Hmmm, Paul's comments on the poor reception for Shadowcore Prime started me thinking - what about the idea of collecting pre-orders for WW models before starting work on them?

It may give an inkling of how much of a market there is for a given product. For example, I would love it if Pall made a Chinese junk. and I might blow the horn and beat the drum, but what if every one doesn't share my refined tastes?

An announcement might be made, an account set up for preorders, and when enough people decide that they really want a junk to face off against the Maiden then Paul (or Denny, or CapnG) can start designing the models. (Perhaps preliminary work can begin when half the number is reached, and pretty pictures made as the work continues.

Having a dedication page thanking the folks who pre-ordered the set might be good too.

The Auld Grump, who likes Shadowcore Prime, Skull Cove, and Arena Works.

*EDIT* And of course there is also a junk in Pirates of the Caribbean 3. (Beating the drum and blowing the horn....)

There have also been a few for role playing games.

This might be something that can be mixed with more mainstream methods - Denny and Co. know that some things are just plain gonna sell (Streets of Himmelveil), but others are less certain (would Leng's Laundromat sell?). THis might take some of the guess work out of their modeling work.

Then again, I thought that a subscription method might be a good idea too....

The Auld Grump, the pot roast is in the pot... roasting.

Pre ordering sounds like a good idea to me. It's also a good way of spreading the cost if you're on a tight budget.

I'd be up for a Junk as well. Also Shadocore is one of my most used sets. We play allsorts in it plus the kids really like it. It's a shame to hear it isn't very popular.

This is where the WWG print it and build it system comes into it's own. If the kids trash it after a while I/They can build some more.

I don't know if preordering would sit well with the long development times a lot of these sets have. If I preorder a product I don't really want to wait around a year for it. I'd rather spend the money on something I can use immediately. If a short enough turnaround time could be guaranteed then I would consider it. For now I'd be happy to see more user polls.

To me Shadowcore is much more of a niche product than most stuff so far, alien infested starships/biotech ships are limited to a particular subgenre - whereas everything else is good for a variety of things (first light for instance, being great for some modern stuff - like submarines/ships etc as well as pretty much any sci-fi setting.

The thing I worry about from a preorder/ransom perspective is "opening the playbook" (as it were) to the competition. Not to bring up a hornet's nest, but we've already seen a few cases of competitors releasing oddly similar products - I don't think Denny & Co. would want to make that even more accessible by talking about projects before working on them.

(You'll notice that - in general - previews aren't released until the product is close enough to release that it would be difficult for someone else to ramp up to the same level quickly enough to beat them to release date.)