A few hours ago I joined the other 14,000+ people and bought into Reaper's Bones Kickstarter at the "Vampire" level. Last count, not that I've bothered, was around 225 figs. From dungeon crawling spider to halfling, storm giant to griffon, and everything in between.
Since my last post they have added everything you see here in this post, no small haul whatsoever, and I have a hunch that maybe some more figs will make the final curtain call. Which is in seven hours mind you (10:30 am EST as I type).
The overwhelming responses to that post were nothing short of awesome, and I based a large part of my decision in the discussions therein. My wife also had a great point; all that other stuff I want (Eclipse, Super Dungeon Explore, etc.) aren't going anywhere, I can basically buy them anytime. This Reaper ship on the other hand is pulling anchor.
So a big thanks to everyone who answered the "what do y'all think?" call the other day. As I like to drone on and on about, it's this overall global gaming community that keeps the fires lit in the boiler room that is Mik's Minis!
All right, you've got seven hours to get in on this Moby Dickulous deal if you're so inclined. As it turns out, it really was too good to pass up on in my case. Until then, as always, enjoy!
Me, witchfinder general, and another went thirdsies on in. Theyre sending me their checks and Im backing the project at vampire level. Even split in thirds that's about 75 miniatures each. 75 minis for $33, deal of the frikkin century.
ReplyDeleteThat's good, I was hoping you guys could work something out. However you split it, it is the deal of the century.
DeleteWell we've hit all the excitement already. You're post outlined the hilights. The latest stuff is a free PDF of a book you can already get for free on the website and a lame novel. If this does reach the 3 mil, there's nothing more to see here.
ReplyDeleteI was a bit disappointed with the PDF additions, but it looks like one last push threw in a great pack of some very characterful familiars.
DeleteNot a big fan of all the add-ons, they're cool don't get me wrong, but I want to see how much just the $100 bucks will get me. Adding a huge Cthulhu at the end however might change my mind.
Looks like this was way off :)
DeleteNo kidding, they had a few surprises left after all!
DeleteAt some point even though plastic minis have low incremental production costs making 15,000 of 4 different models for each stretch goal does start to have real costs in terms of additional capacity and labor. You do not want to invest in training people just to lay them off when you have finished filling this 3.5 Million miniatures that they now claim they will be sending us.
ReplyDeleteI've wondered about the logistics all along, but your labor point is incredibly valid. 3.5 million minis, shipped, in March? That's a lot of labor, a lot of labor that payroll won't be able to support once March is over.
DeleteI threw in my $100. I still don't get the economics of this, but who can resist those prices, and from a reputable company.
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head, "reputable company". Otherwise I would've stayed far, far away.
DeleteThe economics are something like to make the next miniature when you are set up might cost 10-25 cents in plastic and labor. A GW plastic kits are pennies on the dollar in this incremental cost. Now the costs increase with retail package, sorting, distribution but since most of the people are getting the same 200 hundred minis the packaging will not be that bad. I doubt that these will come in individual retail clam packs. Probably heat sealed plastic baggies.
ReplyDeleteThe bigger issue is that they essentially spend the money on the molds for this but everyone you is really going to be interested in the next few years has bought them through this so you seriously depress the market. I think they hope to cancel this affect by sales to people like me you have not bought minis of their style in many years.
That's one thing I was wondering. You just sold your entire line, a couple of lines really, to...everybody, in one shot. Who is going to be buying these off the shelf in the random LGS? Sure, some, but the lion's share has been sold already.
DeleteThe molds for plastic minis last a long time if properly stored so they can be using these for years to come and it is all pure profit since the real costs are all paid up at the front with this. Plus it might earn them some new customers who might take a look at some of their other minis to go along with these at a later time.
DeleteEven after this their bones line at regular price is very reasonably priced. Like you said, this campaign is giving them an incredible jump to getting the metal molds they need for their bones line. Now after all is said and done, they can start mass producing more plastic minis and sell at regular price (which is cheaper than metal minis) and be making bank. This is almost as though someone just gave them all the metal molds they need.
ReplyDeleteAnd moved everything from China to Texas to boot, which is what I gather a huge hurdle that was handled incredibly quickly and efficiently due to this successful project.
DeleteYeah, now all these unpainted Reaper guys can keep my unpainted GW, Red Box, and Foundry Fantasy figures company. Hooray!
ReplyDeleteHeh, that's been the best perspective I've seen yet on it!
DeleteI am planning on using these to help teach my daughter how to paint and my 1 year old son since we will still be working on them then. Better these my my extensive collection of vintage blood bowl figures.
DeleteWith the number of mini I'm getting with this thing, there's a good chance this will become my "vintage Reaper figures" collection before I paint half of them.
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