Interview: Take A Trip To The Digital RPG Secondary Markets With Joe Paxton

Welcome to the table,

As is the nature of most hobbies, there are all sorts of things that you can pick up on the secondary TTRPG market. For me, a significant portion of my collection has come from various secondary sources.

I have a collection of classic modules from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons that were rescued from trash cans when people were tossing them for one reason or another. I have a bunch of books that were picked up at flea markets, auctions, and random antique malls that have more than likely changed hands five or six times. They have names written on the inside cover and notes in the margins, and yet they are still wonderful to behold.

Recently, as I set about trying to track down a WizKids Free RPG Strahd miniature, one of my friends told me to check out a Facebook group called RPGAuctions. From there, a whole new world of TTRPG second-hand marketplaces opened up to me.

In the past few weeks, I have explored a handful of these secondary seller groups and have found myself actually enjoying checking social media a bit more. Not because of all the things I can spend my money on, but because it truly makes me happy to see minatures, TTRPG books, and collectables treated with the same love and care I treat my own collection with.

There are blasts from the past as TTRPGs I have not played in over a decade show up in the feed. There are posts with minis I have never seen before (and that is really saying something) that show up in multi-photo spreads with prices that are frankly so reasonable it seems silly not to make a purchase.

I’ve had a chance to talk to some of the people on these sites. Some, like Joe Paxton, who is active on the Facebook group RPG Market Miniatures, make whole careers around selling miniatures to collectors like me. I had to know more, so below you will find an interview with Joe.

Anton: Hey Joe! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. Before we dig into some of these questions, could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself and what you do?

Joe Paxton: Hello, my name is Joe Paxton, my wife’s name is Teal Paxton. We’ve been married for 25 years, and we’ve been playing D&D for that many years plus. I started out playing with my brother and his friends at the tender age of 12 and continue on playing with my own friends. We run T&J tabletop games together. Along with running a farm and working a full-time job. A small side hustle of selling miniatures turned into my wife’s full-time job.

Anton: How long have you been selling miniatures on the secondary market?

Joe: About 3 years

Anton: Is this a single-person endeavor, or do you have assistance that aids you in keeping all the minis, listings, and sales together?

Joe: It’s actually an LLC I’ve turned it into a full-time business that my wife and I currently run. We do have a part-time employee who does a lot of stuff for us like data entry and will help packages it for your on business trips

Anton: Do you play any TTRPG yourself?

Joe: Yes, we were long-time players of Dungeons & Dragons (and) we currently play Pathfinder second edition remastered. We still do play Dungeons & Dragons every now and then, and we may even be tapping into Starfinder and other RPGs before too long. We also enjoy the occasional tabletop board game

Anton: As someone with a degenerative disability that often keeps me from painting miniatures, pre-painted minis have allowed me to display some truly fantastic creatures at my gaming table, creating some of the most memorable moments of my life. Do you have any memorable moments you have shared around the gaming table?

Joe: As a long time player of Dungeons & Dragons it’s really hard to pinpoint single moments. There are so many that are memorable. One of the best ones was my wife was playing a dwarf and I was playing an elf. They were supposed to go down into a cave system that had a straight vertical drop, so my elf volunteered to be lowered down on a rope to see if there is any monsters or holes or anything that could be easily traversed or any dangers in there. (I was really searching for treasure I was hoping to get any before anybody else did). The elf told the dwarf that if he felt a tug on the rope to pull him up quickly.

Well, I got about halfway down, and I had three ghouls jump on me, which gave the dwarf a very big tug. As barbarians do, he raged screamed ‘Fish on!!!’ He ran with the rope as I was getting mauled by three ghouls and pulled completely out of the cave through the planes into the forest. I think he said he went about half a mile before he stopped the check if I was okay and the rest of the party was running beside me taking swings at the ghouls and inevitably chopped up me and the ghouls. It was pretty funny.

Anton: Ha! That rules. I am a huge fan of ghouls, so I’m a fan of that story. Now, there are a few minis out there that feel like actual treasures. I spent quite some time tracking down a handful in my collection and am still on the hunt for various mind flayers, aboleths, and elementals that are out there. Your work really provides such an amazing service to the hobby. Do you yourself have any elusive minis you are hunting for?

Joe: Yes. The wife and I have been on the hunt for a very rare miniature. It was only given out to WizKids employees at Christmas time one year. It is a beholder called snowball. My wife absolutely wants it. I would love to have it to add to our collection. We are pretty avid collector of beholders. Of course, we have tons of other miniatures -probably in the thousands- that are our personal ones, but snowball is our white whale. Currently it is our unicorn.

Anton: I’m really glad I found your account, Joe. The listing and groups have opened my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. With most of my local gaming shops being inaccessible to wheelchair shoppers, it has been quite difficult to come close to anything like this outside a massive convention. In those spaces, it can be difficult to transport minis without the risk of them breaking. Before we wrap up, can you tell our readers where they can find you online and keep up with what you are doing in the hobby?

Joe: Thank you very much for this question. I can be found on Facebook under ‘Joe Paxton,’ or my wife can also be contacted under Teal Paxton. She is also starting to sell on what’s not. We are one of the few people selling pre-painted miniatures on Whatnot at T&J Games. We also have a website.

Anton: Thank you again, Joe. I really appreciate the time and hope to talk more soon!

Until next time, Joe was kind enough to provide Comicon.com readers with a coupon code ComicCon10. This allows anybody who orders from their website 10% Off on their entire purchase, unlimited times, until we discontinue the code. I’ve been told it should be in effect for at least six months, so go treat yourself!

Additionally, all the photos you see above come from Joe Paxton’s listings on the Miniature Market. As you can see, he typically includes a medium-sized human miniature to show the scale of the miniatures he is selling.