Angelfire scoops continuing...

[Simplicity]

The last thing we need is more elf races. As I've said before, I don't understand why elves seem to mutate whenever they decide to move down the street. Wood elves live in the woods. Sea elves in the sea. Wild elves in the jungle or deep forest. Blah blah...

I don't want to see a product with any of the following:

1) Suburbia elves live on the outskirts of town.
2) Sandwich elves like their rothe with sourdough.
3) Slum elves live on the wrong side of the lightning rails.
4) Dumpster elves are the "wilder" cousins of slum elves.
5) Second story elves live above stores.
6) Tree elves live under the trees.
7) Root elves live UNDER the trees.

Make the madness stop!

 

[Gez]

I think the WotC staff just followed the Race Survivor threads.

First eliminated are the gnomes. Then the "halves". Then the elves. Then the dwarves. Then only human remains.

So, they produce a plurality of human minis. A lot of dwarven minis. Several elf minis, a few half-elf, half-orc, and halfling minis, and finally, everytime a sunday February 29 nights features a full moon, a gnome mini.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

As I've said before, I don't understand why elves seem to mutate whenever they decide to move down the street.

The elven race is usually depicted as the oldest humanoid race by far. All the different subraces were created long ago.

Take the Forgotten Realms as example (it's practically the standard Vanilla D&D Campaign World, as GreyHawk doesn't see much official support):

IIRC, Gold and Silver elves immigrated from the elven homeworld, Faerie, a very long time ago. By that time, they had lived there for quite some time, and had time to form the subraces. They found the wild elves (or was it wood elves) already living in the vast woods of this new world, which they dubbed Faerûn (sounding like their old homeland, but not the same name). They also found the winged elves, the avariel. Whether these two races were native or immigrated earlier I don't recall at the moment, nor do I know how the dark elves and sea elves came to be here

Later, the dark elves were turned into the drow by powerful elven high magic (which did more than it should, as usual for elven high magic), and the wood elves (or was it wild elves - the other race that was not there yet) was created over the milennia by the mingling of wild elves and (IIRC) silver elves.

So we have elves here from more than one world, elves that are a mixed race formed from several other subraces, and elves that were created magically.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Every campaign designer just wants to make "their own" elves, when really they're all pretty much the same thing in different packaging. It's just marketing...

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Every campaign designer just wants to make "their own" elves, when really they're all pretty much the same thing in different packaging. It's just marketing...

Elves have different subraces that will appear in a single campaign world. (Most other races have that, too, but elves tend to have a couple subraces more than the others). Sure, FR sun elves are much like GH grey elves and so on.

 

[CM]

As for the eyes, I'm pretty sure the eyes on some of the rare humanoids are a stamp or decal. They're too perfect for a human painter of any skill level, not to mention being completely identical.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

As for the eyes, I'm pretty sure the eyes on some of the rare humanoids are a stamp or decal. They're too perfect for a human painter of any skill level, not to mention being completely identical.

True that, especially considering that they surely aren't painting those minis in a leisurely manner...

 

[Gizzard]

As for the eyes, I'm pretty sure the eyes on some of the rare humanoids are a stamp or decal. They're too perfect for a human painter of any skill level, not to mention being completely identical.

I was thinking the same thing about the decal; but even decals are a bit tricky to place just right. Also, if it was a decal you'd think they would use them on all of the humanoids, or at least all the rare humanoids.

Which figures did you see detailed eyes on? Here's my list from only the last 2 sets, with rarity:

Detailed Eyes
Crow Shaman (R)
Voice of Battle (U)

Dot Eyes
Greenfang Druid (R)
Renegade Warlock (U)
Vampire Spawn (U)
Warpriest of Hextor (R)

I think it's possible that the detailed eyes are just the work of a very good painter; I know I could do eyes of a similar quality -- just not consistently, all day, under time pressure and on an assembly line! ;-)

 

[Felon]

I was thinking the same thing about the decal; but even decals are a bit tricky to place just right.

Might not need to be that accurate. I suspect a great many minis are thrown away. Indeed, I'd guess that's probably one of the big start-up cost issues that make companies wary about bankrolling a line of pre-painted minis.

 

[CM]

Just for S&G I went through my figs and here's what I found that seem to have stamp/decal eyes rather than painted dots. The paintjobs on the posters are definitely not the same as the "mass production" versions, as the poster shots for these figures look hand-painted.

Crow Shaman (mentioned above)
Voice of Battle (mentioned above)
Alusair Obarskyr
Cleric of St. Cuthbert
Mordenkainen
Dark Traveler
Aramil, Adventurer
Dwarf Sergeant
Half-elf Hexblade
Gnoll Sergeant (one of its perfectly-formed eyes is about half a millimeter "south" of where it is molded on the figure! )
Storm giant
Fomorian Giant
Nothic (central eye)
Beholder (central eye)
Ettin Skirmisher (?)
Bulette (?)

Interestingly, my Vampire Spawn looks like its teeth are stamped-on rather than painted.