Upcoming Changes to D&D Minis Line

[Nebulous]

My hope would be that they finally do themed sets, with specific assortments of related creatures. Maybe even larger boxed sets with all the monsters you need for a small adventure.

I know those would have to be more expensive, but they might have broader appeal in the mass market.

A good idea, but something they should probably have done years ago. Now, there are so many orcs, goblins, undead, kobolds, gnolls, and trogolodyes and other lizard men on the market, they'd just be shoving more of the same stuff in our face. Unless you had never bought sets at all in the past.

Personally, i'd like smaller sets, maybe thirty in a set, with better quality and player races mixed in with monsters. A Dark Sun themed set would be awesome because it would be completely new ground for both monsters and player races.

 

[TerraDave]

Mostly because I think it would be amusing, I am going to predict that the go right back to how things used to be, skirmish game and all.

As noted over and over, the pcline really didn't make sense.

And actually, the above model is still the one that does.

A new mini game of some kind could very well be the future.

 

[avin]

Peter Lee said, if I record correctly, that he was trying to give the minis some kind of theme.

So in Legendary Evils you had a rare duergar acting as leader and a common duergar which you can have in bulks for using like minions.

Truly themed set would appeal to me and a lot of people, but I bet there would be people cursing Wotc for having too many deserted themed elves instead of traditional ones, or something like that.

 

[Oryan77]

A Dark Sun themed set would be awesome because it would be completely new ground for both monsters and player races.

The problem with that is that the majority of people buying minis probably aren't going to be playing Dark Sun. And there probably aren't going to be enough Dark Sun player buying minis to make the set profitable enough.

I sure hope they stop doing the visible mini boosters. I also hope they start throwing more minis in the boosters (the boosters feel so empty now with so few minis in them). Retail stores are getting screwed by these problems. And if retail stores aren't selling boosters, WoTC won't be making minis anymore.

 

[Dausuul]

IMO, the best way to do themed sets would be to orient the theme around a "monster faction" (orcs, goblins, drow, undead, etc.) and re-release old sculpts. I think there is definitely a market. Some of us already have a giant freaking army of orc minis and don't need more, but most DMs have a smaller supply, and if you're gearing up to run a campaign with orcs as the main villain race, you'll want to stock up. Orcs are like Lay's, you can't fight just one.

So, you pick a monster faction: orcs, let's say. Then you go through the history of DDM and pick out the most popular minis suitable for that faction. The orc faction would consist primarily of various orc minis, but could also include a variety of monsters that you might see accompanying orcs; dire boars, wolves, wyverns, ogres, human slaves.

Put the sculpts back in production with new paint jobs and give 'em new names. Spice up the set with a sprinkling of all-new chase rares, like an Aspect of Gruumsh, to whet the collectors' appetites. Market, manufacture, and ship. Then, when DMs want to run an orc-themed campaign arc, they can go out and buy up a bunch of "Factions: Orc Horde" boosters, and voila! Instant army.

(Just be sure to get it up front that this set consists of repaints plus a handful of new rares. Don't try to gloss over the existence of repaints... customers hate that.)

 

[Aeolius]

Mini's on demand! You design it on their web site and they 3d print it in color and ship it... I can dream can't I?

It's probably closer than you think, as I linked to in this thread

On a side note, could this be a leaked photo of WotC testing a larger line of minis?

 

[El Mahdi]

deleted

 

[Dannager]

It's not so much what they say as how they say it. They could state that they were making changes to the the line that better reflect how their customers use minis and couldn't say anything more about it now or something similar.

How is that any different from what he said? Do I need to quote him all over again?

We’re making some exciting changes to minis this year, and while I can’t tell you exactly what those changes are yet, the PH minis series didn’t support the new vision. As always, I’ll come back as soon as I have any new info, and if you have any questions, send them my way and I’ll answer whatever I’m able.

They have a new vision for the minis line (presumably based on how their customers use minis, since that's how businesses work), and they can't say anything more about it now but they'll let you know.

I mean, really, guys. It's like you've got nothing better to complain about, so instead of finding something reasonable to do, you decide to gripe about how excited the D&D guys are about an upcoming product line.

That doesn't strike you as a little crazy?

Instead, they sound like they are talking down to us like we are all small children or rabid fanboys. Furthermore, they used this tone before to promote 4E, and it was generally derided by the community. You'd think they would learn.

He wrote like he's talking to fans.

Here, I have a project for you. Go online, to any other fan site where the industry leaders actually bother to interact with their customers. Go find them talking about an upcoming product. I bet they're excited about it. I bet they often can't share anything substantive, but that they want you to know they're working on it and that they feel good about the plan.

That's how these things work. There's nothing wrong with it, you're not being talked down to, and frankly they are under no obligation to do even this much for you.

Oh, and no, the community did not deride them for their enthusiasm over the release of 4e. That would have been kind of pathetic. A handful of people did, but I shudder to think of what it might mean if that handful of people was actually representative of the tabletop community at large. We'd be in far worse shape than we are now.

 

[pollochicken]

IMO, the best way to do themed sets would be to orient the theme around a "monster faction" (orcs, goblins, drow, undead, etc.) and re-release old sculpts. I think there is definitely a market. Some of us already have a giant freaking army of orc minis and don't need more, but most DMs have a smaller supply, and if you're gearing up to run a campaign with orcs as the main villain race, you'll want to stock up. Orcs are like Lay's, you can't fight just one.

So, you pick a monster faction: orcs, let's say. Then you go through the history of DDM and pick out the most popular minis suitable for that faction. The orc faction would consist primarily of various orc minis, but could also include a variety of monsters that you might see accompanying orcs; dire boars, wolves, wyverns, ogres, human slaves.

Put the sculpts back in production with new paint jobs and give 'em new names. Spice up the set with a sprinkling of all-new chase rares, like an Aspect of Gruumsh, to whet the collectors' appetites. Market, manufacture, and ship. Then, when DMs want to run an orc-themed campaign arc, they can go out and buy up a bunch of "Factions: Orc Horde" boosters, and voila! Instant army.

(Just be sure to get it up front that this set consists of repaints plus a handful of new rares. Don't try to gloss over the existence of repaints... customers hate that.)

Thats definitely something I would like. I'd much rather have that then go out and buy a lot of singles on eBay before a session, even if a lot of them are repaints of old minis. But I doubt thats the majority opinion. Oh well, guess we'll see what happens in the end.

 

[Stormonu]

Why Hasbro - considering the Star Wars figure line, hasn't prodded WotC to rerelease the LJN line of figures, I don't understand. I mean, as much as the looks and qualities of figures have changed since they came out in the 80's, and with the likes of the WoW plastic figures, you'd think ol' Warduke and company would sell like hot cakes in this day and age. In fact, isn't Warduke one of the more costly figures from D&D mini line?

Using these guys for minis would be a blast, I would think - a whole new scale level for mini use.

I want this guy - he was my favorite figure from the LJN line, probably because he was the first one I ever got.