and got 1 rare, 3 uncommon, and 4 commons. Pretty good I thought for a first foray into the purchase of plastic figgies. I already own enough lead to make a moon killing bullet and was looking for something less herniating.
My question is, who exactly is opening almost every D&D minis pak in almost every chain bookstore?
The shoplifter seems the obvious culprit but my Spidey Sense (AKA conspiracy blisters) make me wonder if it isn't just as often the very people who order the gaming stuff, and know the value of rares on the secondary market, who might be checking for the scarcer minis before putting the stock out on the floor.
Maybe it's as simple and innocent as the factory itself sometimes having to tape the boxes shut before sending them out but the tape itself is what's got me wondering. I just can't envision how the staff of a big bookstore knows which packages have been so delicately broken into, and then tapes them back shut. Wouldn't the packages, once checked for break-in, often come up a piece or two light; thusly, wouldn't the staff then remove the incomplete product from the floor?
|
I would suspect a combination of the two, with a higher percentage being shoplifters. I once worked retail books and suspect that if the boxes contain the right number of minis, the managers would rather sell them than take them as a loss.
I'd like to believe that the store employees would have too much to lose or better ethics, but I worked retail before CCGs and such. Bookstores used to carry software at one time, but stopped because of theft - the thieves would open the box, pull the disks, and then put the box back. At some point I would expect the chain stores to put the collectables all behind the counter or stop carrying them altogether. Which happens will probably depend upon the profits derived from selling them. If loss due to theft ever beats the profit, they'll disappear from the chains stores pretty quickly.
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16
|
My guess is that most of the culprits are shoppers--although not shoplifters. I work in a bookstore and most of our collector miniatures are openned but not stolen. I am the only gamer on staff and doubt the other employees have the knowlege or interest in gaming to pop open the packs. I can't speak for other bookstores out there but I suspect the gamers on staff are far outnumbered by the gamers shopping the stores.
The problem is that some people who wouldn't otherwise steal seem to think it is okay to rip open a pack to see what is inside before making thier selection. This practice does two things:
1. We can't sell the open packages. Who wants what someone else has rejected?
2. The company sees the stock sitting in the inventory not moving and decides to cut back--on the entire category.
So please if you are one of the folks inspecting the collectable mini packages before you buy, please stop. You are only hurting the reputation of the hobby and making it harder for others to get gaming stuff from the chain bookstores.
I quit buying miniatures for that same reason....well, I'm still buying Reaper miniatures and other metal minis, but no more blister packs.
I would suspect a combination of the two, with a higher percentage being shoplifters. I once worked retail books and suspect that if the boxes contain the right number of minis, the managers would rather sell them than take them as a loss.
I'd like to believe that the store employees would have too much to lose or better ethics, but I worked retail before CCGs and such. Bookstores used to carry software at one time, but stopped because of theft - the thieves would open the box, pull the disks, and then put the box back. At some point I would expect the chain stores to put the collectables all behind the counter or stop carrying them altogether. Which happens will probably depend upon the profits derived from selling them. If loss due to theft ever beats the profit, they'll disappear from the chains stores pretty quickly.
So that's why they quit out on software. I did not know that.
Putting them behind the counter would indeed be the simplest fix, however a store not dedicated to gaming, like a Barnes&Noble probably doesn't make enough off them to bother.
Thank you for your insiders perspective.
My guess is that most of the culprits are shoppers--although not shoplifters. I work in a bookstore and most of our collector miniatures are openned but not stolen. I am the only gamer on staff and doubt the other employees have the knowlege or interest in gaming to pop open the packs. I can't speak for other bookstores out there but I suspect the gamers on staff are far outnumbered by the gamers shopping the stores.
The problem is that some people who wouldn't otherwise steal seem to think it is okay to rip open a pack to see what is inside before making thier selection. This practice does two things:
1. We can't sell the open packages. Who wants what someone else has rejected?
2. The company sees the stock sitting in the inventory not moving and decides to cut back--on the entire category.
So please if you are one of the folks inspecting the collectable mini packages before you buy, please stop. You are only hurting the reputation of the hobby and making it harder for others to get gaming stuff from the chain bookstores.
I was wondering if I should clarify shoplifting shoppers over say, the professional shoplifter who treats all grabs as potential resale.
As I said to Patrick, thank you as well for the insider look.
Now, where in my righteous indignation did I possibly leave room to implicate me in this scam? It was my first box of plastic minis! I'm the one b+%!&ing publically about the break-ins. Why, if I were a professional mini package jiggler I'd be hiding in the shadows plotting my next jiggle.
Mwoo ha ha ha!
