I don't know for sure if the Millennium PreSchool Boy is the least supported DAZ figure, but he's got to be close. I was thinking of doing something with the character and started looking for clothing, figuring I had to have something that I'd downloaded for free and came up with zippo. There's nothing at PoserWorld (the PreTeen boy has a bunch of outfits). DAZ has the one clothing pack for the Mil Boys. Here, at Renderosity, there's just one outfit. I haven't looked too hard elsewhere, but I doubt that I'll have much better luck. I'll other do something else or start learning Tailor. I was really shocked at how little support there was for the PreSchool Boy. It is unquestionably the least supported Millennium human character and maybe less supported than even the animals. I think the new Millennium Horse already has more clothing and props than the Boy between armor, bridles, and horseshoes. I've got dozens of disks full of Poser downloads and bought stuff and there's just about nothing for the Mil Boys--some textures and faces and that's about it. I could have sworn that there some clothes freebies, as there are for other characters, but couldn't find a one. I'm not asking or demanding that anybody create clothes. The lack of support is obviously due to a lack of interest in using the Mil Boys, so there's not a lot of money to be made catering to these little used characters. I thought there was more and was just surprised at how little there really was when I started looking for some outfits on my disks.

The Preschool boy can wear anything the Preschool girl can. Granted, a lot of their clothes are going to be inappropriate, but it's worth considering, anyway. :) Yes, the boys are poorly supported. They don't wear lacy underwear and need magnets to give them huge boobs, they don't get a lot of attention... ;-P bonni

I actually don't remember ever seeing the Mil Boys used for anything in the galleries. If there are pix of them in there they are as rare as honest politicians.

I've done images with the Mil Boys, but I cleaned out my gallery recently. Otherwise I'd give you a link. :) I've used the PT Boy on a number of occasions as an elf. He makes a very nice one. bonni

Attached Link: http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~yagami/FreeStuff.htm

Check out Yagami's site. This Japanese artist has supported the milkids and I'm pretty sure that there is something that the preschooler can wear. At least there seems to be underwear and a face for the little boy.

Attached Link: Always lock your bathroom door

I've made pics with the pre school boy, the link above is to one in my gallery. And yes, he is wearing a girl's tee-shirt (from Poserworld) becourse of the lack of clothes for him. I'd love to see some more for him too. A cute little dungaree for instance, even KIKI has one...

Yes, I have the Millenium boys. I bought them because I'm doing a graphic novel where at some point in the script I will need boys playing baseball and getting into a fight. I'm also amazed at how small support they get. Since I still have a long way to go up to the scene were the boys appear I still don't have to worry, by the time I get to that part probably a Millenium boys 2 will have been released, hopefully with better support.

And it's not just Daz that doesn't support them, I don't think I've seen much here in the store or in freestuff for them. Wonder why folks don't think there is a market, I think there are a ton of people who would buy for them. Marque

I'd buy stuff for him :)

The only use I could find for the Mil boys is to feed my Mil Dragon.

"I actually don't remember ever seeing the Mil Boys used for anything in the galleries." ... If any were posted they would be buried in sea of mediocre T and A clone art.

My vote for "Least Supported Characters" would have to go to the P5 Boy and Girl. I haven't seen a thing one for them except what came with P5...???? Heck, even Don and Judy have a couple items posted here and there.

I recently bought Millennium Boys and Girls. LOTS of stuff for the girls at the various MPs and free sites, including a lot of sexy stuff totally inappropriate for little girls, but hardly anything at all for the boys. It's sort of amazing, and a bit disappointing. Off the top of my head the best items I've seen for them are the default clothing pack at DAZ and the PT bodysuit at PoserPros, although again, that leaves the PS boy out of the picture. Hopefully the next-generation Millennium boys will be better supported.

PoserPros also has an Arabian outfit for the PreTeen Boy. There was nothing at RDNA for either boy. It is strange that there's as little stuff for the MilBoys as there is. Poserfashions has some stuff for the P5 girl, but I cannot recall ever seeing anything for the boy. It is surprising that the Poser market just about completely ignored the P5 figures. There's a few things here and there for Don and Judy, but nowhere near what is available for Mike and Victoria. It's a sad statement about the difficulty there will be to have any wide acceptance for a new Poser figure.

