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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 3364891" data-attributes="member: 32740">Let me tell you what I WANT in the way of minis.  Then let me tell you how/why I think it can be provided to me, the consumer, at a reasonable price.  Then let someone from WotC tell me why they can't make that profitable.What I want is to purchase individual minis on demand.  That is, some miniatures I will buy many of - like orcs, city guardsmen, ninjas, pirates.  Many, many more I will buy only one of, maybe two - powerful monsters like dragons, individual PC/NPC sculpts.  The reason I want and need to have them this way is because this is how they get used in an RPG.  I won't be buying dozens and dozens of dragons of all sizes and colors - I will buy the colors and sizes that I INTEND to use in the near future.Once I have bought these I won't need to buy them again.  I personally wouldn't be buying a set of 20 orcs with falchions, 20 with spears, 20 with swords, 20 with axes, 20 with bows, etc.  At least the liklihood of that would be VERY low indeed.  I would buy individual monsters and NPC's at an irregular rate just as I have always bought metal miniatures.  When I see PC/NPC minis in a sculpt that inspires me I buy it when I have the money so that I can one day use it - or let a player use it.  I buy unusual, NON-monster manual monster minis that inspire me to create MY OWN monster builds.  Sometimes I find ones that I'd like to be able to throw at my players in groups but have virtually never been able to do so - the game store where I found them only had one or two in blisters.Here we come to how I think these can be provided to me as I need them.  First, stamp the minis to be purchased with something like "NOT FOR USE WITH DDM" such that the exact same sculpts and whatever can be used and re-used but for DDM formal play they are USELESS.  Second, cut out the middle-men.  If these miniatures are available direct from a factory, or WotC warehouse facility then the entire question of what the distrubutors and retailers can or will accomodate is moot.  It's a harsh reality but it sure seems to be a sticking point.  In this day and age there is no sensible business reason to keep them in the loop.  Not when they are such a stumbling block to finding a new/better means of profitability and are so easily avoided.  A web page can be easily set up to provide clear, rotating views of every miniature.  Hell, they do that now with the galleries for the DDM sets.  I then place the order for what I need and WotC packs them up and ships them DIRECT to me.  Not to a distrubutor who then ships to dozens of retailers.  And altogether avoiding an AFTERMARKET influence on pricing and availability.Obviously, the more minis I order at any one time the less I pay for shipping costs on any given mini.  Just as obviously, with direct shipping from the manufacturer much more of the retail price is kept by the manufacturer.  Perhaps even enough to LOWER the price of the minis a bit.  The minis to be made available this way can then be chosen in whatever fashion WotC cares to use in order to ensure consistent sales.Hell, they could put up a "wishlist" web page to ensure a minimum of sales.  They choose a mini they think will sell and put it up on the page.  Everyone who likes it and anticipates buying it adds their email address to a list for that mini.  Once enough people have signed up to potentially buy it the mini is formally added to the list of directly available minis and an email is sent to all those who singed up enabling them to immediately purchase it or add it to their next order.  Meanwhile, the regular DDM market and aftermarket goes about its business with the possible advantage that it is now LESS influenced in its pricing by interference from RPG interests.Can someone tell me why, given perhaps some relatively minor changes in details, this wouldn't work?I certainly see this as the best way to get that Gelatinous Cube I still want.</blockquote>

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