What're your opinions of the new D&D Miniatures line so far?

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

I'm looking forward to these, if only to have a chance at getting some different minis to add to my collection. I'm an ok painter, so having these come prepainted will be great for filling out the hordes that I'd rather not paint, letting me concentrate on the individual figs that I really want to paint, not having to worry about "Well, I need 10 orcs and 15 goblins for next week."

As for the plastic, I'm not really that picky. Yeah, it would be nice if they are the hard plastic like GW, but if they end up like Mage Knight, its not problem since like I said before, I'll most likely just use these to fill out the holes in my collection, they aren't going to be showcase figs. I'm not really concerned if an orc has a bent sword, I just want an bunch of orcs on the battlefield.

After I buy a few boxes to see what the variety is and what they are like, chances are I'll end up buying loose figs from my game shop (where they have done the same w/ Heroclix) or trading with others online or around town. I'm not too concerned with not being able to get a specific fig, unless its something I need for sn upcoming game and there isn't a comparable fig available elsewhere.

If these end up being a big letdown and they bomb, it's no big deal, there is always Reaper to fall back on.

 

[TalonComics]

Cheap, plastic minis is one thing but making them with a rarity level is just plain stupid. How hard would have been just to make sets of plastic minis ala Fiery Dragon Press's Counter Collection series? I can see it now...
Blister packs come in 3 basic sizes: Small sets of 3 large figures for 4.95, booster sets of 8 for 9.95 and then the starter sets of 18 figures for 19.95. They don't have to make them collectible but they could put in a special repaint or variant in the starter to get more people to buy those. Beyond these packages they could then do "theme blister packs" based on catagories of monsters in the MM. Just off the top of my head, dungeon dwellers, orcs, elementals, goblins, demons and devils... And adventurers!

Come on WotC, don't makes us guess what's in the box! Money is tight enough already without have to blow cash on a crappy booster. Make them clear blister packs! Screw collectibilty and gambling that I will get what I want.

~D

 

[Zaruthustran]

i'm into them... although i did hear a suggestion that the painted minis we saw in those pics are hand painted promos, not machine painted production figs, so the paint job may not be as good...

I recently toured Wizkids and had the opportunity to talk to Jeff Grace, the miniatures director. Wizkids minis are not machine painted. They're *all* hand-painted in Chinese shops. For reference, the painters are given access to a very high-quality "source" figure as well as artwork.

So add me to the list of folks who couldn't be more excited about the prepainted plastic D&D Miniatures figures. I'm really excited about the game, and am eager to also use the figures in my regular D&D game.

-z, pointing out the fact that these are figures for the D&D Miniatures game, which can also be used for D&D.

 

[jgbrowning]

Second, WoTC may have a point about the Secondary Market. If you're a DM and you need 5 or 6 orcs, then yes, it's insane to buy Expansion Pack after Expansion Pack after Expansion Pack trying to get the necesserary number of orcs. However, if your game store is anything like mine, then that's not a problem.

I'm not buying this, nor the minatures, because of the randomness. There would be no need for a secondary market if WotC wouldn't refuse to simply allow their customers to buy only what their customers want.

They should be making it easier for me to buy their products that I want, not harder.

joe b.

 

[Marius Delphus]

Add me to the list of folks that are wincing at the prospect of another ill-conceived minis line from WOTC.

Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love the idea of cheaper per-mini costs. Especially for "grunt" troops like humanoids (kobolds on up) and other "cannon fodder." I'd buy a bag of (non-GW) orcs in a heartbeat. Goblins? Kobolds? Sign me up. I'll buy the metal and "paint to taste" for PCs and important NPCs, and I'll stick with cheap plastic for "reusables."

Rarity? Ugh. Time to go to the craft store, buy some dowel rods, cut to height and mount on bases. Instant "generic faceless horde" minis. Need something bigger? Use a bigger base, glue some paper to the dowel rod. Possibly with a scan/photocopy of the MM pic on the paper. Yeah... now *that's* a battlefield on a budget.

Ahem, anyway, drifting back on topic: color me biased, but I really believe this current attempt needs a tweak or two. I'm not interested in the Skinner game: the irrepressible desire to buy the *next* booster pack in the (vain) hope it'll have the mini I want. I opted out of CCGs for this reason, I opted out of Dragon Dice for this reason, I opted out of MageKnight etc. for this reason, and I'll opt out of D&D Minis for this reason. I don't have so much money that I can throw it away on cards/dice/miniatures I don't want.

I suppose I hope they turn a profit, because I have nothing against WOTC in general (quite the contrary). But still I fear....

 

[Storminator]

I really had no opinion about them earlier, but due to all the grousing about randomness I'm going to pick up a couple of boxes and write an adventure that uses every damn mini.

It's the home edition of Iron DM!

PS

 

[SemperJase]

Much like Chainmail, they are producing another miniatures game that no one wants. They want the Heroclix money and are stiffing thier customer base in the process.

I tend to agree with the first sentence. Business models based on knock-offs generally are not successful.

However, I don't see how they are stiffing their cusotmer base. If no one wants the game, how are they stiffing anyone?

Offering another option to compete for entertainment dollars hardly rates as "stiffing" in my book.

 

[Wormwood]

I really had no opinion about them earlier, but due to all the grousing about randomness I'm going to pick up a couple of boxes and write an adventure that uses every damn mini.

Stop reading my mind!

I'm planning to do a series of one-shots like 'The Sealed Deck Saga', 'Monster Surprise', 'Hunt for the Rare'.

 

[Green Knight]

I really had no opinion about them earlier, but due to all the grousing about randomness I'm going to pick up a couple of boxes and write an adventure that uses every damn mini.

It's the home edition of Iron DM!

PS

ROTFLMAO!!!

Hey, maybe we can have a competition? Anyone involved must buy 2 Expansion Packs and post a list of the 16 miniatures they got. Then they have to write an adventure involving every single miniature they got and run it. After they run it they then post what happened in Story Hour with a poll attached to it, so people can vote on them, voting on which ones are the most believable and made the best use of whatever eclectic group of monsters they got. Whoever writes the most coherent adventure wins.

 

[Fast Learner]

Re: Re: What're your opinions of the new D&D Miniatures line so far?

Yeah, if that's the paint job we'll be seeing, I'll certainly be picking these up. I see a lot of unpainted figures in the background, though, so I hope hope hope these are not just special paint jobs done for the trade show.

At GTS I spoke to the gentleman who's running this line for WOTC and asked "Seriously and honestly, are these real examples of precisely how the minis will be painted or are they specially-painted versions for the show?" I asked this, of course, because they looked much better than I expected them to.

He responded that they were examples of the finished product with the very same paint jobs they'll have when they're released. He noted that they're painted by the same folks who paint Hasbro's Star Wars action figures, and that the paint jobs should be at least that good.

(Edited to clarify that it's Hasbro that puts out SW action figures, not WOTC.)