Post by farseer on Sept 8, 2010 19:30:11 GMT -5
My vote is as a gamer, but with your business in mind. Lets face it your out to make a living so you cannot cater to everything we want. I know this, hopefully others do to. For what its worth (not much ) my experience is as a player, a previous game store owner and manager, and I was a b2b sales manager for one of the big miniatures companies. (feel free to pm me for any help or bounce things off of, I'd be glad too)
I'm for the six man box with swappable weapons/parts. This way you can use a standardized equipment sprue in the starters and build out the line more as we grow our forces. This also allows you to release blisters of specialized equipment that can be added as well.
Initially, a variety pack of your universe's unique races should be done in order to get the players something we can all get playing with. Multiple starter box sales per player will develop here as we want multiple figs of the same race (or introduce blisters here). Then use the cash flow to invest into multiple poses per race. The "universal" starter (get it !!) will help us and you realize what races are more popular and what equipment is being used so you can prioritize and capitalize on demand.
From there I'd like to see race specific starters in order to get the most variety of poses/equipment per race, but resources and release schedule availability will dictate that. (dont want sculptors fingers to fall off). 4 poses per race is something to strive for with swappable gear. Gamers who want more can convert from there.
Include base inserts if possible and maybe look at partnering with an existing base maker.
As for swappable hands or arms, I'd say mix it up. Make two handed items arms and the one handed items hands. A problem with two handed gear and casting is that if they are hands and not arms, the model tends to look 2-dimensional and flat (easier to cast, i know) and always have the sideways pose. though the Gaffi and Limax fix that....
One thing about swappable gear though is be sure that two handed weapons look right on the model. Many times companies try this and the rifles/two handed equipment does not look right. They have a "things aren't held like this" look but they do it just to make it modular. Maybe make 2 poses two handed and 2 single handed (mix it up by race according to specifics)
$40.00US is a good price point to look for. Maybe $45.00. Any more and the price gets scary. The $50.00 price point is psychologically bad for gamers.
Be sure they are a playable force out of the box with all lists (if possible) and PLEASE make the packaging usable as a figure case! Mantic Games and Infinity - to a degree - do this and its GREAT! Especially for a skirmish game.
and one last thing...here's another vote for the all Limax box first! ;D ;D ;D
I'm for the six man box with swappable weapons/parts. This way you can use a standardized equipment sprue in the starters and build out the line more as we grow our forces. This also allows you to release blisters of specialized equipment that can be added as well.
Initially, a variety pack of your universe's unique races should be done in order to get the players something we can all get playing with. Multiple starter box sales per player will develop here as we want multiple figs of the same race (or introduce blisters here). Then use the cash flow to invest into multiple poses per race. The "universal" starter (get it !!) will help us and you realize what races are more popular and what equipment is being used so you can prioritize and capitalize on demand.
From there I'd like to see race specific starters in order to get the most variety of poses/equipment per race, but resources and release schedule availability will dictate that. (dont want sculptors fingers to fall off). 4 poses per race is something to strive for with swappable gear. Gamers who want more can convert from there.
Include base inserts if possible and maybe look at partnering with an existing base maker.
As for swappable hands or arms, I'd say mix it up. Make two handed items arms and the one handed items hands. A problem with two handed gear and casting is that if they are hands and not arms, the model tends to look 2-dimensional and flat (easier to cast, i know) and always have the sideways pose. though the Gaffi and Limax fix that....
One thing about swappable gear though is be sure that two handed weapons look right on the model. Many times companies try this and the rifles/two handed equipment does not look right. They have a "things aren't held like this" look but they do it just to make it modular. Maybe make 2 poses two handed and 2 single handed (mix it up by race according to specifics)
$40.00US is a good price point to look for. Maybe $45.00. Any more and the price gets scary. The $50.00 price point is psychologically bad for gamers.
Be sure they are a playable force out of the box with all lists (if possible) and PLEASE make the packaging usable as a figure case! Mantic Games and Infinity - to a degree - do this and its GREAT! Especially for a skirmish game.
and one last thing...here's another vote for the all Limax box first! ;D ;D ;D