to sell you can understand why I choose those figures.

I do think demand plays a role.

I don't think anyone is arguing that androgynous or gender neutral minis have an equal demand from consumers. "Straight" minis will likely always have a stronger demand, and "sexy" minis will also. But the idea pushed by some in this thread is that gender neutral minis have little to no demand, and I think that is false and says more about our prejudices than actual reality.

 

[Xenonnonex]

I don't think anyone is arguing that androgynous or gender neutral minis have an equal demand from consumers. "Straight" minis will likely always have a stronger demand, and "sexy" minis will also. But the idea pushed by some in this thread is that gender neutral minis have little to no demand, and I think that is false and says more about our prejudices than actual reality.

Kickstarter could be a good gauge of popularity and demand.

 

[Sacrosanct]

If I knew anything about mini creation and had the resources to make minis, I totally would to crowdfunding. I imagine you could partner with Hero Forge (or just use their service) to get the digital mold files. Manufacturing the minis is the problem.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

If there is a market that is not being served and is profitable there is an opportunity for someone to make some cash. This would seem like its screaming for a kickstarter.

 

[pogre]

If I knew anything about mini creation and had the resources to make minis, I totally would to crowdfunding. I imagine you could partner with Hero Forge (or just use their service) to get the digital mold files. Manufacturing the minis is the problem.

What do you think would be a reasonable cost for a set of these miniatures?

I looked at kickstarting a miniatures concept I had a few years ago and if I could have gotten 300 or so backers the cost would have been around $12.00 per mini or $80.00 for a set of 8 different minis. These were priced for metal miniatures, resin prices at the time were right around the same. Keep in mind that is the cost without fulfillment - warehousing, packing, shipping, etc. It was really the fulfillment piece that scared me off.

I even looked at buying my own spincaster and vulcanizer, but I just do not have a space suitable for casting. Heck, I;m still trying to find a decent place to resume airbrushing!

 

[Undrave]

If I knew anything about mini creation and had the resources to make minis, I totally would to crowdfunding. I imagine you could partner with Hero Forge (or just use their service) to get the digital mold files. Manufacturing the minis is the problem.

What about this one from Shapeways?

Fantasy Figures 08 - Rogue by n_parolini on Shapeways

Check out Fantasy Figures 08 - Rogue by n_parolini on Shapeways and discover more 3D printed products in Tabletop & Wargaming.

www.shapeways.com

 

[pogre]

After doing some quick digging around on sculptor and modeler prices - I can easily see why most boutique miniature kickstarters are controlled by the artists themselves. Those folks absolutely deserve to get paid, but it also revealed to me why HeroForge and their "high" prices are hard to compete with.

I think your best option is to contact a sculptor or boutique company that is a member or ally of the community that might be willing to make this happen,

A kickstarter by a person who is neither a sculptor or controls the production is impractical by my quick scratch numbers.

 

[Sacrosanct]

After doing some quick digging around on sculptor and modeler prices - I can easily see why most boutique miniature kickstarters are controlled by the artists themselves. Those folks absolutely deserve to get paid, but it also revealed to me why HeroForge and their "high" prices are hard to compete with.

I think your best option is to contact a sculptor or boutique company that is a member or ally of the community that might be willing to make this happen,

A kickstarter by a person who is neither a sculptor or controls the production is impractical by my quick scratch numbers.

In order for it to be even remotely achievable, you have to have the ability to produce many minis in a short amount of time. Your 3D printer in your home isn't going to cut it if you have 10,000 minis to create and ship due to backers.

So that means contracting out to a company to produce them, which is probably going to mean China. As someone who has run a successful kickstarter and has also had to do a large print run of a game made in China, there are significant costs involved. It was an $800 fee just to get the stuff accepted past customs (not counting actual production costs, shipping costs, or development costs).

Reaper has done many hugely successful kickstarters for their minis. Over $2 million dollars a kickstarter. But they don't see much profit on that. It almost all goes into overhead and production costs.

So either you hope for not many backers, or you hope backers are willing to wait a year for their minis after the KS finishes, or you hope there are so many backers that you can offset the costs for doing a massive production run.

 

[Retreater]

I GM for a wide number of players of different body types, ages, genders, gender identities, etc. I can feel for the OP, as I would love to have the right mini to represent the characters. And I do agree that minis (especially the mass produced variety you buy in gaming stores) could use some diversity. My primary issue has been ethnicity.
Even though I have a pretty broad collection of 100s of minis, and I even custom paint and modify the best I can, it's not always enough. The individual personalities and traits of the players and their characters are too broad, unique, and well defined to ever be captured by a sculpt.
How would it work to use pawns, tokens, or something else to represent your characters until a suitable model can be found? Or theatre of the mind?
The gender nonconforming players at my tables accept that the minis they use are placeholders for their characters, not 100% accurate. This is true across the board for all my players.
But yes, I agree there should be more diversity. I hope my post isn't belittling to the OP, those players, etc. I'm just stating what has worked for us.

 

[5atbu]

Very few people of colour either..