| Nathan Sunshine |
I am about to begin a new campaign led by a seasoned game master. Naturally I was in the market for a new miniature, but rather than intelligently going directly to a site like Paizo, which explicitly sells the sort of miniatures I want, I decided to more broadly weigh my options. It was after purchasing a product that I discovered that there are in fact 2 different miniatures markets (at least).
The one market apparently is newer, and consists of already assembled and painted miniatures, many of which are sold directly by Paizo. The other consists of unassembled, unpainted miniatures, that are designed for consumers who have a greater interest in that art on top of tabletop role playing.
I don't consider these two markets automatically the same. I'm sure that there is some overlap and that there are plenty of consumers of Paizo products who enjoy painting their own miniatures. However, I am sure that there are also many consumers who do not want what they would view as an incomplete product. They want a fully painted and assembled miniature.
I came across this when I purchased a miniature from a site called "Dark Sword Miniatures" (http://www.darkswordminiatures.com). This is a site filled with attractive looking miniatures displayed with colored images. What I found somewhat deceptive about this site was that the images are not actually the product being sold. This site sells unassembled, unpainted miniatures. It mentions this in a number of locations in writing, that are evident upon close examination of the web pages. I suppose I made an incorrect correlation between the large image in the center of the pages to purchase the items, and the product actually being sold.
I don't blame Dark Sword Miniatures for creating and selling such products. As I said, they represent a real market of enthusiasts. But they are squarely in that market, and not in the business of selling "complete" miniatures.
Those who want "completed" miniatures should consider Paizo directly, and should certainly put in the effort to read all writing on other sites they might consider. Not every site selling miniatures is 100% clear about which market they support.
I would love to hear about additional online sites that focus on each market. Also, if someone could provide a direct link to the section of Paizo selling miniatures that would be great!
Best.