D&D 5E WizKids Yawning Portal new set

[Jahydin]

Also, for the few who are actually thinking of getting this, many online retailers are selling it for much cheaper than MSRP. I see Noble Knight has it for $280 for example.

 

[Dire Bare]

I’m actually pretty comfortable being condescending about this one. I’d be a lot happier if actually resembled any of the previous yawning portal incarnations, rather than what is essentially a square box with a hole in the middle. Floors that are about 18 foot each? Have you ever seen a tavern of any kind with ceilings that high!

No kitchen, no pantry, no rooms for serving staff that we can see. there is a pillar directly in front of the stage? It seems to be based on what was a fairly jokey cartoon drawing of the YP which replaced what was actually a fairly interesting useful tavern map.

As a stand in for pretty much any other tavern I can think of it fails abysmally.

The poorly detailed upper floor is essentially in the way, unless you remove it, and if you remove it the tavern looks extremely dull. I suspect the upper floor was put in to make the shape interesting for display purposes.

If you’re going to make a $350 tavern. At least make it a good/interesting/practical one.

To put it in Volo’s terms…

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Not that this should change your mind in any way, but . . . . the "missing" rooms you mention are simply "off-stage". The terrain set is not the entirety of the Yawning Portal's floorplan.

The logic, as I see it, is . . . nothing interesting happens in the pantry or kitchen. Or at least, nothing interesting enough to include in an already large and expensive terrain set.

 

[teitan]

The Warlock Tavern set seems to be just furniture. Do you mean the Town and Village I set?
Value wise, I think this is a better deal.

I know you mentioned it having "a small handful more tiles" than the starter set, but looking at them side to side, that doesn't seem to be the case. The Village set is 24 2"x2" tiles, or 96" squared. This has 16 4"x4" tiles, and 2 2"x8" giving it a total area of 288" squared. And that's not including the giant Second Floor tile. So you'd need to buy around 3 sets ($99 retail) to come close to the floor space, but even then it wouldn't look nearly as cool since this is a giant two-story set piece.

With that in mind, the extra cost for the unique miniatures (some LED lit) that only come in this set, along with the other tavern minis (which look to be at least 4 of the Tavern sets ($49 retail) make this more than worth it to me.

One last thing to consider is the resell value. Plain Warlock tiles probably wont be nearly as valuable as a Forgotten Realms specific set piece, especially if the run is more limited. In the future if I wanted to sell this off, who knows, I might be able to make money...?

Yeah it’s also not as practical or universal in application. It’s a set piece for a specific thing. With what I have here at home, aside from the well, I can build this with one more purchase and it still cost me less.

Also, does anyone have experience with the WarLock tiles? I've seen some people use them online and it looks really cumbersome and time consuming to put together. I'm hoping after some practice and break-in the process becomes easier and faster.

I use them, they aren't anymore cumbersome than Dwarven Forge and go together very easily with the EZ clips and work with my 3D printed terrain as well and blend in with my Dwarven Forge terrain. The old clips sucked, yeah. Very cumbersome and painful to use but the new blueish gray ones are softer and very easy to lock into place. Building is quick and easy.

 

[teitan]

I have zero problem with luxury purchases for D&D. I collect Dwarven Forge. The issue is the quality of Wizkids and the price. It's an issue when GW is considered a luxury hobby and yet wizkids is going to charge $50 for five sprued orcs because it has a D&D logo on it. 50 for 7 kobolds. When the luxury becomes the norm, like it did with GW, the game becomes out of reach for the average player. It becomes, by default, locked behind a gate. A barrier to entry.

Already Wizkids is squeezing out other affordable miniature lines like Reaper's Bones lines in some retailers and that's even after they've dramatically increased the quality of Bones with Bones Black and Bones USA, two lines that are superior in quality & sculpting to anything Wizkids has put out along with Reaper's affordable metal miniatures.

