BOYCOTT of Wotc miniatures

[mearls]

If anyone's still wondering if the price increase is just rumor, here's a press release from Gamingreport.com. Scroll down to the bottom of the article for an update listing the new price.

http://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=11603&mode=&order=&thold=

The new price is a little annoying. With $10 per booster pack, it was definitely an impulse buy if I didn't see anything else I wanted. At $13, I think I'm a lot less likely to buy them for the heck of it. For me, there's a big psychological gap between handing over a $10 and a $20 bill.

Still, the price per mini goes from $1.25 to about $1.60. I'll probably spend the same amount of money and just purchase fewer minis, but in the long run I'll buy less due to fewer impulse buys. I probably won't bother trying to compile complete sets.

 

[physics_ninja]

Now that I think about it I'm surprised that the price hasn't already been increased. These things have such a high demand (described as "chocolate covered diamonds sprinkled with crack") that I haven't actually seen a booster pack of any kind in my FLGS for months.

High demand + low supply = increased prices.

Unless demand decreases or supply increases a price hike is inevitable.

But, believe it or not, a price increase is good news for some of us. If the price increases then some people will be more inclined to sell off thier extras allowing the rest of us to pick and choose from the secondary market. Those people will have more of what they want for a cheaper price.

Of course that will be less true for the rares . . .

 

[Wombat]

Okay, I'm in an odd camp here (I know, I know -- colour you all "Surprised" ...), but I think a boycott of the minis would be quite a silly and counterproductive measure.

**warning!** What follows is opinion only, not based on inside information or any other matters, merely reading some finanical reports and talking to three game store owners and having my own thoughts on the topic. **end warning!**

I don't like the minis for various reasons, but at that price (if you accept the randomizing factor), they are still cheaper than metal minis (bearing in mind that with metal you do get to cherrypick). But let's think about this -- even if the price does jack up 30%, 1) people will still buy them because they are official product and 2) they will need to be sold to keep the line going. This is a Hasbro issue more than a WotC issue -- Hasbro has been upset that WotC hasn't brought in more revenue, so if they can find a way to boost said revenue, then Hasbro will keep the WotC lines going longer; if not, they might set WotC adrift.

So to boycott the minis, in many ways, might be a "cut off your nose to spite your face" situ.

 

[John Crichton]

I (I, in the absolute "me" sense ) really want to keep buying the minis, but I think a 30% increase prices them out of my means. $3 doesn't sound like much at first, but if you're a collector, those $3 per pack add up in a hurry.

Looking back at my post it came off a bit cold. I simply should have said that it was a good chance that the mini line would do well. No one knew they would sell out all over the place.

Also - I don't mean to defend the potential price increase out of hand. I totally get that the increase will make it hard for some people to buy as many as they would like. That part does annoy me a bit and I would certainly like the prices to stay where they are (who wants to spend more?).

I guess that it just doesn't surprise me. Assuming that the prices would stay the same is wishful thinking while at the same time the line is so new and the increase seems like a slap in the face for no reason. My hope is that they cut down the releases to every 4 months rather than every 3, especially if this price increase is true. That would lessen the blow at bit.

As I noted before, I am going to buy these thing if they are $10 or $13 a shot. I'll go with bulk, get my discounts where I can and go from there. I'm hooked so I probably shouldn't be expecting people to stop buying when I won't follow those words.

A quick question: Do you use them for the wargame or for RP purposes? If they are used in your gaming group, perhaps you could get a few contributions to the cause if others are enjoying them as well. I would ask the same of my group but they are all in college with work-study jobs. That and I really enjoy using the darn things so I figure I should pony up the cash for 'em. I do realize that others are not in a similar position.

 

[SemperJase]

It's no wonder WotC doesn't take message boards seriously. When posts continue to show an appalling lack of business knowledge, these boards make themselves irrelevant.

Calling for a boycott ends ANY influence you may have on their product. It doesn't matter what you do when you aren't a customer. A company doesn't accomodate people who don't buy their products.

 

[Nifft]

Maybe these are higher quailty minis than the first two batches, due to feedback from people like us? Maybe they're paying for better paint jobs, and passing the higher cost on to us?

I'm not defending WotC, but I want to see the new minis before I condone whining like a stuck sow. Maybe the higher-priced ones will be better (yay!), maybe they'll just be more expensive (boo!).

-- N

 

[Demmero]

I guess that it just doesn't surprise me. Assuming that the prices would stay the same is wishful thinking while at the same time the line is so new and the increase seems like a slap in the face for no reason. My hope is that they cut down the releases to every 4 months rather than every 3, especially if this price increase is true. That would lessen the blow at bit.

......

A quick question: Do you use them for the wargame or for RP purposes?

John -

I didn't think your tone came off as cold at all, and I hope I'm not coming off that way either.

I guess I'm not really surprised that there would be a price increase...it's more the amount of the jump. 30% is huge. And it does just feel like WotC (or more likely, the big shots at Hasbro) see that they have a hit on their hands and are trying to milk as much money out of it now before the minis go the way of the Pokemon craze.

As for what I use my minis for.... Um, well...aaah...I do all my gaming online these days, so I pretty much open the boxes, Oooh and Aaah over them a bit (or curse when I get another freakin' Sword of Heironeous as my Rare), and then put them into storage in the hopes that I'll be able to use them some day in the future in a face-to-face game or at a con.

So, in truth, minis are a total waste of money for me. But if prices go up 30% I think reality will finally sink in and I'll be forced to stop buying them.

 

[thalmin]

Slightly off topic. Anyone know how to get teeth marks out of my shoes?

 

[Demmero]

Maybe these are higher quailty minis than the first two batches, due to feedback from people like us? Maybe they're paying for better paint jobs, and passing the higher cost on to us?

I'm not defending WotC, but I want to see the new minis before I condone whining like a stuck sow. Maybe the higher-priced ones will be better (yay!), maybe they'll just be more expensive (boo!).

-- N

The other possible justification that I could see for a price increase may be that more new molds are needed for the newer lines, while many of the Harbinger minis were cast from or at least based on molds from the Chainmail line.

 

[MerricB]

The other possible justification that I could see for a price increase may be that more new molds are needed for the newer lines, while many of the Harbinger minis were cast from or at least based on molds from the Chainmail line.

We can easily discard that one - although the sculpts in Harbinger wer similar to those in Chainmail, the molds for Harbinger were totally new. Making metals and plastics are two completely different procedures, so there was no overlap. They just were nice to those who bought Chainmail, allowing their figures to be used in D&D Miniatures games.

Cheers!