Alternatives to WotC Minis

[DaveStebbins]

I like the idea of pre-painted plastic minis. I have a bunch of lead minis around somewhere, but I never use them. The WotC minis get used all the time, and I'm very happy with them. I have about 150, with half to two-thirds of them purchased as singles online for about a buck each, maybe less.

I think you will have a tough time hitting the sweet spot of price/quality/appeal of the figure.

Good luck! I'd love to see more plastic minis out there.
-Dave

 

[JVisgaitis]

The justification WotC gave for randomization was along the lines of reducing unique sku numbers to assist gaming stores with ordering and lowering the risk of excess/left over products of sets that do not sell well.

Yeah, and believe it or not (I didn't at first) this is true. Distributors don't like adding any new companies at all, that's why you have fulfillment houses like Osseum, Impressions, etc. A company that produces miniatures is even more frowned upon because of all the SKUs they have. It makes inventory a real pain and they hate doing it. Even Games Workshop is limited in how many miniatures they can produce for each army and they're pretty much king of the hill. That's part of the reason why they released multipart plastic miniatures and put an entire unit in a single box.

Are you thinking of using a standard distribution method or something unique?

If we go through with this, we'll most likely sell the miniatures only in box sets of at least 5 figures a box through distribution. They would most likely be themed like the undead, goblin kind, etc. If there is a particular mini you would be interesting in getting, I would like to have it set up so you would be able to order that from us directly.

The other thing, btw, that WotC or some other enterprising group ought to do is release some plastic non-combatant NPCs.

Hope you don't mind, but if we do this I'm stealing that idea.

Here's another one ... Bob Naismith is of course ex-GW, as is the ST games designer Andy Chambers. As for that matter is (I think) Mike McVey of Warmachine fame.

I was looking for that one. They look really good. Hmm, Naismith I'm not famaliar with. I know the name, but not his work. McVey is the same guy from GW. Man, can that guy paint!

 

[MonsterMash]

To me compatability with my existing (largely metals) minis collection is a priority and my requirements are best served by large numbers of the same type in a set (e.g. Orc or Goblin hordes, not randomised sets).

 

[Romnipotent]

*votes "I need to eat"* *Drinks his beer and eats his pizza*
heheheh I buy lots, random, non random, blisters, painted's, commissioned stuff...

 

[Calico_Jack73]

I see some people hate plastic minis but if properly painted plastic minis can be great. If you put a good primer coat on them plastic minis are much more resistant to the paint rubbing off than a similarly primed metal mini. It really comes down to the manufacturer... do they see plastic as inferior to metal because if so the quality of their plastic minis will suffer for it. Many moons ago I purchased Advanced Heroquest and painted the minis that came in the box. All of the plastic heros turned out fantastic and there was plenty of detail to paint. Then again, that was a Games Workshop/Citadel product and historically I have found that their minis (both metal and plastic) are of better quality than most. The point is that the manufacturer has total control on the quality. If they want to put forth the effort a plastic mini can be just as good as any metal one. I'm not a huge fan of the prepainted minis that WoTC has been putting out though. No effort has been put forward to get any detail. I'd rather buy good quality plastic minis that I can paint myself.

 

[smetzger]

I vote for each of the Yes entries.

1) The price will need to be competitive to WOTC
2) The quality must be competitive with WOTC
3) The selection must be different from WOTC.

I think 3) is the point most are missing. You can buy groups of WOTC orc, skeletons, humans w/ shield & sword, zombies, etc. Most of the common needs can be bought from ebay and 3rd party internet stores that open the packages and re-group the minis. Unless you are after a Rare mini they are very well priced. Unless your distribution is such that your minis will be in 1/2 of our FLGS' then you will be competing with the guys who break open the packs and re-group the minis.

So, you should concentrate on stuff WOTC has not done or has only offered in Rare minis. Things that are needed...
1) Mounted minis and not just knights, how about a wizard. How about having two versions of the same guy, one mounted and one not?
2) Wizards of races other than Human and Elf.
3) Minis with a weapon other than a sword, how about some pole-arms?
4) Ogres, Trolls, and Giants. Although the next WOTC set will have an Uncommon Ogre, I still think these will be in demand.
5) Mephits
6) Elementals - need some huges for these guys
7) Dragons - all sizes and varieties

 

[Gez]

I also agree about having different figures. Lots of females please and I don't mean
chainmail bikini's
I have female players in my group and I nearly own all the WOTC minis (I like them) but do not have figures for them (Female Kalashtar and Female Artificer)

Kalashtar minis are easy. Biologically, there is strictly no difference between a Kalash and a Human, the average Kalash just tends to look a bit better than the average human, that's all. So a female human is alright for your kalashtar.

The artificer class, it is true, is not represented at all in the Mini line. There are barbarians, clerics, fighters, monks, paladins, rangers, rogues, sorcerers, and wizards, but no artificers as they aren't core. I don't remember having seen a druid or a bard (except the warchanter), by the way.

I have yet to find a miniature of an unarmored gnome female.

 

[Sammael]

I don't remember having seen a druid or a bard (except the warchanter), by the way.

Vadania was a Harbinger Rare and there was an Uncommon Druid of Obad-Hai in Dragoneye. Also, Devis was an Uncommon in Harbinger.

I do want a few feral druids (of Malar) and a couple of evil assassin/bards.

 

[NewJeffCT]

I vote for each of the Yes entries.

1) The price will need to be competitive to WOTC
2) The quality must be competitive with WOTC
3) The selection must be different from WOTC.

I think 3) is the point most are missing. You can buy groups of WOTC orc, skeletons, humans w/ shield & sword, zombies, etc. Most of the common needs can be bought from ebay and 3rd party internet stores that open the packages and re-group the minis. Unless you are after a Rare mini they are very well priced. Unless your distribution is such that your minis will be in 1/2 of our FLGS' then you will be competing with the guys who break open the packs and re-group the minis.

So, you should concentrate on stuff WOTC has not done or has only offered in Rare minis. Things that are needed...
1) Mounted minis and not just knights, how about a wizard. How about having two versions of the same guy, one mounted and one not?
2) Wizards of races other than Human and Elf.
3) Minis with a weapon other than a sword, how about some pole-arms?
4) Ogres, Trolls, and Giants. Although the next WOTC set will have an Uncommon Ogre, I still think these will be in demand.
5) Mephits
6) Elementals - need some huges for these guys
7) Dragons - all sizes and varieties

Some good points. I love my Mordheim freelance knight, as he comes both mounted & on horseback... I also have a couple of Warhammer Empire wizards that are similar, both mounted and on foot.

Minis with alternate weapons is a good idea, but will a human fighter with a halberd sell as well as one with a longsword or two handed sword? Probably not, but will it sell enough to justify the cost? Perhaps they can have "fighter with one handed weapon", "fighter with two weapons" and "fighter with two handed" and give you a couple of weapon choices for each?

Again, of some of your other choices, are elementals, mephits and the like that in demand to justify the cost of creating the mold & making the mini? I would consider those things as a "nice to have" but not something that is needed on a weekly basis, assuming weekly gaming sessions.

And, you are 100% correct on eBay - it can be a great source of minis, and not just WotC. I said 'can be', as the majority of painted stuff can be pretty lousy. But, then you have phenomenal painters like Jen Haley, Matt Verzani and others putting stuff on eBay on occasion as well... though, good luck getting anything of Jen's under $250 for an individual mini.

 

[drnuncheon]

I would be interested in a set of appropriately sized electronic counters that I could print out or use as pictures in an e-mail game or call up on a laptop.

Maybe they could get together with FDP, sort of like the deal for AU?

J