Death of D&D Miniatures

[Puggins]

I was a maxminis regular for many years. The reason sales declined was simple- people already had everything they really needed. As early as Underdark I saw that later sets would simply not be worth my while.

My analysis- give the market time to absorb all the figures floating around. I'd say the same model would work spectacularly well in 2018- for about four years before dying out again.

 

[malraux]

Just to add in, DDMs have had a good run. 8 years with ~20 different sets over the years is a solid performance. With that much output, its no wonder that the market is saturated.

 

[MerricB]

I dunno if I buy the idea that the initial cost (ie, sculpting, mold making, etc) is the reason the board game minis are affordable. I suspect its about the fact that the minis are unpainted first and foremost. That removes much of the human work costs.

Well some, not all. It keeps down the price, certainly.

Another factor ties into my law: it's a small range of miniatures! So, Non-Random Selection and Cheap Prices are the two you keep - and lose the large range of miniatures.

Ultimately, I believe the fall of D&D miniatures comes down to three major factors:

* Market Saturation. There are just so many of the minis out there that you can get most of what you want cheaply on the secondary market. (Losing the mini game makes the "duplicates" less interesting... do you really need another pose of orc?)

* The Decline of the American Economy. China is cheaper to make things in, but it is no longer as cheap as it was, especially with the price of oil, transport and also the exchange rates all making it much less price-friendly.

* The Decline of the Roleplaying Market. I do not believe that as many people are playing D&D (and its cousins) as were in 2003. Thus, the market for the miniatures likewise declines.

Cheers!

 

[JoeGKushner]

And yet, even if we fully accept the roleplaying market is declining, that isn't necessarily tied into miniatures. Reaper is doing licensed figures for Pathfinder. This is a new development. Premium miniature lines like Avatars of War exist to supplement Games Workshop's beast and live on its fringes.

The roleplaying market in and of itself is not the miniature market.

Which gets back to my point of D&D gutting the minis game. but they did the same with Chainmail so...