Hellboy

[bergschotten]

yep despite the reservations, expressed in this august forum, I  also went for the earlybird pledge knowing I will probably end up trawling the internet for the minis at some point!

[FionaWhite]

Now if they would only deliver the other FOUR Kickstarters that they received funding for but have yet to complete. Oh and while they are at it how about furthering existing IPs. It is like what they plan for their Kickstarters is all they ever plan to do with something. I love their Walking Dead game. But nothing new has come out for that game that wasn't part of their Kickstarter. It is like they but all kinds of hype behind something up until it is Kickstarted and then they throw it aside.  Almost like the philosophy of "We got our money in advance, now let's move to something else. No need to put further effort behind this game unless we do another Kickstarter." Hard to support a company that continually uses Kickstarter. There comes a point when you either have brand recognition to stand on your own or you don't.

This is a bit off-topic but wouldn't they, in case of a licensed product like TWD, need additional permits/licenses to produce anything beyond what their original license covered?

[Wachaza]

Plus side, they've gone with a freelancer and not their studio developers and fans to do the work this time this time, so fingers crossed.

"Designed by James M. Hewitt - the brains behind the likes of DreadBall, Blood Bowl 2016, Necromunda: Underhive, and Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower"

So he did Dreadball for Mantic.

Kickstarter is great for Mantic. They can use it to fund really big print runs with minimal risk. They get their stock as cheaply as possible and by stringing out retail releases they can keep their cash flow up. Backers get a load of stuff. It's already well below £1 per miniature plus all the printed stuff. About the only losers are the retail games shops who will find it difficult to sell for the first year or so, especially when Mantic do a sale.

[robh]

....About the only losers are the retail games shops who will find it difficult to sell for the first year or so, especially when Mantic do a sale.

Longer that that in many cases, the game shops around here back Mantic Kickstarters themselves at the "traders pledge" and sell on to pre-booked customers but never get in fresh stock of anything Mantic for retail.
As one of the owners commented, Mantic already soak up the sales from pretty much anyone who would have been his customer so why should he buy product  that he knows will just sit on the shelf when he can turn around Infinity, Malifaux or Warhammer stock as quickly as he can get it in.
Unless someone specifically requests one, Mantic games do not feature in the shop club nights.

[Sir_Theo]

I'm backing it too...the game looks like a fun Mansions of madness type deal and the minis look great.

I dont mind Mantic. I like Dreadball and Deadzone (game wise, the Kickstarter were a bit problematic) I've also got dungeon Saga but never got around to playing it.

I really like Kings of War. Although I've never been involved in the Kickstarters. I also think that TWD is awesome.

[Sir_Theo]

Also I think River Horse are the new Mongoose!

[ced1106]

About the only losers are the retail games shops who will find it difficult to sell for the first year or so, especially when Mantic do a sale.

Eh, it's not like game stores really need boardgames. The FLGS makes most of its money from Magic the Gathering events, and miniature wargames. Even with miniature wargames, it's a crowded market. That may be why Mantic's going after boardgamers with some of their projects. Willie Sutton didn't actually say "I rob banks because that's where the money is," but there's plenty of money when you cut out the middleman, know how much product you will sell, and don't have to take out a loan. :$

@Fiona: Yep! For TWD, Mantic had the comic book rights, but Cryptozoic had the AMC television series rights. So that's why Mantic's TWD doesn't have Daryl, a character not in the comics but in the television series.

[spect_spidey]

This is a bit off-topic but wouldn't they, in case of a licensed product like TWD, need additional permits/licenses to produce anything beyond what their original license covered?

That is true but their license covers all of the comics for TWD. With the Kickstarter being two years ago, there has been plenty of time for them to get approvals on additional sculpts and such to have new product ready for once the Kickstarter waves ran out. Their product line so far only covers up to the conflict with the Governor and Woodbury with the exception of making Ezekiel, Shiva, and Negan. The comic is approaching 200 issues and the game only takes us up to around issue 50. I get the feeling that they obtain these licenses for a quick cash grab. They run a Kickstarter and only develop a certain amount of product based upon what profit levels they desire from the Kickstarter and then let the license languish until it expires. It seems to be a pattern that is forming. Mars Attacks, Deadzone, Dungeon Saga, TWD, and now Hellboy. It is no wonder that game distributors in the U.S. don't want to carry their products.

[Giger]

Plenty has been added to the campaign (including Baba Yaga) thanks to the new Hellboy In Mexico expansion add on, over £1M now!

[Munindk]

While not a blockbuster like Monoliths Batman game or Firelocks Blood and Plunder kickstarters its looking good.

There are fewer but better stretch goals, from my point of view at least.

[leonmallett]

While not a blockbuster like Monoliths Batman game or Firelocks Blood and Plunder kickstarters its looking good.

There are fewer but better stretch goals, from my point of view at least.

Although in Mantic's own terms, it looks like it is their most successful Kickstarter as their first one-million pounds plus project, and has more than doubled the amounts raised from their two previous licensed IP campaigns.

In all, as you say it does look like a smartly constructed campaign.

[mcfonz]

Really like the mini's involved in this, but the last scale update has pushed me to the verge of dropping my early bird.

They are going to be too big. It's looking a lot like average humans are going to be 35mm to the eye - which means they won't fit with anything outside of the game.

It also means the doors they have included as an add on, will be too small.

Tbh, I think it's an error on their part not to remain with the scale they already have established. It would allow inventive crossovers like zombies, ghouls and other creatures.

[Giger]

Really like the mini's involved in this, but the last scale update has pushed me to the verge of dropping my early bird.

They are going to be too big. It's looking a lot like average humans are going to be 35mm to the eye - which means they won't fit with anything outside of the game.

It also means the doors they have included as an add on, will be too small.

Tbh, I think it's an error on their part not to remain with the scale they already have established. It would allow inventive crossovers like zombies, ghouls and other creatures.

I'm guessing that they'll be the same scale as The Walking Dead game, big but still usable with pretty much anything else.

[mcfonz]

I would suggest not.

The Walking Dead miniatures vary but seem to be more 32mm. The hellboy stuff seems to be a fair bit taller.

Lobster was listed as over 40mm tall including the base which is going to be 3mm max. And he is a standard human size, so you are looking at around 5mm difference on average human heights going by that.

[DivisMal]

Really like the mini's involved in this, but the last scale update has pushed me to the verge of dropping my early bird.

They are going to be too big. It's looking a lot like average humans are going to be 35mm to the eye - which means they won't fit with anything outside of the game.

It also means the doors they have included as an add on, will be too small.

Tbh, I think it's an error on their part not to remain with the scale they already have established. It would allow inventive crossovers like zombies, ghouls and other creatures.

Damn, that would also be a nogo for me! Where did you read about the scale?