Sell me on D&D Miniatures

[Psychic Warrior]

I have used and collected minis for a long time (even before I started playing D&D) and I have never developed into a stellar, or fast, painter. For me the WotC minis were very helpful as i suddenly had tons of painted minis to use. That being said I still paint minis representing PCs (usually pewter but I have re-painted a few WotC minis) but I love having the right mini for the right monster (or at least something big and scary to act as a stand in). Players get very axious when you plunk a huge Behir in front of their tiny minis and you say "You see that rushing towards out of the darkness."

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

D&D minis have taken off in a manner I never expected. They really are the best thing since sliced bread, IMHO, and all indications are that they'll continue to grow in popularity. I'd be worried if I was a metal minis company (sure, the quality is better but D&D minis are now snagging a huge part of the metal mini consumers who used to buy them b/c that's all there was; now consumers can buy mass minis cheaply and only buy special metal minis - I know I do now!).

In the beginning, I thought D&D minis would be a limited run. As a result, I felt I had to grab stuff while I could b/c I'd only get one chance. I've since realized that D&D minis aren't going anywhere so there's no need to buy those Harbringer wolves b/c Deathknell has timber wolves.

Can't wait for Deathknell (although my bank account can!!!).

 

[Li Shenron]

I have been close to buying some a couple of times, but so far resisted. In Europe they are at least +50% more expensive, and it's difficult to buy them from the secondary market (because all the serious websites are in US).

You sound to me like you may have a similar feeling as me, tell me if thiese are true for you:
- I'd want to buy about 20 (let's say 5-6 choices for current PCs + about 15 monsters)
- I'd use them in RPG only, as I care nothing for the mini game itself
- I'd be glad to spend up to 30$
- In no way I'd buy them random (so secondary market is mandatory)
- If I liked the first "batch", I'd probably buy another 20 after a couple of months, and then again...

Now what's really prevented me to buy them at the end is that I live in EU. Buying them from a US website (while it has some small advantage with the currency) means to be affected by (1) surprise high shipping costs, (2) possible tax fees, (3) security risks with credit card.
Buf if you're in US you have none of these problems, and you can easily buy those above for that price, if you don't buy rares: many uncommons and some commons (at least in sets from GoL towards) have the same quality of rares for much lower prices. If you really really love 2-3 rares you can buy too them even if they're more costly than good metal minis.

Another problem I have is with Large figures. In RPG it is extremely unlikely NOT to meet big monsters in every adventure (Ogres, Giants, and of course Dragons), however almost all these are Rares and are among the most expensive of the rares - unless you want a Destrachan For example, in many mid-level adventures I'd like to have 3-4 Ogres at the same time (ok, there's the new Ogre in the next set, but it totally sucks).
Rather than spending 10$ for a large rare creature, consider spending 5$ for a huge uncommon!

Eventually there was a guy 3 weeks ago making a marketing survey on these forums. His company was planning to make minis very similar to the WotC ones (except that they weren't linked to the skirmish game at all, just figures), pre-painted low-price plastic, only not randomize. That would at least make large figures very cheap, or force WotC to release more large uncommons.

I don't mind throwing down $20 on a double-handful of minis that'll actually see use, but I'm not sure what the odds of that are -- what with the randomized content and all.

 

[Gez]

I have been close to buying some a couple of times, but so far resisted. In Europe they are at least +50% more expensive.

Not true. I bought a couple of Giants of Legend packs for 11.95€ each from Amazon.fr.

Now, of course, they're sold 15.95€ instead of 12. But even then, it amounts to less than $13 US, so I will certainly not call that +50% more expensive (Amazon.com has them for $13.59 US).

I just looked at Amazon.de: 16.95€.

The only thing I reproach to Amazon is that they don't sell cases.

 

[Li Shenron]

Not true. I bought a couple of Giants of Legend packs for 11.95€ each from Amazon.fr.

Now, of course, they're sold 15.95€ instead of 12. But even then, it amounts to less than $13 US, so I will certainly not call that +50% more expensive (Amazon.com has them for $13.59 US).

I just looked at Amazon.de: 16.95€.

The only thing I reproach to Amazon is that they don't sell cases.

At least in shops they seemed to me about that more expensive. And of course, euro itself is about 30% more expensive than $

 

[Psychic Warrior]

Another problem I have is with Large figures. In RPG it is extremely unlikely NOT to meet big monsters in every adventure (Ogres, Giants, and of course Dragons), however almost all these are Rares and are among the most expensive of the rares - unless you want a Destrachan For example, in many mid-level adventures I'd like to have 3-4 Ogres at the same time (ok, there's the new Ogre in the next set, but it totally sucks).

sucks? have you actually, y'know, seen it? Possibl;y one of the large figures we seen to date (only the Frost and Fire Giants beat it, imo). Aren't you being just a little bit picky?

 

[Li Shenron]

sucks? have you actually, y'know, seen it? Possibl;y one of the large figures we seen to date (only the Frost and Fire Giants beat it, imo). Aren't you being just a little bit picky?

It's possible I've only seen the little pic of it, obviously not the real mini but at least from that angle I don't like it at all. It seemed to me too "punkish" with the red hair and the oversized morningstar. Maybe it's just off for my taste, and I'm being too traditionalist, but I liked the first Ogre mini 100 times more

 

[Li Shenron]

And BTW the 2 Fire and 1 Frost giants were indeed fantastic. A real pity that they're shamelessly expensive.

 

[diaglo]

my hat of the d02 WotC minis knows no limits.



the random nature spoils it more than anything for me.

edit: however, they are too expensive for plastic. they are poor sculpts. and the painting sucks too. my 5 year old god son paints better.

 

[Vrecknidj]

Once upon a time I was seriously considering not getting the miniatures because of the way they were packaged (randomized). However, I'd been using metal miniatures for years, and so was willing to at least take a look at them. The first few boxes of Harbinger miniatures I bought contained a wide variety of figures, and a wide variety of quality. Some of the miniatures looked childish or, at the least, as though they were made by someone without much talent. Some, however, were fantastic.

My sons and I decided, once we had a few miniatures, to play the minis game that was described in the rulebook that came with them. We played a few times but were definitely still more drawn to the RPG.

Still, we bought a few more here and there, and tried the minis game a few more times. Then the Dragoneye expansion came out, and we could get our hands on dragon miniatures. Many of the figures seemed to be of better quality, many of their stat cards included cool new powers, and we found that the minis game was getting more fun to play, and that the usefulness of the figures in our RPGs was increasing.

Next thing you know, it's today. I have over 1200 of these little suckers, littering my gaming room. I have DMed since 1980, so I have a rather extensive library of adventures and campaigns and whatnot, so I'm always finding some new use for a miniature. But, I've also now participated in several of the tournaments of the minis game and have found that I enjoy that game almost as much as role playing. In a way, the minis game is like a combination of 3.5 combat rules and chess. And, since I'm a fan of chess too, I've found the minis game to be great.

When I'm role playing, whether as DM or player, I bring my tackle boxes, all brimming with miniatures, and we usually have whatever we're going to need when we play. Sure it's cost me a few bucks, but my gaming group is large enough that we've been able to spread some of the cost around because some of the folks have continued buying the books, while I've continued buying (and trading) the miniatures.

All in all, it's been very positive for me. It might not be for you, who can say? But, I've found that the minis are great for the battlemat-friendly way that 3.5 combat works, and all my players have enjoyed seeing all the little representations of the things they're encountering.

Dave