Reaper Miniatures Kickstarter

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

Every day I keep checking the KS page, I can't believe how much stuff has been added!!!!

 

[D'karr]

I already have 3000+ D&D minis but I broke down and pledged at the Vampire level. Gonna trade in Sophie for Orcpocalypse, probably...

AR

You will go to the Reaper system. There you will learn from Sophie, the Miniatures Master who instructed me.

Welcome to the "fig" side. Search your feelings, you know this to be true.

 

[D'karr]

Every day I keep checking the KS page, I can't believe how much stuff has been added!!!!

Believe and you can achieve. $53K for the next stretch goal. Drooling!!

 

[Olaf the Stout]

This Kickstarter is certainly an awesome deal, but is anyone worried that this will hurt Reaper's sales in the long run? At the moment there are over 8,000 backers, the vast majority of them at the Vampire level. Those people are likely getting so many minis that they probably won't need to buy any more unpainted minis for a couple of years (and longer than that for some people).

I have no idea how big Reaper's customer base is, but that sounds like quite a few potential buyers to not get any sales from for a while. Yes, they have taken over $1.6m in pledges at this points, but when most people are getting over 200 minis, many of which are Huge sized or bigger, how much money are they making. Once you take out shipping, Kickstarter and Amazon fees and the cost of actually making the molds and casting the minis I wouldn't think it would be a heck of a lot.

Obviously the people running Reaper must have some idea of what they're doing considering how long they have been around. But still, I do worry if they are getting in over their heads.

Olaf the Stout

 

[D'karr]

This Kickstarter is certainly an awesome deal, but is anyone worried that this will hurt Reaper's sales in the long run? At the moment there are over 8,000 backers, the vast majority of them at the Vampire level. Those people are likely getting so many minis that they probably won't need to buy any more unpainted minis for a couple of years (and longer than that for some people).

I have no idea how big Reaper's customer base is, but that sounds like quite a few potential buyers to not get any sales from for a while. Yes, they have taken over $1.6m in pledges at this points, but when most people are getting over 200 minis, many of which are Huge sized or bigger, how much money are they making. Once you take out shipping, Kickstarter and Amazon fees and the cost of actually making the molds and casting the minis I wouldn't think it would be a heck of a lot.

Obviously the people running Reaper must have some idea of what they're doing considering how long they have been around. But still, I do worry if they are getting in over their heads.

Olaf the Stout

The cost of the minis and the shipping is peanuts compared to the cost of producing the molds for plastic.

That is where Reaper will recoup all their costs, and make their money. The molds for plastic are not like the ones for metal. The rubber molds for metal have a limited amount of uses, before they have to be remade, but they are somewhat "cheap" to produce. With plastic that is not the case, basically making the molds is very expensive, relatively, but you can use them almost indefinitely.

The problem right now is that the price of tin, used for the casting of pewter miniatures, has gone through the roof. This makes the manufacturing of metal miniatures expensive, and the consumer eats that cost almost directly. When the consumer is presented with an option for a cheaper alternative at the same quality level, it's almost a no-brainer to go for the cheaper alternative. Enter plastic.

The problem with plastic is that the initial up front cost is very expensive, so the consumer eats that cost and plastic does not drop in price until a later time.

However, if Reaper is able to subsidize the cost of mold production then they can produce miniatures at a much cheaper cost, and pass that to the consumer/investor. Right now the people putting their money on the Kickstarter are basically investing in the future of Reaper Plastic. Their return on investment is being payed out in miniatures, which Reaper will be able to mass produce at a relatively cheap price because the cost of the molds has been subsidized by the investors.

For the foreseeable future Reaper does not have to pay to produce new molds for the Bones line, and they get to produce a much more extensive line of quality plastic miniatures that the consumer wants. They make their money in volume and time. The upfront cost of the molds (the expensive investment) is covered. From that point on, the production costs start getting much cheaper. They can also capitalize in volume because they get to put larger orders for plastic, which drops the price even more. When they eventually move the production to their own facilities they make even more.

It's good to be on the "ground floor" of an opportunity like this. Reaper wanted enough money to produce molds for 30 additional miniatures. They were only asking for $30K. They have blown the doors of that by an incredibly significant factor.

Even though there's a large amount of people that are investing right now does not mean that there is not an even more significant amount of people that are not investing and will continue to buy Reaper Plastic for years to come, and over time the market continues to be refreshed with retail consumers.

 

[czak]

Hydra and lizardmen are funded. Next goal, griffon and owlbear:

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I wouldn't call the cost of shipping peanuts. Let's assume that shipping costs $30 per person. I'm not sure what shipping costs are like in the US, but there is no way that Reaper will be able to ship a Vampire package to me in Australia for anywhere near $30. And that's without me ordering any figure cases (which I will). Now obviously they are shipping the majority of their packages to the US, but those that are going to Australia, Asia and Europe will bring the average shipping cost up quite a bit. Add to that the cost of shipping everything to the US in the first place and I think shipping would be in the ballpark of $300k. That certainly isn't anything to be sneezed at.

Olaf the Stout

 

[frankthedm]

The Vampire level is getting to be such a steal that it's starting to make the add-ons look... expensive?

They add up so fragging fast!

I already have 3000+ D&D minis but I broke down and pledged at the Vampire level. Gonna trade in Sophie for Orcpocalypse, probably...

Definitely. $25 for one mini because she's metal, limited edition and potential naked ... or $25 Gargantuan Dracolich. Neither will show up often in campaigns but I'm more comfortable showing off a painted monster rather than a painted pin up.

This Kickstarter is certainly an awesome deal, but is anyone worried that this will hurt Reaper's sales in the long run?

In the long run they are doomed no matter what they do. They have to hurry. 3D printing is not yet a threat to miniature manufacturers, but it will be in the coming decades. This is a calculated risk to make the money they can before the majority of people can grab a render of a fantasy figure and 3D print it at home with quality in durable plastic for a low cost{factoring both printer and material cost].

And here is a picture showing how much bigger Nethyrmaul is compared to Deathsleet.

 

[Treebore]

A lot of people really don't seem to get what Kickstarters really are. Rather than have to go look to banks or other "investment" groups, KS's allow fans to be the investors.

So right now Reaper has 1.6 MILLION and growing in investments. Interest free, with no investors to answer to unless they fail to deliver what they promise us. All they have to do is pay us back with a bunch of mini's that I am sure will actually cost them less than $.50 each to actually make, and that difference, that "profit" is what will help them pay for all the molds they need to make. All without having to go into debt to some "investment group", a bank, or otherwise. I have no doubt the people at Reaper are absolutely giddy over all this.

Will this hurt sales for the short term? Maybe. But the long term return on this is still going to be much higher.

In my case, I know Reaper still has a lot more mini's I want to buy even after this Kickstarter is over, and in fact, I think the excitement these mini's will generate when I hold them in my hands will encourage me to buy the others much faster than I have been over the last couple of years. So if that happens, for me and a significant number of the other 8000 "investors", Reaper will still profit off of us and our new enthusiasm from this.

After all, I have had dozens of mini's wait years to be painted, what do I care if that number goes up to 200+? If anything I'll look at all that undone work and make myself get busy.

 

[Zulithe]

So, are the reaper paints in the kickstarter a good bargain for a newbie painter? I always hear people talking up citadel paints for their quality. Will I be disappointed in the reaper paints?