27 replies to this topic

[morganm]

Was just browsing the site and noticed the LE second batch official release news item. Looking over the photos of this batch I'll be picking up a zombie or 3 and a ghost. Can't really justify buying anything else; either have plenty of similar ones already or no impending use for them.

Sad to see the ettin wasn't in this batch :( I'm looking forward to the gnolls and ettin being released for sure! Hopefully the third batch won't be another 10 months.

[Kuni]

These really didn't turn out so well.

Elf - a crappy paintjob, and looks way too similar to ~5 DDM sculpts.

Ghost - Very cool sculpt, and thankfully shades of gray are hard to get wrong.

Great Worm - Not -quite- as good as it could have been, but this one appears to have come out quite a lot like the original master. Will not sell as well as it could have, due to the rather nice DDM Purple Worm from a year ago, and also because the figure is clearly Large and not Huge.

Zombie - Strike a pose! Decent paintjob and pricepoint -- if this guy doesn't sell well, Reaper will need to rethink whether they want to make "mooks" when DDM can churn out halfway decent ones for .25-.50 on the secondary market.

Evil Human Warrior - Sloppy paintjob, and doesn't particularly distinguish itself from the many "dude in full armor" DDM sculpts.

Bathalian - This will be the most popular of the bunch, and is the one I've heard the most positive chatter about on other minis forums. Unlike many others from this wave, this figure actually IS better than WotC's recent mindflayer sculpt, and I predict it'll do well. It's a pity there wasn't an inkwash on the staff and robe trim.

Good Human Warrior - This guy actually came out really nice; again, the only disadvantage is that WotC's got around ten sculpts that look just like him.

Human Female Ranger - Really kickass dual-wielding sculpt, more unique than any WotC look, but a gummy paiintjob.

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Overall, I'm a little bit more negative about these than I wanted to be, and I'm not hearing positive things about this wave from other boards. There may have been unforeseen delays, but Reaper was very foolish not to focus on the goblins and kobolds (perhaps the Ettin) because of the impending release of 4e -- they could have rode a nice wave of people buying the 4e corebooks and grabbing some kobolds and goblins for their level one games.

Making the 4 "PC" minis (elf, ranger, good knight, bad knight) will either be a good move because of the 4e corebooks, or a bad one. I'm leaning towards "bad", but I could be wrong.

With regards to the minis we have left:
Female Demon (Marilith) - Don't make this one. You just made a better Marilith sculpt, and this version is Medium-sized, not Large-sized, so you'll turn off a lot of buyers.
Gnolls(archer and axedude) - Make 'em. People always want Gnolls.
Mummy - Probably worth making, as the DDM one is hard to find, and your sculpt is better.
Succubus - A good choice, and very Reaperesque.
War Dog - Can it, replace with the more recent war dog sculpts if you really want to make one.
Dwarf Warrior - DDM's made countless dwarves with axes - lose it, unless the PC sculpts do really well.
Ettin - People want this guy, probably more than any others in this wave. Make him.
Kobolds and Goblins - Get these out as fast as possible. With 4e incoming, there's a definite market for getting a lot of goblins and kobolds.

For future sculpts:
Make a plastic version of your bartender mini, to see whether all the people clamoring for noncombatants are willing to actually pony up. Be careful; WotC's started making some noncoms too.

Make Rautharos in plastic box set form. Seeing this guy in a store will be the first time many people realize that Reaper's even making plastic minis.

[morganm]

I completely agree with your analysis of the player character sculpts compared to DDMs and would even extend it to the orcs and skeletons. My collection is tiny by comparison to most but I've already got more humans in armor with swords, dwarves with axes, and elves with bows than I need; as well as orcs and skeletons. No reason to buy any of the LE elves, humans, orcs, or skeletons for their intended purpose (to be used in table top gaming, not collecting). You can go pick up a fist full of DDMs that are about the same in quality for the price of one LE.

I've got no problem paying the prices for LEs and I'm quite stingey. However I'm only going to buy the ones that really are worth buying. Great figures like the Ogre, Minotaur, Ghost, Bathalian, Gnolls, and Ettin are worth it; the sculpting is destinguished from other vendors and, in the case of those already released, they are painted well.

It's like Reaper is trying to hit a target that WotC has already struck a bullseye on instead of showing WotC how it should be done Reaper could truly distinguish their line of prepainted plastics from WotC's DDMs with figures that WotC hasn't already made a million of.

We still love you though Reaper

[DjinnWing]

I'm pretty disappointed with this release. None of the minis are appealing to me (have several different DDM that I prefer), and the paints look really bad (especially when compared to the masters). I hope Reaper chooses to move towards making more pieces that aren't en masse in DDM already (generic PC types, orcs, gnolls, goblins, etc). Please make more giants, more trolls, more ogres, etc, etc.

Mummy - Probably worth making, as the DDM one is hard to find, and your sculpt is better.