I quit buying miniatures for that same reason....well, I'm still buying Reaper miniatures and other metal minis, but no more blister packs.
If I ever have more money than I know what to do with I'll just make a list of everything I need and let the vendors have at me. Until then I'll just order online, if at all.
F2k, have you ever bought a set of minis off someone who wanted to charge you a lil extra for their expert painting job but by your standards their work looked more like Jackson Pollack had spontanteously combusted with brushes in hand? Never have the heart to tell 'em.
Wow, I live right next to a college town and have never seen any minis opened in our Border's, Barnes and Nobles, or Walenbooks.
Wow, I live right next to a college town and have never seen any minis opened in our Border's, Barnes and Nobles, or Walenbooks.
What college town, if I may ask?
Specifically I've seen the open packages in NY (over five), NJ (one), MA (two), CT (one) & AZ (two).
Does your college town have a gaming scene? I'd imagine it would.
Champaign, Illinois, University of Illinois . . .
The minis are never opened at the two places I shop. I think I did buy a pack of boosters once that were opened and retaped and had a security device in them, so I'm not sure if the store placed them there or what.
::envy::
Heartening to know that at least in some places, you get what you pay for. A security device would have been placed by the store.
Champaign, Illinois, University of Illinois . . .
I actually do get a kick from Champaign.
|
|
My two cents:
If WotC would have let me a choice of which minis to buy, I would have almost all of them. But buying those damned packages where I don't know if the mini I want to use for next weeks game will be inside is just "%&*ħ%&Ö&:" !!!!
I don't want to pay a lot of money for three dozen skeletons, if all I need is a troll!
My two cents:
If WotC would have let me a choice of which minis to buy, I would have almost all of them. But buying those damned packages where I don't know if the mini I want to use for next weeks game will be inside is just "%&*ħ%&Ö&:" !!!!
I don't want to pay a lot of money for three dozen skeletons, if all I need is a troll!
Agreed! What is this baseball card marketing scam!
Makes me not want to bother starting a new collection.
I have a good friend who works at a big-mega-book-shop, and based on the security that they apply to their employees, I'd gander a guess that the open packs have nothing to do with dishonest employees - the staff are policed quite a great deal at the big box shops.
Back to square one then. Thanks for the info!
I too come from a college town. Morgantown, West Virginia. I remember the last pack I bought, Abberations I believe, had both a Mind Flayer Telepath and a Half-Illithid Lizardfolk. I did some checking, and I got my share rares and uncommons.
At the stores I visited the Abberations were all taped back shut. The one box left unopened was an Angelfire. I shopped for abberations and came back with a trumpet archon but whatever... it's a nice piece (though the paint jobs on these things looks like what I'd consider a base coat).
|
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16
|
So please if you are one of the folks inspecting the collectable mini packages before you buy, please stop. You are only hurting the reputation of the hobby and making it harder for others to get gaming stuff from the chain bookstores.Now, where in my righteous indignation did I possibly leave room to implicate me in this scam? It was my first box of plastic minis! I'm the one b!~&%ing publically about the break-ins. Why, if I were a professional mini package jiggler I'd be hiding in the shadows plotting my next jiggle.
Sorry that was my bad. I had intended that part to be more rhetorical and certainly didn't mean to implicate you. My mistake *hangs head*.
I actually should have adressed that bit to anyone reading this list who might be inspecting before they buy. Although I hope that no one on this forum is doing that.
Again my apollogies.
Indeed . . . I would never pry open a box, but I have felt the sides, done the mental weighing, etc. Of course, it didn't do me any good. I felt one pakage that I could have sworn was a beholder, and it turned out to be a Thaskor . . . call it karma for not trusting true radomization.
And if anyone out there pried open a box and obtained a beholder in this manner . . . you know who you are . . . you should immediately sell it on ebay and donate the proceeds to charity.
It is the Christmas season after all . . .
BTW-I would regard jiggling and ripping open to be radically different. :)
Absolutely right there, Locke. I guess I was imagining the jiggle as prelude to the tearing open. I don't care to comment on my applications of that philosophy toward seduction.
And no apologies necessary. I was just razzin' ya. ;)
Indeed . . . I would never pry open a box, but I have felt the sides, done the mental weighing, etc. Of course, it didn't do me any good. I felt one pakage that I could have sworn was a beholder, and it turned out to be a Thaskor . . . call it karma for not trusting true radomization.
And if anyone out there pried open a box and obtained a beholder in this manner . . . you know who you are . . . you should immediately sell it on ebay and donate the proceeds to charity.
It is the Christmas season after all . . .
