Cardboard Characters - Champions now available in online store

[Ben Seeman]

Our first set of cardboard minis are now availabe for purchase form the online store.

The first set includes Defender, Ironclad, Nighthawk, Sapphire and Witchcraft. Also included are Kinetik, Dr. Silverback, Nightwind, Kodiak, Teknique, Silver Avenger and Cavalier.

This PDF can be purchased for $6, just look in the E-books & Docs (https://secure.compnetco.com/herogames/browse.jsp?categoryID=4) section of the store. Enjoy!

[Killer Shrike]

"We produce what we feel it's best to produce, based on the resources available to us, our own inclinations and reading of the marketplace, etc. Since most of these characters were already colorized, we were able to release this pack of character earlier than we otherwise would have." -- Steve Long


Thats cool. No disrespect intended; I was just thinking that from a use case perspective, villains probably see more play in a combat situation (where minis/representations are most useful) than NPC heroes. I can certainly understand going with fastest-to-market if you already had the necessary elements available for the NPC heroes.

Thanx!

[BobGreenwade]

Hopefully more packs will be available soon.

Personally, I'll be anxiously waiting for a pack based on Scourges of the Galaxy. ;) :D

[BenKimball]

As it happens, in our Champs game we're in desperate need of these. We run into/team up with the Champions quite often, Dr. Silverback is a Contact, etc.

So: two thumbs up from me!

Cheers,
Ben

[Nato]

I plan on using the Champs and Co. from time to time myself in my game, which is one of the reasons I colored them in the first place. I like having a large cast and having minis for them is great.

[Steve Long]

More packs will definitely be available. The timeframe depends on how long it takes Nato to do the coloring. ;)

[Nato]

Yeah, I currently working on finishing the next batch of characters. Should make some folks VERY happy.

[JmOz]

I will not be getting them do to the fact that I do not like the triangular fold minis, I much prefer the "tented" style, similar to what SJG does for it's paper minis.

HOWEVER: This is an example of how the guys at Hero do listen, so thank you for listening to what we want...

[bryanb]

Hi Steve,

Is it possible to see a sample of one? I'm not big on cutouts/miniatures but if they are suitable I would like to use them as character portraits....

Alternatively are they the same quality and type of art seen in the "sideart" portion of this website?

Thanks

[Nato]

Well, the sideart was made from the same files that are used for the minis. If you like the coloring and art on the site, you should be very happy with the minis. They really print out nice in mini size too. I use them for my own games and everyone loves having them to use with my maps.

For a sample of the mini format, check out the wardroids in the free section, color artwork by Keith Curtis. I'm pretty sure they're the same size.

[Dynamo]

Hmmn... Color me cheap, but isn't $6 a little pricey for 12 figs? Don't get me wrong; if that's what people are willing to pay, then obviously $6 is not too steep. I'm just comparing 50¢ per fig plus the cost of printing* to the going rates in the industry:

Fiery Dragon counter packs: 10.95 for 125+, <10¢ ea. (Though this is an unfair comparison; the two products don't compare well.)

Steve Jackson Games cardboard heroes: 19.95 430+, <5¢ ea. (This is a better comparison; SJG's cardboard heroes are stand-up tent-minis with both front and back artwork.)

Now, noone get all testy with me. I appreciate the thought that DOJ puts into product selection and pricing, and I realize they've likely already considered this very issue and weighed what they're paying Nato plus hosting costs plus Andy's time v. what their customer base will pay for a given quantity of figs.

I'm just sayin'. :)

* Don't underestimate that cost. 3 issues of Digital Hero will take the fight out of a $25 black cartridge and put a noticeable dent in a $30 color cartridge. You do the math.

[Steve Long]

Is it possible to see a sample of one? I'm not big on cutouts/miniatures but if they are suitable I would like to use them as character portraits....

Alternatively are they the same quality and type of art seen in the "sideart" portion of this website?

If you go to the Online Store and click on the product as if you want to buy it, it pulls up another "order" window where you can see 'em a little better. It's the exact same art used in the "sideart," which is to say colorized versions of the art from our books.


Color me cheap, but isn't $6 a little pricey for 12 figs?

Given the expense and other factors involved in producing them, no, I don't think so. The other products you describe are produced using different economies of scale. Additionally, with these you can print out as many as you like, whereas with a printed product you can only cut each paper mini out one time. ;)

[Koshka]

I will not be getting them do to the fact that I do not like the triangular fold minis, I much prefer the "tented" style, similar to what SJG does for it's paper minis.

Just get a batch of the plastic bases SJG sells for their cardboard minis, and cut out each panel separately with a "tab" left on the bottom to slide into the base. That way, you've got spares when (not if) someone's pop gets spilled.

Now to find the printer manual and see if I can run cardstock through it ....

