Dear Hasbro: about those minis

[Thurbane]

I'm sorry, but why can't some people grasp the fact that some people don't want to or cannot use eBay.

I love the concept of eBay, I really do. Heck, I used it extensively for a while, mainly to build my CD and DVD collection. But that doesn't mean that eBay should is the be all and end all of "where to buy stuff". Lemme rattle off a couple of factors (which I'm sure will get shot down, but anyway):

1. Unless it's changed since I last used it, you need a Paypal account. A Paypal account involves giving out sensitive financial and personal information over the internet. A lot of people are just not comfortable with that, and in many cases (spyware, identity theft etc) rightly so.

2. Geographic location: depending where you live (and yes, though it may shock you, many of us D&Ders live OUTSIDE of the USA), the shipping logicstics push the price way up, or make delivery not possible at all.

Can someone please explain to me why WotC cannot or should not do some reissues of current and old minis in theme packs, alongside their collectibles? Assuming, as I said earlier, that they are stamped differently on the base so as not to impinge on the collectibles series, and even not sold with cards. I am sure that somewhere out there the dies or casts or assembly lines that put them together still exist. If I am barking mad about this, please explain to me where my misunderstanding is...

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All that aside, if a 3rd party started producing non-randomized , prepainted plastic SRD miniatures on a par in quality with the WotC lines, I would be MORE than happy to shell out a bit more per miniature in order to be able to buy them over the counter, prepackaged, from my LFGS.

Unfortunately, the only minis my FLGS carries besides WotC random packs are metal minis. While some of these are beatiful, I just don't have the time to paint them as they deserve, and they cost a LOT more per mini that any plastic minis.

 

[Mark CMG]

I'd love it if they came out a few packs of standard creatures, like orcs, skeletons, etc., twenty in each or, perhaps, two, three or four poses.

 

[Oryan77]

. . . unless someone can recommend a good Australian source? Merric?

Whenever minis are mentioned, Auggies name pops up multiple times. Us other guys get left out of the loop

I've been selling minis for over a year outside of Ebay. I ship internationally and have shipped several times to Australia. I'm in the process of stocking up on newer sets, but check out what I have. I have plenty of out-of-production minis at the moment. You can find my Enworld ad in my sig

 

[BroccoliRage]

2. Geographic location: depending where you live (and yes, though it may shock you, many of us D&Ders live OUTSIDE of the USA), the shipping logicstics push the price way up, or make delivery not possible at all.

You lie!

 

[kenobi65]

1. Unless it's changed since I last used it, you need a Paypal account.

That's entirely up to the individual seller. Many of the "big" sellers are actual retailers, and they often accept credit cards, but a lot of the sellers are just normal people, without the ability to accept credit-card payments.

A few years ago, before the prevalence of PayPal, those sellers usually accepted money orders, but, now, PayPal does usually wind up as the default.

So, you don't need a PayPal account just to use eBay, but if you don't have one, yes, it does limit which auctions you can bid on.

(And, many smaller sellers -- and some not-so-small ones -- won't ship internationally, true.)
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[Seeten]

It doesn't fix the fact that many people are uncomfortable with the secondary market.

I'm sure someone could manage to explain the economics of this (why the secondary market can sell them individually but Hasbro can't) to me. I'm sure the marketers have plenty of data to support their choice.

But I have to wonder how many people who aren't buying WotC minis at all now would buy them if they could get clear or non-randomized packs from WotC. I have to think that a company with the resources that Hasbro has could figure out how to make it work if they really wanted to.

(A month ago I might have told you that developing something with all the features of the iPhone & selling it for $499 was impossible. But--no matter what bad things they may say about Steve Jobs--he's got the ability to have a vision & somehow inspire people to make it a reality.)

(&, yeah, I know WotC still operates pretty independantly from Hasbro. But as a customer that's an internal detail of operations that means nothing to me.)

Life is not always perfect, and every single person cannot always have it his way, WOTC isnt Burger King, after all.

Many, Many people have explained in detail why you cant have unlimited selection AND non random packaging.

