AdyCarter Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I've raised this a few times in the past, and Im bored so Im raising it again.... I REALLY think that mates based on MMORPGs could be the biggest selling Minimates of all time... Let me explain what I mean for those of you that havent heard my rant before. MMORPGS are HUGE, for example World of Warcraft has in the region of 600,000 paying subscribers, and thats just one MMORPG, there are many... In MMORPGs you create your own character from various races/pieces/costumes/body types etc and then go adventuring with them, what could be cooler than having a little plastic version of the character you've spent hundreds of hours playing as? (Just ask Danny, hes got customs of his City of Heroes characters). Obviously as everyones characters are different these mates would have to contain various pieces from which people could create their own characters, so they'd probably have to be themed (Male Human Warrior pack for example) but I reckon this could sell, and massively. The usual run on an exclusive mate is 5000, well if 600,000 play WoW Im sure 5k would sell, probably a hell of a lot more, after all these people pay money every month to play the game so Im sure the disposable income is there.... What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totalus_Kat Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Why not stop there? The whole create a mate? If DST produced just blank pieces of accessories, all different from each other... then the customisers out there could paint them up and create there own mates eliminating the mess of sculpey etc. Alternatively in the case of providing those blank pieces, what about Decals? Printing various images on a sheet of acetate then all we'd do is apply them to the mates and hey presto new mates. The potential in Create-A-Mate is endless. But yet its a fantastic idea. cheers, Tk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdyCarter Posted December 1, 2006 Author Share Posted December 1, 2006 The problem with create-a-mate (which was once looked into, kinda, long story) would be identifying the market, customising is niche, just look at Shockinis (try not to look to long, you'll turn to stone) on paper they are ideal for customisers, but look at the sales.... not exactly flying outta the dollar bin.. there just arent really enough customisers out there to justify a run on something like that really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xybot Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I'd still love to see City of Heroes / Villains 'mates ... ... and I'd buy WOW 'mates too, even though I don't know much about the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BannersID Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I think the idea in either fashion MMORPG or create a mate is fantastic but I see adys point about the create a mate being a niche but the MMORPG packs are just shy of a C-A-M pack. a package deal like stikfas figures would be nice a sheet of decals, figure and tree of accessories. do that in MM form and you've got a winner in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdyCarter Posted December 1, 2006 Author Share Posted December 1, 2006 Aye, I always forget about the crazy sucess Stikfas have had, dunno if mates could replicate that... obviously I'd be all over any type of MMORPG mates, especially as while not a c-a-m directly they would be damn near close, only with a definitive market to sell to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanester Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Ady, I think this has been asked of AA/DST in numerous ways and they always shrug it off. I agree that it would be a hit, but they are the guys in charge and they keep saying no. Why listen to the fans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdyCarter Posted December 1, 2006 Author Share Posted December 1, 2006 Yeah I think I asked Chuck about it in an old Q&A, but Im gonna keep bringing it up until someone takes notice. If I had the cash I'd bloody fund it myself, I cant see how it wouldnt be successfull to target MMORPGs: Large audience + disposable income + love for cool toys + figures of your own character = massive success surely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanester Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Large audience + disposable income + love for cool toys + figures of your own character = massive success surely? I totally agree. Let me know when you're ready to fund this project because I want in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groundhog7s Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 just look at Shockinis (try not to look to long, you'll turn to stone) on paper they are ideal for customisers, but look at the sales.... not exactly flying outta the dollar bin.. If I found them in a dollar bin, I'd buy them Something that Stikfas has that works for them is Hasbro. Big name toy makers rule the world (well, at least most of the toy aisles). I don't think Minimates have that much exposure to carry a game successfully. I'd love it and buy it all, but I think there's too many big names out there to justify the kind of investment they'd have to make. I still think it's an awesome idea though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcastick Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 