Worried about new minis?

[Azzy]

My thought exactly. And I don't care for ebay or second market. You can't order something to second market, and ebay or similar sites are similarily unreliable.

Yep, then there's markup, shipping costs, a lag period between ordering an recieving. Lazy? Right, I have better things to do with my time and money.

 

[Zaruthustran]

A couple of points y'all seem to be missing. (Funny, folks seems to be exhibiting the same depth as do most media interviewers.)

And you seem to be missing (or ignoring) every point Merric and I have made.

Point 1:
*) A lot of the target audience is children;
*) The packaging is designed to promote irrational behavior;
*) Children are very susceptible to irrational behavior;
WOTC is taking advantage of children.

Funny, you're using the same sensationlized leaps of illogic as most media "journalists".

According to your inflamatory bullets, *every company that markets childrens' products* is "taking advantage of" children.

Point 2:
*) You could get 8 figs for 10 bucks;
*) But, you might use anywhere from 0 to all 8 figs;
*) Let's say that you use half;
*) You spent 5 bucks on figs that you didn't use;
*) Paying for production, transportation, and retail space;
*) That's 5 bucks that didn't go to the figs that you used;
*) Wouldn't you rather spent all 10 bucks on those 4 figs?
WOTC is using a gimmick to make more money, at a cost to the
value that they provide to you.

First, using a gimmick to make money is not remarkable. What, you think the girl from The Bachelorette actually cares about KFC's new boneless chicken wings?

Second, every player of D&D Miniatures will use and find value in every figure from a D&D Miniatures pack. Every one. I suspect you're still looking at this from the POV of a D&D RPG player. Get it straight: THEY ARE DIFFERENT GAMES!

Complaining that the packaging of figures for D&D Miniatures isn't perfect for players of D&D RPG is just as silly as complaining that the packaging of Axis & Allies figures isn't perfect for players of Squad Leader. Remember: D&D Miniatures is not D&D RPG.

Point 3:
*) I suppose that the actual costs for 8 figs is less than a
dollar;
*) If you don't believe me, checkout what you can buy retail
at any dollar store;
-snip-
WOTC vastly overcharging for their figs, under the disguise of
quantity sales, they are hiding inefficiencies.

I made a big snip after your second point, since just about everyone (except you, it seems) knows that dollar stores sell closeout and liquidated items that were sold to the dollar store *well below cost*. And your assumptions were pulled out of thin air. Anyway... no, WotC is not vastly overcharging for figs.

Compare to the cost of a comparable product:
Mage Knight Dungeons starter (8 figs): $20
Mage Knight Dungeons booster (4 figs): $10

D&D Miniatures starter (16 figs): $20
D&D Miniatures booster (8 figs): $10

Hmm... now, what were you saying about overcharging?

I personally would prefer to spend 10 bucks for 4 higher quality
figs. And, I would prefer that my bucks were efficiently spent on
the exact figs that I cared to buy.

That's nice. For you, the new D&D Miniatures game and it's figures have zero impact. You'll continue buying unpainted unassembled pewter miniatures one at a time.

Me, I want to buy prepainted plastic minis for the new D&D Miniatures game. And, yes, I want to use those figures in my D&D RPG game. I've got about 10 pounds of unpainted lead as is; I can't wait to able to box of figs and be able to use them the second they fall out of the box.

-z, falling for a troll's lure. I mean, the guy's post count was 1. What was I thinking?

 

[MerricB]

-z, falling for a troll's lure. I mean, the guy's post count was 1. What was I thinking?

Increasing your post count, and making good points.

Cheers!

 

[Gnarlo]

FASA had a game BattleForce which was the small unit tactics branch of the Mech universe; it didn't use clicky bases but instead had folded card stock counters with the decreasing stats on the back of the counter facing the owning player. The folded counter made a little pocket that you put a small chit in and moved as it took damage to show different parts of the chart on the back of the card. This was in 87, more than a decade before WizKidz was even a twinkle in it's founder's eye If FASA had only done it with bases

Back on topic, I'll buy the boxes, at least for a while and give it a chance. I severly doubt I'll play the minis game due to a severe lack of hours in the day to do all that I want and need to do, but if the selections you get are halfway decent (lots of orcs and gobs and kobolds and gnolls and other grunts that are hard to justify spending metal prices on just to get a good dungeon lair's worth of minis + an occasional useful "boss") I'll support it, as prepainted fodder will free up some of that rare commodity of time and allow me to do Other Things Than Paint.

/em gnarlo!

 

[am181d]

Randomization primarily helps out the retailers, but I'm looking forward to putting together an army of cheap orcs, goblins, skeletons and zombies, while gathering a smaller collection of more unusual creatures to fill out my game.

I saw the Owlbear mold on WotC's site, and it looks really cool. I doubt I'd ever randomly insert an Owlbear into the game, but if I had an Owlbear miniature, I'd name him Benjy and insert him arbitrarily into each adventure I run.

Um, or, you know, maybe just once.

 

[Olive]

I saw the Owlbear mold on WotC's site, and it looks really cool. I doubt I'd ever randomly insert an Owlbear into the game, but if I had an Owlbear miniature, I'd name him Benjy and insert him arbitrarily into each adventure I run.

Um, or, you know, maybe just once.

totally. i was completely bummed about randomisation, and now i'm actually kinda into it. i mean, i don't have many minis now, so having cool looking minis for things i don't use isn't gonna change that.

 

[ced1106]

I personally would prefer to spend 10 bucks for 4 higher quality
figs.

Can you really do that? I haven't checked closely, but, IIRC, $2.50 for an unpainted metal miniature is on the low side of average. I've also seen prepainted metal miniatures in unrandomized packs selling for $25 for four miniatures (?). I'll check again.

All I know is that, at those prices, $1.25 for a random miniature doesn't sound too bad. Potomac Distribution, here I come!


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

 

[Fast Learner]

3) From the pictures I have seen, the bases look too big to me.

All of the other (imo goofy) points have been adequately addressed. I'll clear this one up by noting that I saw them at GTS and they're perfectly normal sized, and the medium figures will most certainly fit in a 1" square just fine.

 

[Green Knight]

A couple of miniatures which appeared in the latest In The Works article at the WoTC site. The Blackguard and Owlbear aren't new, but they're clearer, close-up pictures of the two.

 

[Wraithdrit]

FASA had a game BattleForce which was the small unit tactics branch of the Mech universe; it didn't use clicky bases but instead had folded card stock counters with the decreasing stats on the back of the counter facing the owning player. The folded counter made a little pocket that you put a small chit in and moved as it took damage to show different parts of the chart on the back of the card. This was in 87, more than a decade before WizKidz was even a twinkle in it's founder's eye If FASA had only done it with bases

I found this whole thing extremely amusing, especially in light of WizKids being founded by one of the two founders of... you got it... FASA. Who'd a thunk it?

- Wraith