Early wargames were focused on faithfully recreating historical battles with units represented by chips, blocks, and other abstract markers.
The modern genre has expanded to include fantasy and science-fiction settings, often using intricately-detailed and painted miniature figures.
[2] The first line of official Dungeons & Dragons miniatures was produced by MiniFigs in 1976, and included iconic creatures such as Demogorgon.
[3] While the early editions of Dungeons & Dragons reduced or eliminated the use of miniatures, later versions reestablished their use as a core mechanism of the combat system.
This led to a secondary market where figures were resold and valued based on either their utility for play or rarity as a collectible.