Pathfinder 1E Pathfinder Miniatures

[Kzach]

I'm considering finally dipping in to my funds and buying a case of minis. But I've heard a lot of conflicting reports about quality and value. So I'm curious to hear from people who have bought them how they would rate them out of 5.

1 on this scale is awful. You regret buying them and would never even consider buying them again.

2 on this scale is below expectations. You regret buying them but would maybe consider buying again for a much lower price.

3 on this scale is average. You got what you expected and your expectations are reasonable and realistic.

4 on this scale is excellent. You feel you got good value for money and probably bought a second case.

5 on this scale is mind-blowingly awesome. Not only are they excellent value but you probably bought five cases because you think their value will only ever increase because they're so awesome.

 

[IronWolf]

I can only comment on the Beginner Box Minis set, but I was very impressed with them from the painting quality of a mass produced mini. The biggest complaint I had was that they were more "brittle" than the old D&D minis. Not disturbingly so, but the old D&D minis were pretty resilient in my opinion.

I have a review with close-up pics of the Beginner Box mini set at The Iron Tavern.

 

[DaveMage]

Somewhere between 3 and 4, so I rounded up to 4.

They look very good. The cost is a bit high, so the value is more average.

 

[Kzach]

Brittleness would definitely be a concern as a major part of the attraction for me is the durability of plastic minis. I want them to last a long time and be ready to cart around in a case at a moment's notice without the worry of having to treat them with kid-gloves.

 

[IronWolf]

Brittleness would definitely be a concern as a major part of the attraction for me is the durability of plastic minis. I want them to last a long time and be ready to cart around in a case at a moment's notice without the worry of having to treat them with kid-gloves.

Don't get me wrong, I've seen one's more brittle, these just seem to require a little more care. If you aren't abusing them they should be fine.

See if you can get your hands on a couple and you'll more easily be able to tell how big of an issue it is.

 

[Twowolves]

According to the WizKid guys, they can vary the resiliency of the plastic within the same mold, so you can have stiff figures with flexible weapons in the same casting. Nothing I've seen thus far has seemed "brittle", just "more stiff" than the old D&D minis.

I store mine in a tupperware bin and nothing has broken yet. Furthermore, I give my unwanted extras to my 4 year old to abuse, and the only thing that has "broken" are a pair of minotaurs that came off of their bases. These minis are different from most of the rest in that they are attached to the base via a peg and hole, and a little superglue fixed them.

Note also that these are definately Pathfinder miniatures, so certain minis will conform to the art style of that game, not D&D or "generic fantasy game 001". The goblins and trolls specifically are less in line with what you may be expecting, but the rest are sufficiently standard fantasy fare. Also, the sizing isn't as grandiose as some other lines. The aforementioned troll is a little undersized, but the rest are scaled in line with the humanoid minis ("large" is "large to a medium humanoid").

The paintjobs and detailing, however, are superior to anything I've bought prepainted in the past, so I say "go for it". Also, I got nearly every mini with just a half of a case, so you could probably do likewise and pick up any missing minis on the secondary market for less than a full case price.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Having bought way too many of the old DDM line I was initially excited about the PF minis. Once I got some of them 'in hand' though my enthusiasm vanished. They are more fragile than DDM (already broke my Orc Warriors' sword) and the distribution model is annoying. Buying a "booster" pack of 1 mini is not my idea of what a 'pack' should be. Cost wise they are close to what DDM was near the end of its run (I think a 6 mini pack was going for $15 US) but that was my 'break point' for value/cost. I just didn't think DDM were worth the money at $3/mini and I certainly don't think PFM are worth it at $3.50/mini.

Of course also take into account I needed almost nothing from the first set of PFM having multiples of almost everything from DDM.

 

[Kzach]

Having bought way too many of the old DDM line I was initially excited about the PF minis. Once I got some of them 'in hand' though my enthusiasm vanished. They are more fragile than DDM (already broke my Orc Warriors' sword) and the distribution model is annoying. Buying a "booster" pack of 1 mini is not my idea of what a 'pack' should be. Cost wise they are close to what DDM was near the end of its run (I think a 6 mini pack was going for $15 US) but that was my 'break point' for value/cost. I just didn't think DDM were worth the money at $3/mini and I certainly don't think PFM are worth it at $3.50/mini.

Of course also take into account I needed almost nothing from the first set of PFM having multiples of almost everything from DDM.

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you; I've got about 1,000 of the DDM minis but I stopped collecting at about the fourth or third last set.

But... I wants more... my precioussss...

 

[S'mon]

I bought unboxed singles from Troll & Toad plus the Beginner Box heroes set. Overall I've been very impressed, much better than I expected. The BB heroes are particularly well painted, really excellent, and so are the goblins - great facial detail. Some of the other PC minis (female paladin) and monsters (ogre) are not so great, but still much better than the worst WoTC minis.

 

[Holy Bovine]

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you; I've got about 1,000 of the DDM minis but I stopped collecting at about the fourth or third last set.

But... I wants more... my precioussss...

Heh. I sold off about a 1000 of my DDM 2 years ago. Prices on the ones I sold have been pretty stable since then (actually the ones I sold had been stable for about 2 years before that too). I still have 1000s of the things and am contemplating another sell off - I have a sewer drain to fix!