Fantasy Flight Games Pre-painted investigators

[loki]

They look promising:
http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=845







...Cast in 32mm (compares to 28mm "heroic" scale) 3to showcase the fine details, these hand-painted figures give new life to ancient horror. Over the coming months, the Mythos will reveal the next waves of Investigators. Keep your wits about you, and your eyes sharp for the coming assistance. Each pack of 2 investigators will retail for $12.95...

[Onebigriver]

Size is bit of an issue for the humans but I look forward to seeing the beasties!

[yamaneko]

This is exciting news, and I may even get a few.  I still prefer unpainted lead, however.

They went overboard on the packaging.  I know it looks cool, but what a waste; and the cost is getting passed on to the consumer.  Same mistake that Rackham made.

[warrenss2]

Over $6 per miniature? And they're plastic?

I guess you have to pay for that extra nice, slightly over-sized packaging.

I'll pass on this one, if you don't mind. Or, perhaps, wait for them to hit Ebay or the pre-owned gaming store circuit.

[Uncle Mike]

Ugh! Yet more prepainted plastics... I also remain hopefull that some monsters will be good enough for a repaint!

[LidlessEye]

Yeah, four figures in a more sensible package for $18-20 would be an easier sell, both for gamers and retailers.  Sometimes I wonder if these game companies have any sense of how small the average game store is - they just don't have the shelf space for something like that.

The other issue I can see is it's going to take them ages to get all the minis released at this rate, considering I think the game is up to about 30 investigators with the latest expansion.  Then there's the monsters.  Almost makes me think they should have gone for a full-out Arkham Horror CMG, minis also usable for the boardgame.

I can't believe I just advocated a new CMG.  I feel dirty...

[fairoaks024]

Lidless eye, onto the naughty step with you!   

regards


jim

[richarDISNEY]

Well, they do look better painted than the D&D ones... 

[Operator5]

Sometimes I wonder if these game companies have any sense of how small the average game store is - they just don't have the shelf space for something like that.

And that is why they went with big packaging. It HAS to be placed someplace prominent and not mixed in with all the other blistered miniatures. Less chance of theft which might make it easier to get into more chain stores. I don't advocate it, but I understand it from a marketing stand point.

[LidlessEye]

Which leads to the small game retailer saying "nope, not worth it" and saving their previous shelf space for a more cost-effective product.  Mind you, I worked in a game store that had hideous amounts of space, so I'm not exactly speaking from experience here.

This strikes me as yet another blurring of the line between miniature games and toys.  It'll be a sad, sad day when I have to wander over to Toys 'R Us to get my gaming fix, but I expect it's coming nonetheless.  That said, they're really not bad-looking figures - just a little overpackaged and overpriced for my taste.

[Dolmot]

Well, let's face the facts. This is a difficult product to make. AH is popular, but not that popular. People already have the cardboard characters. Even if these replacements were only 50p each, only a fraction of players would buy them. Extremely few will ever buy more than one of each. It will be a small batch, no matter what.

What to do? Unpainted lead (tin)? Average gamers wouldn't find that an improvement over nicely printed cardboard. Painted lead? Would chip if thrown in a game box without padding. Not handy. Unpainted plastic? Again, not that pretty. What's left? PPP. It can survive constant use and careless handling. Of the options available, it's the most attractive to common boardgamers, thereby maximising the batch size.

As a lead fan with a formidable collection of investigators, I'm not that greatly excited. Then again, I'm not a typical customer. Actually, I find these quite OK. Just not worth buying in addition to my existing lead pile.

Store owners already hate the box size, but anything less flashy would make the $13 price tag look even worse.

The FAQ is a bit comical.

Q: Why only 2 per box?
A: Placing more figures in a box would have caused the product to become prohibitively expensive. 8 Figures, for example, would have retailed for about $45 with customers being forced to purchase a bundle of 8 figures rather than the figures of choice.

Seriously...who's going to need two random Arkham characters? Now we'll have to wait a couple of months until they're all out. Then we can buy that "cheaper" 8-pack for $52, if they're still all in stock. Waste of store shelf space, really. The only point of this arrangement is to make the single payments feel less painful.

Too much rambling. I'll stop now.

[rjandron]

While I like the idea of prepaints, the execution has been less than thrilling with past experiments (AT-43, Battlefield Evolution). These look a cut above the typical Clix-style paint job but I'd actually have to see them "in the flesh" as it were before deciding to make a purchase.

This may be just me, but wouldn't Jenny Barnes's outfit look a little...scandalous...for the 1920s/1930s? Above the knee hems and all that. It's just not cricket.

[chicklewis]

The marketing gimmicks themselves may kill this otherwise good idea. 

Here's the risk.  I like miniatures, and I like Arkham horror.  BUT I will not purchase two minis this month on the hope that eventually they will all be made available.   I will wait until they are all available to purchase them.  I don't want to be stuck with four painted miniatures and all the rest cardboard counters, when FFG stops the run, see below.

There are likely many others like me who will wait in the wings.

FFG will see that sales are VERY slow (due to release schedule and uncertainty) and will pull the plug on the product line. 

Vicious cycle, which COULD have been avoided by releasing in larger sets.

Shame, really.

Chick

[Bako]

I think I'll wait and see so far as the creatures go.

[Operator5]

There are likely many others like me who will wait in the wings.

FFG will see that sales are VERY slow (due to release schedule and uncertainty) and will pull the plug on the product line. 

Vicious cycle, which COULD have been avoided by releasing in larger sets.

I don't disagree with you Chick, but this is also why some lines never get completed. People don't want to buy until they see a whole range completed, and the manufacturer can't afford to put a whole range out at once so they wait to see how early sets sell.