10/30/09 Miniatures

[Mythmere]

One development that has been shafted a little bit on publicity is our alliance with Center Stage Miniatures to produce a line of Swords & Wizardry figures. Unfortunately, I've been so occupied with arranging for distribution of the rule books into brick and mortar stores that I haven't "promoted" the miniatures nearly enough. I think it's a seriously cool deal.

Matt Solarz of Center Stage is a big Swords & Wizardry fan, and his goal is to have miniatures from the Monster Book and from OSR contributors sculpted and sold. The packages will include the Swords & Wizardry stats for the monster. You can't find a better partnership out there. I was on the phone with Matt S. last night, and he tells me that the number of contributions for the miniatures competition is now growing, and that several judges are lined up, many of them from the Acaeum (and including me and Matt S as well).

Even before the contest mini is judged, a group of several minis from back in the day will be released (these are great minis, and weren't widely distributed after they were released). I'm really looking forward to seeing the S&W minis begin to roll out; not only does it establish the game's presence but it's just inherently cool.

Many thanks to Matt Solarz for his support! I know there aren't really enough details floating around about this for a big discussion, but if anyone has feedback about miniatures (and S&W miniatures in particular), feel free to discuss the concept and the methods!

[Matthew]

I am definitely looking forward to seeing this Swords & Wizardry miniatures line!

[Irda Ranger]

Wow. Those miniatures look really nice. On the other hand, pricey! A good value, I'm sure, but kitting out a troop of lamia could be a month's budget for gaming.

[Mythmere]

Wow. Those miniatures look really nice. On the other hand, pricey! A good value, I'm sure, but kitting out a troop of lamia could be a month's budget for gaming.

You could kit out a troop of lamia with your monthly gaming budget!!??

Man, I have to write my own gaming materials because that's all I can afford on my monthly gaming budget.

[GreyKat]

Wish they would make a group of adventurer miniatures.
You know with realistic weapons, armor & gear (latern, backpack, bedroll, pouches, etc...).
1 Male and 1 Female of each race/class shouldn't be too complicated

I know there was a Basic D&D miniature set that looked like that but I couldn't find a picture on the web.

[Mythmere]

Wish they would make a group of adventurer miniatures.
You know with realistic weapons, armor & gear (latern, backpack, bedroll, pouches, etc...).
1 Male and 1 Female of each race/class shouldn't be too complicated

I know there was a Basic D&D miniature set that looked like that but I couldn't find a picture on the web.

As I understand it, here's the problem with adventurer minis - with the capital investment required for sculpting and producing a mini, you have to sell a fair number in order just to break even. With monsters, people will often buy more than one of the same figure, and the competition for any specific monster isn't huge. With character figures, there is a ton of competition out there.

I have talked to Matt at Center Stage about the idea of my funding the sculpting costs for an adventurer figure or two to reduce his capital risk. At the moment, all of the S&W warchest is in use to print the subsidiary materials like Eldritch weirdness, Spire of Iron & Crystal, etc. Moreover, Matt has been very clear that adventurer figures are very likely not to break even.

Nonetheless, I'm thinking about it very seriously for once the investment in printing our entire existing product line begins to trickle back in. Unfortunately, even though we built up cash for the warchest, it's limited once you start talking investments in the hundreds of dollars realm. We can only do so much at one time.