Getting a full set is unreasonable

[Kae'Yoss]

True. I'm not sure if these would sell enough to be worth moving to plastic (given the number of people who ask for commoners in DDM, I expect they would), but certainly this is an advantage of Reaper's line.

I'm not sure about it. I'd say that those asking for commoners are a minority. A vocal one, but a minority nonetheless. After all, figures like those are not that useful in a regular fight, and I doubt most people will use miniatures the whole time.

Conversely, there are two advantage of the DDM line (to those not wedded to a single line). They (...) can release miniatures that are not popular enough to release as a singles line. A large number of D&D monsters would never be made into a miniature if it wasn't for the DDM paradigm.

Exactly. They just would not be profitable enough to be made into plastic minis.

Both lines should do a very good job of complementing each other. Each can do something the other can't.

Yeah, but let's hope for some competition, too. Wizards has had its monopoly long enough.

For the most part, exotic minis don't tend to skyrocket in price.

Exactly. Those critters that would not be made into non-random plastic minis are the very same figures that won't be fought over in eBay auctions or be sold for high buy-it-now prices. Those are the figures that would make it into a D&D non-random plastic line in a minute (and will probably come to Reaper's line sooner or later.)

Example: The Dromite Wilder. It's from Underdark, which is over a year old. That would usually mean that it's worth 5 bucks or more. I just looked at buy-it-now prices for it, and the cheapest prices are under 3 dollars. So those people who do play a dromite will be able to get one relatively cheaply.

And this is a rare miniature. Uncommons or commons will be much cheaper. And since they're not likely being torn out of the sellers' hands, they will be on eBay when you need them.

 

[frankthedm]

Yes, getting a full set is unreasonable. But who needs a full set? You are buying the things to put down on the battlemat, not to collect{dust]. Ebay cheap single figs of DDM, Heroclix, horrorclix, mageknight, dreamblade and any other mini line. Scope out toy stores, dollar stores, thrift stores, garage sales, hallmark stores and happy meals to find usable minis.

Heck, action figure make great giants.

 

[IanB]

I'm not belittling Reaper. I'm trying to temper the wishful thinking of people who are expecting that soon we'll have hundreds of prepainted Reaper minis to choose from.

 

[bento]

Conversely, when I have a spare couple of hours (what it would take me to paint 1 decently detailed mini to my standards) I could go do my side-job and make $60. I could then take that $60 + the original $16 to the interweb and purchase 8 packs of pre-painted minis and show up at next weeks game with 64 new miniatures for our collection, including 10 or so large ones.

DS

My way makes me feel more like a craftsman than a wage-slave/consumer!

I don't think it would be wise for Reaper to try and produce their core class figures in plastic. There's already so much variation out there, and people are pretty picky about picking a figure to represent their character.

Reaper should stick with producing mass hordes of monstrous humanoids/undead, and single iconic monsters that DDM has us chasing after because they deemed them "rares."

 

[Glyfair]

I'm not sure about it. I'd say that those asking for commoners are a minority. A vocal one, but a minority nonetheless. After all, figures like those are not that useful in a regular fight, and I doubt most people will use miniatures the whole time.

They are great for curtailing the deadliness of some parties. When the combat takes place in a city street with commoners scurrying about they have to watch such things as throwing fireball spells, or else end up with a much higher body count and the attention of the authorities.

 

[Glyfair]

We use an even simpler means for ours - tiny scrap of paper with the damage done written in pencil, laid atop the base between the fig's legs. Single letter code for things like blind, deaf, etc. I tried color coding and numbering figs, but gave up after my collection grew so large.

Color coding is easy. Poker chips.

I got the idea when I saw that some companies were selling basically the same thing for miniatures. They suggested using the color to indicate condition, elevation, etc. Using them to differentiate between different miniatures is cake.

One of my friends got a deal on a set of clay poker chips (when the poker market started to drop). They are slightly smaller than the classic plastic ones, and have more visual differences. Most are dual color striped, so the differences are easy.

 

[Festivus]

Yes, getting a full set is unreasonable. But who needs a full set? You are buying the things to put down on the battlemat, not to collect{dust]. Ebay cheap single figs of DDM, Heroclix, horrorclix, mageknight, dreamblade and any other mini line. Scope out toy stores, dollar stores, thrift stores, garage sales, hallmark stores and happy meals to find usable minis.

Heck, action figure make great giants.

Plastic dinosaurs stolen from my kids collection make great additions to the Savage Tide Adventure Path.

I too use all sorts of things, I made a gargantuan worm out of dryer vent hose, or a pink pearl eraser makes a great sarcophagus.

 

[Twowolves]

I'm not belittling Reaper. I'm trying to temper the wishful thinking of people who are expecting that soon we'll have hundreds of prepainted Reaper minis to choose from.

So, you just want to rain on other people's parade? Or piddle in their Post Toasties?

And what, exactly, is wrong with some wishful thinking? If the line starts off well, there is no reason to think Reaper can't rapidly expand their prepanted line, since the expense of sculpting greens and casting molds for thousands of figures is already done. All that "set up overhead" everyone squawks about is more than half done.

As for the quirky, oddball minis only being possible with a randomized line.... maybe. I dunno. Reaper already has otyugs, carrion crawlers, mind flayers, githyanki, gibbering mouthers and many more metal minis (under assumed names). While they don't have the killer shrimp thing or the tiny bug-man thing, I think their target audience isn't the one or two guys playing kobold trapsmiths but instead the hundreds of DMs that need orcs, skeltons, ogres and minotaurs. Maybe later the dozens of DMs that need townsfolk and rat swarms?

 

[Thurbane]

Or piddle in their Post Toasties?

 

[Olaf the Stout]

But I do think Reaper could make a killing if they focus more on larger monsters and on really well-done PC types at reasonable prices. If they can cut into what are traditionally rares coming from WotC, especially with the standard Reaper quality, they could shift a lot of business from people that buy DDM singles from the secondary market.

This is one area where Reaper could do really well. If they come out with the plastic prepainted minis of monsters that are deemed "Rares" by WotC they could compete extremely well. Dragons, for example would be a good area for them to look at. Demons and Devils are another good area. Giants are also figures to look at. These types of minis constantly seem to be priced higher on the secondary market. If Reaper could make these figures and sell them for less than $10 USD each I think that they would carve quite a successful niche in the prepainted minis line.

Olaf the Stout