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Hi BlackSteel -
Ah yes, the infamous Slave Auction set that Mr. Mize did back in 1994. A True classic for its time....
This set is back in production on a limited basis with our friends over at www.ironwindmetals.com
Plus Dennis sculpted a new exclusive fig for this re-release to fill out the limited edition numbers still open when Ral Partha went under back in the late 1990's.
As far as Dark Sword is concerned for this - it is a tad racy and many stores would not carry it due to the steamy nature of the original set. We would most likley not do something like this on such a large scale, but maybe a limited edition piece here and there.
Clyde, Larry and Keith have a good deal of paintings/drawings of topless women. We were thinking of doing some of these up.
Would people like to see this from time to time?
Let us know...
Cheers,
Jim
Jim Said:
"As far as Dark Sword is concerned for this - it is a tad racy and many stores would not carry it due to the steamy nature of the original set. We would most likley not do something like this on such a large scale, but maybe a limited edition piece here and there."
I would concour that the "Adult Nature" of Slavery, assuming the series is a full nude, would be a hard sell. However, the Ral Partha Product did well, I seem to remember that it became a very difficult product to buy, I had to wait to get mine, but I did eventualy get the set which (at the time Sold for $50.00)
I would think that looking at the other manufactures that sell "Bra less" mini's they too don't seem so shy.
Many of the great features of Darkswords mini's is the quality of the sculpts. If "Adult" is not in your position. Why have such artists in your stable?
Lastly: Sex sells.. 
I will see where this goes, but it does not sound to promising in the near future.
Many thanks for your reply.
Blacksteel
You both bring up valid points and of course at the end of the day, it all comes down to personal preferences. If you look around, there are tons of different styles and types of minis (naked, armored, clothed, etc.) and they all meet the needs of a niche of the miniature communitty.
I agree with the comments on the talents of Dennis and Tom with their ability to really sculpt nice women. This can be a challenge with many sculptors out there to really get them done right. We will do topless women (and maybe even the occasional totally naked woman) from time to time as the artwork dictates. But the whole Slave Auction set (I own one of the Dennize Mize Artist Proof Sets of this landmark set), is just a tough sell to many people and not something we want to hang our hats on. We will for sure be doing some topless minis (because the artwork is topless), but it will be because of the artwork.
We have also toyed with the idea of taking certain pieces from the standard sets and where appropriate, have very limited topless variants for those folks who would like to see more topless minis done to the Dark Sword standard.
What are your thoughts on this?
We were actually thinking of doing this in the 99 signed and numbered sets. We would take a mini from the set, and have a topless variant only available in that actual set (so there would only be 99 of these limited variants out there in the public).
The cost to do this would mean we would go to $40.00 for the signed and numbered sets (just like when we have the Gold Plated minis in them) up from the $30.00 for the standard release set.
What are your thoughts on this?
Cool or not?
Let me know....and thanks again for the great comments on this.
Cheers,
Jim
Jim,
I brought this up, simply because its not an impossible task, that can clearly set the pace for DS. As your own comments tell me, You now have me believing that the company motto is "We only make it, if one of our artists painted/drew it." Thats really a poor outlook on the possibiltys!
If that’s the "DS core philosophy of the company", or some sort of license agreement that you have with you sculptors. Well that will leave Dark Sword in a very small box I would think.
There is an understandable respect to women who are not really interested in seeing "Ta-Ta's" on the table top. And it could leave a bit of a feeling of embarrassments on DS's part.
However, the fact remains, that your company is the one that "Prides it's self" on being the BOXSET leader. Thus you need a series, or product line(s) to support that. With Denis on hand, it simply clicked for me, to simply revive an old and famous product line. But call it somthing NEW, Slaver Series II, perhaps to keep the women happy, the MALE SLAVERS I series!?
Ask your self, "Why did Ironwind start re-making the original series,and jack up the price to $75.00 per box, if it was not going to be profitable?? Your friends with them.. So ask them..
Wizards of the Coast, (I know, "no D&D") but just listen.. WotC, has an exclusive license of the "Adult Oriented Material" Thus, it's a green light to run the adult theme, so long as you have the little sticker on it. Call them d20 Mini's, build an encounter, like the old Battle Series of boxed minis, or simply do the collectors card thing. Limited Editions, Limited Gold's what have you..
