Dear Hasbro: about those minis

[kenobi65]

Nope, they were the same plaster that the dungeons are made out of (I own quite a lot of both ).

Ah, my apologies. I've only seen them in packaging, have never opened them up. All I knew was that they weren't plastic.

 

[TerraDave]

http://www.hasbrotoyshop.com/ProductsByBrand.htm?BR=746&PG=1

 

[Zaukrie]

Several attempts have been made at pre-painted plastic minis. I can't remember the companies, but they were tried in the last 3-4 years. The packs contained 4-6 orcs, and were $10-15 each - way more than the current model.

btw, all of those product lines were ceased, and I've seen many of them sitting in close out boxes at the LGS here in Minneapolis.

LGS have very, very, very tiny profit margins. Every time they have to buy minis that sit on their walls and don't sell, they have tied up their tiny amount of working capital. LGS are waaaaay better off with the random minis, and so are we.

For those of you that don't know, Charles Ryan, who posted earlier, used to be THE MAN for D&D. He would know the business model as well or better than anyone. I've chatted with the designers of DDM in person and on-line. They are constantly looking for other models, but none of them appear to work, based on their analysis and on the examples of other companies that have tried this and failed.

I'm not sure why anyone would be uncomfortable with the secondary market. There are many e-bay stores/sellers that have been in business a long time that sell these things non-randomly.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

It would be so cool if I could just BUY them like this straight from WotC instead of hunting them down and getting bid sniped on eBay.

You could, if you were willing to pay 5 times as much and see the line dead in a year.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

One of the big problems is actually with the LGS - stocking such products is a real pain.

Cheers!

Indeed. Go into a game store. How many reaper minis are on the shelf from 3 years ago. How many DDM packs are on the shelves from 3 years ago?

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Blind Freddie would have known that everyone was going to hate the Bluespawn Godslayer

We only need so many iterations of 'dwarf with axe' or 'elf with bow'.

You realize that the alternative to what you have, is stuff you dont have, right? That means that since you have enough of the common monsters, all thats left is the niche stuff? Like godslayers?

And more importantly, the emphasis is on YOU. Not new customers. In order to keep the product moving, each set needs to include some of the basics (since they fall out of production). The guy who gets into the game next year is going to need orcs with clubs, dwarves with axes, and elves with bows. If he cant get the stuff because all thats being made is celestial dire flumphs, he's not going to buy. Not that you will either, because while you dont want the same old stuff you already have, you'll likely gripe about anything "too out there". Sorry, after a while of making minis, you're going to get "out there" in some of the choices.

I dont know if anyone collected Star Wars figures a while back, but for a bit, pretty much every wave of figures had the basic heroes, and a few oddball aliens/driods. Fans pitched a hissy fit that they didnt need any more lukes, leias, etc. Hasbro, for whatdever reason, listened to the greasy unwashed masses, and cranked out a few waves of obscure guys. Guess what? No one wanted Jek Porkins, Cantina Alien #47, and Skiff Guard #2. They rotted on the shelves (peg warmers), Wal-Mart and Toys R Us stopped ordering more until they could sell off what they had (which was impossible). Hasbro had to buy them back in order for the line to continue. People want the basics, and the classics are always going to be in demand. So since then, pretty much every release has seen some major characters thrown in, even if its retreading covered territory. I'd wager they learned a little something about the rantings of a few dorks on message boards from this - that they arent representative of the market. Why the hell they listened in the first place is mind boggling.

I'd prefer cheap, nonrandom minis. Hell, I'd prefer free nonrandom minis that came with piles of free money and a new car. But I'm realistic, and have a tiny grasp of business. Random minis work much like the lottery/gambling, where a mass of suckers support the few lucky winners. Except theres a really easy way to circumvent it in this case, and get the payoff for less. Those theme packs? Its called ebay folks. Use auggies, get your minis much cheaper than WOTC could package and sell them to you for, and stop whining about not being able to go into a store and pay more money for less. Individualized packaging costs money, distribution of specific figures takes resources, peg warmers take up space which lowers future sales etc. The situation as it stands works INCREDIBLY well.

 

[AntiStateQuixote]

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?).

The SRD and d20 License specifically forbid licensees to put the logo (and therefore the SRD or stats) on miniatures products. I've looked into a couple of "miniature-like" products and that was one of the hangups.

 

[delericho]

The SRD and d20 License specifically forbid licensees to put the logo (and therefore the SRD or stats) on miniatures products. I've looked into a couple of "miniature-like" products and that was one of the hangups.

I know the d20 license was modified to specifically forbid that, but I was under the impression that the OGL has no such clause (since it wasn't considered in revision 1.0, and one of the clauses of the license is that you can publish under any version, they couldn't then retcon it in).

Or am I mistaken?

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I know the d20 license was modified to specifically forbid that, but I was under the impression that the OGL has no such clause (since it wasn't considered in revision 1.0, and one of the clauses of the license is that you can publish under any version, they couldn't then retcon it in).

Or am I mistaken?

Theres a reason reaper minis that are obviously creatures in the SRD dont use the official names (dragon lion instead of dragonne). Not to mention you wouldnt get non-SRD monsters, including many iconic D&D critters (beholders, displacer beasts, etc).

 

[molonel]

And more importantly, the emphasis is on YOU. Not new customers.

You're complaining about the thread, aren't you? I love it when someone takes the time to whine about someone else's whining. It's so self-defeating.

Of course the emphasis is on me. It's my post, my thread and my thoughts on the matter. And those thoughts are shared by many.

If you order a steak in a restaurant, and it comes out burned into charcoal, do you immediately pen a thank you note to the cook expressing your hopes that whatever caused this little accident has been taken care of, and include a tip?

I'd prefer cheap, nonrandom minis. Hell, I'd prefer free nonrandom minis that came with piles of free money and a new car. But I'm realistic, and have a tiny grasp of business. Random minis work much like the lottery/gambling, where a mass of suckers support the few lucky winners. Except theres a really easy way to circumvent it in this case, and get the payoff for less. Those theme packs? Its called ebay folks. Use auggies, get your minis much cheaper than WOTC could package and sell them to you for, and stop whining about not being able to go into a store and pay more money for less. Individualized packaging costs money, distribution of specific figures takes resources, peg warmers take up space which lowers future sales etc.

I don't know if you're capable of grasping this oh-so-subtle point, but I'll try.

Everyone who expresses a thought that you disagree with is not whining.

I don't like watching eBay auctions. It's fun, once in a while, but the fact is, after the fourth or fifth time you've had your auction sniped out from under you with 8 seconds left, you're ready to scream.

I want a bucketful of orcs. I want a bucketful of elves. I want a bucketful of dwarves. And then I'd like to get some out-there minis for a cheap price. I'm kind of tired of staring at raw metal, but I don't need a work of art on my table, either.

I'm not asking for Pamela Anderson to give me a foot massage while I play D&D, though certainly that would be nice.

And I refuse to believe that simply packaging "A bucketful of random orcs" is going to send Hasbro spinning into financial ruin, or hurt randomized mini sales.

The situation as it stands works INCREDIBLY well.

The situation as it stands sucks. It doesn't suck quite as hard as back in the day when you're only option was to use Pente pieces, or M&Ms, or little six-siders. But it could still be a lot better than it is.