First of all, hi /tg/ this is the first time I post in this board, so I'm sorry if I do something wrong here.I need your help to understand how's the market for figurines used in RPG campaigns and wargames.Recently I moved countries, quit my old job and decided it is a good oportunity to help my wife with her work, since she's not been doing so well. She creates and sell her own minis, without using AI in any part of the process, from the drawing designs, the 3D modeling and even doing the design for the campaigns themselves. But none of her projects reach a good amount of people and she never has much folks supporting them.I checked it from time to time and I honestly like her minis. I see a lot worse minis reaching thousands of people and I can't understand why. I mean, I would buy her minis if I saw them online.Disclaimer: I'm not trying to sell her minis or projects here to you guys. This is why I didn't post the links or her pseudonym here. I honestly want your help to know what can I do to reach out more people to buy her things, or at least check her minis.Important Info:> She doesn't use AI at all> She sells the stl files at MyMiniFactory and also have projects going on at KickStarter from time to time> Her minis have a good quality (pic related)> Her prices match other projects and minis> We usually focus on USA, Canada and Europe> The max backers she got in a project was 104 people> Her average is around 15 to 30 backers per projectI don't understand /tg/...Is the mini market bad? Is it that difficult to make money out of it? Are her minis not interesting? Are we horribly bad at selling it online?And some personal questions... Do you buy minis online? Do you have a 3D printer at home? Would you ratter buy the stl file or the printed mini already?I feel that I am missing something important here and I honestly don't know what it is.> Pic related - those are some of her minis that she painted herself and an unpainted example
The market is flooded now that 3d printers are a household item.I would suggest leaning away from generic fantasy/D&D offerings, and look at wargaming lines, especially if you are in a nation that thumbs its nose at copyright claims.
>>98089029I live in Europe, west part of Europe to be more precise.Her minis can be used in wargames as well, but still have a lot of fantasy thematic on them.Do you have any examples you can tell me? Like... Knights in real historical armor? Horses, animals and related?
>>98089012I am not sure there is a market for actual minis who appreciate minis by themselves. I think there is a huge market for Warhammer paypigs, very small market for normies who buy stuff rarely just to belong, a shit load of GMs who can't afford minis, and a sprinkle of enthusiats who have the expertise at the level they can DIY./tg/ is extremly shitty bot-ridden place, btw. There is a chance you won't get a good answer.
This place isn't representative sample of hobby as a whole and you should ask for second opinion elsewhere (reddit or some such) unless you did already.But basically the hobby consists of two types of people.a) hobbyists, that enjoy the process of miniature creation and customization, and won't let anybody else do it for themb) gamers, that see miniatures as just the gaming pieces and don't care if they're painted or particularly good lookingYour proposed business model targets neither of them.You're left with people that do not actively partake in the hobby but for some reason want to look like they do (poseurs, secondaries) part of which is collecting appropriate accessories. Which is a small market.As for STL, part of owning a printer is being a cheapskate, so STLs get pirated a lot. Hell people scan existing miniatures into STLs just to pirate them, so not exactly a stable source of paying customers either.
>>98089046Basically, you need to look at warhammer armies and make not!-warhammer versions of units from them. Bonus points if you make them for a faction that is no longer really supported, pic related.The other thing is if she wants real money, she needs to license out to printers the STLs of print them herself.
>>98089050I saw other projects at kickstarter that get a huge amount of people backing them up, and with random minis as well, not a single theme we can inspire ourselves on.Warhammer is risky as hell, since the company is just hunting for people to sue online. I would rather not even risk it.Do you think I should try another board instead of /tg/?> here some more examples of her minis, now with more focus
>>98089046>Her minis can be used in wargames as well, but still have a lot of fantasy thematic on them.Nobody cares about that. People who play brand-name games (warhammer, infinity, and so on), want to stick to that one brand. And people who play miniature agnostic games, already have hundreds of alternatives to choose from.>Knights in real historical armor? Horses, animals and related?There's always market for the risque and blatant fetish stuff, your added value against the competition is that it's an actual woman doing the production, then it's down to how depraved you are willing to go - anthros, hyperpreg, amputees, that sort of stuff doesn't have much competition. You'll be selling to creeps, but creeps got money and pecunia non olet.Also, if you got fast concept-to-product pipeline you can target vidya players with miniatures (legally distinct cousin) of various flavor-of-the-month characters.
