56 replies to this topic

[Reaperbryan]

STILL NOT OUT as of 13 months later and March, 2011: 3 Kobolds, 3 Giant Rats, Dwarf, Gnoll (4 "sprues")

With that release history there is no faith we will see anything new this year.

I've expressly stated, and as Production manager, will go on record that all 4 of those figures will ship to distribution by ReaperCon 2011. Rats and Gnoll, in fact, are in the packaging department's labor queue now, and ship to distribution next Friday (4/1) and will be on sale in our online store and at a FLGS near you 4/10. The Kobolds and Dwarf will ship at the end of April, for a public release date in early May.

I recognize our slow release schedule, but there has been a release of 4 or more figures each year, why do you have a hard time believing that there'll be at least 4 this year?

[greyhaze]

Hey, quit uglifying my thread! I want villagers, not angry mobs. :P

Wait... an angry mob mini would be kinda good too...

[Qwyksilver]

You make it all sound so easy, and I can easily understand from your POV why it looks that way. But, for the direction you are taking this discussion you are in the wrong forum. Ask your questions like this in the Beekeeper forum in the thread titled "Let the games begin" Be sure to read the first post in that thread very carefully so you understand the rules of the road.

(Link deleted by Ed) First rule about that thread is...

It's been a little while since the thread's seen use, so I figured I would include the link to make it easy to be find.

[ixminis]

reminder that access to the beekeepers area is by special request to the powers that be (unless something has changed?)... and at one time required a certain number of posts?

[EdPugh]

reminder that access to the beekeepers area is by special request to the powers that be (unless something has changed?)... and at one time required a certain number of posts?

Nothing has changed. You must request the pain, it is not freely given~

[greyhaze]

Ok, what's the beekeeper thingy?

[EdPugh]

Ok, what's the beekeeper thingy?

It's an area in this forum that is much more casual about the subjects discussed. The rules of the forum still apply, but all sorts of things are discussed. Religion, politics, Godzilla etc. There are trolls ---> me. It does get heated and feelings can, and sometimes do get hurt, but in a wholesome fulfilling way. There is also a lot of sarcasm~

Send Kit (guru of I.T.) a request if you want in. He is the keeper of the hive~

bye

[greyhaze]

Hmm, I'm not sure. I'm here to discuss PPM, not religion/other topics. Is beekeeping for me? Or should I just hang out in the lobby?

[Halberkill]

Hmm, I'm not sure. I'm here to discuss PPM, not religion/other topics. Is beekeeping for me? Or should I just hang out in the lobby?

I'm staying here in the lobby. This beekeeping thing sounds like the rest of the internet, and I get enough of that.

And to the defense of Reaper, they have been producing different paint versions of their PPM's, so technically there are more minis than what have been listed.

I too wish their production schedule was a bit quicker with PPM's, but I also realize what they have to do to produce PPM's that is extra and above regular metal mini production process. Not to mention with metal minis, they have complete control of production in house, whereas with PPM's they not only have to rely on an outside company, but one that's also outside of the country.

Halber

[Simon the Overthinker]

It's always easy when someone else is doing the work! I look forward to more of the prepainteds mainly because I'm lazy and a lousy painter. When they're ready, they're ready...

[EdPugh]

Hmm, I'm not sure. I'm here to discuss PPM, not religion/other topics. Is beekeeping for me? Or should I just hang out in the lobby?

I'd stay here. And just for you, I will explain the inner workings of this affair in this lobby.

Sequence:

1) Initial order by us from China is VERY large, but sales at the release are VERY flat. We now have what might be a lifetime supply of PPM on hand. Both Distribution and Reaper scratch their heads. What went wrong?

2)With a heavy inventory to work through, we shelf the initial release plan as we examine what and why. The next year we test different areas/angles with a few more models, thinking it was flat because of subject matter, but sales of the new stuff were just as flat and nothing really worked. Bright side, overall sales are slowly growing and restocks from China are needed.

3) After several trips to distributors. Countless months visiting stores and a few consumer question and answer sessions we think we have solved the problem. Or at least understand why it fell flat. While Reaper is very well known in the overall industry, the PPM consumer does not think of Reaper for PPM. In fact most consumers, and stores, are completely confused at all levels about Reaper and PPM.

4) Solution. We spin up Hobby-Q in mid 2010. In it is a new miniature company you will soon start seeing ads for, Asylum Miniatures and their PPM line. Separate from Reaper in all ways, Asylum Miniatures has new listing codes and placement categories with all distributors. We launch Hobby-Q January 1. Asylum has small but consistent releases scheduled every month for the next 4 months. We are working on the months after that right now. It will take time, but Asylum Miniatures will gain its brand awareness in the PPM arena.

5) WotC announces cancellation of their blind purchase PPM... We giggle~

So, there is the summary no spin version of what has transpired over the last few years. We will all see over the next few years how it all comes together, or falls apart



bye

[greyhaze]

1) Initial order by us from China is VERY large, but sales at the release are VERY flat. We now have what might be a lifetime supply of PPM on hand. Both Distribution and Reaper scratch their heads. What went wrong?

