D&D 5E Tyranny of Dragons D&D minis

[Primal]

If you already have hundreds of mini's you are probably not the main target of these minis. They are the first minis for the new edition, which means they are going to sell a bunch of generic minis that a completely new gamer would want. So expect lots of orcs goblins and common PC minis.

Heh, I may be an exception to this, because I have something like 500+ minis, and yet I always want more; especially generic minis. Even though my collection is large, I still don't have spiders or scorpions of all sizes, or enough different kinds of orcs to represent a larger war party. I hate using "stand-ins" for, say, centipedes, especially wrong "shaped" and/or sized minis (e.g. a large demon for a medium centipede).

I probably have enough humans and demihumans, but more the merrier; especially to use as PC minis (I love if the minis *actually* resemble PCs).

I want generic fantasy minis, not world-specific or representing a certain genre (e.g. Dark Sun minis or pirate-themed sets). I'm fine with FR or Greyhawk NPCs, though, because they are mostly generic fantasy characters.

 

[CM]

Anxiously awaiting yet another re-imagining of kobold minis...

Anyway I have been cherry-picking some of the Pathfinder minis from ebay to add to my collection, looking forward to these joining the herd.

 

[Scorpio616]

And place your bets now on if the tactical combat grid will be tied into the main rules instead of an optional module as Wotc has been claiming.

 

[Stormonu]

And place your bets now on if the tactical combat grid will be tied into the main rules instead of an optional module as Wotc has been claiming.

No worries here. They're having a 3rd party (Wizkids) make the minis instead of themselves. I think they also saw the writing on the wall of that one with the short lifespan of the board game & dungeon command. This time around, they're letting someone else take the risk and just reap the royalties.

<Edit> You also have to wonder when someone higher up in Hasbo is going to go "Hey - wait a minute. We manufacture toys, and we used to make those minis. We even went so far as to make our own Lego-knockoff brand so we didn't have to outsource. Why are you guys having Wizkids make those minis?"

(My thought is "To undermine Pathfinder. People will want 'Official' D&D minis instead of some other company's knock-offs. And once we hook 'em, we can start manufacturing our own again and ween 'em back off Wizkids.")

 

[MortalPlague]

And place your bets now on if the tactical combat grid will be tied into the main rules instead of an optional module as Wotc has been claiming.

I'll take that bet.

There's no way the tactical grid will be tied into the main rules. We'd have seen it somewhere by now.

When I DM'ed 5th Edition at PAX, they strongly encouraged us to use Theatre Of The Mind instead of a grid. In fact, they insisted we use it for at least the first encounter just to make sure both players and DMs got a taste of it.

The only time I break out a grid for 5th Edition is for complicated fights with lots of monsters.

 

[Herschel]

As a couple of others have said, I hope they're more surable than those craptastic Pathfinder minis. I lve minis but when I pick up a few boosters to check them out and 1-in-3 has a broken mini in it my buying is going to be rather limited.

 

[am181d]

<Edit> You also have to wonder when someone higher up in Hasbo is going to go "Hey - wait a minute. We manufacture toys, and we used to make those minis. We even went so far as to make our own Lego-knockoff brand so we didn't have to outsource. Why are you guys having Wizkids make those minis?"

I assume it's cheaper for WizKids, since it's their core business and it's building on work that they're already doing. (Presumably they can keep the exact same supply chain as for the Pathfinder minis.) Meanwhile, Hasbro would have to start up and justify an entire extra business that was not profitable enough for them in the past.

 

[adamc]

You think? I wonder, depending on the customer demographic. ...

I suspect that Drizzt-fans who play D&D and buy minis for their games is not a huge group, and I suspect it becomes very small if you narrow that to those who will actually use Drizzt or a simulacrum in their game.

So I suspect the target demographic is gamers who like Drizzt, or at least think a scimitar-wielding ranger is cool, and will buy a set containing that figure without the intent to use. How big is that demographic, and are they a subset of the collector group or the tabletop gamer group (understanding that there is a large overlap between the groups)?

I agree there will certainly more attracted to the product by Drizzt than repulsed by him, but I wonder how the numbers actually stack up.

Based on after-market sales prices (e.g., miniaturemarket.com or similar), I'd say Drizzt is pretty popular. I'm not at all a fan of the fiction (then again, I'm not much of a fan of D&D fiction period), but I'd be fine with getting the mini randomly or something. I wouldn't pay what the aftermarket demands because I don't really need a Drizzt mini; it isn't as though he's a character in my games.

 

[adamc]

Anyway I have been cherry-picking some of the Pathfinder minis from ebay to add to my collection, looking forward to these joining the herd.

Same. At this point, I have enough minis that I am less likely to buy original run and more likely to look at the aftermarket, picking out exactly what I need.

 

[delericho]

There were only two pre-painted Drizzts: one in the Archfiends sets and one in the non-random Legend of Drizzt pack. And let's face it, anyone not wanting a Drizzt mini probably should have avoided buying something called Legend of Drizzt...) On the non pre-painted side, there was a generic dual-wielding drow ranger in the 2002 City of the Spider Queen Miniatures set of metal minis, and more recently, Gale Force Nine released the Drizzt Do'Urden, Drow Ranger limited edition miniature in their Collector's Series line.

I have an old Ral Partha Drizzt. Of course, that predates WotC's involvement.

This. All of this. I am so sick of Faerun, and I love Dark Sun. WotC has made 2 thri-kreen minis, and what? About 7 Drizzts? If they ever made a solid set (40 or so) of Dark Sun minis, I'd blow way too much money on them.

Sadly, if they produced a set that was nothing but Drizzt, it would probably outsell those Dark Sun minis.

And place your bets now on if the tactical combat grid will be tied into the main rules instead of an optional module as Wotc has been claiming.

Nah, I can't see it. It made sense for them to do that when the D&D Minis line was selling so well, but now that that line has been cancelled, and miniatures have once again been relegated to the status of licensed product, it doesn't make sense any more - why hamper sales of your own offering in order to push someone else's product?