>>98089112>other projects at kickstarter that get a huge amount of people backing them upSuch as? Afaik there was Reaper Bones and that's about it.
>>98089071She tried reddit already. They only ban her everywhere she tries to create a new post to talk about her projects. She got tired of getting banned, but she keps posting in Reddit, but they rarely back her projects.I see your point, but I would put collectors as another alternative here. And those are the ones I'm aiming at. And like I said, I can see other campaigns getting backed up at Kickstarter, so I know there are people who would pay for it. I just don't know how or where to find them.>>98089114She tried to get into the anime fanbase as well. She did these.
>>98089094Like I said, we will not even try to risk a lawsuit modeling things for Warhammer. And I even talked to some Warhammer fans and most of them don't like the "not-warhammer" stuff.We have 2 3D printers and we're trying to sell the printed minis instead of only the stl files. I got your idea here.
>>98089012I think the market is just very floodedFor most people it's a passionEven a stable job at a wargaming company pays like shitIf you want her to make stable money it's probably easier to sell shovels than gold for now
>>98089124Man, I'm not asking for those "thousands" I mentioned. I would be happy to get solid 400 at least.We're not a big company and sometimes I feel that this is exactly our problem. We're not expending thousands of euros in propaganda.
>>98089127You can target a niche that nobody else does.Or work on mainstream franchise (such as Dungeon Meshi) and try to do it better than the others. Or have an existing following and take feedback from them what they're willing to pay for, but that takes a while to build up. Just having a decent quality product and reasonable price doesn't cut it anymore. You're entring a market that's already oversaturated.
>>98089142>easier to sell shovels than gold for nowYou mean I should go for the most simple things as possible, instead of trying big projects? Is that it?
>>98089157She's trying for basically 3 years now, and I can see what you're saying, that the market is flooded with a lot of other people doing the same things. She's trying to develop some minis that we see just a few models at MyMiniFactory, like animals. The mini she sold the most was one of a snake tangled on a branch, just because it's beautiful.But it is hard as fuck to find where the people are. We tried looking everywhere, and I don't know if there is a discord group, a wepage dedicated to it, reddit groups, or any other place I can find the correct people to buy it. You know what I mean?If I knew where they were, I would at least pay for advertisement there, or post something, or try something there.
>>98089127you dont need mini advice, you need business advice. Who's your target market? Be specific. "Collectors" is not a market. Neither is "wargamers" MMF has more than a million STLs. And that number grows every day. Pick one market, and push hard to reach them. Having a kickstarter with 100 backers is pretty good, do some marketing and grow a following. I'd look into a monthly scheme, either patreon or tribes, especially if your'e steadily making minis. have ideas, do polls with any followers and keep creating.
>>98089158I was thinking about supplying people who make the end productIt's a lot more stable to work at a community college doing 3D modelling class than roll the dice on kickstartersIt's of course not the highest passion, but the income will feel more predictable It's hard to compete in a market that gets fueled by a lot of people doing it out of love for the game and a few big names dominating 99% of the marketYou could keep rolling the dice for a few more years of course and you might end up lucky, but it's rareSorry if I seem like a downer
>>98089178It basically boils down to "make accout one every social media you can think of, and post your content regularly". Insta, twitter, tiktok, vkontakte and so on. Efficient shilling is a full time job. Helps if you can do some basic scripting to automake part of it.
>>98089114Just pointing out another thing that I forgot to mention. We thought about the idea of targeting fetish and kinky stuff, but we would rather not have her name associated with it. And even if we created another name for her to do it, it would consume her a lot of time basically "prostituting" her art just to get nsfw money.> these are two of the kobolds she's selling at her new project
>>98089112Projects on Kickstarter as a rule already have some following. Maybe just start with better SEO and online presence, dump some money into the adds.