This is probably going a BIT over the top.....but how about this. Who ever would distribute something like this, they can set up a web site, where you can mix and match all different types of accessories and different types of mates so that you CAN build your actual character from the game. You could make it something like you have to buy either a 2 pack or a 4 pack (say maybe $10-$15 for the 2 pack and $20-$30 for the 4 pack) Granted I do not play the game, but i could see something like this somewhat possible......although I'm sure some bodytypes and accessories would barely get used and some might sell out extremely fast, but it is just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanester Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Stikfas does not have Hasbro any longer and haven't for quite some time now. The deal soured and BannyJ went on with Saizon instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobsterman Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Large audience + disposable income + love for cool toys + figures of your own character = massive success surely? I totally agree. Let me know when you're ready to fund this project because I want in! Has a fully fan-funded production scheme like this ever been tried or worked before? I mean, any person on this board probably spends at least $100 on mates in a year (yeah, that's a conservative estimate). What if every member – there are, what, 500 members on this board? – pitched in that amount to fund some kind of CAM line? Even if half that number pitched in $100, that's $25,000 to get something going. Is it just a capital problem preventing a project like this from going forward, or do the guys in charge just not want to do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdyCarter Posted December 1, 2006 Author Share Posted December 1, 2006 AFAIK AA would probably be quite receptive to something like this, obviously there are a lot of things to consider: *Initial funding (will not be cheap) *Licensing (if it was based on a non generic property there would be HUGE licensing fees, and trying to do something that wouldnt result in likeness rights could be hard, heck are Police Uniforms public domain? even if they were does their PD license exclude making replicas for profit?) *Design *Manufacture *Marketing *Retail support (sell via an existing site or have a dedicated one) *Customer Service Lets take a ball park example of a blank, now I have no idea about design cost for logos etc, but we do know the minimum run is 5000, lets say that the cost price for blanks is $2.5 (plucked out of the air fact fans) so just the production of 5000 blanks with a logo (excluding any deisgn, shipping, royalties or production fess) would be $12,500. Remember too that they would be just blanks, very little tampo printing, baggie packaging and no tooling of new parts.... Or to put it another way, if 200 people chipped in $65 a piece they could each have 25 exclusive blanks..... Actually based on my fuzzy maths thats not too bad... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newaddict Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I love this idea. Imagine 'mates being marketed like Stikfas. A generic theme set with assorted accessories and a decal sheet. I can't imagine they'd be any more expensive than Stikfas, and I know I'd buy them. These must be done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totalus_Kat Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 But just like Ady said, if the idea has been broached before and rebuked... then what makes this time any different? I mean when has any Toy company listened to what it's fan's wants? Its sad to say but whether its a Toy company or a Film Production company they do what sells, and as said above there is no guarantee if they do this that they will gain money and stand a big chance of loosing the cash. cheers Tk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jad Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 This sounds like a great idea to me. I'm not familiar with WoW (beyond that hilarious South Park episode), but it seems there's a variety of fantasy characters there. I wouldn't want to ever see Minimates marketed as blank customizable figures with decals like Stickfas. Rather, I'd want to see single-packed generic character types, each with a variety of swappable parts. I think it would work well to do them in 2", 2.5", and 3" sizes, just like the LOTR mates. What a great way to fill out our Middle Earth armies! In order to drum up interest, they could offer the first WoW minimates as exclusive prizes for completing some in-game task. Then they could mass-market the non-exclusive variations. That would bring exposure of 'mates to players and probably non-players, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vash Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 quick note WoW is now according to blizzards numbers sporting a subscriber base of 7 million world wide. and id love WoW minimates because i wouldnt have to figure out how to customize the characters my wife and i play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdyCarter Posted December 2, 2006 Author Share Posted December 2, 2006 7 Million, wow my figures really were old... