Pre-Painted Miniatures are back!

[renau1g]

Great! I'm sure I can use these ones regardless of edition.


Paizo and WizKids Launch Pathfinder Pre-Painted Minis
Beginner Box Release Resurrects Pre-Painted Plastic Fantasy Miniatures

Paizo Publishing and WizKids Games announce a new partnership whereby WizKids Games will produce a special set of pre-painted plastic miniatures for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box, an introductory boxed set slated to release in October 2011.

“We’re excited to bring the Pathfinder property to life via 3-D pre-painted fantasy miniatures” said Lax Chandra, President of WizKids Games, "Paizo’s Pathfinder RPG has emerged as a leader in the RPG category and we are looking forward to working with their great brand.”

“WizKids essentially created the pre-painted plastic miniatures category, and they’ve only gotten better in the years since,” said Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens. “We are thrilled to work with WizKids to bring our iconic characters to tabletops all over the world.”

Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box pre-painted fantasy miniatures will be available at paizo.com and through WizKids distribution partners worldwide starting in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Are these prepainted plastic miniatures included in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box?
A: The Beginner Box includes more than 80 full-color pawns, but it does not include any prepainted plastic miniatures. This set is a separate product designed to complement the Beginner Box or stand on its own.

Q: Are the miniatures in this set randomized?
A: It's a fixed set of miniatures. The exact list of minis will be announced soon.

Q: How much will this set cost?
A: The exact price will be announced soon. Expect the price to be comparable to similar WizKids miniatures boxed sets.

Q: Will this set be part of Paizo's Pathfinder Roleplaying Game subscription?
A: This set is produced by WizKids under license from Paizo, and is not part of any Paizo subscription.

Q: How does this affect the Pathfinder Miniatures line from Reaper Miniatures?
A: Reaper Miniatures has been producing unpainted metal Pathfinder Miniatures since Fall 2009, and they will continue to do so.

Q: Do these miniatures use Reaper's sculpts?
A: These miniatures use all-new sculpts by WizKids.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Thanks for letting us know - good news that we'll have more options for miniatures.

 

[Treebore]

Realize this is only a "one shot" product. Unless, as Lisa Stevens put it, it "sells like gangbusters."

 

[BriarMonkey]

Yes, keep in mind that this WizKids run is a single set, and is not the start of a line of minis.

Of course, if it does well, it may go on - but that is not what is on the table.

 

[Kzach]

I'm a little bit surprised that they're taking such a huge risk like this, after all, WotC couldn't make it profitable, what makes them think they (Paizo) can?

Not that I'm complaining, mind you, I *love* pre-painted plastic minis. I loathe metal minis. I want minis I can throw on the table in hordes and I want hordes of minis to choose from. The last thing I want to worry about is minis getting banged up, and having to paint them all and carry them all around in a protected case.

I just wish the majority of gamers would think the same as I do and buy the damn things so they'd be more successful.

On the matter of price, how much are WizKids other 'similar' boxed sets?

 

[Dykstrav]

I'm a little bit surprised that they're taking such a huge risk like this, after all, WotC couldn't make it profitable, what makes them think they (Paizo) can?

From a certain business perspective, it makes a lot of sense. The 800-pound gorilla has stepped out of the room, so it stands to reason that someone might want to meet demand. My question is whether or not the demand will be all that great.

I think they're doing it right in making a limited run, non-random product. That's exactly what Wizards of the Coast is doing with miniatures products now, such as the beholder miniatures set that my wife got me for Christmas. Seems like the way to minimize the risk while sticking a toe in the waters--sounds like a smart move to me.

I'd get miniatures again if the quality improved. That's what killed Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures to me... Around 2008-2009, the sculpts and paintings schemes started to resemble something out of the quarter machines in the grocery store lobbies. I used to buy Underdark and War of the Dragon Queen by the case... And I'd buy miniatures by the case again, if they looked that good again.

The fact that people are speculating on a possible future line of pre-painted plastic miniatures from Paizo indicates (to me, anyways) that there is some sort of demand for the product.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I'm a little bit surprised that they're taking such a huge risk like this, after all, WotC couldn't make it profitable, what makes them think they (Paizo) can?

For one thing, it's Wizkids who is making them, and they seem to be doing alright with the prepainted plastic. Also Paizo managed to make adventures profitable, which WOTC has not seemed to pull off.

If the first release sold well, the strategy I would use would be to release a set for each new adventure path that featured minis specific to that path. Sure you could use any old wizard, but if there is a specific mini for Karzoug, Runelord of Greed, plenty of people will buy that instead (just like how Raistlin and Elminster are double the price of generic rare wizards on the secondary market).

