New Lieutenant Packs just a bit overpriced?

By daggonthing, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

So I'm sure you've all seen the preview for the new Lieutenant Packs by now. I mean, it isn't exactly new news. I was looking through the article again today and for the first time the price of the packs really hit me. It sounds like each pack will be about $10-15. Now, before now, I didn't think much of it, until I thought about how much it would cost to buy all of the packs. Think about it: all 6 packs together will most likely come out to be anywhere between $60-90. In other words, if you were to buy all of them together, it would come out to being at least as much as a store-bought base game of Descent 2nd Edition. I don't know about you, but I think this is hugely overpriced, considering the amount of content you get. Seriously now, if you were to buy all 6 lieutenant packs, you would get 6 miniatures and a small pack of cards to go with each. Compare that to what you get from the base game: 39 plastic figures, along with about 9 different decks of varying sizes, not to mention all the tokens, dice, and the epic amount of map pieces you get. And to buy all of the L-packs might actually cost up to $30 more? Honestly, sounds a bit like a ripoff if you ask me.

-Daggon

EDIT: fixed some typos

Edited by daggonthing

They're going to be around $8, not 10-15. The 10-15 price is for big lieutenants, like Valyndra.

Also, they're add-ons. Not necessary for the game. Kind of like DLC for video games.

Edited by Ringskipper

Also consider that metal minis would have cost more, and they wouldn't have included all those extra cards. Seems like reasonable pricing to me.

Yes, you've mistaken.

On the internet and on the FFG market, the price are around 8$ (but Valyndra should be at 15$, since she's a big one)

The older pewter mini were at 10$ for only mini

So, not pricey, considering cards, rules, and tokens.

Ok $8 seems a bit more reasonable. I mean, it's still a bit overpriced, but the minis also cost more to produce per unit, I'm sure, as there aren't as many minis being produced in-mass as the base game or the expansions. Also, like you guys said, they're add-ons, which are always a bit overpriced.

-Daggon

Edited by daggonthing

Maybe they will be sold somewhere a bit cheaper, since the internet have good prices sometimes

Considering everything I've heard about the cost to produce plastic minis, I'm frankly surprised they're this cheap for individual plastic figures. The extra cost for cardboard tokens and cards is nothing, so the lion's share of the price tag is definitely the mini, but even so I'm left wondering how they did it.

If you don't want to drop $60 (ish) at once, consider picking them up one per month or something. Or, you know, don't buy them at all if you don't want to. They are optional after all.

I'm throwing money at my screen but nothing is happening. (now especially with Valyndra Lt. Pack)

$8-9 is very reasonable for a plastic mini (plus extras) these days. Compare it to GW which routinely sells plastic single characters (alone) for $10-15.

My only complaint is that FFG should have made this a box set to cut costs even further, as I sincerely doubt players are going to pick and choose which ones to buy. My bet is that a large percentage of the fanbase will just buy all.

The whole point of them is for people to pick and choose, though. Yeah, a lot of people will want the miniatures, but you can only use one "agent" per campaign. So you can buy them slowly but surely. :)

True, but I'd hate to see one figure get more popular than another and sell out quickly. I look at the FFG Star Wars X-Wing game and think the same could happen here.

Plus, if one does sell out faster, it would make it for a longer wait for FFG to do another production run.

My only complaint is that FFG should have made this a box set to cut costs even further, as I sincerely doubt players are going to pick and choose which ones to buy. My bet is that a large percentage of the fanbase will just buy all.

The problem with that is if they keep making more figures and more sets, they will have to make individual LT boxes anyhow. And~ they get more money out of it this way, I would think.

For my, it's not overpriced. I want them all, now, because i'm loosing patience ! :angry:

Just an additional word on the costs of producing plastic vs. metal minis - The initial outlay for the steel molds for plastics as opposed to the rubber molds for metals is indeed quite huge, some thousands of dollars (average steel mold for injection molded plastics can cost ten thousand dollars or more) as opposed to the rubber spin casting molds (a couple of hundred bucks each maybe). The thing is, the steel molds last forever, and the plastic material used in the casting process is cheaper per ounce than metal, whereas the rubber molds used in metal casting wear out quite easily and need to be remade regularly. That's why, even though the molds used in plastic casting are so very expensive, in the long run plastics are actually cheaper to produce per unit, that metal ones, which is why plastics are better economically suited to large numbers of casting runs than metal. I suspect this is why FFG went with plastic LT figures this time, they likely figured they'd sell more figures (due to lower cost making them able to include the cards, all at a lower price point) and make a bigger profit with the plastics

Edited by BatHead

For my, it's not overpriced. I want them all, now, because i'm loosing patience ! :angry:

I know, right? Honestly, they could charge $10 per pack and I'd still want them all. As I'm not rich, however, I'm planning on buying them one or two at a time (Lady Eliza is my most-wanted one).

much expensive for some cards and one mini that it should be in the core game .

no, no. 7-8$ is good for me. ^.^;; I am a working artist. very poor over here haha. I can wait, even though it's hard.

FFG is here to do money.

I too think thoses lieutenants should have been in the box at the first place, but with cards and rules, I'm ready to give money

A pewter miniature only, i wouldn't have, for sure.

the problem is that you need give money for each hero. and this turn expensive. if buy each hero you can buy the core set again or another expansion with the same price. and they give many many miniature and cards.

Edited by thitan

the problem is that you need give money for each hero. and this turn expensive. if buy each hero you can buy the core set again or another expansion with the same price. and they give many many miniature and cards.

That's because these are premiums, unnecessary extras. If you don't want to pay the money, you can certainly play the game without them (by using proxies or *shudder* the cardboard tokens included in the game). These aren't really meant for "casual" Descent players (the ones who probably don't even know what a lieutenant is), but for the die-hard fans that want a little extra and are willing to pay for it. Plus, they will make excellent gifts for people, particularly Overlord players.

Ultimately, FFG wants to make money. But hey, they could've just been releasing the pewter miniatures with no extras whatsoever for 2 dollars more.

The only bad idea was to sell them one by one.

So the price is more than a box with the 6 of them (maybe around 20%)

That's a shame.

And Personnaly I prefer buy lieutenants and no other games, than the opposite

i prefer one box with all of the core set and another with the other of the the expansion lieutinents

The only bad idea was to sell them one by one.

So the price is more than a box with the 6 of them (maybe around 20%)

That's a shame.

And Personnaly I prefer buy lieutenants and no other games, than the opposite

They will be getting more money for the lieutenants as singles (and per marketing -- you can only use one agent deck per campaign), so it's smarter for them this way. And you can fault them for wanting to make more money. You're paying for quality. Gawd I feel like I should be an FFG representative.

I would, if the wiz-war expansion wasn't so ... disapointing. So, i'm not sure my money is well used

I'm sure we'd also run into people complaining if they boxed them all together: "But all I really want is the Belthir deck. I don't really care about the other lieutenants and can't afford to spend $40 now. I'd rather be able to just pick up the ones I want when I want them."

I think if it was something where they were each useable in a campaign, it might be a different story. But as is, someone could spend $8 to get one for one campaign, and when that was approaching completion, they could pick up another one. So maybe $40 now, versus $48 spread out over a year (depending on how long it takes them to play a campaign).