>>98089184Putting it that way, I DO need business advices.Our target would be RPG players who have a 3D printer. Maybe we should focus on people who play the game, selling the printed mini already and focus on it.We are trying to make an Instagram account grow for some time now. But my wife is not very charismatic and I didn't have time to help her with her videos until now. We also try to post about it everywhere we know that there are people talking about it, like reddit.She tried a Patreon already, but she doesn't have anyone that back her projects who are willing to pay for a Patreon.She talks all the time with her supporters and is always listening to what they ask for, so this is something we know we are doing right. (at least this)Problem is that she's doing it for 3 years or more now, and I just got together with her to help her out. I'm not sure what to do since I never worked with marketing before.
>>98089198Huuummmmm....... I understand now. That's an interesting idea Anon. Thanks.It doesn't seem like a downer, I appreciate it a lot. I need this kind of honesty right now.
>>98089204Just saying the option is there, I undestand there's reasons not to take it.Or there's the middle ground - risque, but technically not porn - some companies (Raging Heroes, Limbo Division) do just that and still charge premium.
>>98089225I would, for sure. But where? Youtube? Reddit? Instagram? Facebook?... You get what I mean? I don't exactly know where to invest in advertisement. We pay Instagram because we know there are a lot of people there talking about minis and the hobbie... But Instagram algorithm is simply shit.
>>98089138Understandable. But an awful lot of what you find (and I appreciate that the Holy Algorithm often means you find what you've already looked for) is essentially "not-x" stuff. Warhammer. Star Wars. Some flavour of the month. People want what they like but not necessarily to pay the going rate.But "doing Warhammer" (or some other IP) does not mean slavishly copying. But it does mean to imply certain design cues that it wouldn't look out of place on a table (or shelf). Take pic related. It's probably AI slop, sorry for that, but it came from a search for "gothic space romans", as I was looking for some "not" models for a specific faction that I saw recently to show you, but I found this and I think it might be a better illustration. They don't look like anything in the actual game as far as I know, but they do look like they plausibly could, possibly with some double dipping at calling them "Hadesdroppers" or the like (helldivers). And that's the vibe you'd aim for in that regard, be it Warhammer, D&D or Minecraft.Having said that, I do get a bit depressed at the preponderance of "not" models out there, so I commend your wife for trying to stick to doing her OWN stuff. Good luck.
>>98089246No man, I get it, don't worry. I even said that we thought about it as well. Thanks.And yeah, I agree. Maybe a midle term, sexy but not explicit would do the trick. Who knows?! We can also try to have the same mini in a nsfw version just for people who pays more. I don't know.
>>98089261Thanks Anon. It is something that I will surelly think about, I honest appreciate you taking your time to develop your idea. And sorry for being really gay here, but I'm really getting a little depressed recently because of all this. That's why I told myself "fuck it, I'm gonna ask the chan".
>>98089184Also about this... These are some baby kobolds she made just because her followers asked her to.
>>98089238only advice is generic advice. Get on socials, find channels/accounts that are "RPG players who have a 3D printer". Youtube is great for this, instagram a close second. Aim for channels with a following that aren't huge. 5-10k followers. This is the groups that won't expect much in payment but will take free stuff. Send them out, don't expect posts from every take. if you have a marketing budget, talk to the higher end about sponsoring. >>98089297 and thats great. this is the value of things like patreon, put your suggestion box/polls on there. Your goal should be just to drive eyes to the product. the old 10-3-1 rule, but scaled way up for modern internet.
>>98089012The market for RPG minis is really flooded, since that's where generic fantasy minis go, and there are already giants in the field. It's harsh but ask yourself what you have that Reaper or Archon studios doesn't.>>98089261The thing about proxy models is that people focus on the wrong aspect. You don't want 40k IP models with the serial numbers filed off. Then you're just sitting around waiting for a C&D.You want something with the same vibe but different in detail. You can get away with a lot of creativity if it scratches the same itch and has has the same unit makeup, while UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES stating it does. People will figure it out, 10 robots with sniper rifles or 3 guys riding bugs are pretty clear about the role they fill in wargames, without stepping on any corporate toes.
>>98089311Good advice Anon. I'm gonna try it, for sure. I'm gonna look for some chanels right now actualy.And that second one about scaling it away to drive the eyes to the product too. Nice nice.Thanks a lot Anon.
