Pathfinder 1E Plastickrack - Pathfinder Miniatures Edition

Aluvial · Jan 18, 2012

Hello community (hope this is in the right forum)

Here is my review of the new Pathfinder Battles case.... in a word,

EXPENSIVE.

A little history... I have the entire set of DnD miniatures. I was addicted. I would buy 3 cases at a go... fill the set when I was a miniature (or 5) from completion, just so that I would have a complete set. You know, gotta have them all! Now I have wonderful battles for my bi-weekly game groups with little minis all over the map. Need 30 zombies? No problem. Need some odd thing out of the MM4, I have it (if they made it).

I was sad when they discontinued the line. So much so, that when Paizo, whose company I admire, announced their version of collectible miniatures, I pre-ordered immediately. I waited anxiously for the December release, then the January release, and drooled at the unpainted model of the Huge Black Dragon that would soon terrorize my swamp nearby the PC's home town...

The case came today, and I opened it up. 4 bricks wrapped in plastic... (no dragon). I opened a brick..... 16 little boxes and three medium boxes were inside... I pulled one of my "boosters" and see that it has on the label, one miniature. The box is so small... I put the tiny box back in the brick and pulled another... one minature...

What did I pay for this? Checking the website again... I see that I paid a pre-order price of $200 + shipping... for 76 miniatures... That's $2.80+ cents per mini.

I checked the site again... yes, it says one mini per booster, or two small. And one large figure per big box... (still no dragon).

At best, I payed $90 a case for the DnD equivalent cases, with 96 miniatures in it... and then the same when they dropped down to 5 per box... but even then, it was half as much as the Pathfinder set.

I've yet to open a single box. I think they are going back. I want to open them... yet, then again, I have SO MANY of the others... I invested so much in the others...

Has anyone else gotten these yet? Are they worth opening? If I open them, I will post pics... but I am just not sure it is worth it.

Aluvial

UPDATE: Dragon is now being shipped... Still have not opened the boxes.

Oryan77 · Jan 18, 2012

Aluvial said:
Has anyone else gotten these yet? Are they worth opening? If I open them, I will post pics... but I am just not sure it is worth it.

Well, I sell cases for $187 + $3.50 s/h within the U.S.. I only have 3 cases listed but I can get more (I don't sell many cases). But yeah, I agree, they are pricey.

I'm a collector as well as a seller. It's odd getting 1 mini in a box. The upside is that 1 case guarantees a complete set of 40. The downside is that you get less multiples if that's what you want.

Overall, they are nice minis. Good paint jobs, the plastic quality seems to be a bit stronger (swords don't bend as easily). The small sized minis come 2 to a box. So it's pretty nice being able to get a bunch of goblins.

WotC minis are rising in price. Many figures that used to be $0.50 or so are now over the $1-$1.50 mark. So it's possible that they will reach the same price as the PF minis.

Compared to what you have to pay to get some WotC minis now, I don't think the PF minis are overpriced. Yer not going to get any that are as low of quality as the DDM commons would be. My guess though is that Paizo will eventually make some of the minis lower quality so the community can get some cheaper figures. Cause as a customer, I can understand the hesitation of buying the current set and the interest of buying lower quality minis in bulk.

This is their first set. I'd rather support Paizo now so that they can afford to make new sets and work out all the kinks. New minis are better than no minis! If price is an issue, just pick and choose what you buy.

Seravin · Jan 18, 2012

I bought the pathfinder mini's, and like you also bought the WotC mini's 3 cases at a time (not to mention singles).

Yep, the Pathfinder mini's are expensive, but as my girlfriend commented to someone else the other day, the quality is as good or better than any of the later sets of the mini's. Paizo's storefront has pictures of all the mini's.

Just a couple things,
The dragon mini does not come with the set, it was a separate promotional item that can only be ordered if you ordered a case. If you decide to keep it, you might be able to ask Customer Service to amend your order and get that too.

The sculpts are based off of the Bestiary artwork; if you don't like the look of Pathfinder trolls or goblins for example, then this set might not be for you.

What worked in the set for me beside the excellent quality:
There's only forty mini's in the set. I got a complete set with that one case plus some nice duplicates (with randomness your milage may very). When I did buy three cases of WotC mini's it was likely I might still end up missing one or two mini's from the set.

The mini's are available as singles on the website. They're running what I would expect them too. Someone will probably have them for cheaper, but that might take time.

That said, I'm happy I got them and they'll work just fine with my other miniatures. If they make another set, then I'll certainly look at buying the also.

Hope that helps.

JoeGKushner · Jan 18, 2012

Pathfinder Prepainted Miniatures Review - YouTube

I was disappointed with the size of the 'Huge' Black Dragon as it is essentially smaller than almost every other Huge dragon I've seen with maybe the exception of the Green.

In addition, I found them 'thin' if you will.

I also think the Paizo webstore is smoking crack with the prices they are charging for the singles.

TheAuldGrump · Jan 18, 2012

As yet I only have the four figure Starter minis.

The sculpts are, in my estimation, somewhat better than the DDM figures.

The sculpting likewise.

The painting also likewise, but nothing to write home about - I will be doing repaints. I picked the set up because I liked the figure for Stabby McKnifeyelf.

Over all, superior plastics, but nothing compared to painting your own.

The Auld Grump

Walking Dad · Jan 18, 2012

BTW, In one of the many D&D 5e announcements someone mentioned a new WotC miniature line. Non random theme packs. Will be interesting to compare prices.

drowdude · Jan 18, 2012

I picked up a case of these as well. Overall, I am pleased with them. The sculpts and paintwork are, for the most part, nice; with a few pieces actually trending towards excellent. My only real gripes are the troll (looks like he is running away from a fight, cartoon style

) and the ogre (would have preferred a different pose).

Getting a full-set out of the case was nice. I remember busting multiple cases of DDM back in the day and not even coming close to a complete set more than once. :erm:

As a side note, I seem to recall them saying the next set was going to have more traditional boosters (blind, multi-figure packs); as well as encounter packs (probably something like the HeroClix fast forces packs). Hopefully, with the change in packaging they can still maintain that nice level of distribution.

NewJeffCT · Jan 18, 2012

Bought the starter pack with 4 iconics in it. Unfortunately, one figure broke a few minutes after I took it out of the plastic. Paint job looks decent.

I picked up a bunch of Confrontation pre-painted miniatures that were close-out recently, and that quality definitely seems better than both Paizo & D&D. Unfortunately, they went out of business, I believe. Or at least no longer sell pre painted.

kilamanjaro · Jan 18, 2012

The minis look nice but compared to the WotC minis the larges, with the exception of the ettin and the spider, are way too small. The Paizo troll only comes up to my feral troll's waist. The frost giant, manticore and chimera are very anemic looking. The ogre and minotaur are runty looking, but not as bad as the other larges. Very disappointing.

IronWolf · Jan 18, 2012

TheAuldGrump said:
Over all, superior plastics, but nothing compared to painting your own.

You haven't seen my paint jobs!

NewJeffCT said:
Unfortunately, one figure broke a few minutes after I took it out of the plastic.

Yeah, this is probably my biggest concern. They seem brittle to me. Fine if you handle them somewhat carefully, but not as robust as the old D&D minis. I think I could have stepped on an old D&D mini and it would have been fine. Not so sure with the Pathfinder ones.