DDM skirmishers, help me out again...

[Felon]

A couple months back I asked why certain minis seemed to go for much higher prices on the secondary market than other similar minis. Now I need to understand the dragon scene a little better.

Of course, dragons are generally in demand because they're so darn cool, but even with these "chase rares", there's a lot of discrepency. I'd like to get one of each large dragon, and here's what I'm running into:

gold, blue, green, copper--maybe $15
brass, white--$20
red--$25
silver--$50

In particular, I'd really like to make the silver so desirable. There are other dragons that have been out longer (and are presumably more rare), and how different can it play than the gold dragon?

 

[Jeff Wilder]

gold, blue, green, copper--maybe $15

None of these are particularly good skirmish models, although both the green and gold see some play. (But not in the most competitive warbands.) Also note that the Gold and Green are Medium sized figures, which tend to go for less.

brass, white--$20

I assume you're meaning the Zombie White Dragon. This is a widely used skirmish mini, where it provides a "meat shield" against ranged attacks and spells, protecting your more vulnerable but harder-hitting pirces. The Brass is in this price range only because it's from Dragoneye.

red--$25

Although it sees some play in skirmish, roleplaying and sheer quality of sculpt drives the price on this one. No dragon is more iconic a foe than Big Red, and the Large one can stand in for at least three different age categories.

silver--$50

This one is the only dragon that forms the core of a group of related Tier One warbands. As such, the prices you're seeing for this are driven 80 percent by the skirmish market. The Large Silver is very very difficult to kill in skirmish, especially with good supporting pieces, and especially given the limited time frame of tourney matches. It is pretty much the only tournament contender the Lawful Good faction has.

 

[Felon]

Thanks for the detailed response! So, maybe the next set or two will give LG warbands some other options, and demand for the silver dragon will decrease. I only want one for roleplay, and silver dragons don't crop in my adventures all that often, so I can bide my time.

 

[Felon]

OK, now onto giants. Giants are even more expensive than dragons.

Fire, frost, or stone giant--about $20
King Snurre (who's also a fire giant)--about $12 (apparently, he's a lousy king)
Frost giant--$30 or more

Let's do golems while we're at it:

Flesh--About $7
Stone--$10
Clay--Your first & second born children

 

[MerricB]

King Snurre is unique (unlike the other giants), and cannot be played in 200 point games, only 500 pt games. That combines to reduce his price.

The Clay Golem was in Archfiends (now long out of print) and is (was) one of the best CG pieces.

Cheers!