Investing in the miniature space

[Helge]

Hello

Are there financial investment opportunities in the miniature space?

I have been in the hobby for 30 years now with the typical trajectory of a Games Workshop start to now a spread of historical endeavours. Over the years I have invested quite a bit into the hobby - in the sense of spending money on stuff - but I have never really contemplated the financial backend of the industry. There seem to be more small businesses in this space than ever before and presumably there would be some value to capital injections. But how, where and under what economic model?

Which aspects of the miniature space would most benefit from capital injections? Figure manufacturers, 3D sculptors, video/content channels, new game system developers, etc.?

What economic model would be best suited? Debt financing (what collateral?) or Venture financing (return via dividends or liquidity events?)

What amounts would be viable? I am assuming smaller 5-6 digit angel investments but maybe there exist opportunities for larger syndicate deals?

I am curious if anybody has tried this before. Views from somebody actually running aa business in the field would be much appreciated as well.

Cheers
Helge

[v_lazy_dragon]

Not tried it, but Carl G wargaming in Oromocto, New Brunswick was looking for investors a few months ago... So others have had similar thoughts

[ced1106]

KickStarter and other crowdfunders are obviously looking for cash up front. I've contacted many for free stuff (: in return for my promoting them with reviews, painted photos, threads on various KS forums, etc. You find out that some of these people are really nice people, so at least can find out who you may want to work with. Of course, there's much more work with reviewing their financials and all that, and I don't think there's much money in it -- unless you want product instead of money!

[Mammoth miniatures]

I think you'd struggle to make a return in many cases.most of us ,with the exception of the big names ,earn just enough to keep going and are content to do so since it allows us to make when we enjoy. obviously investment allows for scaling up,but in many cases you're dealing with individual creatives who don't see handing their ideas off to others or removing themselves from the making process as a desirable goal. The industry really is two industries -uou have the big companies that run a design studio, and you have a far larger number of cottage industries that really need to be thought of more as working artists than expandable businesses. What would probably help more is patronage and promotion.

I suppose you could do a general call out to companies that you like and see if there are any big projects they'd like to take and then ask how you could support it ,but profit margins on most of this stuff are slim so you might not get much back beyond the satisfaction of having helped support someones practice.

[Easy E]

You can always give me money!   



I am pretty much in alignment with what Mammoth Miniatures said.

[Etranger]

Q How do you make a small fortune?

A. Have a large fortune and open a hobby business...

[Helge]

Mammoth et al, thanks for the informative responses. The production of miniatures for niche areas - everything outside of very mainstream historical and "branded" fantasy/sci-fi - does indeed seem non-viable from an investment perspective.

My curiosity was aroused by some of the 3D printing patreon campaigns where venture-style growth seems possible. Those are basically subscription-as-a-service businesses with no real production or inventory cost, so they can scale quickly and initial capital might help to jump-start a campaign. The historical space might be too fractured for this though. You would need a large enough accessible subscriber base and probably use 3D printing STL files as the delivery mechanism. I am not sure if there are enough historical collectors with 3D printers to make that viable (and historical models are usually cheap enough that the motivation for 3D printing isn't as strong in the first place).

[Khusru2]

Helge, you are more likely to get a return by investing in 3d printers. I think Kickstarter has covered the investment angle, and the creator has more freedom than wondering how to satisfy an investor.
The only possibility I can see. is by contacting a failed kickstart campaign and coming to some form of agreement.

[Mammoth miniatures]

Helge, you are more likely to get a return by investing in 3d printers. I think Kickstarter has covered the investment angle, and the creator has more freedom than wondering how to satisfy an investor.
The only possibility I can see. is by contacting a failed kickstart campaign and coming to some form of agreement.

Yes, failed or unfulfilled kickstarters might be a good option if you absolutely want to invest in miniatures. I suppose you could act as a Kickstarter scrap merchant - find a project that bit off more than it could chew and never delivered, buy the rights and designs for a pittance then sell them on piecemeal to other companies for a profit - An STL here, a ruleset there etc. Again tho, I'm not sure how receptive the actual "industry" would be. As I say there isn't that much money floating around outside of the big companies - The big patreons make a living by copying the designs of games workshop or filling niches GW won't - There's no real need for investment when your entire strategy is jus to sit back and wait for another company to do all the concept designs for you.

As for historical gaming - maybe? I don't off the top of my head know of a popular patreon/3d design company catering exclusively to the historical market, but that may be because the demand isn't yet there. You could always create it, but then that's less a case of investing and more just you setting up a new business. It may offer you some returns, but not the kind of passive returns you'd likely want as an investor since you'd actually need to either do the sculpting yourself or hire and direct others.

[DivisMal]

Yes, failed or unfulfilled kickstarters might be a good option if you absolutely want to invest in miniatures. I suppose you could act as a Kickstarter scrap merchant - find a project that bit off more than it could chew and never delivered, buy the rights and designs for a pittance then sell them on piecemeal to other companies for a profit - An STL here, a ruleset there etc. Again tho, I'm not sure how receptive the actual "industry" would be. As I say there isn't that much money floating around outside of the big companies - The big patreons make a living by copying the designs of games workshop or filling niches GW won't - There's no real need for investment when your entire strategy is jus to sit back and wait for another company to do all the concept designs for you.

As for historical gaming - maybe? I don't off the top of my head know of a popular patreon/3d design company catering exclusively to the historical market, but that may be because the demand isn't yet there. You could always create it, but then that's less a case of investing and more just you setting up a new business. It may offer you some returns, but not the kind of passive returns you'd likely want as an investor since you'd actually need to either do the sculpting yourself or hire and direct others.

Mammoth said some things that are definitely on spot. Since years there has only been GW. There were times long, long ago when they were challenged, from the likes of Privateer Press, Rackham or Target. Nowadays the only other lines that seem to be as big as GW are franchises from cinema and TV, like Star Wars.

Apart from the big guys, I can see two different types of sellers:
Many other businesses flourish by just copying GW. Especially in the 3d scene. The others try to carve a niche in a niche, mainly because they enjoy it. Quite a few of them are here in this forum.

Historical miniatures are definitely a thing and the market is quie big, I assume. However, there is no Warhammer here, but myriads of different rules. There have been quite a few very successful kickstarters, for instance in Napoleonics, but the question here is again how could one create revenue from something where today a 3d artist can set up a KS? You’d need something like the power creep spiral of GW. And even GW took decades to get to the point where they are now.

So not sure if, apart from buying GW stock, there is any possibility of investing in miniatures.