[Dynamo]

Originally posted by JmOz
I will not be getting them do to the fact that I do not like the triangular fold minis, I much prefer the "tented" style, similar to what SJG does for it's paper minis.It's child's play to extract the images used in the PDF, create greyed out backside images, and put both versions into a tentmini template. That's what I plan to do. I have an RTF tentmini template posted to one of the threads around here somewhere.

[Nato]

If you extracted the images you could also use those pics for portraits in Hero Designer also. :)

[BarryB]

Originally posted by Dynamo
It's child's play to extract the images used in the PDF, create greyed out backside images, and put both versions into a tentmini template. That's what I plan to do. I have an RTF tentmini template posted to one of the threads around here somewhere.

It is? I've only had moderate success in pulling graphic images from a PDF (probably lack of experience, though). I'm curious as to what the RTF template looks like. Would it be convenient to repost the template in this thread at some point?

[Dynamo]

Originally posted by BarryB
It is? I've only had moderate success in pulling graphic images from a PDF (probably lack of experience, though). I'm curious as to what the RTF template looks like. Would it be convenient to repost the template in this thread at some point?Fine tune the zoom level in the Acrobat Reader, centered on the fig you want to extract. When the figure looks the way you want it (i.e. minimal dithering), either perform a screen capture with your favorite graphics program or press alt-PrtScr to copy the current window to the clipboard and paste into said favorite graphics program.

If you have one of the spendier Adobe software suites, you should be able to open the PDF and extract the pics directly, depending on the security settings on the file.

Depending on your graphics program, you should be able to select the white background, invert the selection, and fill the figure with your chosen shade of grey to create the backside silhouette. Flip the silhouette vertically so that when folded, the resulting tent-mini will have reversed figures upside-right on both sides. This should become clear when you look at the RTF template in the attached .zip file.

The template is no big whoop. A little quality time with SJG's cardboard heroes and a ruler, a bit of monkeying with a table in msWord, and a template is born.

[Starcorp Man]

Originally posted by Dynamo
It's child's play to extract the images used in the PDF, create greyed out backside images, and put both versions into a tentmini template. That's what I plan to do. I have an RTF tentmini template posted to one of the threads around here somewhere.

Ah but you shouldn't have to put so much work into them to get use out of them, thankfully I still have my Old SJ ones, a scanner and cardstock. 6 bucks for 12 pics is way to pricey, especially when there are others out there, like Sparks, Micro Tactix and others. Top it off with no villains, pass.

[Dynamo]

Originally posted by Starcorp Man
Ah but you shouldn't have to put so much work into them to get use out of them, thankfully I still have my Old SJ ones, a scanner and cardstock. 6 bucks for 12 pics is way to pricey, especially when there are others out there, like Sparks, Micro Tactix and others. Top it off with no villains, pass.Hence my original point above, but JmOz' sole complaint was the format, which is easily reparable.

[Agent X]

They'll probably get around to villains if anyone buys the heroes. Of course, that may not be the best way to test the waters and they may realize that even if the heroes don't sell and...

[BarryB]

Originally posted by Dynamo
Fine tune the zoom level in the Acrobat Reader, centered on the fig you want to extract. When the figure looks the way you want it (i.e. minimal dithering), either perform a screen capture with your favorite graphics program or press alt-PrtScr to copy the current window to the clipboard and paste into said favorite graphics program.

I've had trouble with the dithering before. I'll try changing the zoom. Thanks! :)


The template is no big whoop. A little quality time with SJG's cardboard heroes and a ruler, a bit of monkeying with a table in msWord, and a template is born.

Ah, a template in Word. I'd thought you had a template in Photoshop or something. Your way is much more accessable. :)

[BarryB]

Originally posted by Starcorp Man
Ah but you shouldn't have to put so much work into them to get use out of them, thankfully I still have my Old SJ ones, a scanner and cardstock. 6 bucks for 12 pics is way to pricey, especially when there are others out there, like Sparks, Micro Tactix and others. Top it off with no villains, pass.

Well, I don't know how much it would cost to have the images rearranged as you like (not even recoloring the backsides), but I don't consider it too difficult to print them out, take a pair of scissors and cut out two of the three images, then put them together with a piece of double stick tape.

Then again, I like to take my cardboard heroes wherever I can get them. :)

[JmOz]

Originally posted by Dynamo
Hence my original point above, but JmOz' sole complaint was the format, which is easily reparable.

Actualy my sole complaint voiced, I do find them a little pricey, and as I do not play in the Champions U I find Heromachine and shinking to be a better option for me personaly.

However If they had been in tent format I would have considered getting them, as they are not, I will not...

[dbsousa]

I'm a tent guy, too. I have had some tent figures with pennies glued to the bottom of them on my dashboard for 8 months now. They slide around but never fall over. I forget about them unless I have to make a hard turn, and then the slide out of their corner to complain...