>>98089343I get what you mean and I totaly agree. I tried to sit down with my wife to talk about plans of minis that are a little more unique, so we're gonna try some different things from now on.And I also understand what you're talking about the wargames and stuff, but I feel that if she changes her style now, she'll have to find a new public all over again.
I think it wouldn't be a problem if I post her creator name here, right? So you guys can look it up if you want.> MysticRune(on MyMiniFactory and Kickstarter)
>>98089250>>98089311Seconding this, youtubers are probably one of the most effective advertising methods. It has a twofold benefit, they have a built in audience instead of relying on the algorithm, and your minis will be seen with high quality paint jobs on them.I know Sonic Sledgehammer frequently prints minis from various sources to use in his videos, and gives them a shoutout.
There's a few key issues facing you. The first is that you should not make this your primary source of income. The market is over-saturated, and it will take even more work and effort than you already have put in to just break even. Most people doing this do so as a hobby or supplemental income. Very, very few people make enough to survive. Secondly, there are 1098 results for "kobolds" on MyMiniFactory, why should I buy yours? Whwt's the hook, the catch, the pitch? Thirdly, you can echase trends, build your own library or provide alternate miniatures, or do your oen thing. Look at Warp Miniatures, Twin Goddess Miniatures, BriteMinis and Avatars of War. Doing a little of everything and seeing what sells is a valid strategy. But if she's making the minis she wants and disappointed in not bring able to live off the proceeds, then adjusting expectations, priorities and procedures is in order.
>>98089423Thanks Anon, I'll look it up for this guy you told me.By the way, sorry for the stupidity, but what's the best way to send messages to youtubers? I don't know how to make them see my messages.
>>98089421There is a rule against advertising, probably also why you keep catching bans on reddit.I appreciate that you're sincere but you also need to have your wits about you, that means knowing the rules as well as market trends. A lot of this could have been googled, including >>98089434.
>>98089429I'm not making this my primary source of income. I'm using the oportunity of not having a job anymore to try making my wife's work grow and help us with a second income, instead of relying only on me. And THAT's the main issue here.I see what you mean about the many results and variety of minis. You made me think, thanks. I'm gonna try to plan something related to this now that you mentioned.
>>98089439I'm asking about how to message youtube creators because I tried it before, and I even looked it up on google, but I can't find a way to talk to them.And I'm gonna ask my wife to show me her posts before she post anything in Reddit next time. Maybe that's why she's getting banned.
>>98089012It's awful. You're best off not selling the files and instead selling prints. 3d printing is still niche and rpgs are also niche so you're seeking a niche audience within a niche audience. 3d printing in these hobbies is larger than in others, but still is a very limited audience. Also, generic fantasy is oversaturated for stuff. There's also just a silly amount of piracy on all levels. Piracy of files, print sellers selling prints without permission, and people using your files as a base, making minor alterations and then selling that.
>>98089465You need to look at their channels and see if they offer a way to do product placement or submit stuff for reviews.
>>98089500Humm... Yeah, everybody is telling me something similar. Thanks Anon. Maybe the thing for us is really start selling the printed minis instead of the files.
>>98089531Huummm... Thanks Anon. And sorry for the dumb question. I'm totaly new to this whole thing.
>>98089539>>98089549Sorry if it sounded like I was pissing on your plans btw. I'm at worst in the top 5% of downloads on cults3d, have made very little money selling files, and just do this stuff as a hobby and just find the influencers trying to push this stuff as a possible career disingenuous. Some people have experimented with selling licenses to print their designs and that seems to kind of work, but I don't think anything your wife has made is unique or popular enough for that to be worth tryingDoes MMF still sell a subscription to boost your minis in the search results? It's the main reason I don't upload to them.
>>98089578Don't worry about that Anon, I need this kind of honest advice. I'm totaly lost and you guys are helping me a lot to see some things that I wasn't seeing before.What would YOU like to see that you would say it's unique? What do you look for when you're looking for a mini?And I don't know if they still do this. I'm gonna have to ask my wife, she knows a lot better than me.
Checking out her minis, and yeah, there is nothing too unique about them, like you guys said.Maybe some monsters that are not common, or even common things in the game, but looking unique.Thinking thinking thinking.......
