D&D minis - how are they painted

[JVisgaitis]

How are the D&D minis painted. I mean, physically, in the creation -> packaging process? Is there a painting machine that does this?

They're hand painted on a production line in China. Its a special paint that is actually baked onto the miniatures so they don't chip. I believe all of the production is handled directly in China such as the initial sculpting, injection molding, painting, and packaging, but I don't know for sure and I'm just speculating. The originals are most likely painted by someone at WotC, and they are sent over to China to be kept as close to the original as possible while remaining cost effective. Dwarven Forge does there production there as well. I've looked into it and I'm familiar with how it works.

 

[frankthedm]

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).

That is what every company says . Rest assured, those who make D&D minis are worse off than most of us. That is nothing to be upset about, it is just the way things are.

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

Big fat zombie with cracking skin overfilled with foul blood that seeps from its wounds.

i also use them for drowned zombies.

i kind of like them. Enough to have bought 30 of them.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

I just purchased some Dwarven Forge minis.

I could never find a supplier that had secondary-market skeletons in enough numbers to be worth buying, so I took a chance and got a big set of Dwarven Forge's (along with a tribe of lizardmen).

Knowing a little about industrial machines, I don't think this sort of painting COULD be done by a machine. The thing that machines are very poor with is SEEING. The understanding part of seeing, at any rate. Painting these is sort of a 360 degree process.

I'm a huge man with huge hands, so I was never able to paint miniatures myself. So that's one reason I like these pre-painted minis, both the WotC and Dwarven Forge types. Unfortunately I'm still an out-of-work ex-M.A. student so I can't go blowing several hundred dollars a pop to collect'em'all with the D&D minis.

--fje

 

[Conaill]

That is what every company says . Rest assured, those who make D&D minis are worse off than most of us. That is nothing to be upset about, it is just the way things are.

The real question, of course, is whether they're worse off than most people in *China*.

Just to inject a little more information into the discussion, here are some excerpts from a January 2005 article in the South China Morning Post:

By Christmas next year, most major toy brands, accounting for at least 60 per cent of the US toy market, will require their toys to be manufactured according to a code of conduct set by the International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI), said Thomas Conley, president of the Toy Industry Association of the US.

These companies, including the toy industry's top two, Mattel and Hasbro, would not buy from manufacturers not certified with the ICTI code, which covers pay, working hours and safety, Mr Conley said.

Hasbro chairman Alan Hassenfeld conceded the ICTI code was drafted in response to concerns over negative media coverage.

"We are under the gun to act responsibly now, not later. The world is watching us - US government bodies, NGOs," said Mr Hassenfeld.

Mr Hassenfeld believes the industry needs to face up to criticism and look to the benefits of acting responsibly.

"Anyone in the industry who thinks they are lily-white is living in a dream world. None of us, whether we like it or not, are innocent," he said during a recent visit to the Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair.

Mr Hassenfeld confessed his company was guilty of sins of omission, allowing wrongdoing without realising it. A Chinese manufacturer supplying to Hasbro was found to be violating labour rights by a non-governmental organisation last year, he said.

The NGO was at first reluctant to name the manufacturer, for fear the US toy giant would stop doing business with it and cause its workers to lose jobs. Hasbro made an agreement with the NGO to continue taking orders from that factory before the NGO named the company.

Hasbro then visited one facility of the manufacturer and found no violations. But the manufacturer had another facility where there were violations, as Hasbro's inspectors later found out.

"We were unhappy at being lied to, but we worked with the factory to solve the problems. We told them if they didn't comply in the next spot audit, we would not work with them any more," Mr Hassenfeld said.

"Will people cheat and try to pay tea money to get ICTI certificates? Yes. I'm not that naïve to believe it will not happen," said Mr Hassenfeld. "With ICTI, will we get rid of all violations? No, but we can make it a lot less."

Mr Hassenfeld said: "I see a big improvement if we all agree to work only with factories that are ICTI-approved and obey the laws of China. It's a legacy I'd like to leave."

(More info on current sweatshop practices in the article. I just snipped out the Hasbro-specific stuff.)

 

[Khayman]

I just read that they are painted by genetically engineered midgets with only half a brain and one arm that ends in a brush. And they are beaten hourly.

Sad part is, I've worked for them.

 

[Wormwood]

edit: forget it. believe whatever the hell you want

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Wormwood: Your avatar frightens me and does not instill in me a sense of trust in you.

In fact, it makes me suspect that you are, in fact, the Evil Megacorporation Artificial Intelligence ... here to allay our fears with your robotic lies-via-algorithm.

Luckily for me, your poor fine motor skills and lack of effective visual recognition means you won't be able to hunt me down and shoot me for revealing your terrible secret.

And keep you from painting minis.

Fiend.

--fje

 

[MonsterMash]

As an aside, back in the old days in the UK the Britains toy soldiers were sold ready painted with a lot of the painting being done by home workers in the UK, who were cheap labour in those days. At home means no need to provide on-site facilities, Health and Safety at Work laws less applicable, etc. Probably not done any more as its now cheaper to do this stuff in China.

 

[JoeGKushner]

When I say illegals, I mean people who've entered the country illegaly. Usually they don't get minimum wage. I believe the movie, "A Day Without Mexicans", covers this quite well.

I'm not sure what you mean by that?. Minimum wage in California is one of the highest in the nation. In a nation where Wallmart and McDonald's are the largest employers, it doesnt matter where you live you are talking about minimum wage jobs be the most prevalent, I am not making any normative evaluation when stating that, just pointing out the logical.

Perhaps I am being sensitive but the way you phrased "illegals" just strikes a nerve with me, people out here in Los Angeles generaly dont use the term "ilegals" unless they are speaking prejudicialy about a group of people. I am assuming I am having a regional dialect reaction seeing as you look to be from IL.

As an aside, Henry, while I respect the ENWorld policy of no politics, I think it is a viable topic of conversation for this board to wonder about the working condittions and methods of construction for products that many of us buy. We have threads all the time on the buisness model of RPG shops and discusions about binding of books and so forth.

I know human rights can be a polizarizing topic, but I can not think we can ban discussion of possible concerns simply because things might get ugly. We certainly did not ban discussion on the Book of Erotic Fantasy (or whatever it was called), nor I imagine if WOTC announced a special edition MM1 bound in Panda fur, with a Condor Talon clasp, and human skin pages would we ban discusion on that

 

[diaglo]

As an aside, back in the old days in the UK the Britains toy soldiers were sold ready painted with a lot of the painting being done by home workers in the UK, who were cheap labour in those days. At home means no need to provide on-site facilities, Health and Safety at Work laws less applicable, etc. Probably not done any more as its now cheaper to do this stuff in China.

you don't have to tell me.

diaglo "whose family did at home work in the shoe industry" Ooi