I am that reason. Me. I will not buy your foolish, foppish Mialee in drag mini. I wont buy your Mialee in Hell mini. Mialee with lightsabre. Dog with hat mini. I wont buy any of it. They will stay on the shelf, and you'll be broke. You stop making those minis, because you are losing your shirt, but then, all 6 people who like Mialee dressed up in every new PrC's clothes are out their Mialee figs.

However, I gave the solution. I played M:tG without ever buying a pack. I bought 4 sets of commons, 4 sets of uncommons, and any and every rare I needed to make decks. Its cheaper, and I have what I want. I do the same with DDM. Further, I get a much broader selection, AND I spend less, simply by buying individually getting what I want. Whats the diff if I pay $2 for commons, if I only need 10 of them? Thats $20 I spent, and if you buy 19 packs for your rare at 15$ each, you do the math. I never had a problem with a $50 rare, because I'm not spending money on packs also.

Its simple. If nobody in your area is selling them, I recommend venturing into the 90's and doing some e-commerce. Really.

 

[Agamon]

Excuse me, but since I am the customer here, I know what I want. You don't. I'm frustrated, and so are a lot of other people, because I'd like to be able to buy non-randomized miniatures. If you like never knowing exactly what you're getting, that's just peachy and you must enjoy asking strangers to order your meal for you in a restaurant, or giving $1,000 to the person at the ticket counter at the airport, and saying, "Just send me any old place! I don't care!"

I never said your viewpoint was wrong, just your example. Sorry I didn't point that out more specifically. Your other examples there are also flawed in the same manner.

That said, no one really responded to my original response in this thread. What is wrong with using the secondary market (other than 'I don't like it')? I buy a case of each set (and, by the way, I know I'll get 4 of each common, at least 1 and maybe 2, of each uncommon. It's the rares, the minis that most poeple that would like their goblin and orc sets don't want anyway, that I'm unsure of). But, I started the AoW AP recently and knew I needed a bunch of lizardfolk for the 3rd adventure. Somehow, I managed to get them, even though there isn't a devoted manufactorer that creates packs of lizardfolk! (and I live in Canada, which might as well be Siberia for many US companies) Go figure.

 

[Darrell]

That said, no one really responded to my original response in this thread.

OK, I'll respond.

What's wrong with using the secondary market?

For many people, nothing. For people like me, a great deal.

In the first place, the secondary market is difficult to reach in a first-hand manner, at least in my area. The closest place I've found that sells individual minis is in Myrtle Beach, SC...some five hours away from me. I stop in when I'm on tour (I work as an actor and as a close-up magician), but that isn't all that often. In order to reach the secondary market, I'm forced to use the internet...bringing up the next problem.

Internet secondary market sources usually want online payment via credit card, Paypal, etc.

I deal in cash/money order only. I do not (and will not) use a credit card. I have an ATM card, but will only use it in physical point-of-sale purchases, never online. I do not (and will not) have a Paypal account. I, meanwhile, insist on being paid in physical, paper checks--never a direct deposit situation. E-commerce can, as far as I am concerned, burn in...well...that hot place.

I am, therefore, reduced to trading with online traders, which costs me only the price of postage but means I have to work out deals for what I want vs. what they have that I want vs. what I have that they want--not an ideal situation; or just buying booster after booster, racking up more and more minis that I have no interest in.

That, in a nutshell, is what I find wrong with using the secondary market. Remember...you asked.

Regards,
DK

 

[kenobi65]

I deal in cash/money order only. I do not (and will not) use a credit card. I have an ATM card, but will only use it in physical point-of-sale purchases, never online. I do not (and will not) have a Paypal account. I, meanwhile, insist on being paid in physical, paper checks--never a direct deposit situation. E-commerce can, as far as I am concerned, burn in...well...that hot place.

Then, that's not really "can't" so much as "won't". Please note, I'm not criticizing here, I'm just noting that you've made a conscious choice to not do business in a certain (very common) way. I fear that, with the direction that commerce in general is going, you're going to find it increasingly more difficult to operate that way.

 

[BryonD]

For many people, nothing. For people like me, a great deal.
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Ok, I understand, you only answered because asked. So that is fine.

BUT

You have self imposed these restrictions. WotC has a good thing going and they are making money. The idea that they should change that over someone's self created limits is pretty much nonsense.