ICv2 Top 5 Miniatures Games

[onlyonepinman 18062xp 0]

The ICv2 sales figures for Autumn/Fall 2018 are out and there’s a couple eyebrow raising points.

1. Age of Sigmar has taken second spot
2. X-wing has dropped to fourth spot
3. Star Wars Legion, despite not appearing overly popular, is in 5th spot
4. Neither Warmachine nor Hordes have placed in the top 5
5. Perhaps most interestingly, Wizkids’ D&D miniatures range, Nolzur’s Marvellous Miniatures, is 3rd (I think this is even more surprising than Age of Sigmar).

Thoughts?  Could this be linked to what was discussed on the XLBS a few weeks ago with GW basically out competing some of their biggest rivals?

The link is here so you can read/download for yourself.

https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/42621/top-5-non-collectible-miniature-games-fall-2018

[sundancer 42985xp 0]

Well it’s the sales figures. You’ve got to keep in mind at that point SW:L was still brand spanking new. Just 6 months old. And that’s why X-Wing had such a drop off in that time. This years fall figures will be much more interesting.

[onlyonepinman 18062xp 0]

It’s sales figures from independent retailers  only, excluding direct sales (i.e. anything directly through a company’s own webstore or physical stores).  I can’t see Legion being anything near 40k, however 40k being top isn’t in anyway a surprise.  Age of Sigmar being second is definitely a surprise and speaks of a level of popularity that has perhaps been under appreciated.

X-Wing slipping to 4 is definitely a surprise – I wonder how much that has to do with the migration to v2.0 and the reaction to the lack of compatibility between the two versions and the costs of upgrading large collections.

 

Star Wars Legion being 5th is definitely a surprise because the general opinion I have seen online is mostly indifference due to slow release schedule and a general dearth in the variety of units available.  Next year will definitely be more interesting for Legion if they’re going to get some vehicles on the table.

But as I said, I think the biggest surprise is by far that Nolzur’s Marvellous Miniatures are third place.  This is a range that doesn’t really have a large Wargame behind it like 40k and although it is tied to D&D, that’s not a game I would have considered a great sales vehicle for miniatures.  Although you can use miniatures with it, how many do you really need as a GM?  I think this speaks of both a significant resurgence in D&D (and RPGs in general) but also to people’s desire to use miniatures in their RPGs.

I think aside from 1st place this is the most interesting set of results we have seen for some time.

[onlyonepinman 18062xp 0]

Nolzur’s miniatures were actually 2nd place in Spring 2018!

[redbenParticipant 9415xp 0]

It’s certainly possible that X-Wing is doing as well as it has been and it’s just that GW’s resurgence means those lines are just selling even more. That X-Wing has slipped to 4 immediately after a new edition is interesting though.

[sundancer 42985xp 0]

Oh there was a lot of crying, moaning and whining (I should know, I did it a lot). Imagine 5 years of collecting only useable when shelling out 200+ € for the conversion kits… :S

[onlyonepinman 18062xp 0]

To track X-wing’s progress it was top spot in Fall 2017, unplaced in spring 2018 and then reappears at 4th in Fall 2018.  Does this map to a timeline of events?

2nd Edition announced May 2018.  This could explain the disappearance of X-wing in Spring 2018 as production slows, availability becomes scarcer and the rumour mill of a new edition generally causing people to wait before buying.

2nd Edition launches in September.   Mild controversey over the cost of upgrading to 2.0 potentially puts a number of players off continuing with the game and thus the re-launch is not quite as successful as the previous edition.  However it remains popular enough to put the game back in the top 5 but not quite at the same level and certainly not enough to compete with a resurgent GW and 40k.

This does not seem particularly implausible and suggests yet another problematic shift to a new version of a game (Malifaux?).  However I believe FFG are successful enough to deal with this if that’s what’s caused the drop off – if indeed there is a dropoff at all.

[frankeleeParticipant 1364xp 0]

As you noted Nolzurs’s has been on the list before, and I was really surprised when I first saw it, but its success speaks to fulfilling an underserved niche for the role-playing game crowd. D&D and other fantasy games are still running strong, and I myself bought some Nolzur’s minis for SAGA and also as scatter terrain.

I think X-Wing was bound to fall as doing a 2nd edition means people could either just buy a conversion kit, or take the whole affair as an opportunity to stop buying X-Wing stuff entirely and keep playing 1st edition. The conversion kits seem kinda pricey too, I’m not sure if gaming groups were all enthusiastic about making the switch.

Lastly, Legion doesn’t seem to be doing quite as well as Armada did, but it wouldn’t surprise if it was at least close. FFG and Star Wars seem to sell. Also we’re talking about the lead up to Christmas here, so I wouldn’t be surprised if people who had been interested when the game first released now took the opportunity to grab it or ask for it. The game had way more releases and looked a lot more interesting too.

[kiranamida 5791xp 0]

I would be interested to see what happens with Nolzur’s in the Summer postings after the next wave comes out as I know quite a few people waiting for stuff that’s been rumoured/announced. Typically where the race/gender/class they are looking for isn’t quite represented or there’s nothing close enough yet so holding off to see if the gap gets filled.

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