And I would expect you have seen the 1st Edition Monster Manual, and Fiend Folio to "know" where this comes from.
Slaves and Slavers are apart of our American history, and apart of many game systems. To be clothe-less is the "loss of dignity".
The Red Wizards of Thay (Forgotten Realms products)Openly discuss Slavery. You can sculpt Evil Crimson Wizards, and Slavers II Series right?
As you mention that you already have a few pieces that are "topless", this is a fantasy game setting. But after speaking with the folks at Hasslefree mini's they claim that the "Nekked Mini's" move more than the clothed mini's do.. Hmm where is my calculator? $4.00 per mini x 'R-Rated Mini's = CASH FLOW..
Look at it from the business point of view. Are you in the market to make money, or go broke with your dignity in tact?
LOL, I feel I should be getting "paid for my obvious advice/opinions.."
The bottom line, if I want "nudies".. I will go to where they are at, if you want to close your doors to opportunity. That’s your business.
I personally hope that you EXPAND beyond what has been drawn!
And to do so with OUT the "company Required" artwork, that is somehow needed to authorize a mini's sculpting..I think Denis has done this before! 
But, "that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong."
Blacksteel
Ok, lots of questions there.
First off - The reason IWM re-released the Slave Auction series is I bugged Dennis and Mike to put out the unsold numbers (they only went through 3,000 or so of the 5,000 print run for Slave Auction I) as Ebay prices were getting high and the demand was still out there. It took almost 1 year of my bugging Dennis (as Dennis owns the rights to this set) to make it happen.
Dark Sword would not have released this as the scale between our figs and the classic partha figs was too extreme - but they fit into the classic IWM line perfect. Dennis made the call on the price as it is direct sales only and he sculpted a new fig for the re-release. They are moving decent, but nothing to scream about (as they already sold 3,000 during the Partha heyday). The end result is - people that want to get this set now can along with a nice bonus. $75.00 is not a big price to pay for this classic set.
I know that the half-naked women sell very well and like I mentioned, we will be dabbling in this in the not-too-distant future, but the main reason I started Dark Sword was for making minis from the Fab Four Artwork (Caldwell, Easley, Elmore and Parkinson).
You will get some topless miniatures - make no mistake - but all in good time.
Interesting ideas for sure - thank you for the input on this topic.
Talk to you soon.
Cheers,
Jim
Hi Jim,
personally, I'm glad that you stick to your concept of producing minis from great fantasy artwork of selected artists! Since you don't churn out minis in dozens a month, I think it's a good idea to focus on high quality models with the artwork as a perfect background. Who didn't admire "North Watch" and didn't think of having exactly this barbarian watch the other minis in the own showcase? - Years ago when DS didn't even exist I didn't hesitate a second to get my hands on the original Sterling Collection "Avalyne the Lifegiver" by Ral Partha - the reason not only being the great minis but also that the painting is one of my favorite artworks and I wanted to own the "embodiment" of the characters. I think you're absolutely right about the miniature production being an niche business anyway. I really do hope that your concept will work out for you for a long time and that you don't have to and will not jump on any bandwagon which seems to be an occasion and promises quick-and-easy commercial success. That could turn out as a boomerang.
The idea to produce a special edition or a signed and numbered set with a mini in another pose (or clothing btw.) rocks! That would be really cool and even I would think of buying a mini with less clothes than necessary. 
The exclusiveness of the model adds to the extraordinary style of a topless mini and the value of a special edition. I didn't get the hang of the worthiness of gold-plated minis which are similar to the one in the set and thus always waited for the standard edition. But to get another mini or an already contained character in another situation would be a really valuable add-on and definitely worth another $10.
Cheers,
Ralph
Cool deal.
I think we will move in this direction for all sets from here on out. This way, you can get some cool stuff in the signed sets.
Some people really liked the gold plated minis in the first four signed/ltd sets. But many people wanted another mini for the extra $10.00 that they could paint. So this is what we will do.
Cheers,
Jim
