Arkham Mini's...

This is just good business. Good job FFG.

kookoobah wrote:

Wow, this was fast. Seems like FFG really does listen to their fans.

www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=854

Hmm. How about we all ask for free games on Christmas? Maybe that'll work too?

It does say that they're still looking into other ways to do this. I'm curious to see what they come up with. But cancelling it was the right choice for now.

Really, really interesting to see how this played out. In what other industry is the market research done AFTER annoucement of a product launch, but BEFORE they actually produced the product? An honest question because I don't know. Does this kind of strategy result in more iffy ideas being put forward by game companies (or FFG specifically) and then ultimately canceled if the target audience raises enough fuss? I really just found this whole thing rather curious.

Send them comments and notes to this effect . A very wise choice. now we'll all have extra money to give them for RUNEWARS.

kookoobah wrote:

Wow, this was fast. Seems like FFG really does listen to their fans.

www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=854

Hmm. How about we all ask for free games on Christmas? Maybe that'll work too?

Could someone post the actual news item either here or in the news section. The link is blocked at work.

Thanks.

Well, it's probably a really good call on FFG's part. I would have to assume some miniatures were already in production right? I guess they'd rather eat that cost than produce a ton and sell none.

I still don't think AH needs miniatures, the stands do a decent job. I like it when FFG sticks to games rather than game accessories. Well, unless they really change the game. I'd love a Descent storage locker.

We have listened to your concerns and considered your valuable feedback regarding our announcement of the Arkham Horror Investigator Miniatures. Having weighed the desires of our fans and considered our manufacturing options, Fantasy Flight Games has opted to hereby cancel the release of this product.

"It was very clear from the vocal feedback that we received that the majority of our players were strongly unfavorable towards the price-point and packaging that we had planned for these figures," stated Christian T. Petersen, CEO of FFG. "Unfortunately, as it's not remotely feasible for FFG to produce quality painted figures in the assortments and at the price-point range suggested from our customer feedback, we've decided to cancel this product. For obvious reasons, we have no interest in creating product that does not match our customers’ expectations, nor of pushing product into the retail channel that will not be successful for our professional partners. We apologize to the customers who were excited about the announced figures, and will continue to investigate avenues in the future to make the reality of painted miniatures for Arkham Horror a reality."

As always, we at Fantasy Flight Games would like to thank our loyal fans for their continued feedback and support.

Arkham Horror is a boardgame of mystery and madness set in Arkham in the 1920's. Players investigate the strange happenings about the town, and race to prevent ancient evil from surfacing. Playable with 1-8 players.

Smart move on their part. I am guessing the fans that were interested in the figures would be happier not having them, rather than collecting the first wave and then never getting the rest of the figures if the line bombed.

Thanks Metalface!

Smart move on their part. I am guessing the fans that were interested in the figures would be happier not having them, rather than collecting the first wave and then never getting the rest of the figures if the line bombed.

I couldn't agree more.

I dropped out of this thread a while back but we were talking about this last night at Swamp Castle and Aaron told me they had cancelled them. Bravo, FFG. Nice save.

It is good business to respond to feedback like this, and I think they've done that in the past (the MUTANT CHRONICLES fiasco for example). That being said, I'm not sure I'm really down with the idea of announcing a product, seeing how people react, and then pulling it. They should have done a little more homework ahead of time...on one hand, they've got the good will of "hey, they listened to us!" but on the other I think it erodes their authority. It sounds kind of goofy, but they should know what we want to buy. Asking focus groups, reaching out to the player base...there's a number of ways that they could have ascertained that this wasn't going to fly ahead of actually moving forward with an official product announcement.

But either way, I'm glad to see that it's off the books. Perhaps they'll reconsider and come up with a better distribution model for them.

I think there is something in the middle here. I imagine they did do focus group among hardcore AH players. A lot of people are ok with $13/month for something like this. I know that Skeletor and I both have a similar subscription for the MotU collectible figures.

What they missed was probably a representative sample of all the people who were going to complain: (a) about the time, and (b) about the cost. Most likely they would have profited from it, but there were so much vocal outrage from the "me too" crowd that they to drop it as not to piss off too many people.

They look awesome, but too rich for my blood.

Yeah, I more got the feeling that they couldn't deliver the quality of miniatures they wanted at a price point that would allow enough people to buy it to make it affordable.

Looks like FFG cancelled the plan for minis...

www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=854

We have listened to your concerns and considered your valuable feedback regarding our announcement of the Arkham Horror Investigator Miniatures. Having weighed the desires of our fans and considered our manufacturing options, Fantasy Flight Games has opted to hereby cancel the release of this product.

It was very clear from the vocal feedback that we received that the majority of our players were strongly unfavorable towards the price-point and packaging that we had planned for these figures," stated Christian T. Petersen, CEO of FFG. "Unfortunately, as it's not remotely feasible for FFG to produce quality painted figures in the assortments and at the price-point range suggested from our customer feedback, we've decided to cancel this product. For obvious reasons, we have no interest in creating product that does not match our customers’ expectations, nor of pushing product into the retail channel that will not be successful for our professional partners. We apologize to the customers who were excited about the announced figures, and will continue to investigate avenues in the future to make the reality of painted miniatures for Arkham Horror a reality."

As always, we at Fantasy Flight Games would like to thank our loyal fans for their continued feedback and support.

Arkham Horror is a boardgame of mystery and madness set in Arkham in the 1920's. Players investigate the strange happenings about the town, and race to prevent ancient evil from surfacing. Playable with 1-8 players.

sensible move:

1. "We listen to our customers"
2. "We didn't try to rip you off" If they'd just lowered the price (either of the proposed packaging or larger box for lower per unit price), everybody would have thought that the margins were outrageous in the first place. Cut the product and you make it seem like this was the lowest price you could have charged.