>>98089421looking on MMF, the thing that jumps out at me is 'generic'. The mimics look good, I appreciate the teeth orientation for easy printing, and the goblins have a semi-chibi look to them? The renders and backgrounds are good, but blend in with what everyone else is doing. The owl griffin looks good, as long as it's multipart. I want to see more of what she wants to make, not what she thinks will sell the best.
>>98089623Well... That's what she wants to do, but she's not getting any results out of it. Maybe her own things ARE the unique things we were talkign about all this time?... I don't know.
>>98089623I don't know if it is a good idea to talk about her next project ideas Anon. Otherwise I would love to have your opinion.
>>98089590I tend to just make my own stuff. As in pretty much all of my uploads and designs is just me designing stuff for myself and the people I care about then publishing it if I feel like it. As far the MMF subscription, it's not to help her, it's to get an understanding for you as to how much MMF is charging her to have her files available vs what she makes. When I first looked into uploading there, they charged a monthly fee for hosting files and offered boosted search results subscription. The boosted search results is pretty scummy IMO because you have to pay for it if you want to potentially compete and the reality is very few files sell so it's most a net loss for almost every uploader. If anything I would say her design philosophy is the main problem. Generic fantasy is generic and won't standout. Something like a "build your own adventure" kit might be more impactful, but it's all so saturated that I'm sure there's 100s if not 1000s of similar to nearly identical stuff already out there. As far as offering a commissions service for making people's OC or player character printable, what you would need to charge to justify the labor just isn't something people are willing to pay
>>98089661Most of her minis are from things she wanted to make, and she also does it all by herself, you can even check at the Kickstarter project that she posts every part of the process.She's trying to make a living out of it because she lost almost every job she used to get to illustrate for games because of AI. That's why she's so disapointed, she used to make a lot more money than me and now she's just barely paying us a pizza at weekends.Maybe you even saw some of her work somewhere. Who knows.
>>98089012The mini market is rough for many reasons>People like me dont have the money to back projects>even if i did i dont have a printer yet>even if i did it still wouldnt be an impulse purchase, because id have to spend the time to print and paint them>even if i did, i dont have anywhere to paint them>even if i did, i dont have any friends to game with in person any moreEven though i like her work, ill probably never spend any money on it even if i wanted her minis specificallyThat said you can try getting more publicity by collabing with that once-in-a-six-side guy on youtube. Hes pretty big so you'd get a good audience at least
I've always wanted fantasy garden gnomes
>>98089739Thanks for the honesty Anon. I feel that a lot of people are in the same (or similar) situation.I'm gonna try talking to some youtubers and see what I can get, like you guys told me. Thanks.
>>98089747I remember seeing some of those already, but it is a nice idea. I'm gonna check for the opportunity. Thanks for the request Anon.
>>98089702That's all of 3d printing though. The couple of stories you see of someone doing well with it, is usually someone running a print farm out of a garage with dozens of printers or getting insanely luck with something being a meme for a just long enough to make some money. She can try to collab or get promoted by youtubers as a way to get a boost. Try to do some commission work. But there just isn't a lot of money in this to begin with. Part of the difficulty is that the consumer still has to slice, print, and possibly paint it on top of owning a functional printer. It's just an insanely niche market. Even some of the best people I've seen doing this stuff as a job struggle to earn enough to pay their bills. I hope she's able to find some fulfillment with this, but it's just not at the point where it's a viable fulltime career path. The best worst option would probably be for her to look into getting a job that isn't as good as her previous one and doing this on the side to fulfill her desires for artistic expression
>>98089807Thanks Anon. Honestly. I really apreciate all the help and the knowledge and I'll take everything in consideration and do my research on what to do from now on, you can be sure of that.Maybe even trying to make some youtube videos as well, just to see if it helps a little?1 i don't know, but we're at least try a lot of things here and explore the possibilities.I don't know if it is possible, but maybe try to send her a message at MMF, just for us to keep in touch? You're a nice guy.
>>98089841No youtube is over saturated with everything so a new channel requires tons of self promotion everywhere risking bans unless you have a pre-existing following or are actual friends with enough people to give you a strong enough signal boost to get to a point where youtube and tiktok recommend you to other people. I don't have an MMF account. I don't like their business practices so I don't support them in any way.