 

[Aberzanzorax]

I have two D&D groups that bought WotC minis, and a very sizeable amount of them. Both groups had the same "evolution" of buying behavior.

1. At first, they bought the random sets. This was the cheapest way at first.

2. Then, after having a fair assortment of minis, both groups switched to buying specific minis (from websites that bought randoms and then sold them secondhand) to round out the sets (either for completion or because we wanted a crudload of the same one to represent all of the same thing). This was more expensive in some cases, but less expensive in others (getting a bunch of commons, but no chance at a rare).

3. Then buying slowed quite a bit, with only buying specific neat minis or those to represent a BBEG. I'd say this was the point where we stopped being customers who gave much profit to the line.

4. Then buying all but ended, with the quality decreasing and our collections pretty robust. Since we were only buying "really cool" minis, and the quality was down, this was increasingly harder to do.



"Ok, Aberzanzorax, what's your point?"



Point is, I think both WotC and Paizo are doing a good thing by getting rid of the random collectible aspect of minis (which I also thought they did a good thing with the Harrow and Despair decks respectively versus the collectible fortune cards, which I personally despise).

I like to design my games (or play in designed games). They are based on adventures/plots/player motives/etc, and I honestly don't need random elements that are not intentional on my part (e.g. an exeption would be random encounters that I want to put it for fun/realism).



I think, in order to get my groups to buy minis again, we'd need thematic sets that were not random. The direction of both companies seems to fit our needs, at least partly, but it could be improved even more.


Even better, for my groups, would be:

WotC - highlight their special IP creatures (beholder, illithid), and do so along a very nice theme. E.G. Their beholder pack is a perfect example of this, but I'd also love things to accompany it such as a stone statue for players turned to stone, perhaps a thin tower with a movable base to represent flight and height. Along with the minis they could include the powers and stats on cards of each monster to make them easily run (similar to player power cards, but for DMs). For WotC, I'd want to see the minis be specific monsters I can buy, but also other additions like the cards and mini "props" that make using them in game easier and more fun.


Paizo could do something very cool to accompany their adventure paths. I get the impression that the adventure path is quite a substantial component of Paizo's Pathfinder line (in terms of moneymaking).

If so, I actually would like to see a separate "minis" subscription that would complement the APs. (That way people who don't use minis can just get the AP, and people who don't use the AP could get a thematic set of minis.) Each month, it'd be cool to get every mini you'd need for a given adventure in the path. The cool thing about this, too, would be that, since they know what they're publishing, they could actually set up reusable minis in adventure one for inclusion in later adventures along the path (e.g. a necromancy path could have some skeletons in adventure one, and you could reuse them for every skeleton throughout the path).


Basically, what I'd like to see is for both companies to sell me minis for the way I (and most groups, I imagine) use them in their games. Connect them to the game I'm playing, and I'll want to buy them. Present me with generic minis (of even good quality) and I'm probably not going to pay them much attention.


So far, so good, I'm looking forward to see what the future of these shall be.

 

[Walking Dad]

WizKids working with RPG makers is a good sign.

I would restart buying HeroClicks boosters if they make a Freedom City (Mutants&Masterminds Super Hero setting from Green Ronin) version.

 

[Dannager]

If the first release sold well, the strategy I would use would be to release a set for each new adventure path that featured minis specific to that path. Sure you could use any old wizard, but if there is a specific mini for Karzoug, Runelord of Greed, plenty of people will buy that instead (just like how Raistlin and Elminster are double the price of generic rare wizards on the secondary market).

While this would be super amazing awesome if they did it, it seems pretty improbable. One of the biggest hurdles they'd have to overcome is convincing people to buy all of these minis after the entire adventure path is complete. Since later adventures in the path aren't necessarily finished by the time the first adventure comes out, and because it takes time to sculpt and produce a line of minis, there will naturally be a pretty lengthy gap of time between the release of an adventure path and the release of its accompanying minis set. This means that any DMs who decide to run the adventure path when it comes out (or even a few months after it comes out) will probably be a good chunk of the way through the campaign before the minis are released, which makes them much less likely to spend the cash buying a set of minis that includes monsters the party has already killed.

In order to make this feasible, Paizo would have to have an adventure path finished months in advance, and not release it until the accompanying minis set is ready to ship. This would require that Paizo find an extra six months or so under the couch cushions, though, so I won't be holding my breath.

Also, if they were to create minis for every monster/noteworthy NPC in the adventure path, the entire path's minis would probably sell for in excess of $300, even if some encounters re-used minis.