You may be referring to the Harbinger Mummy, but there are also two more mummies out now (one a rare and one a very recent uncommon):

Harbinger Mummy (Rare):

Deathknell Mummy Lord (Rare):

Desert of Desolation Guardian Mummy (Uncommon):

Bathalian - This will be the most popular of the bunch, and is the one I've heard the most positive chatter about on other minis forums. Unlike many others from this wave, this figure actually IS better than WotC's recent mindflayer sculpt, and I predict it'll do well. It's a pity there wasn't an inkwash on the staff and robe trim.

I was pretty stoked about this mini, but upon seeing the production piece, I will pass. I may pick it up later though. However, I do have 1 of each DDM mind flayer sculpt, and the fall DDM set, Demonweb, is supposed to have "more mind flayers than you can shake a stick at."

Ghost - Very cool sculpt, and thankfully shades of gray are hard to get wrong.

It is a pretty cool sculpt, but I prefer the DDM Shadow:

[Kuni]

I'm pretty disappointed with this release. None of the minis are appealing to me (have several different DDM that I prefer), and the paints look really bad (especially when compared to the masters). I hope Reaper chooses to move towards making more pieces that aren't en masse in DDM already (generic PC types, orcs, gnolls, goblins, etc). Please make more giants, more trolls, more ogres, etc, etc.

You may be referring to the Harbinger Mummy, but there are also two more mummies out now (one a rare and one a very recent uncommon):

(I was referring to the Mummy Guardian, the easiest of the 3 DDM mummy sculpts to get - the original Harbinger sculpt is crap, and the Deathknell Mummy Lord is a little goofy-looking)

I think we're on the same page here.

Reaper needs to walk a fine line; on the one hand, they want to make generically useful monsters, which means not getting too specific. On the other hand, they want to make unique things that WotC either hasn't done, hasn't done well, or just haven't made with a sculpt quality anywhere close to Reaper's. The best thing they can do is make rares that cost 12-20 on the singles market in their DDM form -- beholders, giants, big demons/devils. They can also capitalize on particularly poor DDM sculpts (Marilith, Ettin) by releasing their own version.

I'm still going to pimp plastic Rautharos here, because I think he'd be the epitome of a "Legendary Encounter" and is the sort of thing people would really jump on, especially if the pricepoint was below the cost of the metal one.

[rgtriplec]

A lot of the models you don't like or think won't do well for D&D buyers, will appeal to Warlord players... the Shadow Sister, Elf Archer, Dwarf Warrior, Templar knight, War Dog, Zombie, Mummy, Gnoll Archer, Purple Worm, Ettin, and Railor. So, Reaper probably made wise choices for these next two releases.

I know I'll buy more than one of the worm, gnoll archer, elf archer, dwarf warrior and shadow sister. Just because I have to much pewter to paint all the time, and play those Warlord armies. So for me the next two releases were very good.

[Dragon Snack]

And as much as people complained about Orcs and Skeletons having been done "countless" times before, they sold out of the first wave.

I think Reaper knows what they're doing...

[DjinnWing]

I wish they would make the Eye Beast soon. I bet that thing would FLY off the shelves!

[morganm]

rgtriplec and Dragon Snack bring up excellent points.

I hadn't seen anything about sales being that great so couldn't comment on that.

I'm sure Reaper does know what they are doing and I'm sure they know a lot of the forums banter is just people spouting off their opinions :) Sounds like more people than not are happy with the LE line just the way it is and the way it continues. As much as I, and others, have ragged on them I know I still like the LEs and will continue to buy most of them as they come out! =^.^=

[kristof65]

Has anyone actually seen these in person? The photos of the first release didn't do just to their paint jobs either - I remember thinking just that when I saw the photos this time around as well.

rgtriplec is right on the money that a lot of those sculpts will be popular with Warlord players. I'm planning on buying several of them to double for both Warlord and RPGs, while I've got two friends who've been waiting for these to get into Warlord - they don't want to have to paint more than a couple figs to play.

[Sergeant_Crunch]

My problem is that even if I bought the character types for Warlord, I'd end up repainting them. I have different colors in mind for my forces.

[kristof65]

My problem is that even if I bought the character types for Warlord, I'd end up repainting them. I have different colors in mind for my forces.

Same here, for my own forces, so I'll stick with pewter. But it is nice to have demo forces for guests to play with - that's what I'm going to be doing.

[Sergeant_Crunch]

Well, I suppose if you repaint them, you can still build out your force cheaper than pewter. It's just not as convenient.

[Bane Of Humanity]

I wish they would make the Eye Beast soon. I bet that thing would FLY off the shelves!

I dont know maybe its just me and Im the only one...but I seriously hate that figure...As far as beholders go (eye beast)

I hope that if reaper makes a plastic version they will make a different sculp for it.

[Bane Of Humanity]

I dont know why people are complaining about the paint jobs...Sure they arent the greatest but its still a HUGE time saver...As far as the new ones go...they arent that bad...I was kinda hopeing for goblins and kobolds though...

I would rather touch up a bad paint job than paint an entire army from scratch...