Small packs of DnD Miniatures for each encounter in a recently released module. Each pack would contain just the mini's needed for the encounter in question, possibly include stat cards as well (maybe for the minis game in addition to DnD4e). In many cases these could simply be repurposed mini's from DnD Miniatures, or repaints of said miniatures.
I don't see this impacting the random packed Miniatures game at all....In fact it would likely directly compete with alot of the aftermarket 'singles' business which is where many of us go to find proxies for this purpose now. It could also tie in with SideTreks, etc released in Dungeon magazine....
Oh you are serious? 
Good luck with that. People have been saying DDM needed to be more accessbile for non-minis players, and non-collectors, but play the RPG for a few years. I think there is one thread each motnh created about it.
Maybe seeking Peter Lee out about it will help somehwere in getting this done, otherwise you have Reaper, Hasslefree, and tons of other miniature manufacturers to choose form.
Remember WotC works on the random distribution model because of MtG. The less you get that you want, means you must spend more to get what you need.
Sorry. Luck should play no part in my shopping. Gambling is also not legal in every state, and the random packs for game materials are seen by some as just that; some sort of raffle.
1) The packs consisted of nothing but commons, maybe an uncommon. Maybe. One.
And the price would be the same as, if not slightly more, than a booster containing the same amount of figures.
2) They used older figure molds, removed all of the data from the bottom of the base, and did not include a card useable with the minis game. They would also repaint them so that there wouldn't be any confusion. And they would still cost the same as a booster of D&D minis.
3) The starter game scenario, where they will package a mini-module with the figures. Whether you run the module or not is irrelevant, but if you want the orcs/skeletons/demons/whatevers, you will still buy the module. They could still use everything involved in #2 (repaints, no cards, etc).
Whether they include a starter rulebook or not would also affect cost, and they could furthermore include some dungeon tiles. The trick would be to find eqilibrium, of course. At what price point are they selling enough to make it profitable? How much extra stuff is too much?
But the real question is does their market research show this as something worth exploring? It's not a new idea by any means, and seems so obvious that even if this were the first time I had seen this, someone at WotC would almost certainly have thought of it before the Harbinger set had even seen it's first store shelf.
The fact that after all this time the starter set is the closest they have came, and that seemingly it didn't exactly fly off of the shelves leads me to believe that it isn't going to happen unless something big changes.
Remember WotC works on the random distribution model because of MtG. The less you get that you want, means you must spend more to get what you need.
.... and how many years now have precon/theme decks been available in MTG???
.... and how many years now have precon/theme decks been available in MTG???
What are precon decks?
I stopped playing/buying MtG around 5th edition. Only theme decks I know of were gold bordered pro-tour decks.
What are precon decks?
I stopped playing/buying MtG around 5th edition. Only theme decks I know of were gold bordered pro-tour decks.
Starting with Tempest Block (Tempest, Stronghold, Exodus), WotC has been including 4-5 preconstructed decks with each set.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/products/cardsets
Shows all the card sets ever printed... if you look at the product page for each one it'll have a listing of the PreCon decks for that set.
For example:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/expansion/tempest
If you look towards the very bottom of the page... it lists the four Theme decks (originally called PreCon decks, the name was changed to Theme decks a while back).
So in answer to my original question: 1997.... for over 10 years now MTG has had specific pre-constructed decks that you can purchase. Is it that big of a stretch to allow pre-constructed mini packs? They already had the Legend of Drizzt pack.
Maybe using a big dragon as a test for a bundle pack of pre-sorted minis was not the best method as the price tag was already too high with the dragon?