Limited Edition Minis

[Dammekkos2]

What\'s your view on limited edition minis?

I used to go for them if they were half way decent, until GW re-released the BT Castellan model to general sale (for a limited time), now I won\'t pick one up unless I really like it (ie I will treat them like any other miniature).

Also, what is the legal meaning of \"limited\"? Almost everything is limited in some sense, some officially limited seem to be fairly rare but many of these so-called limited releases seem to be available in an almost infinite supply, eg Reaper Sophie or Arkeon Sanath, or any recent GW product.

 

[Ritual]

I treat them like any other mini, other than I tend to buy the ones I like immediately if they are limited as I might not be able to at a later time.

 

[vincegamer]

Well, \"limited edition\" is a marketing phrase that means they only inted to release a set number of them.
It has no binding or legal effect.

You asked for a legal definition.
Well, in order to claim certain protections under the Visual Artists\' Rights Act, the limit has to be 200 or fewer.
\"in the case of a sculpture, in multiple cast, carved, or fabricated sculptures of 200 or fewer that are consecutively numbered by the author and bear the signature or other identifying mark of the author\" 17 USC 101

 

[mrteal]

I do not like them in general. Just a marketing gimmick to get more money out of my pocket for something not worth it.
This stands especially true for GW\'s limited editions, as to me they always seem to be pretty boring crappy sculpts but this stands for other companies on occasion as well.

 

[the alleycat]

Um, you guys are missing a point with GW...

They do Limited Edition models, which are just what they say, limited.

More commonly though they do Special Edition models, which means almost nothing except that the minis tend to be harder to get hold of, either you need to spend a lot on a new army or go to an event. Special Edition really means nothing at all in terms of actual limited availability.

 

[Dragon Forge Design]

When I worked for Ral Partha we did limited editions of certain dragons or 5000, Not very limited but whe we did hit 5000 we did stop production and sold no more. Now a couple never did reach the total sell out like the Golden Dragon of Chaos and thats why Darksword purchased the rights to sell it. Though I beleave he discontinued makeing it a linited numbered release.

As for how I feel about it, I have no problem, if you buy it and are happy with what you get then all is good. If your just buying it because its limited and you expect to speculate on it by selling it later when its all gone to make a profit..buyer beware..sometime this works and sometimes it don\'t.

But Alleycat is right, most of GWs special miniatures are Special editions not limited. The Black library stuff was indeed limited in amounts of 1000 or less.

 

[Onis Lair]

Limited, Special, don\'t mean nothign to me. if i liek the figure i\'ll buy it, if i don\'t then i could care less ifg it\'s one of only two made int he world. But that\'s just me.

 

[supervike]

Limited edition anything makes no sense to me.

Like when GW did the URBAN BASING KIT, and made it so limited that you could never buy one.

I understand it is a marketing ploy, but if you make a limited edition of something, sell all 5000 copies, wouldn\'t you be a fool if you didn\'t make some more to meet demand?

 

[MarkusTay]

I think it makes sense for smaller companies, like Freebooter, to do this, because it moves the merchandise quicker. Mr. Klocke\'s minis are all limited addition (I would assume until the molds give out), and some are even numbered. So instead of him sitting with hundreds of them on shelves for years, he makes people think \"I better get it now, while I can\", and then sells out in a year or so. He ends up with less stock, and therefore less storage issues, which could become burdensome to a smaller enterprise.

Why a large company that depends on selling quantities of minis would do this is beyond me, except to commemorate special events. I don\'t think it convinces more people to attend, but it is a nice \'reward\' for those who do. I\'m still depressed about not being able to get a Cowboy Sophie from Reapercon, but it\'s just not worth the airfare for a mini.

Now what would piss me off is if I bought a limited edition, and they decide to re-release it a year or so later. I believe GW did this with marco Columbo.

 

[Torn blue sky]

Yeah, and coteaz I think. People have been looking for Sicarius I know. Wonder if thats going to be a main production too???

I agree with vikey, the urban basing stuff was actually handy and Pointlesly LTD Ed. Having said that I didn\'t see one either.
(Well not instore)

 

[Trevor]

Limited edition anything makes no sense to me.

It increases demand, like ritual said, he buys them straight away if he likes them, otherwise he might put it off and never buy it. Its quite a clever economic ploy. What I\'d be interested in knowing is how the numbers of normal minis compare to LE\'s I bet there are a few were the normal is rarer than the LE.

 

[JakeSh]

It is quite funny, often if you give a certain collectible arena a critical eye, you notice the things that weren\'t marketed as limited are the ones that end up with value. The bottom line is to each his own. If you don\'t wanna pay then don\'t do it.

Case in point... I collect vinyl records. In most cases the records that were regular production end up being more valuable than limited production pressings. There are obviously exceptions, as this is a broad generalization.