Probably because the bases are non-uniform! ;)

Well, that is an interesting development. I honestly do think it may have been your subject matter. You did make and release minis in PPM that most of the PPM community already had a bounty of. That's why I held back, also there was the price point. I could tell you where I stand with most figures (and I realize this is entirely biased, but it's more data for you guys if you want it):

Bathalian - another flayer, we're saturated.
Bugbear* - awesome, but for $5??? no. I did get one eventually, although not at full price.
Cave Troll - looks good, kind small on the scale though.
Elf Archer - already have lots, but good looking.
Gargoyle - i personally didn't like the style and have a bunch of gargs already.
Giant Spider - i found the colour hideous, but what held me back believe it or not was the "no base".
Goblins - i have a bunch, these don't match what I have.
Great Worm - wasn't interested.
Minotaur of the Maze* - great mini! I picked it up eventually.
Ogre Chieftain - looks great! really small.
Orcs - same as goblins.
Ranger* - awesome, picked one up!
Good/Evil Knight* - what happened to these guys? I haven't seen them anywhere.
Skeletal Spearmen* - well, I have a bunch but decided to get them anyways.
Unicorn - it looks good, just not a big interest.
Vampire* - she looks great and fills a nich that was missing, would've loved her without all the clutter on her base.
Young Dragon - we're oversaturated in dragons, imo, it looks okay. If it had been a size/colour we needed, it's likely it would sell better.

Those are the only ones I know about, and my personal feedback to you.

I'm not mad at you guys, I'm hopeful.

[hunterfairbanks]

Buying habits and preferences of this particular DDM refugee

Bathalian – I already have more flayers than I will need for a single encounter, but went ahead and bought when I had store credit.

Bugbear – I like the bugbear will probably pick one up sooner or later.

Cave Troll – A nice addition to my troll encounter bag.

Elf Archer – Another elf with a bow. Went ahead and bought eventually with store credit to add variety to my elf encounter bag. This mini is kind of redundant for me, but I like using a different mini for each individual.

Gargoyle – This makes a nice addition to my gargoyle encounter bag that was feeling pretty light.

Giant Spider I had doubts about a green spider, but went ahead and bought when I had some store credit for variety.

Ghost- Not bad, but does not really improve on what I already have, and ghosts tend not to be found in large numbers. Maybe will pick up later with store credit or if I see discounted.

Goblins – Goblins tend to come in bunches and, even though I already have many, as I like variety I was pretty happy to add these excellent minis to my goblin encounter bag.

Great Worm – This 1 really could use a base of some kind to keep it upright, but I went ahead and bought any way.

Minotaur of the Maze- Picked one of these up first time I saw it. A very nice addition to my minotaurs.

Ogre Chieftain – Bought one. Looks good, but without checking again I think I found to him be kind of a runt among my ogres.

Orcs - Orcs tend to come in bunches and, even though I already have many, as I like variety I was pretty happy to add these excellent minis to my orc encounter bag

Ranger- Picked this up as soon as I could. Excellent. Looks great and really fills a gap. Will be picking up the new paint job as soon as I see it at a store. Only LE so far that I am planning on buying multiples of.

Good/Evil Knight-More sword and board fighters. They would be great if I did not already have so many. Have not even got these as sword and board extras, nor am I in any hurry too.

Skeletal Spearmen- Maybe later with store credit or if deeply discounted, but have so many skeletons already…

Unicorn – Got this 1, and of my 3 unicorns this is easily the nicest.

Vampire - Really liked this and bought one even though I already have plenty of vampires.

Young Dragon – My dragon encounter bag is somewhat lacking and this made a pretty nice addition.

Zombie- I already have plenty of zombies, but they tend to come in bunches in encounters and I went ahead and picked up 1 when I had store credit.



Upcoming

Kobold Warriors- Hard to have too many kobolds. Should be picking these up at some point.

Giant Rats-Don’t have many now, but they are often encountered in large groups so will probably be buying. They also look pretty good, especially the one that looks like it is begging for a treat. :)

Dwarf Warrior-I have SO MANY that look so similar to this already. I will probably pass. Don’t care for the horns on the helmet either.

Gnoll Warrior-Looks like he will make a nice addition to my gnoll encounter bag.

[Halberkill]

Cool, I want to get in on this too. Hopefully somehow it may help you guys at Reaper, but I frequently have the problem of what I think is neat everyone else thinks sucks.

I also find it ironic, or maybe appropriate for the internet, is that people who are most vocal about the product, haven't really bought all that much of it. Well at least compared to what I have in my collection, which really isn't all that big either.

Bathalian – Yes I already have more flayers, but I like this one better than most others.

Bugbear – I can't get enough of this one, I have modded about 5 of them and have 6 others plus 2 more on order. These look like bugbears should look like. It's a funny thing that WoTC hasn't been able to create many bugbears that look like the monsters in their own game.

Cave Troll – It's ok, I use it as a Skrag, the scale is no different than it's metal counterpart at Reaper.

Elf Archer – Another elf with a bow. This is the type of mini I find being too redundant, but the kiddies seem to eat it up.

Gargoyle – It's nice. Wish it had come out sooner and I would have bought more of them, but I already have a collection of them from elsewhere.

Giant Spider- A trite overdone creature and also easily replaced by dimestore spiders around halloween time, but still a nice sculpt.

Ghost- I liked it. Would have been better if it was transparent. Save some paint steps and add a feature.

Goblins – Nice. Not the style I tend to like, but I still got a few to mod.

Great Worm – Wish this had the tail with it. Bought one just to have.

Minotaur of the Maze- One of the best looking minotaur sculpts I have seen, and the paint jobs are better than all of the other Reaper PPMs.

Ogre Chieftain – It's actually in scale to the size ogres were, it's just that WoTC kept scale creeping ogres into being bigger than Hill Giants (look at the ogre ravager from Dragoneye vs. the ogre warhulk from Demonweb) I prefer this scale of this ogre.

Orcs - I don't particularly like this style, but other than pig-faced orcs from Otherworlds, I don't fancy any other style of orcs either. I did get a dozen or so to create a different tribe than the usual kind of orcs.

Ranger- Nice, but something I don't want more than one of. Seems something the kiddies like more.

Good/Evil Knight - Really liked these sculpts. Perfect for customization and everything. I have used the evil knight heads to put on mandalorian warriors for my Star Wars minis, while putting the SWM on the knight's body. Need more generic stuff like this.

Skeletons - Have the most of these, so easy to customize, and I love all of the repaints you have done.

Unicorn - Got one just to have.

Vampire - Good, but I didn't like the stuff around the base either. I know the metal mini it is based off of had the tombstone also, but I still had to cut it off and am working on resculpting the leg it covered.

Young Dragon – Dragons are always a good thing, but something I only like to get one or two of.

Zombie- Yes there are too many zombies out on the market already, yet still I buy more. This fits well in my zombie hoard that my player's cleric can destroy in one round of turning. Still it was fun setting out a zombie hoard.

Kobold Warriors- I plan to get as many of these as I can afford. After they are released I will be putting up 20 of the metal models these are based off of on e-bay. I like the dog-faced style as well as the scale of these kobolds.

Giant Rats- Will get them just for variety, but already have way too many giant rat minis.

Dwarf Warrior- Not too keen on dwarves, but this is a nice sculpt. Will get it mostly for modding purposes, not so much because I particularly like the style of it.

Gnoll Warrior- Not bad, I like the style of Reaper gnolls, but there are many better gnoll sculpts you have that you could have chosen from.

Halber

[VFults]

Thanks, Ed, for the behind the scenes info on Reaper's PPMs. I hope that the line will gain popularity now that WOTC has abandoned the market. The quality Reaper has put in the PPMs is outstanding. Since others are commenting on specific minis, I'll throw my two copper pieces worth in:

Bathalian – Love this guy; bought 2 and intend to buy the new repaint as well.

Bugbear – Excellent bugbear; bought 3 and will buy multiples if other bugbears sculpts are released.

Cave Troll – Bought 1; really too small for a troll.

Elf Archer – A traditional styled elf; bought 1.

Gargoyle – Great sculpt; bought 2 and use them as gargoyles and demons.

Giant Spider - Bought 1; nice model and paint job but I have a ton of WOTC spiders.

Ghost- Very useful model; bought 1 and use it as a ghost, specter, wraith, etc.

Goblins – Very nice, pre-third edition style D&D goblins; I bought 4 blisters of these guys.

Great Worm – Wonderful detail on this model; I bought only 1, though, since there's not much call for multiples on giant worms.

Minotaur of the Maze- Best-Minotaur-mini-evah! Bought two and I really need to pick up the repainted one.

Ogre Chieftain – Bought 5 ogres. He's small by 3.x D&D and later standards but he seems about the right size for an old-school ogre.

Orcs - I now have 24 of these guys. Again, these are pre-3.x D&D styled monsters (but not so retro as to be pig-faced); something I like.

Ranger - Awesome pose! I've used her as a ranger and a duel-wielding rogue. Only have 1 but will buy the new repaint.

Good/Evil Knight - Have one of each. I'd like to see a variety of fighters types with different weapons that can also be used as clerics.

Skeletons - I bought one three-pack of each to mix in with my other skellies.

Unicorn – Bought one for completeness' sake; it's a great model but I don't have much use for unicorns.

Vampire - Great sculpt! Personally, I like the decorated base. More vampires, male and female, please!

Young Dragon – A small dragon, but good for the lower level encounters; needed only 1, however.

Zombie- Great paint job. Bought 4 and mixed them in with my other zombies.

New releases:

Kobold Warriors - Again, very old-school looking; plan to buy 4 blisters of these guys.

Giant Rats - Plan to buy 2 blisters to mix in with my other giant rats.

Gnoll - Plan to buy six and will buy the same quanity of the gnoll bowman, too, if it is released.

Dwarf - I like him but I'll buy only one initially and then pick up any repaints.

Regards,

V