Honestly though, I think the minis are really really cool, but I probably wouldn't get them myself. In the context of the game, they do take up less space in the arena than a mage card, but aside from that they're a bit of a gimmick. I suppose it could be a bit distracting if your opponent has a very fancy mage mini. Another likely problem with using it in tournaments is that it stands out so much that it aesthetically clashes with all the other spells and objects in the game, since they are all cards. It might also make things more confusing to new players, who see the mini standing out so much and understandably assume that it's special.
Maybe the minis wouldn't be so much of a gimmick if they created a non-zone based mage wars game.