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so, ive spent the last couple of days looking for a nice new female eladrin fighter mini for my girl for our new D&D campaign.  i just recruited 2 brand new players and got them super hooked into D&D as well.  the group is going strong and things are great.  a DMs dream!

but, long story short... im going crazy here.  since the minis got axed right before i got into D&D we never had the chance to pick them up when they were reasonable prices.  good luck finding the right mini and at a decent price.

im not a big fan of reaper i know thats everyones first shout out, but im more wondering about your thoughts.  so,

do you think there will be a release of miniatures in light of NEXT coming out?

if you havent noticed, D&D is kind of poking its head out into mainstream.  sitcoms are meantioning it, even playing it.  nerding out is in.  the internet, youtube.. we are growing strong!

any speculation?  talk?  rumours?  are we really looking at tokens from here on out, or do you think minis will rise from the ashes and grace us with their presence.  

it sure would be sweet to be able to pick them up at walmart, target, or your favourite B&M gaming store.  

thoughts?

I have to say I would like to see some packs of non-random miniatures, especially including large creatures like giants and trolls. Yes, there is dungeon command, but I don't really want to pay for a game I won't play, just to get the miniatures. 

Dungeon Command - Packs of 12 Non-Randomized Minis

Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures - Look at ToadandTroll, AuggiesGames for some of the common ones, they can be cheaper based on their size and rarity.


Pathfinder Battles Miniatures - While they are for Pathfinder, some of the miniatures have WONDERFUL sculpts and paint jobs. Look at Paizo's Website or TrollandToad for them. The Packs are 4 Randomized Miniatures (3 Small/Medium Miniatures and 1 Large) for 15.99, singles are normally cheaper ($3-4 each for Commons/Uncommons, $10-15 for Rares)  

i own a couple of reapers, im just not a fan.  the pewter bends, you gotta paint em with high grade paint or its pointless.

i'd also love to know if there is still lead in pewter.  anyone know about that?  i used to have lead traditionally, not sure about now.  i know for food products like plates etc is a no, but since these are figures, id be worried.

i really don't want to support paizo either.  i dont know exactly what the deal is between D&D and pathfinder but im so not a pathfinder fan.  seems to me like a big ripoff and the fans are just mean and snobish.

im looking at the dungeon command like you said.  apparently its a game... lots of board games out thee lately..  odd.  id hate to pay for "extra" parts.

appreciate your feedback, nonetheless.

still, it would be exciting to be able to buy affodable packs of minis sometime in the future.

Given how poorly Dungeon Command has sold overall I would stab that there will not be a miniature line for D&D Next (especially as D&D Next, may it rot, has a core rule sets not based on minis anyhow).

Feb 5, 2013 -- 8:04AM, hunterian7 wrote:

Given how poorly Dungeon Command has sold overall I would stab that there will not be a miniature line for D&D Next (especially as D&D Next, may it rot, has a core rule sets not based on minis anyhow).

maybe because we dont want to buy board games..  we dont want extras.   we want minis.  on their own.  by themselves.  at an afforable rate.

also, just to let everyone know, i inquired with reaper.  their minis contain lead.  thats really bad news.  uhg.

Lead? They should make minis out of mercury.

Feb 5, 2013 -- 9:39PM, hunterian7 wrote:

Lead? They should make minis out of mercury.

thats the only thing worse.  and yes.  i emailed them and thats what i was told.

Minis are still popular, but I think people want good products, not like the crap Pathfinder is putting out.  D&D minis had a sort of realistic look to them.  Some of these new ones look too cartoonish.  Just my humble opinion.

Jan 30, 2013 -- 8:34PM, d20rabbit wrote:

since the minis got axed right before i got into D&D we never had the chance to pick them up when they were reasonable prices.  good luck finding the right mini and at a decent price.
im not a big fan of reaper i know thats everyones first shout out, but im more wondering about your thoughts.

Minis can still be obtained for decent prices. My top four sites (in order of preference) are:
Auggies
Troll&Toad
MiniatureMarket
PopularCollections

And as mentioned, pre-painted miniatures for D&D are still being made.

do you think there will be a release of miniatures in light of NEXT coming out?

Probably some. Huge-sized dragons will almost certainly be re-issued for 5e.

I don't think WotC will ever be completely out of the miniatures game. They just won't make so many like they did before.

Unless they could find some way to stimulate that sort of demand:
Like say, pushing an easy mass combat add-on for D&D where every player (not just DM's) would have a solid reason to maintain massive collections.

I dig old Rals and Reaper and rarely ever bought a WOTC D&D mini, they Suck and are inferior to old Grenadier mini's of the 70's and 80's. Do us a favor Wotc stop trying to Pawn off plastic turds on your gamers. I could mold a better mini with my nose gold. 

Uh, No, Grenadier sucked hardcore. I mean they really sucked- especially the 70s (wtf) ones. Best build a time machine with your nose gold- 'cause Grenadier belongs in the past. Thankfully.

Feb 7, 2013 -- 2:59PM, mvincent wrote:

Minis can still be obtained for decent prices.

Trying to get a large sized miniature at a reasonable price is next to impossible though. 1" sized base ones not so bad.

That's why I'd like to see some packs of large creatures like giants and hippogriffs etc...

