Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 5444682" data-attributes="member: 32740">I think it is simply easier, safer, less costly for WotC to just cease production for an indefinite period and then they can sit on thier hands just waiting to see which way the wind blows.&nbsp; They don't HAVE to expend any real effort at that, just every year or so there's a meeting where somebody presents a report with a casual look at the feasibility of picking up where they left off or possibly trying something a little different.&nbsp; The molds just sit in a warehouse somewhere.&nbsp; They can spin it up again anytime, anywhere that production, space, and shipping would be cheapest.&nbsp;My own thinking would be to try a web-commissioned model.&nbsp; People submit orders for individual minis online with some minis perhaps sold only as part of a larger package, or perhaps even available only with purchases exceeding a certain level.&nbsp; You only need to produce what's been ordered, possibly keeping a minimal stock of slow sellers.&nbsp; You realize that, say, a unicorn is not going to be a hot seller so you stamp out 50-100, toss 'em in a bin, and then deplete that over the course of a year, whereas various orcs you can produce continually in a given volume and sell by the dozen.&nbsp;I dunno.&nbsp; MAYBE that could work.&nbsp; Maybe it wouldn't.&nbsp; Maby the margins on that wouldn't be enough to make it worth their effort.&nbsp; I'm not going to debate details that nobody HERE has even a fraction of the data needed to state whether x will work or y won't work.&nbsp; I guess I AM just saying that it seems pretty obtuse to suggest that the ONE model that WotC was using is the ONLY possible model under which it will work.&nbsp;WotC first set it up that way because they knew it would work for much the same reasons that it worked with Magic and Pokemon, it's just that plastic production and distribution is a HELL of a lot steeper than little squares of art on cardboard.&nbsp; They shut it all down rather than rearrange it because faced with losses in profit it was the cheaper move in the short term and carried no risk or effort.&nbsp; I believe there ARE alternate means to continue to sell those minis at a profit.&nbsp; It just is likely to mean big alterations to how they are produced and distributed.&nbsp; That is a change which in itself would cost a lot of money, would take a good while to analyze how it would be best/most desirable to do, and even then would likely be a risk.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Man in the Funny Hat, post: 5444682, member: 32740"] I think it is simply easier, safer, less costly for WotC to just cease production for an indefinite period and then they can sit on thier hands just waiting to see which way the wind blows. They don't HAVE to expend any real effort at that, just every year or so there's a meeting where somebody presents a report with a casual look at the feasibility of picking up where they left off or possibly trying something a little different. The molds just sit in a warehouse somewhere. They can spin it up again anytime, anywhere that production, space, and shipping would be cheapest. My own thinking would be to try a web-commissioned model. People submit orders for individual minis online with some minis perhaps sold only as part of a larger package, or perhaps even available only with purchases exceeding a certain level. You only need to produce what's been ordered, possibly keeping a minimal stock of slow sellers. You realize that, say, a unicorn is not going to be a hot seller so you stamp out 50-100, toss 'em in a bin, and then deplete that over the course of a year, whereas various orcs you can produce continually in a given volume and sell by the dozen. I dunno. MAYBE that could work. Maybe it wouldn't. Maby the margins on that wouldn't be enough to make it worth their effort. I'm not going to debate details that nobody HERE has even a fraction of the data needed to state whether x will work or y won't work. I guess I AM just saying that it seems pretty obtuse to suggest that the ONE model that WotC was using is the ONLY possible model under which it will work. WotC first set it up that way because they knew it would work for much the same reasons that it worked with Magic and Pokemon, it's just that plastic production and distribution is a HELL of a lot steeper than little squares of art on cardboard. They shut it all down rather than rearrange it because faced with losses in profit it was the cheaper move in the short term and carried no risk or effort. I believe there ARE alternate means to continue to sell those minis at a profit. It just is likely to mean big alterations to how they are produced and distributed. That is a change which in itself would cost a lot of money, would take a good while to analyze how it would be best/most desirable to do, and even then would likely be a risk. [/QUOTE]

Verification