Well guys, I really appreciate all your advices. You all gave me a lot to think about. I'm gonna leave now and try to make some plans for me and my wife.I do not know how to tell you how much I appreciate everything. You guys are awesome. If this thread is still alive tomorrow, I'll answer some more questions and talk a little more with you guys. Until then... Rest well my friends.
>>98089858Got it, no youtube then. Haha!Well... Maybe her Kickstarter then? I don't know. I can't give you hers or mine professional email at 4chan, sorry man. But you can look her up on Instagram if you prefer.
Hey OP, interesting thread, a lot has already been said but I thought I'd add my own 2 cents. First of all your wife looks like she's genuinely a talented 3d artist so I think there is definitely potential here I think. Also good job on getting them all nicely painted and taking proper promotional photos of them, that already puts you above a lot of other sculptors out there. That said.>>98089238>Our target would be RPG players who have a 3D printerThis is kind of misguided. A major hook that got a lot of people into 3d printing these past few years has been the prospect of spending as little money as possible (all those "IS THIS MACHINE THE FINAL GW KILLER?" type youtube drama vids had their effect), so there's a lot of pirating and artists are incentivised to keep their prices ridiculously low in the hope that anyone will ever throw a buck their way. IMHO investing into a good resin printer and selling your prints on a platform like Etsy could be much more interesting, since there are a lot more normies there that just want a fully finished mini to show up at their doorstep and are ready to spend a bit more money on it.>We are trying to make an Instagram account grow for some time nowIf you're serious about this you're going to need to keep at this, and hard. There are simply too many people doing cool 3d stuff nowadays, you need good branding, you need to post consistently on every platform you can think of, and interact with the audience consistently. You're also going to need to reach out to other creators and network. Like any successful artsy company you basically need to become a marketing department with some art attached to it.
>>98089702>She's trying to make a living out of it because she lost almost every job she used to get to illustrate for games because of AI.That's rough anon, got a couple of friends in similar situations.I don't have much more to add that others haven't already said, but yeah the mini market is quite saturated at the moment, doubly so for rpg stuff.I'd advise again to look into wargaming instead, especially warhammer. I understand the hesitation because of lawsuits, but I think you'll be fine. GW can hardly sue for people selling generic dwarf or elf miniatures, which is what most of their stuff is at the end of the day.Hell a few years ago they had a (rather infamous) lawsuit battle with a company who was actively selling alternate sculpts for gw products, they didn't even bother changing the names or anything, and even then GW lost like half the claims they were making. For stuff that gw actually owned!As long as you name your stuff "space knights" and "holy elf phalanx" instead of Primaris Intercessor Space Marines with Bolt Carbines™ and Lumineth Realm-Lords Vanari Auralan Wardens™ you'll be fine.Best of luck to you both anon. The sculpts look really nice, I like the bat.
>>98089465Any serious youtuber/content creator will have a business email somewhere on their about page, which you can reach out to for deals. The trick here is that you have to be pretty shameless. Identify like 50 potential channels and send them all straightforward business requests like "Hi I'm an upcoming 3d artist and I loved your [RECENT VIDEO]. Here are some of my own designs [VAGUELY CONNECTED TO SAID VIDEO]. If you find them interesting and worth featuring on your channel, I would be happy to talk to you further. Many happy returns" Do this ad nauseam until someone replies.
>>98089978>Our target would be RPG players who have a 3D printerPiggybacking off of this but is this really a major market? Coming from wargaming, the thing with 3d printers is that they require a bit of an upfront investment, not just financially, but also in time, convenience, space, etc. The upside of course is that you'll save tons of money printing an army vs buying one ONCE that initial investment is made. Are rpg players really using that many minis for the investment to be valuable, let alone attractive when factoring in those other costs (time, space,...)? I don't know the first thing about rpg's, so now I'm curious.
