Ah, so it is confirmed then. I don't know what the real reason for the cancellation was, but I've heard that it could have been caused by a decrease in sales, higher production costs, or some other reason. Whatever the cause, collecting DDM has been a lot of fun for the better part of a decade, and while I never much cared for the randomization Wizards did produce hundreds of fantasy miniatures which, for the first time ever, were miniatures durable enough to be taken virtually anywhere.
If given a choice though, I'd much rather buy the plastic miniatures I actually want rather than buy a blind box, especially since I now have a large miscellaneous collection of miniatures. For this and two other reasons I've loved the Legendary Encounters line since it was first announced.
The second reason is the painting quality, which initially matched the DDM pieces and has since improved significantly. The pieces may be a bit more expensive, but they are much more eye catching when they are arrayed on a gaming table, as most are very colourful and detailed (the Reaper orcs are personal favourites of mine). By contrast, when I array a group of common DDM monsters on the table the overall impression is usually dreary, as many commons had areas of their black plastic left unpainted as a cost reduction measure. The early Mage Knight pieces had a similar but much worse problem. Legendary Ecounters has used black plastic in places as well, but the practice thus far has been far less intrusive.
The third is the style of Reaper's sculpts; I've been a long time fan of Reaper's sculpts, since they have a very old school 1980s fantasy feel that I absolutely adore. Many of Wizards of the Coast's newer designs for classic monsters, such as the gray ape-like orcs, don't appeal to me at all, and it's great to have a range of more 'traditional' monsters available. It may seem silly, but seeing pre-painted green orcs and non-bony giant rats has made me very enthusiastic.
The only part I'm not terribly fond of is the waiting, of course. I've wanted to see Legenadary Encounter's Marilith and Ettin for some time now, but at present have no idea when or if they will ever be released. I hope that the demand for Legendary Encounters will rise with this news and Reaper's profits will increase, as I believe this line has tremendous potential.
