Disappointed with Minis

Matafuego · Mar 15, 2004

thanks a lot heimdall =)

MerricB · Mar 15, 2004

Matafuego said:
Sorry to Hijack but: Does anyone has a webpage where I can see what minis exist and maybe some pictures???

Apart from the Wizards website, you might also want to check out my D&D Miniatures information site. It has links to most of the important bits of information, plus a bunch of other stuff (like spoiler lists) that you might want to see.

http://www.3rdedition.org/merricb/mini.htm

Cheers!

MerricB · Mar 15, 2004

Creamsteak said:
Looking over the Archfiends set, did they phase out the small bases? I don't see any minis that look like they have those halfling sized bases except snig and the two halflings...

I think the miniatures in this set just tend more to the Medium and Large figures. (Think about how many Small opponents you face in the RPG compared to Medium and Large).

There are more Large figures in this set, percentage-wise, than in the past two.

Cheers!

heimdall · Mar 15, 2004

MerricB said:
I know that, as a RPGer, I'm not that excited about Archfiends. The monster common list is as follows: Githzerai; Dread Guard; Duergar Warrior; Snig The Axe (a goblin); Zhentarim Fighter; Gravehound; Warrior Skeleton; Cultist Of The Dragon; Cursed Spirit; Gnoll Archer and Orc Raider. The only one there I'm really interested in is the Gnoll Archer. Because I'm going to be using the set for skirmishes as well, it doesn't bother me so much, though.

I'm looking forward to this set because of the Realms figures as well as the gith races. I agree with you, though, that I don't think it'll do as well as the Dragoneye series because Dragoneye really has something for everybody.

MeepoTheMighty · Mar 15, 2004

Ottergame said:
The problem with buying mini's by the singles is that if you buy more than half a dozen like that, it'd be so much cheeper to buy pewter minis and have someone else assemble and paint them. I know quite a number of people who do that, and in the end, I would resort to doing that then buying minis at random and praying I got what I needed.

No it wouldn't. I just paid for several auctions on Ebay. I got:

8 orc warriors
8 kobold warriors
8 zombies
8 human bandits
8 man-at-arms
8 wolves
5 orc spearmen

Total cost: $35 after shipping, or around 66 cents apiece.

Matafuego · Mar 15, 2004

Thanks MerricB!And I will need to see what Minis found their way to my country =\

Red Wyrmling · Mar 15, 2004

I actually would have liked to play 3.5 with minis, but unfortunately me and my gaming group lachk the room to use 'em on our gaming table. I have found a sollution in a glass frame. I've drawn squares on it and hung it on our wall, now we can do anything on it with ordinary dry wipe markers.

All in all, this cost me about 10$, that is the second reason I have not bought any D&D minis, I am addicted to buying roleplay books, therefor I like to save my money for those books.

MerricB · Mar 15, 2004

Spatula said:
I have a question that sort of ties into this - what's the production life of the D&D mini lines? Right now, a lot of D&D mainstays that you would have a hard time finding in metal (mind flayer, thri-kreen, etc.) can only be found in the first set, Harbinger. Is WOTC going to keep making Harbinger packs (or Dragoneye packs, etc.) for the life of the game, or are they going to be retired? If the line is being retired soon, it seems the RPG buyers are being hit by a double whammy - randomized packs and time-limited buying opportunities.

What you're missing is that figures will be redone in further sets. Thus, we have a skeleton in Harbinger and a warrior skeleton (essentially the same miniatures) in Archfiends. There are various versions of orcs in the first three sets. There is an Ogre miniature in Harbinger and another Ogre (a Ravager) in Dragoneye.

Hopefully there will be an uncommon Ogre and Troll coming up in future sets, because they're more useful than can be applied using the standard "rare" rating.

Incidentally, Rob Heinsoo has revealed that the Black Dragon of Dragoneye will be released in a non-random miniatures product in the near future; I think it is most likely to be the D&D Basic set.

Cheers!

Chain Lightning · Mar 15, 2004

I'm an avid miniature painter. I love to paint them. So, I usually paint my own. I prefer the sculpts and designs of other companies (like Reaper Minis) over the WotC ones.

That being said, with little free time I have, painting tons of miniatures so I have a representation for everything is next to impossible. So usually, with my groups, we have nicely painted minis for the Players....and counters, dice, glass beads, etc, etc for everything else.

Quite frankly the WotC minis are poorly painted. But hey, they're mass produced! There's no way to make 'em look awesome in an affordable manner. But.....next to dice or pieces of paper, they look beautiful! Ha ha ha. Anyways, what I'm saying is this....they do a pretty decent job of being battle representatives on the map. It is a shame that we can't just go out and buy what we want. It would be so nice to go to a local hobby store or something and just buy 12 orcs.

Well, a previous poster brought up a good point saying that collectors would present a problem. They would make your trip to pick up 12 orcs miserable by going to the store and picking them up first before you. I'm not a business major or anything, but I thought it would be nice if they were sold in stores like toys (you buy what you see) and if the store didn't have it, you could mail order specifics through the retailer or something.

Oh well. Too bad......

For now....I don't buy 'em. Just too much trouble. I search for minis that match the character descriptions of the players (by looking at the shelf of the local hobby store - - if it ain't there on the shelf, then its not being bought by me), purchase what I find , paint them, and everything else we make paper counters or use colored dice (example: red 6-sided are orcs, the orange ten-sided is the Orc Chieftan.....)