>>98090021Wargaming is much larger in the 3d printing scene. Mostly because the people looking to do that are hoping to save money by printing everything instead of buying the official minis. The 2 people I know that got into 3d printing for ttrpg stuff ended up giving up on it because it was just too much stuff to store and paint that they wouldn't use as often as they thought. At least with wargaming stuff it's very easy to turn your minis and terrain into a nice diorama on your bookshelf. Also dry erase markers and a gridmap is just so much faster and dynamic while having some minis for players, enemies, and maybe loot is so much faster and more flexible. There's more money I think in printable everyday items, but a lot of that either already exists or is a more costly replacement for something you can buy already
>>98089978>selling your prints on a platform like Etsy could be much more interestingI don't know how much money there is in this but also running your own webshop/blog alongside an Etsy boutique can be interesting to further develop and distinguish your brand. I don't know if normies care about this, but wargaming boomers have been keeping quite a few micro-companies selling like 20 different sculpts cast in metal in business for years now. Companies like Knightmare Minis, Hasslefree Minis (before God himself decided they weren't allowed nice things), Northumbrian Tin Soldier, Zinge Industries. Though I guess the market has been tough on everyone since there has been a trend of these small companies having to merge/subsidiarise themselves to keep going, like Pig Iron Productions and Athena Miniatures of Fenris Games and Bronze Age Miniatures, etc.Anywho OP, if you're still here, maybe try setting up an Etsy shop selling 3d prints and rejuggle your kobolds into something like a "Kobold Warband" with ~12 minis and try to push into the setting/mini agnostic skirmish space like SAGA, Erehwon, etc?
>>98089886I'm not really on any social media. I think I've made more posts to reddit of my mom's dog for her than I have about my minis. Pic related should let you find me. But I've really said just about everything relevant to file creation. There's some major issues on the printer end but that's not related to her issues yet. I think the people here have really done a good job of trying to help and break down the inherent flaws and problems with selling 3d files. She could try being on multiple sites to try to up her searchability, but I don't know if MMF has rules against that.
>>98089012>Is the mini market bad?There are too many sellers>Is it that difficult to make money out of it?Yes>Are her minis not interesting?They are well sculpted, but not interesting.If I search for rpg bundles, or cute goblins, or animals, or mimics I get hundreds of hits. Even if the market for this type of stl was big it would still be difficult to compete because there are so many other options. Try stuff with broader appeal, and less competition. In my 25 years of GMing I've used mimics once or twice, and if I really want mimic minis there are hundreds of options.I have bought 3d printed minis and bits online, I do not have a printer, I am considering buying some stls that my friend can print for me.Good luck anon.
>>98090604Your local library might have printers open to the public as well and charges almost at cost if your friend isn't able to.
>>98089127that looks neat anon, is it available on mmf or cults?
>>98090955It is available in mmf. Just look for MysticRune.
You could try making stylized army sets for mini agnostic systems. People like matching minis and there are a lot of skirmish games where you don't need more than a dozen or so. And you don't even really need to make it super obvious which game exactly you're matching so you clear copyright issues. Osprey can't sue you if you release a set of figures that happen to include a variety of wizards and apprentices and a bunch of soldiers who match the hireling statlines in Frostgrave. Those statlines were written to fit pre-existing and very generic fantasy soldier models anyway.
>>98090662My local library doesn't, but checking out the local library is a great suggestion in general, thanks anon.I thought of a niche that I think isn't saturated and could fit OPs style. Civilian female characters that fit in renaissance/medieval rpg. Most minis have weapons, or are wizards or nobles or monsters, or are overtly sexy. Just normal looking women have less competition and would fit with the style. There are competitors, just not quite as many as other generic rpg themes.
Designing minis is niche already and you know that. Designing minis for RPGs and not wargames is another huge step into obscurity. RPGs are a LOT less depended on them especially with the rise of story focused ttrpgs compared to the more tactics and miniature heavy d&d of old. You are selling solely to game masters with so much time at hand they can print and paint on top of running games. Getting a hundred people for a kickstarter project feels like a huge number already I have to say. All the marketing and social media shilling all the other anons have correctly pointed out that would be necessary for a succesfull business still won't safe you from a non-existant market I'm afraid.
>>98092370If you're in the US and in a large enough town/city some libraries in the area might have printers and others won't. You can call or email them and they can point you in the right direction pretty easily. I.E. I'm in a major US city and by showing up for a basic 1hour orientation course, I can sign up to use an 3d printer in any library in the city, but not every library has a printer. Also if your in college, some of them have 3d printers students can use. Although most limit it to engineering students I think