We know people look for the D&D logo and that's how Wizkids has become the leader in miniatures for D&D and Pathfinder with Deep Cuts in spite of the low quality plastic and thick primers that hide the details on what are technically beautifully rendered True 28mm models. The problem is their response isn't "stop priming them". It's... sprues for a premium while trying to present it as "entry level" with a deal with Vallejo for tiny bottles of paint they can put a D&D logo on that make the Army Painter D&D paints look big. Sure the paint is amazing but the issue is... Wizkids. They aren't providing a good face for the game slapping a premium on D&D branded material while producing life sized Pathfinder Goblin and Kobold statues for the same price (and reasonably priced if you ask me).

 

[eyeheartawk]

It always starts that way.

It's already begun.

Want the upcoming monster compendium? Too bad, you gotta buy it in a boxed set with books you already own.

It's a timed exclusive. That's a damaging and predatory practice from video games here, now from WOTC themselves. I think that ship has already sailed.

 

[Jahydin]

Already Wizkids is squeezing out other affordable miniature lines like Reaper's Bones lines in some retailers and that's even after they've dramatically increased the quality of Bones with Bones Black and Bones USA, two lines that are superior in quality & sculpting to anything Wizkids has put out along with Reaper's affordable metal miniatures.

Maybe "superior quality and sculpting" isn't a factor for most people buying these? I know it's not for me.

We know people look for the D&D logo and that's how Wizkids has become the leader in miniatures for D&D and Pathfinder with Deep Cuts in spite of the low quality plastic and thick primers that hide the details on what are technically beautifully rendered True 28mm models.

I'm sure it's from being the main supplier of D&D miniatures for almost 20 years now too. Pathfinder for 10.

Edit: 6 years for D&D!

 

[teitan]

Maybe "superior quality and sculpting" isn't a factor for most people buying these? I know it's not for me.

I'm sure it's from being the main supplier of D&D miniatures for almost 20 years now too. Pathfinder for 10.

Ok sure, superior and for a lower cost. That better? Also Reaper has been and continues to provide Pathfinder branded miniatures of superior quality and price as well. When the only factor in buying things is the logo on it you get to a point where people pay a premium for junk and 350 dollar tarrasques.

I will note, I do buy some Wizkids products. I do like their stuff. I have several sets of Warlock Tiles and a bunch of the Deep Cuts miniature lines. It's the premium pricing that their getting into while turning out the exact same quality as the rest of the product line that I am questioning. Just because they can slap a logo on it. I can buy a Camaro and slap a Ferrari logo on it, but it's still not a Ferrari.

 

[TheSword]

Maybe "superior quality and sculpting" isn't a factor for most people buying these? I know it's not for me.

I'm sure it's from being the main supplier of D&D miniatures for almost 20 years now too. Pathfinder for 10.

Have they? I thought they won the contract for the D&D line in 2014 and released the first set in 2015? Their minis are totally different to the 20 or so D&D miniatures sets released before then and Dungeon Command. Are you sure they’ve been supplying the 20 years?

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

I wanr that fireplace.

 

[Jahydin]

Ok sure, superior and for a lower cost. That better? Also Reaper has been and continues to provide Pathfinder branded miniatures of superior quality and price as well. When the only factor in buying things is the logo on it you get to a point where people pay a premium for junk and 350 dollar tarrasques.

Haha, I'll take your word for it. I only buy the pre-painted stuff myself. Including that beautiful Tarrasque! The paint job on the dragons that have been coming out this year have been astounding and more than worth the price alone IMO, so hopping for the same quantity. Wife and I paint Warhammer miniatures, and although rewarding when finished, the cost of paints and the time investment is not something I want to carry over to another hobby, so appreciate when a decent job is done for me and don't mind paying extra for it. Understand why most would disagree though.

Have they? I thought they won the contract for the D&D line in 2014 and released the first set in 2015? Their minis are totally different to the 20 or so D&D miniatures sets released before then and Dungeon Command. Are you sure they’ve been supplying the 20 years?

Oh wow, you're right! The entire time I've been buying them I've just assumed it was WizKids cause of the similarity to the randomized HeroClicks models I was buying too.

Thanks, will edit my post...