Dear Hasbro: about those minis

[hexgrid]

Merric's Law of Miniatures: Non-Random Packaging, Cheap Prices, and a Large Range of Figures: Choose two.

This law doesn't work well for me at all- I choose Cheap Prices and a Large Range of Figures, but the beholder is still $50!

 

[blargney the second]

I know stores can sell singles, but is it legal to repackage bundles for resale? If it is legal, is it smart?

 

[hexgrid]

Do you go to the supermarket and complain about the packing of the party trays?

That depends, are the party trays are randomly packed?

 

[Bert the Ogre]

Hasbro vs. Milton Bradley...

Right now, Milton Bradley is actually doing something about this, on a smaller scale. The "HeroScape" game sells minis just the right size for D&D, and sells them in sets, and in clear blister packs. You know what you're getting, and what you're NOT getting.

WoTC is trying to use the "Magic: The Gathering" sales model to sell minis, artificially "valuable" mini's mixed in with everything else, so you have to take your chances...

But what's not being considered is some other company getting into the minis game. Not the high dollar pewter minis from Ral Partha, et al, but a cheap but still good looking set/series of minis from someone else. Sets of 10-12 minis, prepainted and maybe even with SRD stats and a copy of the OGL in the box.

A known quantity for a known price. I KOW I'd buy them! What about the rest of you? A 10 pack of prepainted dwarves for $!0 bucks? A 20 pack of kobolds, a 20 pack of skeletons and zombies? A ten pack of (fill in your own blank?).

 

[kenobi65]

Right now, Milton Bradley is actually doing something about this, on a smaller scale.

Just FYI, because it sounds like you may not realize this...Milton Bradley is another Hasbro subsidiary.

 

[kenobi65]

I know stores can sell singles, but is it legal to repackage bundles for resale? If it is legal, is it smart?

I don't know why it wouldn't be legal, if you made it clear that you weren't passing yourself off as WotC. I've seen a vendor at local conventions who sold bundles like that; he seemed to do good business.

 

[kenobi65]

A known quantity for a known price. I KOW I'd buy them! What about the rest of you? A 10 pack of prepainted dwarves for $!0 bucks? A 20 pack of kobolds, a 20 pack of skeletons and zombies? A ten pack of (fill in your own blank?).

Dwarven Forge (the guys who make Master Maze) did this, at least at one point. They were pewter, not plastic, and, IIRC, they were considerably more expensive than you suggest. I have no idea how many they sold, or if they still do.

 

[Agamon]

I don't understand what's wrong with using the secondary market for this. I can go to my FLGS (quicker) or eBay (better selection) and get what everybody's asking for. All this, and those of us that don't mind buying the random packs can get those, too. What exactly is the complaint here?

 

[Storm Raven]

Merric's Law of Miniatures: Non-Random Packaging, Cheap Prices, and a Large Range of Figures: Choose two.

What Heroscape lacks is a large range of figures.

In 2005, they produced 55 figures, compared to 180 D&D Mini figures.
In 2006, they produced 88 figures, compared to 182 D&D Mini figures.

I think the price is also more expensive per mini than DDM.

Do you really think that 143 different figures in two years is not a large range? Sure, it is smaller than the D&D mini figures, but it is still not a small range.

Each heroscape booster pack has 5-7 figures, each pack costs something like $13. A Deathknell booster pack (if I remember correctly) had eight figures and cost $15. I'm not seeing a big difference in price here.

 

[Agamon]

Do you really think that 143 different figures in two years is not a large range? Sure, it is smaller than the D&D mini figures, but it is still not a small range.

Each heroscape booster pack has 5-7 figures, each pack costs something like $13. A Deathknell booster pack (if I remember correctly) had eight figures and cost $15. I'm not seeing a big difference in price here.

The HeroScape minis aren't all fantasy though, are they? That would make the number lower.