Best Alternative for D&D Miniatures?

[amnuxoll]

I, for one, am disappointed to see the D&D Miniatures line cancelled. I'd like to pick your collective brains about the best alternative for me.

Things I like (in priority order):

• for medieval fantasy RPGs
• 3D! I'm completely turned off by the cardboard discs that WotC is peddling now.
• durable. Plastic isn't a necessity but I don't know of any alternatives that can bounce around in a box, fall of the table, etc. with minimal damage.
• relatively inexpensive but not "cheap." DDM fit this bill well. The minis were about $2 each or less than half of comparable metal minis but still decent quality compared to alternatives like "army men" from the dollar store.
• prepainted. I paint minis from time to time but I'm not the kind of person who will spend an afternoon painting a dozen orcs.
• lots of different sculpts. I like Reaper's plastic minis line, for example, but there aren't very many of them. As a DM, when I create an encounter with an orc tribe, I like to have 15 different orc sculpts on the table not 15 copies of the same sculpt painted differently or, worse, numbered or color-coded.
• mostly monsters and NPCs. I use my minis mostly for DMing.
• not out of print. (sigh)

 

[buddhafrog]

Agree with your post and questions, but I don't think you'll/we'll find many or any very good alternatives. But I'll be watching this thread and hope to be proven wrong.

 

[Stormonu]

Perhaps cardstock stand-ups might fit the bill?

I've seen some ads for such on rpgnow, and you could use the WotC art galleries to print double-sided stand ups tacked to properly scaled bases.


such as this

 

[Dausuul]

• for medieval fantasy RPGs --Plenty of this available.
• 3D! I'm completely turned off by the cardboard discs that WotC is peddling now. --This too.
• durable. Plastic isn't a necessity but I don't know of any alternatives that can bounce around in a box, fall of the table, etc. with minimal damage. --Not quite as much of this, but still a fair few options.
• relatively inexpensive but not "cheap." DDM fit this bill well. The minis were about $2 each or less than half of comparable metal minis but still decent quality compared to alternatives like "army men" from the dollar store. --I'd recommend Reaper's Legendary Encounters, using the pieces from WotC's new board games (you can get them on Auggies for way cheap), or just buying old DDM stuff secondhand.
• prepainted. I paint minis from time to time but I'm not the kind of person who will spend an afternoon painting a dozen orcs. --Okay, forget the board game pieces. Legendary Encounters or old DDM it is.
• lots of different sculpts. I like Reaper's plastic minis line, for example, but there aren't very many of them. As a DM, when I create an encounter with an orc tribe, I like to have 15 different orc sculpts on the table not 15 copies of the same sculpt painted differently or, worse, numbered or color-coded. --Oops, there goes Legendary Encounters. We're down to old DDM stuff now.
• mostly monsters and NPCs. I use my minis mostly for DMing. --Not a problem...
• not out of print. (sigh) --Aaaand, there goes DDM.

The sad fact is, I really don't think there is an alternative on the market. DDM was made possible by the combination of WotC's market share, randomized booster packs so that chase rares would subsidize cheap commons, and the skirmish game helping drive sales. With the skirmish game dead, and most hardcore DMs having already filled out their collections, there simply isn't enough market to support it any more. I think your best bet is just to scavenge old DDM figs on the secondary market... grab 'em fast before the prices rise.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Not quite what you wanted, but One Monk has lots of well designed PDF standees for fantasy gaming. All the models are free.

The Auld Grump

 

[Mark CMG]

DDM figures are hardly off the market. There just aren't many new ones being made. There are plenty available secondhand online and off as well as Mage Knight figs that are easily used and many other lines of prepainted plastics that can serve well. My FLGS has a bin full of old Dreamblade and other failed lines as singles that can be picked up for cheap.

 

[kitsune9]

DDM figures are hardly off the market. There just aren't many new ones being made. There are plenty available secondhand online and off as well as Mage Knight figs that are easily used and many other lines of prepainted plastics that can serve well. My FLGS has a bin full of old Dreamblade and other failed lines as singles that can be picked up for cheap.

I recommend Dreamblade minis too. They got some really wierd ones that reek of cool when you make them a monster against the players. I have a bunch of these. The only thing though is that the bases on these minis are large so I make them large creatures.

 

[pawsplay]

I've mostly switched to Reaper plastics. While they don't have a huge variety (yet) you can cover some basics. I don't object to using the same three orcs twice, for that matter, especially if a dab of paint will distinguish them. But in terms of very large groups of unique sculpts, you can still pick up DDM commons all over the place for about $2.50 each on average, cheaper for some pieces. Lots of DDM minis also go on sale from time to time on Ebay; get fifty, a hundred minis at once.

So I have an accumulated collection of DDM minis, plus a fairly complete line of the Reaper stuff, two boxes of Mage Knight minis I've rebased, some Safari Ltd. toy dragons, and some metals I am painting by and by for those special pieces (like Reaper's "eye creature" and a marilith). I don't buy critter minis any more; instead, I buy cheap plastic bugs and snakes and such and stick them to bases. Often, they look as good or better than some of the more mediocre minis.

 

[rgard]

I've mostly switched to Reaper plastics. While they don't have a huge variety (yet) you can cover some basics. I don't object to using the same three orcs twice, for that matter, especially if a dab of paint will distinguish them. But in terms of very large groups of unique sculpts, you can still pick up DDM commons all over the place for about $2.50 each on average, cheaper for some pieces. Lots of DDM minis also go on sale from time to time on Ebay; get fifty, a hundred minis at once.

So I have an accumulated collection of DDM minis, plus a fairly complete line of the Reaper stuff, two boxes of Mage Knight minis I've rebased, some Safari Ltd. toy dragons, and some metals I am painting by and by for those special pieces (like Reaper's "eye creature" and a marilith). I don't buy critter minis any more; instead, I buy cheap plastic bugs and snakes and such and stick them to bases. Often, they look as good or better than some of the more mediocre minis.

To add to Pawsplay's cheap plastic bugs...you can find these at the party stores around Halloween if not year round. I glued a bunch of tiny ants to a 40mm round base to make a swarm fig.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

I've mostly switched to Reaper plastics. While they don't have a huge variety (yet) you can cover some basics.

I've ordered a troll from Reaper's to check out the line, but was quite disappointed with that mini. Compared to the DDM minis the Reaper troll was a wimpy, little guy who could hide behind any orc.

As I have to order all my stuff per mail, I didn't repeat the experiment.