I was wondering if anyone was guessing gold dragon weight through careful jiggle based computations. If I picked up a box of minis and it felt twice as heavy as the others? I'd buy it even if it had been taped back shut.
As for the beholder being sold on ebay, and then donating the profits to charity... perhaps we few, we hungry few, should declare ourselves a charity and ask those with ill gotten gain to clear their consciences by simply giving their loot to us directly.
"Please won't you give? For one rare or three uncommons a day, you could ensure that these D&D kids won't have to go without the joy of knowing high quality plastic."
If WotC would have let me a choice of which minis to buy, I would have almost all of them. But buying those damned packages where I don't know if the mini I want to use for next weeks game will be inside is just "%&*ħ%&Ö&:" !!!!
I don't want to pay a lot of money for three dozen skeletons, if all I need is a troll!
You might want to check out:
http://www.iconusa.com/online/D&D_index.htm
http://www.popularcollections.com/dungeons---dragons.html
http://www.chumbatoys.com/dudr.html
http://www.maxminis.com/
The minis are never opened at the two places I shop. I think I did buy a pack of boosters once that were opened and retaped and had a security device in them, so I'm not sure if the store placed them there or what.
The store must have placed them there - they don't come from the distributers with security devices.
Senior Software Developer
|
My two cents:
If WotC would have let me a choice of which minis to buy, I would have almost all of them. But buying those damned packages where I don't know if the mini I want to use for next weeks game will be inside is just "%&*ħ%&Ö&:" !!!!
I don't want to pay a lot of money for three dozen skeletons, if all I need is a troll!
I'd be remiss in my duties as PostMonster General if I didn't point out that you can buy single minis from paizo.com, too.
Give Gary a Skill Focus--PLUS selling feat.......is that what they still call it? It's been 19 years since I worked in retail...
For the price of the collectible singles--the very rare and rares...I'd rather just spend the money on a good metal mini and buy my artistic friend a four pack of Guiness so he'll paint it.
For the price of the collectible singles--the very rare and rares...I'd rather just spend the money on a good metal mini and buy my artistic friend a four pack of Guiness so he'll paint it.
A glass-half-full kind of guy might mention that *many* of the things you are looking for are *not* rare and are reasonably priced. : )
For the price of the collectible singles--the very rare and rares...I'd rather just spend the money on a good metal mini and buy my artistic friend a four pack of Guiness so he'll paint it.A glass-half-full kind of guy might mention that *many* of the things you are looking for are *not* rare and are reasonably priced. : )
I won't dispute that...as a matter of fact, one of the things I order most frequently through Paizo are minis, especially metal minis.....got two of them on order right now along with the Village map pack, over which I'm salivating.
Those little 6 and 8 packs of minis you can order on your site together are a good value as well.
|
|
I'd be remiss in my duties as PostMonster General if I didn't point out that you can buy single minis from paizo.com, too.
Checked it out! Thanx! And be sure, I'd rather order them from you, than anyone else...
Uuhhh, that was too much, wasn't it! ;)
For the price of the collectible singles--the very rare and rares...I'd rather just spend the money on a good metal mini and buy my artistic friend a four pack of Guiness so he'll paint it.A glass-half-full kind of guy might mention that *many* of the things you are looking for are *not* rare and are reasonably priced. : )I won't dispute that...as a matter of fact, one of the things I order most frequently through Paizo are minis, especially metal minis.....got two of them on order right now along with the Village map pack, over which I'm salivating.
Those little 6 and 8 packs of minis you can order on your site together are a good value as well.
Was that glass half full enough for you Robert? ;)
You know, I never thought much about the minis. Then I really started looking into them, and I'm intrigued.
I just ordered Elminster for $13 on ebay (shipping included there). Many of the other miniatures (especially some of the larger ones) are really nice, but I don't see myself spending $40 on a plastic statue of a huge red dragon or $30+ on a little plastic statue of Drizzt.
These minis seem like an expensive hobby. Am I right? Of course, if you play the game, I suppose it's a different story, but how could you play much without buying a bunch of packs and crossing your fingers? Seems like it might be frustrating.
Was that glass half full enough for you Robert? ;)
lol.
You bet!
- rob
"Single Minis! Get Your Single Minis! Single Minis at paizo.com!"
and got 1 rare, 3 uncommon, and 4 commons.
To address the original post... Unless I'm mistaken, any given box *should* have exactly the same number of rares, uncommons, and commons as in other box in the same set.
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
....And, of course, the boxes you buy from Paizo most certainly haven't been opened.
(We use a combination of psychics, custom-modified ground-penetrating radar, and specially trained beholder-sniffing dogs to scan the packs for valuable minis before we sell them to you. But we sure don't open 'em!)
