DDM Line Axed

[smetzger]

Disapointed I am. Surprised I am not.

I have a lot of minis. But WOTC really stopped making 'new' ones.
They should have strived to make every PC race/sex/armor/weapon/shield combo. But instead 1/2 their minis are dudes with swords.

Hopefully they'll bring the minis line back when 5e comes out.

 

[Keith Robinson]

It was in Bill Slavicsek Ampersand article



You are correct. It was the Huge Green and Huge Black (without tumour) that were the missing dragons.

The huge green was released with Legendary Evils, so for the chromatics...

Huge Black (with tumor!) (War of the Dragon Queen)
Elder Blue (Lords of Madness)
Elder Green (Legendary Evils)
Huge Red (Giants of Legend)
Elder Red (Against the Giants)
Elder White (Against the Giants)

So all the chromatics were done, though granted the huge black had its rider. I'll probably mod the huge black and cut the rider off and repaint it, since I now know we won't be getting a new one.

As for the line it's kinda sad, as it certainly added to my enjoyment of the game, but not unexpected.

 

[shadzar]

They should have strived to make every PC race/sex/armor/weapon/shield combo.

That is more ambitious than all the minis created for haven't even done yet.

Least would have been made one of each monster, and one of each race/class combo. Does your mini really need breasts to know it is your character? Yeah gender minis would be nice, but they arent needed as that just doubles the number and makes them all go up in price for fewer people to have those minis than would have male ones.

Right wrong or indifferent, it would have been the simplest way as opposed to try what you suggest which would be a VERY daunting task for the entire miniature industry to do.

 

[pukunui]

I'm in the "disappointed but not surprised" camp. The writing was on the wall some time ago. I'm mostly just disappointed because I was still hoping for more DDM sets to pilfer to supplement the now-defunct SWM line.

(c) There was (and is) a robust singles market for the miniatures.

I doubt that will be the case for much longer, though. The Star Wars Minis line hasn't been dead for even a year yet, but I'm already seeing "out of stock" more often than not when I shop around for them online. And even those stores that do still have a good stockpile of SWM are mostly selling used, unbagged minis they've bought off people getting out of the game.

I suspect that the DDM singles market will quickly go that way too.

I won't be surprised if, in a year's time, the only way you'll be able to get DDM and SWM is in bulk used lots on eBay.


EDIT: By way of example, when I looked at Auggie's for the new Huge Balor a week or so ago, they had 60+ stock left for $9.29. Those are all gone now. Luckily Troll & Toad still has 50+ left for even cheaper ($8.99).

 

[Olaf the Stout]

The huge green was released with Legendary Evils, so for the chromatics...

Huge Black (with tumor!) (War of the Dragon Queen)
Elder Blue (Lords of Madness)
Elder Green (Legendary Evils)
Huge Red (Giants of Legend)
Elder Red (Against the Giants)
Elder White (Against the Giants)

So all the chromatics were done, though granted the huge black had its rider. I'll probably mod the huge black and cut the rider off and repaint it, since I now know we won't be getting a new one.

As for the line it's kinda sad, as it certainly added to my enjoyment of the game, but not unexpected.

And I fail yet again. That will teach me to do more than a quick Google search for Huge Green Dragon DDM. The sad thing is that I just checked my collection and found that I actually have the Elder Green!

So the only one I'm missing is the Elder Blue (haven't bought any Lords of Madness minis yet, but that will probably change shortly).

Olaf the Stout

 

[Beginning of the End]

(a) Would you have been willing to pay 3x as much for your minis? WotC used the random booster pack model in order to make the line viable. Non-randomized miniature lines with the same breadth of selection as WotC's lose a lot of money because of the "dead figs" that get produced without sufficient demand.

Yes, I'll pay for quality.

Considering that 95% of the miniatures WotC ever made can be purchased for less than 3x what they cost as part of randomized boosters (and I'm including shipping costs), apparently that's not actually true.

Basically, you're bitching about not having access to something which is actually really, really trivial to access: WotC produced miniatures and you're capable of selecting specific miniatures from that line and buying them for the price you claim to be willing to pay for them.

So what's the problem here?

 

[Jeff Wilder]

So the only one I'm missing is the Elder Blue (haven't bought any Lords of Madness minis yet, but that will probably change shortly).

Just be aware that the Elder Blue Dragon is a Very Rare, which means you are very unlikely to pull it unless you open five or so cases. And because it goes for $50+, you also are unlikely to be able to trade for it for fewer than three (two, minimum, and only a select couple) other Very Rares.

I have to admit finding it ironic that WotC created Very Rares to try and drive sales, when it actually ended up chilling sales. Once people realized the disparity in value between the Very Rares, that disparity (combined with the severe unlikelihood of a favorable VR pull) meant they simply stopped buying.

But, you know, who could possibly have foreseen that the Elder Blue Dragon -- the only Huge chromatic dragon not yet released -- would end up at two or three times the demand of the next-most-popular VR? Aside from anyone.

 

[wedgeski]

I'm sorry to see them go, but the writing's been on the wall for a long time. They tried something new, then returned to what worked before (and I bought a crate of the most recent line, they were fricking excellent), and now are just having to face the reality of masively reduced demand and escalating costs. Perhaps in a few years we'll see Wizards or some third party licensee start the train rolling again.

It's a pity because D&D mini's are part of the backdrop of Wizards D&D for me, a period in which, between two major editions, I've played more high quality and regular D&D than ever before. So as another sign that things are changing, I'm a little melancholy about it.

 

[Thurbane]

I haven't bought any DDMs for a fair while now, I think my sig says it all...the sets really dropped in quality sometime after Desert of Desolation, IMHO.

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

Basically, you're bitching about not having access to something which is actually really, really trivial to access: WotC produced miniatures and you're capable of selecting specific miniatures from that line and buying them for the price you claim to be willing to pay for them.

I don't know why my opinion is causing such a hostile reaction from you Beginning. Let's just agree to disagree on the matter.