Feb 8, 2013 -- 12:33AM, hunterian7 wrote:

Uh, No, Grenadier sucked hardcore. I mean they really sucked- especially the 70s (wtf) ones. Best build a time machine with your nose gold- 'cause Grenadier belongs in the past. Thankfully.

I know Grenadier sucked hardcore- that was the point of the comparison , WoTc's figures suck worse than that, In fact I can get a better miniature out of a Happy meal. 

Dungeon Command is just too damn pricey for me to even look at for my miniature fix. Twelve minis for $40? $80 to play the game with a friend. Pass.  That's $3.30 a mini.
Pathfinder Battles is pretty pricey as well, but just a hair less and the painting is better than the thick shiny stuff WotC uses.  

My personal reccomendation is to just buy some paints and get some Bones. If you were lucky enough to back the Kickstarter you'll have more minis than you know what to do with (Reapermas is only one month away!). 

also, reaper has a huge plastic minis line, reaper bones coming. it had a huge kickstarter.
also a canadian company, dungeon crawler has pre painted, and blank.."naturals' minis coming out as well.


so, the future does indeed look bright.   

Feb 8, 2013 -- 7:59AM, Chimpy20 wrote:

Feb 7, 2013 -- 2:59PM, mvincent wrote:

Minis can still be obtained for decent prices.

Trying to get a large sized miniature at a reasonable price is next to impossible

Aboleth or Maug for $1.49. Chraal for $1.59. Trolls for $1.79. Ogres for $1.19, $2.29,  $2.49, $2.99 and $3. Dragons for $2.49.

Feb 8, 2013 -- 1:22PM, The_Jester wrote:

Dungeon Command is just too damn pricey for me to even look at for my miniature fix. Twelve minis for $40?

$26 on Amazon or Miniaturemarket.

Feb 11, 2013 -- 8:41AM, starphoenix26 wrote:

also, reaper has a huge plastic minis line, reaper bones coming. it had a huge kickstarter.
also a canadian company, dungeon crawler has pre painted, and blank.."naturals' minis coming out as well.


so, the future does indeed look bright.   

Don't forget Center Stage Minatures,  they've some pretty nice lines of D&D critters.  They also had a pretty successfull kickstarter that ended with them being able to commission all of the Demon/Devil Lords,  a number of the minions and a full size Tiamat type dragon.

Personally,  having seen the quality of Center Stage,  I *really* think WOTC should license them,  they'll be the second coming of Ral Partha. 

Feb 11, 2013 -- 8:36PM, Gatt wrote:

Personally,  having seen the quality of Center Stage,  I *really* think WOTC should license them,  they'll be the second coming of Ral Partha. 

I've never been able to figure out why WotC doesn't do more licensing of quality products. It seems like Hasbro/WotC wants to keep everything in house, which I assume is about maintaining profit margins. If it did more licensing they'd make less money but they'd also expose themselves to less financial risk. This makes sense for risky ventures like miniatures which have proven to be a volatile market.

Feb 12, 2013 -- 8:34AM, Style75 wrote:

..."window.parent.tinyMCE.get('post_content').onLoad.dispatch();" contenteditable="true" />I've never been able to figure out why WotC doesn't do more licensing of quality products. It seems like Hasbro/WotC wants to keep everything in house, which I assume is about maintaining profit margins. If it did more licensing they'd make less money but they'd also expose themselves to less financial risk. This makes sense for risky ventures like miniatures which have proven to be a volatile market.

Indeed.  Now is not really the time to get into manufacturing minis.  5 years from now we will just print them off at home.

To answer a question posted earlier, most modern metal minis are a tin alloy.

As for Grenadier, the late models (90s) were actually pretty good. 

As posted earlier, Dungeon Command can be purchased for about $26 online - $2.16 a mini.  You are complaining about purchasing "Extra game stuff" with it?  well, the tiles are also useful as maps, you know the mini's you are getting and it really isn't cost prohibitive.   I own 4 of the Dungeon Command sets and have the 5th on order.   I think it is an awesome way to get mini's and the actual game good also for a change up at times.   The faction packs definetly help with themed encounters and Quests.

So, is there any official word/rumors of any new mini's comming out for D&D Next or D&D Command?

Feb 14, 2013 -- 7:53AM, The_Jagged wrote:

Now is not really the time to get into manufacturing minis.  5 years from now we will just print them off at home.

That's what we (correctly, to some degree) said about books when home printers became commonplace several decades ago.

Mar 29, 2013 -- 12:41AM, joe92580 wrote:

So, is there any official word/rumors of any new mini's comming out for D&D Next or D&D Command?

No. There are no official words/rumors of any new mini's coming out from WotC (but there is a decent amount of D&D mini related stuff coming out from other manufacturers)

Mar 29, 2013 -- 2:20PM, mvincent wrote:

Feb 14, 2013 -- 7:53AM, The_Jagged wrote:

Now is not really the time to get into manufacturing minis.  5 years from now we will just print them off at home.

That's what we (correctly, to some degree) said about books when home printers became commonplace several decades ago.

Except with the exception of one or two really expensive reference books its never been cheaper to print a book at home.  However the current state of 3D Printers and the general cost of quality minatures does mean printing at home will be an option.  We are only 5-10 years away from high definition 3D printing in the sub £1000 range.

I'm still hoping that WotC & Iron Wind Metals can come to some sort of agreement to allow IWM to sell the Ral Partha AD&D minis again. IMO these were by far the best ones made.