Reaper to produce pre-painted Plastic minis - Non-random

[Glyfair]

"No competition"? I'm afraid you do stand corrected, at least insofar as saying the gaming demographic is not a significant chunk of DDM's customer base. It is, and that's why crappy little stirges were so damn hard to get a hold of. Gamers went nuts to amass their bloodsucking swarms. I think we're going to have a run on bats now with Unhallowed, just because they can stand in for stirges.

But I don't see any Reaper stirges to take that part of the market. So far Reaper's line consists of things pretty much everyone will use regularly. We have skeletons and orcs, with a troll, ogre and minotaur. All things that aren't hard to get for reasonable prices from the secondary market for DDM.

I don't doubt we'll see some more adventurous figures as the line advances. I doubt we'll see too many specialized figures until the line is a proven success.

As for stirges, WotC pointed out the reason they were uncommon rather than common was because the production was challenging (as it is for all their tiny figures). I doubt those challenges disappear for Reaper. So, if they do produce them, they will likely be more expensive than the standard orcs.

Still, I agree the gamer market is a significant chunk of DDM's audience (at place it at about 2/3, remembering that many of that 2/2 falls into multiple categories). However, to be competitive, Reaper has to give something significant that you can't get from DDM.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

But I don't see any Reaper stirges to take that part of the market. So far Reaper's line consists of things pretty much everyone will use regularly. We have skeletons and orcs, with a troll, ogre and minotaur. All things that aren't hard to get for reasonable prices from the secondary market for DDM.

02691: Stirges

The Auld Grump

 

[Felon]

Still, I agree the gamer market is a significant chunk of DDM's audience (at place it at about 2/3, remembering that many of that 2/2 falls into multiple categories). However, to be competitive, Reaper has to give something significant that you can't get from DDM.

Very good point about the customer base crossing multiple categories.

My hope for Reaper is that they stop competing with DDM's commonest of the common minis and start cranking out the stuff DDM confines to rares, or doesn't do at all.

I really, really, really thought it was stupidity personified to see a clay golem going for $40 and more. Think about that for a second. Think about how little there is to sculpting a creature that is just a walking chunk of clay in a crude semblance of a humanoid. Think about how meager the paintjob is on a featureless creature that would be monochromatic if not for its superfluous loincloth. And even by those standards, the actual mini was still pretty lousy with its steams standing out from a mile away. Forty bucks.

That's what I want to see Reaper put an end to. That and WotC simply not doing certain minis that are in demand and probably not that challenging to give us.

 

[Sammael]

That leaves the gamer, the RPG folks and the casual DDM player. But those aren't generally the primary market for the minis; they're more likely to accept alternatives and shop on the secondary market. That's the crowd that Reaper is going after.

Actually, while we don't have the accurate data (and never will), the general consensus is that role-players make the vast majority of DDM purchases. Skirmish is not all that popular, and true collectors are few.

 

[JVisgaitis]

On a final note, I think it is a big error to refer to the secondary market as a "small slice".

I could be wrong, but I can't see eBay accounting for more then 1/4 of the DDM sales (even 1/4 seems a lot to me). Maybe I'm wrong, who knows? The point I'm trying to make is that the success of either product line has nothing substantial to do with eBay.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Prices are ok for the skeletons and Orcs. I will get some Orc Archers as that is an impossible mini to get for any reasonable price from DDM. The rest probably not as I have tons of Orcs, Skeletons, Ogres and minotaurs.

 

[Pbartender]

The first wave is up:
http://www.reapermini.com/

Those prices are a little more than I'd hoped for , but at the same time they're a bit less than I expected... Roughly along the lines, if not just a bit cheaper, than most unpainted metal minis. If the quality is reasonable, I'll definitely be buying these.

I had bigger and more emotionally troubling fish to fry.

Apparently. So much so that the answers given caused you forget your telltale font in your previous post...

Okay.

I voiced my concern at Reaper and two very nice posts by ReaperClarke and ReaperBryan have definitely gone a great distance towards allaying my fears:

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Those prices look nice to me, if the paint job and sculpt quality is better than the DDM, it would be hard to be worse though, I'll be buying these left and right. I don't buy DDM since I always seem to get crappy packs with the rare being a Warforged or some crap like that.

 

[Falstaff]

This is just what I've been looking for. I have zero interest in buying metal minis and painting them and I have zero interest in buying randomly packaged minis from WotC.

Thank you Reaper! I will be buying lots of these.

 

[JoeGKushner]

The first wave is up:
http://www.reapermini.com/
20001_____ Skeleton Swordsmen (3) $ 5.79
20002_____ Skeleton Archers (3) $ 5.79
20003_____ Skeleton Spearmen (3) $ 5.79
20004_____ Skeleton Swordsman $ 1.99
20005_____ Skeleton Archer $ 1.99
20006_____ Skeleton Spearman $ 1.99
20007_____ Orc Warriors with Scimitars (3) $ 6.99
20008_____ Orc Archers (3) $ 6.99
20009_____ Orc Spearmen (3) $ 6.99
20010_____ Orc Warrior with Scimitar $ 2.49
20011_____ Orc Archer $ 2.49
20012_____ Orc Spearman $ 2.49
20013_____ Cave Troll $ 3.99
20014_____ Ogre Chieftain $ 4.99
20015_____ Minotaur of the Maze $ 5.99

Cheers!

Do we know what type of bases these will be on? I'm curious if they'll be compatible with Warlord right out of the box.

I'm also wondering if we'll see a master book with all orcs (or skeletons) in it.