New D&D Mini Fails and then...

[doctorhook]

Ideally I would hope they revise their plan further and stop with randomization of any kind.

Yes, I know that means prices would go up.

Ultimately though, I could see them cancelling the line altogether and maybe going to paper counters.

It would just mean more business for the metal miniature market, which could finally become cheaper again with some going back to using lead. Yay Reaper!

Getting rid of randomization altogether would probably lead to the kind of stock-stagnation that could endanger the line. I think partial randomization is ideal.

OP: Speaking in the long-term, no matter what happens to the current line of minis, there will be another line sometime in the future, so long as there are people playing D&D. That's how capitalism works: demand motivates the creation of a supply.

 

[Umbran]

It may depend on how badly the line fails.

If their current plan gets abysmal results, they may decide that minis are simply a dead-end, not worth the trouble in any way, shape, or form. perhaps they'll switch to producing official counters for the game, but otherwise just leave the business.

If the plan shows there's some interest, but not enough to clear it past their required profit margins, they may go for a license to another company. In that way they get at least some money out of the branch, and get to keep some control - as opposed to having Reaper and others make minis that are close enough to IP for us to be able to use them, but far enough away to prevent litigation...

 

[Drkfathr1]

Here's a thought on partial randomization...

Booster with four or five figures, where all but ONE are visible. The random figures become the rares, and there's only 1 blind figure per pack.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Ideally I would hope they revise their plan further and stop with randomization of any kind.

Yes, I know that means prices would go up.

It also means variety would go down. You're not going to see much beyond "sure sellers". Look at Reaper's weak pre-paint line.... more of the same old stuff that's been done to death and is available for pennies on the secondary market. Orcs, goblins, knights, etc.

 

[Drkfathr1]

It also means variety would go down. You're not going to see much beyond "sure sellers". Look at Reaper's weak pre-paint line.... more of the same old stuff that's been done to death and is available for pennies on the secondary market. Orcs, goblins, knights, etc.

I wouldn't mind if the variety lacked a bit. I've not been overwhelmed by Solamiths, Shardsoul Slayers, and "latest weird monster with no traction".

But that's just me.

 

[JohnnyQuest]

I don't think WOTC are licensing anything from the tabletop perspective at the moment are they?

The DDM Guild will be licensed to continue development of the D&D Miniatures skirmish rules, but I don't know of any other tabletop licenses.

I suspect that cancellation would happen before we'd see production licensed to another entity, but that's a pure guess on my part.

 

[avin]

I wouldn't mind if the variety lacked a bit. I've not been overwhelmed by Solamiths, Shardsoul Slayers, and "latest weird monster with no traction".

Yeah, Demonweb has a lot of $¨%$*& miniatures BUT there's things like Deathgrasp Sarcophagus that just rocks for RPG...

 

[Kunimatyu]

If the minis line tanked for some reason, I'm pretty sure we'd see a line of Monster Tiles made similarly to WotC's Dungeon Tiles.

 

[frankthedm]

If the minis line tanked for some reason, I'm pretty sure we'd see a line of Monster Tiles made similarly to WotC's Dungeon Tiles.

that would be nice to have them at the cardstock the dungeon tiles use, though I'd hope for hard plastic-card if they are making character tokens.

 

[Remathilis]

Actually, a plastic + decal token (akin to a poker-chip) would be dirt cheap to make, and allow for tiny-gargantuan sizes, plenty of artwork, and could be made by the dozens for pennies on the dollar.