I think possibly some of the lack of items is due to the lack of useage of the models. If the thing is not showing wide appeal not much is produced for it. Outside of the occasional thread such as this not much is said of the problem. Now why the lack of usage? I believe some of it is because just how many things can you do with these characters that looks 'cute'. Little girls are cute and sweet and look okay just posed that way; little boys by nature are sexual creatures and seldom look cute even in wings and pointed ears...but that opens a whole other can of worms we will leave closed! It would nice if Daz, the various stores, or even the merchants could give a periodic update on what is selling. A "What's Hot" is not what I mean, I am talking numbers. I feel that since we users, and the accessories creators, support these stores it would help to know these things up front. We users would know what to buy with assurance the creators were receiving the same info and would be creating stuff for the items...I think of us as 'stockholders' in the world of Poser creations. And as such we should receive stockholder reports.

I doubt you'll get the figures you seek, as I would think they are proprietary info. However, IMO, the gallery posts are a good indication of what is popular and what is not. If you look at the ratio of Victoria renders vs just about everything else you probably have a good idea of what's hot and what's not. 8-) I think you can also sort the marketplace by some criteria that would give you an idea of what the hottest products are at any given time.

It is a spiral. If there is support, people feel confident and buy stuff and make pictures. If there are pictures, other people buy stuff so they can make pictures, too. If people are buying stuff, the merchants make more of that type... so there is more support. The spiral can be entered at any point, but it is risky. People avoid risk. Even if they claim to be original, for the most part people want to dress like everyone else and use the same models as everyone else. The merchants want to be assured that the time to make something is going to be rewarded with suitable sales. A customer buying a figure wants to know that he will be able to house and clothe and texture it... and that he won't be sneered at for using that figure. (Dork wasn't a term of appreciation the last time I looked.) Before the community got so market-oriented and there were stores on all the sites, I suspect that there was a lot more support of varied characters by all the free-stuff makers, because they were making what they wanted to make and hoping that others would find it useful, too. Once everything became so Victoria-centric, the time to make other stuff diminished. And once a merchant starts to put a price on his time, comparative sales will dictate production. We get this in other fields, too. 85% of the games in production are usually twitch games because the best selling handful are twitch games. Most of the games in production never reach market. Getting something published which doesn't fall into a tidy niche is extremely difficult and getting harder by the year. If it doesn't fall into the popular niches, forget it. So we get gluts of twitch games and sports games... but a dearth of role-playing, puzzle, or evergreen games. Kids will buy the latest baseball game even if it is no better than the other 5 baseball games they already own... simply because it is the newest iteration and all their friends have it. Well, are we no different with the latest texture or hair or pair of high heels? Meanwhile, the other figures are shivering in the cold. Hmmm... blue skin textures with goosebump maps anybody? Carolly

To support what Carolly just said, I'll cite an example ... I've been texturing for four years, and focusing on modeling for the past year - primarily for the Millenium figures. I have a fairly good idea what the market is like for them now. There had been requests in the past for some Judy-related items, so last year I began a morph pack for Judy. I put weeks into creating the morphs and adding them to her. When the time came to ask for beta testers, no one was interested. So I set it aside. One year later (ie: fairly recently), I dusted off the old morph pack, hoping that SR4 would entice folks to use Poser 5 figures more frequently. At the expert advice of some folks here, I ran a contest to see if I could generate interest in the morph set. 8 people participated in the contest ... I was encouraged that there was at least some interest. So, to thank them all I gave each of them a copy of the morph pack. Carolly and I also created some standalone faces with the morph pack and put them in free stuff. Sales since its release have been pretty dismal, in spite of the fact that those who have the morph pack have posted some VERY impressive results. As a result, I'm quite discouraged about further support for the Poser 5 figures. It's not that I'm looking to make tons of money. However, because I use my Poser income to help pay the bills, I have to use my time in the best way possible ... and I haven't even seen 50 cents per hour yet for weeks of work on that one product. I remain hopeful (LOL). I have also thought about the lack of items for the Millenium kids, and thought several times that I might make an attempt at some clothing for them. But after taking this one gamble, I'm not sure I want to gamble too much more.

PS - Carolly, I'm very saddened at the demise of adventure games - Myst and its sequels seem to have just about obliterated the genre because they raised the bar so high ... and if there was ever any kind of game art I would love to do it's that. 8-)

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=448277&Start=37&Artist=SamTherapy&ByArtist=Yes

"I actually don't remember ever seeing the Mil Boys used for anything in the galleries. If there are pix of them in there they are as rare as honest politicians." Here you go. Not quite your usual picture with kids, though.

Aww Deecey.. I know I've done all I could to promote Mindy.. She has actually made me USE Judy for the first time ever! It's a GREAT morph pak, people! GO BUY IT!!

Aw thanks, ernyoka! You've been a great moral supporter, and I really appreciate that you USED the morphs! 8-D

Thanks for the reminder SamTherapy...I did remember the pic after I followed your link. For your efforts you received a new comment from me at the gallery!! Good show.

