Pre-Painted Plastic Minis!!!

[trancejeremy]

Well, it has to be random. Otherwise it wouldn't really be a collectible game. And if it's not a collectible game, chances are it won't sell all that well. (Yes, there's Warhammer, but that seems a market of it's own).

Still, I would imagine that WOTC will also release non-random packs with a general theme. Or mostly non-random packs. Wizkids did this, too. They didn't sell, but they offered them.

Of course, with those, you didn't get any rare or even really good figures. Because of that, MK fans didn't buy them, but there wasn't a MK RPG. D&D fans could very well buy them.

Anyway, people who use pre-painted plastic minis do care about visuals, but "Quality pewter minis, pain-stakingly painted" are not an option for everyone. Some of us can't paint. Some of us don't want to. Some of us can't afford to spend a lot of money on figures. Some of us think that 'pewter' minis are an abomination, that minis should be made out of lead. If not lead, then might as well be plastic.

I've never understood the hard-core painting types. They'll always have metal minis to paint - there are dozens of companies, some make figures that look suspiciously like D&D monsters and races and such. But they're only happy when they can deny the existence of painted plastic figures to others.

(I remember when I was a kid, I used to play fantasy war games, but I couldn't paint. And the hard-core painter types wouldn't let me use non-painted figures. So I would just dip them into the paint, like easter eggs. Heh).

 

[Bagpuss]

Yeah the random packs thing is the real problem I have. I've bought a Mage Knight Pyramid starter and two boosters.

In the boosters your get 4 figures, the hero in the first booster was identical to one of the ones in my starter and 2 of the figures in the second booster were identical to the ones in the first.

Random packs are a pain. If you want a number of individual figures you end up with useless duplicates. If you want a group of orcs say you end up with lots of useless figures.

Now in Mage Knight it isn't too much of a problem since if your friends are playing you can swap with them, and it doesn't call for mass groups of similar figures to be playable either.

But with D&D, lets be honest its only likely to be the DM that buys these figures for the monsters and NPC's and so he'll have no one to trade with. Plus the way D&D is played he'll want massed groups of similar figures which could only be obtained by buying lots of packets and hoping for the best.

I'ld much rather see themed packs, like "Orc Invasion" which contains a number of plastic orc warriors (many of which can be the same) and orc hero and an orc shaman.

 

[Renaissance Man]

Count me amongst those who are jazzed for a more affordable alternative to traditional metal minis. As for the debate over the CCG approach, I'm hoping for semi-random packaging: it would be nice, for example, to grab a blister pack containing random creatures of a particular challenge rating spread. I think that's where you'd see the most bang for your buck.

 

[Darrin Drader]

I am very excited about them and look forward to not having to pay someone with artistic talent to paint them.

On the other hand, I know some purists who say that they will buy them, but will still paint them.

Either way, I think its great.

 

[frankthedm]

At least www.pjccmall.com said the would likely stock singles for the game. Lets hope we can get the singles cheaply.

It isn't the best choice but the pewter mini market is quite small compared to the kinda sales Ha$bro wants its products to have. It would either have to be collectable or have Game workshop prices. And if you think Gouge Workshops prices are fair, WAKE THE

UP! Money hemmoraging fools like you who pay those prices are why they get away with the crap they pull.

The only thing I would dislike is if the paint can't be stripped off of the minis. For example, if the plastic is weaker than the paint.

 

[Olive]

Re: Pre-Painted Plastic

Quality pewter minis, pain-stakingly painted, show a deep level of commitment to asthetics and role-playing in general. Some people don't like to use the little green plastic army guys to represent a hobgoblin tribal adept and his band of acolytes. If you do, fine. But people who care more about that particular aspect of the game would like the oppurtunity to develop such an outlet.

oh please. how many usable DnD minis get made now? assuming you don't regularly use gnolls? right...

so the people who care about that aspect of the game are changing situation not at all.

and don't get me started on the 'deep committment' you show to role playign by painting minis. i love it when people try to justify their hobbies. "i paint minis cos... uh... i'm deeply committed to role playing! yeah, thats the ticket. not cos I like painting minis."

 

[Darrin Drader]

Hey, its great that you love to paint minis, thereby showing your deep love of the hobby. I like to show my deep love of the hobby by hanging out here, writing stuff for various companies, and actually gaming once in a while. I don't have a love of painting minis, and welcome the pre-painted ones. And for those of you who love painting minis, that's great. There are lots of companies still producing unpainted pewter minis, such as Reaper, Ral-Partha (or whoever owns them now), and Games Workshop, among many others. I applaud WotC for making my gaming experience that much easier to enjoy. I can't wait to see them.