I am angry about the Black Templar Marshall mini. I spent $30 or more long ago before they sold him on mail order for $15.

 

[Wren]

Originally posted by supervike
Like when GW did the URBAN BASING KIT, and made it so limited that you could never buy one.

I understand it is a marketing ploy, but if you make a limited edition of something, sell all 5000 copies, wouldn\'t you be a fool if you didn\'t make some more to meet demand?

This I wonder if it was more something like they got a steal on a few of the components that went into the kit, but only X amount of them, and it would cost a lot more to buy that at regular price.

I don\'t know if this is true or not, but my boss at the game store said when Hasbro acquired Avalon Hill, they released a new version of Diplomacy in part because they had a bunch of ship and unit pieces from another failed game or overproduction on a game or something, and now that those have run out they\'re not bothering with new printings of Diplomacy because it would cost more.

 

[vincegamer]

I doubt that\'s true.

Hasbro bought AH because Diplomacy has a huge following, but when they started selling it they found it didn\'t sell well. Most people either have their own set already or play on-line. Hasbro has yet to figure out how to control the on-line games.

 

[MPJ]

About the only limited edition minis I\'ve purchased are a couple of older (OK, they are older than some of you) numbered ltd ed dragons from RP. These days I havn\'t kept up with what is \'limited\' or not as in my experience none really are.

 

[chrismisterx]

I love collecting, so i have bought at great cost most of the limited GW stuff.

I also bought off ebay all the limited staff xmas minis, cost quite a few £\'s but I got them

But my Fav has to be the limited managers meeting mini, baugh the slave lord, cost a massive £180 for one mini, be cheaper to just go work for GW lol .......

 

[lono]

Well there is a big difference between proper limited edition stuff and things like the Urban Basing Kit which just happened to be produced in relatively small numbers,then sold out quick because they were popular.

I mean my 1992 GD Captain, although rubbish, is something I’d consider to be a proper limited edition model. GW was small enough back then that they didn’t make many at all. The miniatures I got as Christmas presents when I worked for GW too, although pretty poor, are also heavily limited. I guess the standard bearers you get in the army deals are fairly limited too and these I like a lot, because if you are going to do a limited model it might as well be over the top and blinging.

Today’s models, like the GD Slayer, well they might be ‘special’ miniatures, but GW is too big now so loads have to be produced for various events around the world. This means that there are actually plenty of models in the main Games Workshop range that are more limited in number than the current ones that are supposed to be special.

 

[finn17]

Hmmm...

I am not going to name names, but I challenged a company about their definition of \'limited edition\' and they told me that it was limited because you could only buy it directly from them. They had no policy with regard to the actual number they were going to produce...

Another example...Rackham produce limited editions...in French, then a few more in German..some in Italian and then a couple of thousand in English.

caveat emptor

 

[james sequeira]

Im an LOTR fan and bought the supposed LTD Boromir and Faramir minis off Ebay, that were only available from the magazine. Then GW released them on sale all the time

 

[DarkStar]

Originally posted by MarkusTay
I think it makes sense for smaller companies, like Freebooter, to do this, because it moves the merchandise quicker. Mr. Klocke\'s minis are all limited addition (I would assume until the molds give out), and some are even numbered. So instead of him sitting with hundreds of them on shelves for years, he makes people think \"I better get it now, while I can\", and then sells out in a year or so. He ends up with less stock, and therefore less storage issues, which could become burdensome to a smaller enterprise.

Why a large company that depends on selling quantities of minis would do this is beyond me, except to commemorate special events. I don\'t think it convinces more people to attend, but it is a nice \'reward\' for those who do. I\'m still depressed about not being able to get a Cowboy Sophie from Reapercon, but it\'s just not worth the airfare for a mini.

Now what would piss me off is if I bought a limited edition, and they decide to re-release it a year or so later. I believe GW did this with marco Columbo.

Good post. I quoted all of it because the whole post just about sums up my thoughts on the business side of matters on the issue exactly.

On the personal side of things, I enjoy looking for limited editions and getting a chance to paint one up now and again, or even buying one for myself. I always put a little more fore-thought and focus into painting a limited edition, unreleased or one-off piece.

Something about holding in your hand a little figure that you know there are only a certain few number in existence around the globe.

I guess it\'s like collecting coins, and getting one that you know is very rare, lends an extra value to the collectible.

In terms of speculation, I dont\' really care, but in terms of, this is giant planet teeming with billions of people and there are only a relative \"handful\" of these collectible items in existence on this planet (that most of those billions of people could care less about, but that\'s neither here nor there), it does tend to captivate my interest more than a run of the mill, however spectacular, mini.


I\'m all for the idea of (truly) limited edition releases except for when there\'s one I really want to paint and I can\'t find for sale anywhere because I slept and didn\'t buy it when it was being sold. :cussing: