D&D minis - how are they painted

[Felix]

Minimum wage in California is one of the highest in the nation.

Minimum wage laws only affect the jobs that are on the books. If you have minimum wage laws, they will destroy the jobs that are worth less to the employer than minimum wage, these jobs go off the books, and are done by those willing to accept less than minimum wage... and don't end up having to pay taxes. I don't think JG Kushner was talking about minimum wage jobs, but rather the jobs that pay less than that.

 

[Sammael]

The core D&D team submits new miniature ideas to the DDM development team (Rob Heinsoo and Mike Donais). Rob and Mike than refine the mini concept, balance the stats, and analyze feedback from playtesters (I think all D&D R&D people are required to playtest DDM for an hour per day). In the meantime, freelance designers (such as Des Henley from the U.K.) create the concept art, which is then sent off to China. WotC-employed sculptors in China create the sculpts, and WotC-employed painters hand-paint them (they use stamps for certain details, such as eyes or teeth).

DDM designers have described this process on more than one occasion, as any serious DDM collector can confirm.

 

[Henry]

Henry didn't suggest banning discussion.
Henry is asking that we be careful of our choice of words and any assumptions we might make without facts...
Feel free to discuss, but be careful. These topics can degrade very quickly.

My warning exactly. Phrases like "by 'little machine' you mean "Sweatshop" and "put 2+2 together" (using parts of Kahyman's and Flexor's posts as examples of what I look out for) tend to get people drawing conclusions that aren't supported very well, and start others arguing one way or another; worse, some people take it as a tacit approval to start slamming big businesses, or asserting that certain political parties support 'slave labor', or that by doing this or that activity you are supporting underage child labor, and it all goes downhill from there. And it was all based on the assumption someone makes X posts in, that WotC uses companies that use child labor.

Maybe they do, maybe they don't - Rob Heinsoo (over the minis branch IIRC) says they don't, and that they company was chosen partly because they can prove they don't. I don't know, and I'm not about to speculate or threaten or issue snarky comments to anyone who has an opinion.

I've been moderating this board for enough years now that I could carry on the entire degeneration of discussion in the thread, by wrote, in my sleep. So rather that have it degenerate in a very predictable and well-known pattern, I issue a request that people please pick and choose what they say, and don't assume something they can't back up. Also, let's be respectful of one another, and avoid insults.

That's it. Me, I'm willing to take Rob at his word. (And thanks, Khayman, for the link. I knew it had been discussed somewhere, but couldn't remember where!)

 

[Steel_Wind]

What do you expect them to say? "We just want to say we didn't lie when we told you about the hand painting the last time?"

I've honestly never seen a single statment on a box in Canada say that. They might have said that back in Harbinger, I don't recall.

The paint jobs have improved markedly, indeed, massively over each set and there is a uniformity in the paint job of each mini in Aberrations, Deathknell and Angelfire. Yes, I was of the view that the sets were now being machine painted.

I'd still like to see a post regarding how they are painted now. I've searched and I have not seen such a post. If someone has a link - great.

I searched the link someone posted previously about a WotC Employee commenting on the process.

To be blunt - they didn't comment on the actual process other than to say that they don't employ a firm to make minis that uses child labour. There was nothing on the "how are they painted" issue itself - just a lot of specualtion from other WotC forum posters.

Anything both recent and paticularized about this from someone knowledgeable at WotC?

 

[Romnipotent]

the term is indentured labour, low pay so they can pass the savings directly on to you, the customer.

The only way to find out how its done is to pose as a toy manufacturer and go to China. While you're there can you pick me up a few Rollex's

 

[Wormwood]

My company subcontracts 70% of our assembly work to China (20% to India).

We performed numerous checks on the prospective companies, and we sent representatives overseas to inspect the facilities we were interested in using. We chose only those facilities we were comfortable in supporting (and rejected a few that were below our standards).

If WotC has similar policies (and I have every confidence that they do), then I consider the entire affair a net positive for all involved.

Now if someone could just explain the stupid Bloodhulk to me I'd be fine.

 

[Meloncov]

Though I do not know the details, it is worth noting that Hasbro (and thus WotC) has a very good reputation on labor practices. Sure, its a crappy life by American standards, but its not abusive.

 

[MerricB]

Believe me: they're handpainted. You can't get a machine to paint figures as complex as DDM without spending a huge amount of money. And you have to reconfigure the machine for every miniature!

Look at the Gibbering Mouther:

That sort of fine work requires human dexterity.

Are the miniatures better painted now than before? Yes. It has to do with a better understanding of the procedures involved. It probably has little to do with the individual workers getting more proficient and more with the actual paint step order being refined.

Cheers!

 

[Conaill]

Everything I've read points to hand-painting on an assembly line. Base coats might be applied mechanically, but the process as described involves people painting by hand. That may sound labour-intensive, but it explains some of the variation seen in paint jobs done on different examples of the same miniature. My understanding is that WizKids uses a similar procedure.

Anyone looking for Wizards' take on the manufacturing process can glean details on Merric's site, and on corporate reponsibility from Rob Heinsoo's comments on the Wizards boards.

Khayman already posted the links, but Ifigured it's worth quoting Rob Heinsoo on this directly:

As I understand the production process, our Chinese vendor was chosen partially on the basis that they could certify that their factories were child-labor free and otherwise responsible, something that the competitors couldn't fully manage.

We've been very very lucky to have signed on with the vendor we did. Most every phase of the production process has been a pleasant success instead of the teething disasters that could have occurred.

 

[tetsujin28]

The text on the Entry Pack states that they are hand-painted... so, if by 'little machine' you mean 'sweatshop', well, I assume that's right.

Yep. That's why I don't buy them.