Courtesy Alea Tools
I recently chatted with Craig Andrie of Alea Tools. Aleas Tools' Neo Markers were recently nominated for a Best Miniatures Product ENnie.
MT: Tell us about your company.
CA: Alea Tools is a classic garage/basement endeavor – two guys with an idea trying to bring it to life. We’ve had a really nice run since coming up with the idea, getting a US patent, getting the product created and getting a lot of folks interested. It has been a lot of fun!
MT: I have your original markers and enjoyed them. What's different about the Neo Markers?
CA: Our original markers were great – the magnets were “distractingly effective” as we used to say. The only down side folks shared with us was that the markers could be TOO attractive. Meaning that when they used a lot of markers at the same time (like in 4e scenarios) they could be difficult to manage as they wanted to repel or grab each other. We decided to bite the bullet and replace the old, big, ceramic magnets with smaller, stronger Neodymium magnets. This kept the stacking action very strong, but eliminated the side-to-side issues. It was a very nice upgrade and we’ve been seeing a lot of support for the change.
MT: How our Neo Markers unique from other means of marking miniatures?
CA: We really feel our accessory is unique out there. It provides an elegant and simple answer to the tracking of status conditions during play. The ability to have the all of the information visually depicted and moving around the board with the miniature is extremely effective. All other marking techniques are limited by comparison.
MT: What type of player will be attracted to your product?
CA: We like to say folks who are using miniatures and maps are our bulls eye. The maps depict spatial information – where things are at. The miniatures depict the characters and critters. Our product lives in the space between the miniature and the map, providing status indicators that help gamers visualize what is happening during play.
MT: Anything else you would like to add?
CA: We are very honored to be nominated for the Ennies this year – we hope the folks out there will take a hard look at the product – if they do we think they will see it as an extremely useful accessory – and, no offense to the other nominees – well worth their vote!
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