-Vic.
.
That's odd... we don't seem to have that problem at my local game store, Books Comics and Things, with the mins behind a glass case and all, even if it is unlocked, and open to customers. I guess the people that go there care about the store more than they do a giant corporation that makes millions selling books. I know I do. The only problem I've seen is with this store The Keep that I rarely go to, because it's on the opposite side of town, but go there every once in a while because they sell used singles for cheap (0.25 $ for uncommmons). I bought two packs there, becuase they had no good singles, and they were among the few unopened ones.
Contributor
|
Actually, I think the large number of open Aberrations boosters is a packaging issue.
I work near a big box book store and often pick up a booster after work. I went through a spell when all I saw was opened Aberrations boosters (at least I think it was Aberrations; maybe Deathknell). Every one of them was opened cleanly, with dried cracked glue. I would take my box to the cash and say 'I want to buy this, as long as it has the right number of rare, uncommon and common miniatures. I will open it in front of you to check. I am not trying to find out which miniatures are in the box before I buy it. I bought five packs this way, and none of them were missing miniatures, and I got some decent rares out of them that I was sure any shoplifter or person checking contents before buying would have gone for.
I've noticed that the method of sealing the miniatures packs has changed a few times since Harbinger. While I don't like the excess plastic wrap on some, I really don't think the cracking glue is good for WotC or their customers.
You know, I never thought much about the minis. Then I really started looking into them, and I'm intrigued.
I just ordered Elminster for $13 on ebay (shipping included there). Many of the other miniatures (especially some of the larger ones) are really nice, but I don't see myself spending $40 on a plastic statue of a huge red dragon or $30+ on a little plastic statue of Drizzt.
These minis seem like an expensive hobby. Am I right? Of course, if you play the game, I suppose it's a different story, but how could you play much without buying a bunch of packs and crossing your fingers? Seems like it might be frustrating.
I agree. Unless you're looking for certain pieces to stock a certain campaign you are just really collecting plastic toys, but what the heck, toys are fun.
All I know is... no more vintage lead for me. I've got more than I could paint if I lived to be a hunnid 'n fiddy tree.
and got 1 rare, 3 uncommon, and 4 commons.To address the original post... Unless I'm mistaken, any given box *should* have exactly the same number of rares, uncommons, and commons as in other box in the same set.
Oh, and here I thought I got lucky.
Wind outta sail man!
;)
That's odd... we don't seem to have that problem at my local game store, Books Comics and Things, with the mins behind a glass case and all, even if it is unlocked, and open to customers. I guess the people that go there care about the store more than they do a giant corporation that makes millions selling books. I know I do. The only problem I've seen is with this store The Keep that I rarely go to, because it's on the opposite side of town, but go there every once in a while because they sell used singles for cheap (0.25 $ for uncommmons). I bought two packs there, becuase they had no good singles, and they were among the few unopened ones.
Indeed, I've never seen an open package at a gaming store.
Back in the day, my grandfather bought a box of Junior Mints at a movie theater and he was loathe to discover the box fully sealed but only half full. Being a big city newspaper editor he fired off a letter to the parent company and two months later a huge crate of Junior Mints arrived at his doorstep.
Oh... joy. Yeah, that's what he wanted, twenty pounds of wintergreen gelatin.
Imagine if WoTC followed that antiquated customer service fix?
Hmm, think I'll have the old man fire off a letter for me.
Remember how people used to get too few pieces of candy in a box and they'd write the company and the company would send them a carton of Raisinets?
Actually, I think the large number of open Aberrations boosters is a packaging issue.
I work near a big box book store and often pick up a booster after work. I went through a spell when all I saw was opened Aberrations boosters (at least I think it was Aberrations; maybe Deathknell). Every one of them was opened cleanly, with dried cracked glue. I would take my box to the cash and say 'I want to buy this, as long as it has the right number of rare, uncommon and common miniatures. I will open it in front of you to check. I am not trying to find out which miniatures are in the box before I buy it. I bought five packs this way, and none of them were missing miniatures, and I got some decent rares out of them that I was sure any shoplifter or person checking contents before buying would have gone for.
I've noticed that the method of sealing the miniatures packs has changed a few times since Harbinger. While I don't like the excess plastic wrap on some, I really don't think the cracking glue is good for WotC or their customers.
Veeeelly intelesting. Thank you for sharing your technique for opening the boxes in front of staff. It sounds quite reasonable.
I agree about the glue. There's got to be a better way to protect the product and keep if fair for us people who don't walk into a foodstore and start treating the produce section as a free buffet.