I cant blame you for not wanting to do something for a character thats not well supported. Sometimes its worth selling for a niche market and sometimes its not. Trying to sell a similar item in an already crowded market has the potential for large sales, but splits potential profits the most. Trying to sell a fantasy sword, when there are hundreds available, is hard. Selling in a less targeted area means less competition, but less potential total sales amongst all buyers. Developing clothes for the Mil Boys means people are going to buy your product because theres nowhere else to go. Unfortunately, there arent many people using the Mil Boys, so theres no certainty that its worth the time to try to sell such clothing. It is kind of surprising that theres not more interest in the Mil Boys. Its not as if there is a shortage of children characters in fiction. One of the most successful fantasy franchises at the moment is Harry Potter and that features teenagers as the primary protagonists. Its odd that Harry Potter hasnt created a mound of imitators the way Star Wars spun off countless clones and renewed interests in science fiction adventures.

One of the most successful fantasy franchises at the moment is Harry Potter and that features teenagers as the primary protagonists. Those were my thoughts as well. I can think of so many possibilities for the children. For example, besides Harry Potter there are Dorothy (of the Wizard of Oz), Alice in Wonderland, Anne of Green Gables, Laura Wilder (of Little House on the Prairie fame), the Hardy Boys, and so on and so forth. Kids are GREAT for storytelling, and also for the "Americana" style art made famous by Norman Rockwell. However, I think we have the "sex sells" battle to fight when it comes to Poser stuff. The more popular items are geared toward that niche, and that's a hard niche to beat. 8-) Sci fi and fantasy are popular, and that is why you see those products being first on the shelf.

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=603716

Hey, I've made a Harry Potter pic *G* and yes it IS odd that no more Potter-stuff has emerged. Perhaps becourse Harry Potter is "children's books"? And not everyone will admit that they read them? I know I do. I LOVE Harry Potter! (well the BOOKS, that is)

He's great Lisbeth! As focused as a young wizard should be. 8-) Aw, dang, now you got me thinking again! LOLOL And ... I read childrens books on occasion ... I've even wanted to write and illustrate them. I have been published, though I would think writing children's books is a far cry from writing technical/computer books. Still, it remains in the back of my mind someday to illustrate childrens' books. So now all I have to do is figure out how to get work doing book illustrations so that I can make children's clothes and sell those on the side. ROFL

Speaking of Potter, I've, as some may know, spent the last few days trying to create Snape for Poser. THIS is where I am right now, and I'm not sure I'll get much closer :o) I like him at his present stage.

Attached Link: Top worldwide film grosses

For anybody looking for other children characters in adventure venues, there are the Tom Swift and Nancy Drew series, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Lost in Space, Swiss Family Robinson, ET, Spy Kids, most Disney fare, and so on. Of the top 26 movies of all time, quite a few prominently featured kids (doesn't include video/dvd sales or adjust for inflation): #3 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone #4 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace #6 Jurassic Park #7 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets #14 ET #17 Sixth Sense #26 Home Alone I don't ever expect the Millennium Kids to have the same level of use as the adult characters, but can't quite figure out why the usage of the boys is as small as it is. I still expected to find a little more support for them than I finally did. It does kind of make me wonder what the demographics are for the Poser community. Erotic pinups do seem to be the primary category for Poser artwork.

Erotic pinups do seem to be the primary category for Poser artwork. Really??????? (hehehehe ... j/k)

I suspect that it is also a matter of "easy art". If you are doing a pin-up or a portrait, you don't even need a background... any nice fractal or cloudy-photo-paper tex will do. You don't need to compose it with props or other characters. Just slap on a texture and slap on some stockings or a hair ribbon and slap on a pose. Hit the "instant art" button and ta-da, you have a reasonable image. Anybody can do it if they have a wallet open for the latest textures or characters. If you are doing a story-telling scene, you probably need at least 2 characters posed so that they look at each other or at a third item. You need props and scenery and the characters ought not be floating, or have their legs stuck in the chair or their hands through each other. There needs to be correct shadows, so you might need to play with lights to get the right placement and the right color balance for emotional content. IOW, you have to think about what you are doing, gather a bunch of stuff, and assemble it into a coherent whole. All that tweaking and decision-making takes time. I'd rather have one memorable image than churn out 3 pics a day, but a lot of the artists here are more concerned with quantity. They get ego strokes from their friends with each image posted, so frequent posting is vital to them? That is my guess. The Narnia series is being filmed now, too, and there are other coming-of-age stories so mayhap we'll see a bit more kid stuff. Besides, the proportions of the kid bodies is good for other sorts of critters: gremlins, pookas, brownies, gnomes, kobolds, and little Martians come to mind. But they can't run around naked! Carolly