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http://www.reapermini.com/

NOOOOO!!!! Stop the insanity!

I can't imagine this being a profitable venture for them. One buys a miniature from Reaper for the chance to paint something interesting and unique, or for that special character for their army, or as a miniature for role-playing games (and almost always DnD at that since it has a strong suggestion to do combat with miniature representations). None of these things make prepainted miniatures more attractive, except the last one, and if I was looking for prepainted minis for role-playing games I would probably just buy singles (or boxes, for that matter, just to get a bunch of stuff) of WoTC product since it's already made for DnD. So who are these designed in mind with, exactly? I think Reaper has gotten onto the 'me too!' bandwagon when it's not really even desired.

Posted By Caern on 03/02/2007 7:29 AM
I can't imagine this being a profitable venture for them. One buys a miniature from Reaper for the chance to paint something interesting and unique, or for that special character for their army, or as a miniature for role-playing games (and almost always DnD at that since it has a strong suggestion to do combat with miniature representations). None of these things make prepainted miniatures more attractive, except the last one, and if I was looking for prepainted minis for role-playing games I would probably just buy singles (or boxes, for that matter, just to get a bunch of stuff) of WoTC product since it's already made for DnD. So who are these designed in mind with, exactly? I think Reaper has gotten onto the 'me too!' bandwagon when it's not really even desired.

Actually, I think this will work out for them nicely. Their target has been the RPG crowd moreso than tabletop mini gamers. D&D minis from WOTC have been eating into their profits, I'm sure, as most RPG types don't want to paint a pile of figs (their own character, maybe, but 12 orcs, 5 bugbears, 3 owlbears...you see what I mean?). On the other hand, the Wizards D&D figs, being collectible, usually means the gamer has to either a) buy singles, which is fine for goblins but awful for mindflayers, or b) buy a case of minis and hope you get what you actually want (see this episode of Order of the Stick to see what I mean).

If the individual gamer can get quality pieces of what they want for a decent price (i.e. about what WOTC charges, if not a little less), that makes life easier for the D&D crowd. Niche market? Not any more so than what they're currently doing...

My real concern is whether this means that they'll continue to weed out their catalog beyond some of their older, less quality figs...

Well I can give you a couple reasons why you MIGHT be wrong.

1.  Quality of WOTC miniatures is horrible so if reaper makes something of quality that is still cheap then it might be attractive.

2.  You will be able to buy what you want instead of getting whatever you happen to pick out of a blister.

So if both of these are true then I don't really see a good reason to think that this wouldn't work.  From what I understand AT-43 is doing pretty well so there is no doubt a market for miniatures that people do not have to paint.  So I guess we will see.

 

I understand your argument, brettz, but in the case of AT-43, prepainted is appealing because people don't want to paint a whole bloody *army*, whereas with this I just don't know why I wouldn't go grab a box or two of DnD minis instead or buy some singles. Yeah, some people will want this, but enough to justify the costs of plastic production *and* prepainting? The thing with DnD Minis is that they are made by WoTC. You don't have to go looking very far for them if you already play DnD. Reaper on the other hand is something you have to actually seek out, whether that means simply walking over to a different section of your hobby store or looking for an online store that carries them. Even Amazon has DnD minis. Getting reaper means going an extra mile, and folks who know reaper tend to already be prepared to paint things themselves.

But of course I could be wildly wrong and there will be a huge market for this.

Caern,
I see where you are coming from and you might be right. I am just pointing out that there may be a market for this. I doubt it will be huge but I think it will sell. I think there are enough gaming groups that will want prepainted bad guys but not want to have to paint them that this might be viable. Hugely succesful? Well that I doubt. I for one do not buy DnD minis because I hate not being able to pick what I want (well that and they are atrocious looking

Reaper's been doing D&D figs since what, the 80s? The D&D fanbase already knows about them, they were one of the big suppliers for that market before WotC did the prepaints, and are probably still one of the biggest. This is an obvious angle for them to try and win back some of the business WotC has been taking from them. And I think it should work pretty well, considering how widely the WotC figs are used among D&D groups I know of, and how prevalent the problem the comic strip showed is.

The end is nigh.
Snoogins.

Cool. I'll probably pick some up if the price is right. I have limited time to paint, so this will be a nice way to bulk up my model options when running D&D.

I bet this would sell. It is damn annoying to have to buy random kits to try and get enough of a creature for games. We kept talking how WOTC should put out scenario kits with a group of specific monsters you could use for modules. Like a Gnoll village or undead temple.

I think this will do well if priced right.

Don't care, except to say that Order of the Stick strip was damned funny. Thanks for the share!

Toreador- actually, they do make these as promo tools for store RPGA events. Like those "World D&D Day" things. They send out a scenario to the participating stores with premade/printed maps, all the appropriate figs for the monsters in the module, etc. They're pretty cool.

I'm not sure why they haven't done something similar to what Reaper's doing. Maybe the profit's been too good with the randoms.

They're probably testing the waters. They see how WotC is doing with their minis and are attacking that market share, or at least trying it out to see if its worth it. Business is about risk. Its a risk for them, a bad one according to naysayers, and a good one according to optimists.

Give it a year or so and then judge. No one can ever be certain how the market will react to anything.

-Jmz

I think it's a great idea. Combat in the current edition of D&D is pretty miniature dependant, and you can't count on D&D's minis because you never know what you'll get in a pack (also they're ugly). In my gaming group we've got enough people who play Warhammer as well as D&D that we've never been at a loss for minis, but for people who don't play wargames this could be a big help. I think if done right it could do very well.

So what do they look like?

When there are actual pictures they will be posted.  So far you're looking at the grand total of the information at the moment.

Ah, but speculation is so much fun!

As was said before (if not here than at the TMP), the press announcement seems to be implying that they're going to use preexisting sculpts, so if I were a betting man, I'd figure they'd be using the Dark Heaven Legends army packs (Anhurian soldiers, orc raiding party, etc.). However, I'm not, so refer back to Ghaz's post, ad nauseum.

They've identified a market and they're going for it. Kudos and good luck to Reaper.

As far as speculation is concerned, diversification of their products can either help them expand and strengthen themselves for the long run or dilute and weaken the hobby as a whole - it depends on your viewpoint.

Personally, I'm glad they're expanding into this area because I have personally seen the success of D & D miniatures as a source of miniatures for RPG's and I have also seen the frustration of consumers not being able to pick and choose what they need. I think Reaper is making a shrewd entry into this area by offering what consumers want - an approach I'm sure will be duplicated by TSR/WOTC.

More news from Reaper

Whoah, great pricing too! I would like to see what these look like, I wonder if they are simply plastic recuts of their existing metals or something entirely different. I also wonder if it will be hard plastic similar to Rackham's figs or the weak rubbery stuff WOTC puts out.

Well, Reaper already produces one model by the name 'Minotaur of the Maze'

Link

That would lead me to believe that they're plastic versions of their existing models.

Not bad. If a gaming group chipped in $5, the group could have a nice collection of figures for resolving combat. And no worries about getting the archers you need.

They do reuse names, though (I think they've got half a dozen "Nicole of the Blades" for example). That having been said, my guess is that these are old sculpts cast in plastic.

Gawd, I hope they don't turn out like the Plastic Battlemechs from FASA o those years ago...

The Skeletons are about the same price as GW Skeletons, but fully assembled and painted.

I could see many new players playing WFB once Reaper expands its line.