[WOTC] Minis Spotlight
- Thread starter Olgar Shiverstone
- Start date
I feel encouraged to chime in on the positive side for several reasons.
WOTC knows the market pretty well with regard to these minis.
They know that some savvy retailers will know the market well enough to open a case of figs and sell them individually because the D&D folks will want the groups of just gnolls, skeletons, goblins, orcs, zombies (fodder) for certain things and the vampire or mind flayer for something else without having to guess what they'll get.
They also know that these same retailers will hold tournaments of the mini game and sell sealed entry and booster packs for that purpose too.
Since these minis will look like the critters in the Monster Manual (yes I've held the Umber Hulk and Owl Bear in my hand and they looked awesome) the DM's and players will appreciate it because it's not just a bad knock-off they have to pretend is an umber hulk or owl bear.
The randomness isn't really a problem either since the commons will likely be the ones common to regular game encounters and the rarer ones will likely be the less encountered ones in game.
For the price and for the lack of time consuming effort painting requires, these will prove to be a value to DM's who would rather spend time in the game or creating scenarios than painting armies of minis.
I would love to have had the advantage of these minis years ago, before investing the tons of cash into other "make-do" minis, most of which are still unpainted.
Hopefully WOTC won't "choke" on these as someone in the industry wishes them to do.
Seems to me that WOTC thought this through pretty well and are hitting not one, but two markets with the product. Sure, their goofy sounding pitch/article and press release fail to help their cause, but we're all smart enough to think for ourselves on these.
WOTC knows the market pretty well with regard to these minis.
They know that some savvy retailers will know the market well enough to open a case of figs and sell them individually because the D&D folks will want the groups of just gnolls, skeletons, goblins, orcs, zombies (fodder) for certain things and the vampire or mind flayer for something else without having to guess what they'll get.
They also know that these same retailers will hold tournaments of the mini game and sell sealed entry and booster packs for that purpose too.
Since these minis will look like the critters in the Monster Manual (yes I've held the Umber Hulk and Owl Bear in my hand and they looked awesome) the DM's and players will appreciate it because it's not just a bad knock-off they have to pretend is an umber hulk or owl bear.
The randomness isn't really a problem either since the commons will likely be the ones common to regular game encounters and the rarer ones will likely be the less encountered ones in game.
For the price and for the lack of time consuming effort painting requires, these will prove to be a value to DM's who would rather spend time in the game or creating scenarios than painting armies of minis.
I would love to have had the advantage of these minis years ago, before investing the tons of cash into other "make-do" minis, most of which are still unpainted.
Hopefully WOTC won't "choke" on these as someone in the industry wishes them to do.
Seems to me that WOTC thought this through pretty well and are hitting not one, but two markets with the product. Sure, their goofy sounding pitch/article and press release fail to help their cause, but we're all smart enough to think for ourselves on these.
trancejeremy
Adventurer
Nikchick said:
Yeah, but they're not targetting miniatures enthusiasts. They're targetting the casual gamer, and those who play collectible games, and in this case, D&D gamers who also want cheap minis for their games. It's a less hard core, but larger market.
Games Workshop is like Ferrari.
Chainmail was sort of like the DeLorean.
Wizkids is like Honda.
This new game could be like Kia or Hyundai. Or it could turn out to be the Yugo.
Tortoise said:
You know, a lot of the marketing theory you mentioned for this product started to remind me of Magic the Gathering
You buy sealed starters and boosters (don't know what you're going to get). And an entire "other" market swelled up for trading or purchasing individual cards that someone wants.
Yes, I realize they are two different products and therefore used for different things. Just pointing out the similarities.
Over on the WOTC boards there was a discussion about the new mini line. Some people including me had some negitave things to say about it. Then the tread got locked. I guess WOTC does not care what the gaming public wants. I don't mind the fact they are prepainted, but the fact they are random ruins it for me. Also why do they have round bases when in 3.5 everything has a square area? I hope the round bases fit on a 1 inch square or they won't fit on a battlemat grid.
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DWARF
First Post
They're probably 1' circles so you can turn them in more than 4 directions.
-Tortoise--"WOTC knows the market pretty well with regard to these minis."
Sure they do, and they knew the market when they came out with chainmail too...
-Kanegrundar--"I still say that a lot of people are looking at it from the wrong angle. WotC tried to go toe to toe with Reaper and GW and lost, so now they are hitting a market that is not as tried and true as others, the pre-painted minis market. "
So now they're taking on Heroclix and MageKnight in a less tried market? They're still trying to break into a market that may very well be saturated, and they're secondary "use for DnD games" idea may be soured by the random packaging.
