New Wizkids & Pathfinder Miniatures

It is official: the new miniatures for the Pathfinder RPG are out, and they are awesome.
The rumors of a new line of plastic miniatures were well-known before Gen Con 2011, and we were treated to a view of 6 preview minis when a coworker & myself stopped by the Wizkids booth. While they were fairly good looking, I was dubious that the entire line would be treated the same.

Needless to say, I had nothing to fear.  As I found when the cases of product showed up on Jan. 11th, ALL the miniatures are great, and the product is packaged quite nicely, both as a counter top display or for the serious collector.

An entire display has 19 boosters in it; 16 small boosters and 3 large boosters.  The MSRP for the large are $5.99 and the smalls are $3.99.  Each booster, regardless of size has one figure in it, unless you count the goblins. As they are easily the smallest minis in the set, there are 2 goblins per booster.

We opened up 3 displays for the store, and got 31 of the 40 miniatures in the set, with only a few being duplicates. (Not that we minded, as they all went in our 8 ft. long glass minis case for sale!) If you're curious, here's the ones we pulled along with their names underneath each picture.

Half-Elf Cleric, Orc Brute, Orc Warrior, Skeleton

Elf Wizard, Medusa, Lizardfolk Champion, Dwarf Fighter 

Half-Orc Barbarian, Seelah-Human Paladin, Human Ranger, Zombie

Lich, Vampire, Human Druid, Venomous Snake

Mummy, Werewolf, Giant Spider, Human Rogue

Gargoyle, Troll, Wolf

Giant Caveweaver Spider, Minotaur

Ettin, Chimera

Goblin Warrior 1, Goblin Hero 2, Goblin Hero 1, Goblin Warrior 2

And, of course, what would any set be without the limited edition collector's piece? 

In this case, that means the ultra-desirable Huge Black Dragon, (only available to retailers who bought 4 displays!) which is conveniently labelled as "Promo 1" on the bottom of the base.  Hopefully this will mean they'll continue to put out more sets, and more promos!

Personally, I think these miniatures are one of the best ideas that Wizkids/Pathfinder could've had.  With the loss of D&D miniatures (both as a product AND game), it is quite refreshing to see a company recognize that;

A) players want minis to represent their characters/enemies and

B) that all RPGers are, in essence, like addicted magpies with ADHD when it comes to collecting needless bits of colorful plastic.

Ok, reason B might be just me...

But seriously, I truly like this set, and the fact that it has only 40 minis as opposed to the 60 that Wizards formerly put out means it is that much easier to complete your collection.  In a way, this is a plus for DMs too: If you desperately need wolves, goblins and zombies, you have a great chance of pulling what you need.  Also, the bottom of each base has not only the name but also the number of the mini you're currently holding, printed in bright white paint. D&D minis essentially had the same, but theirs wasn't as easy to read as it was simply stamped on.

Would I have picked some other minis to make for the first set? Yes.

Do I want to see more of the unique characters from the books made next time? Certainly.

Will I still buy the last dribble of D&D minis boosters from my job? Of course!

But am I now also hopelessly addicted to these new minis, and will I tell all my role-playing customers to buy them? 

Do you even have to ask?

Stasi "Dengirl" King