New Miniatures... Info?

[JoeGKushner]

Is there a place where the sketeches that don't get made into miniatures go? I imagine that the ones that do wind up using the cards printed with them right?

 

[Glyfair]

I just picked up the Reaper dragonborn equivalent.

Of of curiosity, which are these? I have been making use of the Mage Knight Draconum Whelps for some dragonborn.

 

[Dragon Snack]

Reaper has a couple of Dragon-folk (Reptus and Half Dragon) in the Dark Heaven line and about half of the Reptus faction of their Warlord line are Dragon-folk...

Use their Figure Finder and put in Reptus (or Half Dragon): Reaper Miniatures :: FigureFinder

 

[CharlesRyan]

Remember, Charles is also saying that the costs of doing better could feasibly (from either a production or consumer standpoint) outweigh the benefits.

No! No! No! I have said nothing of the sort!

What I said is that nonrandomized miniatures cost more than randomized miniatures. That's all.

I've never said that WotC couldn't do better (we can all do better). And I've never said that doing better necessarily costs more (although it might).

 

[CharlesRyan]

The [WotC minis people] I met (online) are very nice, very intelligent people. The problem is that they didn't get to decide. They have the whole blasted Hasbro/WotC bureaucracy above them, the marketing department, and a design process which is arcane and entirely too lengthy. I'm sure that Stephen Schubert and Peter Lee would have made the line 10x better if they were given enough leeway. But they weren't.

You accused Dire Bare of basing his post on inaccurate inferences; fair enough. But you're going a lot further yourself.

I don't recommend basing your beliefs (and criticisms) on assumptions about the design process within WotC's walls. Your statements above are riddled with inaccuracies.

 

[JoeGKushner]

You accused Dire Bare of basing his post on inaccurate inferences; fair enough. But you're going a lot further yourself.

I don't recommend basing your beliefs (and criticisms) on assumptions about the design process within WotC's walls. Your statements above are riddled with inaccuracies.

Would it only have been X5 better?

 

[Sammael]

You accused Dire Bare of basing his post on inaccurate inferences; fair enough. But you're going a lot further yourself.

I don't recommend basing your beliefs (and criticisms) on assumptions about the design process within WotC's walls. Your statements above are riddled with inaccuracies.

And, naturally, because of your NDA (how long are those things in effect, anyway? even the CIA opens up its archives after so many years...), you cannot tell me exactly what content was inaccurate.

After spending upward of 5000 dollars on D&D miniatures, following the line intently for years, and participating in competitive events, I thought I had it right. Obviously not. I apologize.

Let's talk specifics: for instance, who is responsible for the creation of the Spawn of Tiamat? Who thought it was a good idea to include a metric ton of them over the course of several sets instead of some other minis which were in great demand? Is this not a matter of "traction?" If the mini design process is so disconnected from the other design processes, how come they came out in sets promptly after Monster Manual IV (which wasted almost 40 pages on the said Spawn of Tiamat, including such gems as the Whitespawn Iceskidder)? Why was one of the precious huge slots in War of the Dragon Queen used up on something so bizarre as the Bluespawn Godslayer (usually referred to as "The Blue Barney")?

I have many more questions, but I'll wait until I get some answers to the above ones before I ask them.

EDIT: Obviously, if communication between WotC and the fans were better, I wouldn't have to base my beliefs on wrong assumptions. While you were there, communication was great. Everyone just had to post "WOOF!" and you answered people's questions promptly (including several of my own questions).

 

[Peter Lee]

The Spawn of Tiamat probably came from someone in R&D thinking, "Wouldn't it be cool to have a new type of monster related to dragons?"

The Dragonborn probably came from someone in R&D thinking, "Wouldn't it be cool to have a new type of PC related to dragons?"

Now -- tell me how many miniatures to make of each before you've seen any concept art? Hindsight makes things a lot easier. I don't unfortunately have that luxury -- I'm sure there will be figures coming out in the next year that you'll hate. Hopefully there will be more that you like than you hate.

So much of the process is subjective, and ideas that seem strong in the conceptual stage may not turn out to be as cool once realized. Anything can sink a good idea -- bad art, bad mechanics, bad delivery, lack of context, etc. It's also subjective for the consumer -- some people like the dragonspawn, some don't.

There are a ton of lines I walk when creating a miniature set list:
-appeal to new collectors
-appeal to established collectors
-appeal to new fans of D&D
-appeal to D&D fans that can name all the lords of hell
-aimed to support the core books
-aimed to support books currently being released
-monster innovation

For miniatures, the hardest two are to support books currently being released and to do monster innovation. You can imagine how difficult it may be to do any sort of monster innovation coordinated with a release schedule. (Look at the hatred towards the Wrackspawn, and then look at it's monster entry in MM4; I think it's a pretty cool monster, but not the greatest miniature ever made.)

There isn't anyone breathing down my neck telling me what to make. I do have people suggesting good miniatures, and I need final approval of a set list to make sure it's in line with the overall department's direction. Mostly, it's discussions with people in and outside the department on what would be cool. (I frequently read the message boards for ideas.)

 

[SlyFlourish]

"-appeal to D&D fans that can name all the lords of hell"

Baphomet, Baal, Mephistopheles, Graz'zt, Azmodius...gah! only five! (digs out his Fiendish Codex 2).

 

[Sammael]

Thanks very much for the extensive reply, Peter!

By the way,

(Zariel), Bel, Dispater, Mammon, (Geryon), Levistus, Belial, Fierna, (Moloch), (Malagarde), Glasya, Baalzebul, Mephistopheles, Asmodeus.

(names in parentheses are former Lords of the Nine)

My own list goes like this: Bel, Dispater, Mammon, Levistus, Belial, Lilith, Baalzebul, Mephistopheles, Asmodeus.