Look, if a secondary market develops, that means that people will be trading or buying/selling their figures. And what does that mean? Each figure will have a cost associated with it based on it's rarity and demand. So goblins will be cheap, while mind flayers will be expensive.
[sarcasm]Wait a minute.... that sounds familiar. The common mass-produced ones will be cheap while the rarer ones will be more expensive. Hey, isn't that what WotC said would happen if they packeged the miniatures seperately instead of in a big pack?[/sarcasm]
So what's the point? The point is to get us into the re-buying cycle. Someone buys packs and packs of krenshars and pixies in the hope they get a mind flayer or dragon. And they're trying to tell us it's good for us?
-Tortoise--"WOTC knows the market pretty well with regard to these minis."
Sure they do, and they knew the market when they came out with chainmail too...
-Kanegrundar--"I still say that a lot of people are looking at it from the wrong angle. WotC tried to go toe to toe with Reaper and GW and lost, so now they are hitting a market that is not as tried and true as others, the pre-painted minis market. "
So now they're taking on Heroclix and MageKnight in a less tried market? They're still trying to break into a market that may very well be saturated, and they're secondary "use for DnD games" idea may be soured by the random packaging.
Look, if a secondary market develops, that means that people will be trading or buying/selling their figures. And what does that mean? Each figure will have a cost associated with it based on it's rarity and demand. So goblins will be cheap, while mind flayers will be expensive.
[sarcasm]Wait a minute.... that sounds familiar. The common mass-produced ones will be cheap while the rarer ones will be more expensive. Hey, isn't that what WotC said would happen if they packeged the miniatures seperately instead of in a big pack?[/sarcasm]
So what's the point? The point is to get us into the re-buying cycle. Someone buys packs and packs of krenshars and pixies in the hope they get a mind flayer or dragon. And they're trying to tell us it's good for us?
Bases will be 25 mm for medium size, 40 mm for large, IIRC.
I much prefer round bases because they can be positioned (rotated) on the battlemap without running into the bases of other miniatures, walls, etc.
KenM, there's a very active, very negative thread in the D&D miniatures forum on the Wizards board that is certainly not locked.
I see a locked thread in the WotC Web Features forum, but that would have been locked for being in the inappropropriate forum. (It actually got moved to the D&D miniatures forum, where it is still open).
Cheers!
I much prefer round bases because they can be positioned (rotated) on the battlemap without running into the bases of other miniatures, walls, etc.
KenM, there's a very active, very negative thread in the D&D miniatures forum on the Wizards board that is certainly not locked.
I see a locked thread in the WotC Web Features forum, but that would have been locked for being in the inappropropriate forum. (It actually got moved to the D&D miniatures forum, where it is still open).
Cheers!
Zaruthustran said:
I think I was the one talking the most about painting, and I believe I'm being misunderstood...
I'm saying these minis don't look anywhere nearly as good as unpainted Reaper minis.
What's this obesssion with painting, anyway? I don't get why so many people say they don't have the time to paint, so they're going to buy pre-painted crap, instead of just buying good quality unpainted minis...
Nikchick
Explorer
Tortoise said:
Well, as "someone in the industry" at least I didn't say I wanted the people involved roasted over a bed of hot coals.
They want to sell pre-painted minis to 10-year-olds? Fine. Say so. Don't try to sell this unadultered crap to actual D&D miniatures enthusiasts, complete with random packaging and reliance on some nebulous "secondary market," as some sort of grand gaming solution and the answer to our miniatures dreams.
After everything those people did to purposely sabotage the metal miniatures business at WotC, not one of them deserves a "second chance" with their WizKids rip-off, collectible miniatures
I'd have more to say, but I'd probably offend Eric's grandma.
Nicole
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
mmu1 said:
My obsession with paints, I don't know about other people, boils down to me being an artist. While I HATE paint, I couldn't STAND to have a unpainted mini that just NEEDED painting. This way, they ARE painted, and I don't have to worry about it. Its all a difference of opinion, and while I respect yours, do you respect mine? I don't think the minis look like 'pre-painted crap' at all.
You don't have to like the mini line, obviously, but at the same time it isn't going to help to insult and degrade those of us whole like them. I'm not directing this at anyone in particular, but many posts here are hinting at the intelligence of those of us who buy these. Don't like em? Don't buy em. There's a market for this already, and the D&D players just happen to be an offshoot that CAN benefit.
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