D&D General Dungeons and Dragons: The Makeup Set!!!

[J.Quondam]

D&D bologna came out in 1982

My next wizard will have a bologna familiar.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

D&D-themed makeup is pretty cool, though I can't say I've heard of Vampyre Cosmetics before. It's interesting that it makes use of a lot of 1e art.

I guess we are not the future of the game. Although I would not be surprised to see an 'official' men's hair tonic supplier.

There actually is official D&D beard oil:

Dungeons and Dragons - Mighty Owlbear Powerful Beard Oil

For our newest mythical beard oil, we’ve channeled the mighty Owlbear. Embrace the spicy, fierce, yet subtly refreshing scent of this legendary beast!

beardsorcery.com

 

[Mistwell]

My daughter might be interested in this, though she is pretty particular with her products and usually only uses stuff from S. Korea. The bottles and palate holders are pretty cool looking though.

 

[Mistwell]

This should worry you as fans of D&D - because it is an example of them trying to squeeze every dime out of the IP they can at one time. It is a sign they have the short term gains as the priority, and not the long term growth of the IP. I think it is outstanding when Etsy or another small venue gives us products that incorporate D&D, like the needlepoint above, but to do it on this scale is just choking the IP.

Because that's how brands work, they die when they diversify? This is...not how brands work at all. None of the biggest brands die because they experience this level of diversification. They tend to expand even more when it happens.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

For cosplay?

If my memory doesn't fail there was a product like this with the movie "Honor among Thieves". By Nyx Cosmetic.

 

[billd91]

For cosplay?

Cosplay? Sure. But people are going to buy and use these as for regular makeup wear as well. Themed makeup palettes are very common and have been for many years.

This should worry you as fans of D&D - because it is an example of them trying to squeeze every dime out of the IP they can at one time. It is a sign they have the short term gains as the priority, and not the long term growth of the IP. I think it is outstanding when Etsy or another small venue gives us products that incorporate D&D, like the needlepoint above, but to do it on this scale is just choking the IP.

I'm not worried at all. This kind of brand licensing is harmless as long as it's not on a product that becomes notorious either through defect or through other unsavory associations (hopefully, any D&D-themed makeup can steer clear of the toxic side of the cosmetic YouTuber/influencer community).

 

[jgsugden]

Because that's how brands work, they die when they diversify? This is...not how brands work at all. None of the biggest brands die because they experience this level of diversification. They tend to expand even more when it happens.

That must be why we don't have terms like over-exposure in marketing. Or why brands do not look at others using their IP as free marketing.

It is really common for a brand to 'nova' by being so prevalent that it loses identity. There are concerns that Critical Role, for example, overexposed themselves and lost focus on their brand by diversifying into too many avenues.

Other examples where IP some of us loved grew and grew and diversified and then novaed out - GI Joe, Transformers, TMNT, etc...

 

[Mistwell]

That must be why we don't have terms like over-exposure in marketing. Or why brands do not look at others using their IP as free marketing.

It is really common for a brand to 'nova' by being so prevalent that it loses identity. There are concerns that Critical Role, for example, overexposed themselves and lost focus on their brand by diversifying into too many avenues.

Other examples where IP some of us loved grew and grew and diversified and then novaed out - GI Joe, Transformers, TMNT, etc...

How did any of those brands diversified and then novaed? They all were damaged by too many movies, not ancillary products like makeup.

 

[Steampunkette]

Didn't even include pictures of the palettes...

Spell Potion Lip Gloss. I like Heroism the best.

Alignment Palette

DMG Palette

And, of course, the class feature eyeliners.

And if you pre-order the set, it comes with a DM Screen.

Full disclosure: I don't even wear makeup and I think this collection is super cool but also RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE AND LIMITED.

Each of the class sets, the alignment set, and the DMG set are piteously small quantities of makeup individually. There's no foundation, no concealer, no blending brushes or contouring kit... It's $300 on sale for about $60 worth of makeup. If you buy this for a family member or a friend give them a big old smile but never tell them how much it cost.

Still... the class palettes would be awesome for theme and variety. I particularly like the palette for bards. You could do some fun stuff with those colors.

 

[jgsugden]

How did any of those brands diversified and then novaed? They all were damaged by too many movies, not ancillary products like makeup.

Did GI Joe have a plethora of movies in the 1980s that I missed? Or Transformers?

No, these IPs - which ruled kids marketing in the early 1980s had their life choked out of them by the IP owners pushing for monetizing the IP too aggressively. They knew that they would be better off squeezing the IP for every penny, letting it die off, and then squeezing the next IP the same way. That squeezing took many forms.

There was no internet in those days, but there were malls, Target, Sears, etc... You would find GI Joe on everything. You'd also find them constantly overturning the roster of GI Joe in the shows and comics to highlight new characters and vehicles so that they could sell new toys. However, kids didn't want Snow Job, Muscrat and Banzai ... they wanted Snake Eyes, Scarlett and Hawk from the earliest generations. The bait and switch resulted in a loss of interest in the show and the products.

The kids didn't want the GI Joe Ice Cream, GI Joe Shirts and GI Joe Pencil Cases. By the late 80s this stuff was being offloaded in clearance stores all over the place - and it was about that time that the animated show really died. They tried to bring it back in the early 90s ... but it had no identity and lacked the capability to draw in kids.

The same types of things happened with Transformers, TMNT, Care Bears, He-Man, Rainbow Bright, etc...

To keep an IP going strong you need to be true to your core identity, you need to maintain quality, and you need to focus on long term growth over short term profiteering. If you were to, say, flood the world with your IP so fast that quality took a dive while simultaneously turning away from your most Marvelous characters in favor of 2nd tier characters .... while simultaneously flooding the world with your merchandise all the time to the point we get numb to the faces of the characters ... It isn't like that would end the dominance of an IP in a SNAP.