How much is a D&D mini worth?

[Nightfall]

Orcus deserves to be at least 15 dollars. 30 if he's still in the bag.

 

[Spatula]

The Games Workshop metal miniature of Elrond costs $8. A mounted Ringwraith for $9. Elf Spearmen go for $3 each... That's simply the "cool" factor there... it's very common in miniature games.

And GW has a well-earned reputation for charging a lot more money than one would expect for its products.

 

[Gizzard]

Orcus deserves to be at least 15 dollars.

That's what I was noticing about this thread; lots of people talking about the $5-$10 range. But there's no doubt that the cool ones like the Big Orcus and the Red Dragon are going to sell for more than $10. The market in general says this: you aren't going to get a Reaper Dragon for under $10 for instance. The Reaper Orcus is $11 and metal, but the sculpt is not as good as the D&D one.

 

[MerricB]

And GW has a well-earned reputation for charging a lot more money than one would expect for its products.

And a well-earned reputation for being successful.

Cheers!

 

[rgard]

wrong plastic army men. the ones i mean are Marx knockoffs. and they are much larger than the WotC crap Medium minis. most are larger than the Large crap minis from WotC.

third the paint jobs suck.

fourth the card means nothing to me. i have the MM or the SRD. i'm buying them for RPG not for use with the Miniatures Handbook.

i'd use Chainmail before i ever used the Miniatures Handbook

Ok, first off, the Marx knockoffs are just that...knockoffs. Like the Airfix minis I thought you meant, the knockoffs are made by somebody who didn't have to pay the costs of getting the minis sculpted. WotC has to pay somebody to design/create/sculpt the mini. This equates to a higher cost per figure for WotC.

Second, the Marx knockoffs (if these are the 54mm figs I think you mean) do contain more plastic, but I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts (figurative bet, not real) the plastic is of a lower grade than the plastic used by WotC. We have several hundred of the D&D plastic minis and only one has broken due to overzealous play. The knockoffs will break more easily. It's a trade off between durability and quantity.

Your third point is that you claim the paint jobs suck. I'll give you that some are not great, but some are very well done. The better paint jobs are confined to the rares, which I believe was an upfront decision by WotC. Our Owlbears are simply gorgeous. Again, the painting of the minis translates into a higher cost per mini as opposed to an unpainted knockoff of a Marx fig.

Fourth, the card may be useless to you, but others do use the cards, both for the D&D Mini game and for D&D RPG play. Whether you use the card or not, it does contribute to a higher cost per mini. I don't see WotC thinking that they could drop the cards from the packs to reduce cost and price with an eye to appealing to a smaller group of people representing a smaller market. The dual use of the figures (for the mini game and for the rpg game) is part of the marketing plan for these.

For me, the current painted D&D minis concept is a great step forward. They are cheaper than most metal figures. The come painted (which saves me alot of time) and I can always do touch up work if I really want to, but still a significant reduction in time used in figure prep which can be better used by me in campaign preparation. I also use the cards as quick reference in encounters. You don't get these cards with Ral Partha or others.

Best I can suggest to you is to wait and eventually some enterprising person in China may decide to make copies of the D&D minis, mass produce them and sell them to the dollar stores in the US.

 

[Morpheus]

Fourth, the card may be useless to you, but others do use the cards, both for the D&D Mini game and for D&D RPG play. Whether you use the card or not, it does contribute to a higher cost per mini. I don't see WotC thinking that they could drop the cards from the packs to reduce cost and price with an eye to appealing to a smaller group of people representing a smaller market. The dual use of the figures (for the mini game and for the rpg game) is part of the marketing plan for these.

For me, the current painted D&D minis concept is a great step forward. They are cheaper than most metal figures. The come painted (which saves me alot of time) and I can always do touch up work if I really want to, but still a significant reduction in time used in figure prep which can be better used by me in campaign preparation. I also use the cards as quick reference in encounters. You don't get these cards with Ral Partha or others.

I agree 100% with the usefulness of the cards. I use them for combat encounters and it saves a lot of time in not having me prep stats for the creatures. I also get some good ideas for encounters just by looking through the cards that I have. If I didn't, my players would never have learned to hate Abyssal Maws.

 

[rgard]

<SNIP>If I didn't, my players would never have learned to hate Abyssal Maws.

I mine the cards as well. Some of them make for great NPCs. My players have encountered a couple friendly Clerics (Cleric of the Order and Cleric of Moradin) as well as learning to avoid a vicious Cleric of Lolth and her 4 'uncommon' henchmen! Their next encounter with her will include a recently hired Drow Sergeant.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[diaglo]

Ok, first off, the Marx knockoffs are just that...knockoffs. Like the Airfix minis I thought you meant, the knockoffs are made by somebody who didn't have to pay the costs of getting the minis sculpted. WotC has to pay somebody to design/create/sculpt the mini. This equates to a higher cost per figure for WotC.

again the plastic knockoffs by WotC or just that. knockoffs of their metal line. i own the metal and the plastic figures of some.

Second, the Marx knockoffs (if these are the 54mm figs I think you mean) do contain more plastic, but I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts (figurative bet, not real) the plastic is of a lower grade than the plastic used by WotC. We have several hundred of the D&D plastic minis and only one has broken due to overzealous play. The knockoffs will break more easily. It's a trade off between durability and quantity.

the durability of the plastics to metal i understand. but my army men knockoffs have lasted 35 years or more....so the plastic vs plastic comparison doesn't work.

Your third point is that you claim the paint jobs suck. I'll give you that some are not great, but some are very well done. The better paint jobs are confined to the rares, which I believe was an upfront decision by WotC. Our Owlbears are simply gorgeous. Again, the painting of the minis translates into a higher cost per mini as opposed to an unpainted knockoff of a Marx fig.

the paint jobs suck. this is a imo kinda of thing. the cheapest way for WotC to paint them and still keep costs down... plus they would probably look better even... is to dip them in 1 color or add 1 color paint to the mold before it hardens.

Fourth, the card may be useless to you, but others do use the cards, both for the D&D Mini game and for D&D RPG play. Whether you use the card or not, it does contribute to a higher cost per mini. I don't see WotC thinking that they could drop the cards from the packs to reduce cost and price with an eye to appealing to a smaller group of people representing a smaller market. The dual use of the figures (for the mini game and for the rpg game) is part of the marketing plan for these.

the market they sold to was the RPGers. their hope is for a crossover to the minis line. i'm not one of them. i own the MM or can use the SRD... i don't need the cards. it is a wasted cost on me.

Best I can suggest to you is to wait and eventually some enterprising person in China may decide to make copies of the D&D minis, mass produce them and sell them to the dollar stores in the US.

and that is what i'm waiting on.

 

[megamania]

How much would I pay vs what would be realistically asked?

There are "commons" that I pay several dollars for and there "rares" I wouldn't spend more than a dollar for.

The price would vary due to size, impressiveness, amount of use and if more than one figure was used. (yeah- I have 10 demogordons and 1 orc)

If you are wondering about a price if WotC produced them on a single basis keep in mind packageing and other related things. If WotC produced parts individually, I would guess figures to be 2.00 apiece.

Also keep in mi8nd this would produce waste on the molders end that we, the consumers, would be required to absorb.

 

[rgard]

again the plastic knockoffs by WotC or just that. knockoffs of their metal line. i own the metal and the plastic figures of some.

<SNIP>

and that is what i'm waiting on.

So you are waiting for somebody to illegally (that's what a knock-off is) copy the WotC figures and sell them cheap?

Sorry, can't wish you luck on this coming true.

Thanks,
Rich