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruticus Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Not into WoW at all but i'll happily welcome customizable mates with accessories... Hell, any new mates are welcome... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBT! Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 This sounds more and more like a good idea the more I hear it. I'm pretty ignorant of WoW as I hate the idea of paying a monthly fee to play a game, that's the main reason I've stayed clear of the genre. In WoW would the characters suit the minimate style? How many shapes of character are there though? i.e. dwarves , compared to humans & being shorter etc. Also how many 'classes' ? I'm just trying to get an idea of how many parts you'd need to make figures customisable enough. T. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montrossx Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 This sounds more and more like a good idea the more I hear it. I'm pretty ignorant of WoW as I hate the idea of paying a monthly fee to play a game, that's the main reason I've stayed clear of the genre. In WoW would the characters suit the minimate style? How many shapes of character are there though? i.e. dwarves , compared to humans & being shorter etc. Also how many 'classes' ? I'm just trying to get an idea of how many parts you'd need to make figures customisable enough. T. There's 8 playable races currently: Alliance: Gnome, Dwarf, Human, Night Elf Horde: Undead, Orc, Troll, Tauren (looks like a minotaur) If they went with LOTR scale, you could do the following: 2" - Gnome, Dwarf 2.5" - Human, Night Elf, Undead, Orc, Troll 3" - Tauren The classes are: warrior, paladin, hunter, thief, priest, mage, warlock, shaman, druid. There's all kinds of armor in the game, all which look different (especially at higher levels). Hunters and warlocks always have pets at their side (bears, wolves, etc. for hunters; demons for warlocks). And then there's the mounts, which vary by race. For example, humans generally ride horses and gnomes ride mechanical ostriches (don't ask). Yeah, I play WoW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBT! Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 ok that's interesting, is there a 'favoured' class, I notice that half the Alliance are shorter... does that mean a lot of Dwarves/Gnomes? i.e. would it be possible to do a line with just the human sized as 2" figures and would people still buy it? - maybe if it's a success then work out how to do smaller figures. T. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 As a longtime MMO gamer, I've thought about this one a lot. Many gamers would go for something along this line, but Everquest, Ultima Online, and WoW have all had figures, and I'm one of the few who bought them. Those figures haven't been big retail successes, and that becomes a strike against 'mates for the genre. Personally, I'm working on a project (you should see it at the next custom con) that more-or-less presents itself as a kit to make your own character, but is just for my guild. The biggest problem (I've talked with players in different forums for these games) is that it quickly turns into a HUGE "but" fest - But my character has pink armor, but my avatar has blue armor, but my toon doesn't use that bow, and so on. The consensus is that people are interested in THEIR characters most of all - and even with a series of kits, most people would never be satisfied enough to warrant a purchase. A service that did custom figures might fly. Some sales would still be feasible. I could have sworn we've had this discussion before... it is still a cool idea, but it would be a tough (+2) sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aapje Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 This sounds more and more like a good idea the more I hear it. I'm pretty ignorant of WoW as I hate the idea of paying a monthly fee to play a game, that's the main reason I've stayed clear of the genre. In WoW would the characters suit the minimate style? How many shapes of character are there though? i.e. dwarves , compared to humans & being shorter etc. Also how many 'classes' ? I'm just trying to get an idea of how many parts you'd need to make figures customisable enough. T. There's 8 playable races currently: Alliance: Gnome, Dwarf, Human, Night Elf Horde: Undead, Orc, Troll, Tauren (looks like a minotaur) If they went with LOTR scale, you could do the following: 2" - Gnome, Dwarf 2.5" - Human, Night Elf, Undead, Orc, Troll 3" - Tauren The classes are: warrior, paladin, hunter, thief, priest, mage, warlock, shaman, druid. There's all kinds of armor in the game, all which look different (especially at higher levels). Hunters and warlocks always have pets at their side (bears, wolves, etc. for hunters; demons for warlocks). And then there's the mounts, which vary by race. For example, humans generally ride horses and gnomes ride mechanical ostriches (don't ask). Yeah, I play WoW. i too are a WoW player i usually play on illegal servers but i like the idea of WoW minimates but they should have the NEW races too the dranei and the bloodelfs with a 2.5 scale for dranei and a normal 2 scale for bloodelfs they are good ideas for customs too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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