So...this is the new Ettercap?:(

[NarlethDrider]

So the new ettercap killed the thri kreen and took its things? Ugh.

the webspinner mini is an offspring of the above two, a etter-kreen

despite my harrasing the poor ettercap, I still look forward to gettin a case of this group---as well as a few xtras of others

 

[Doug McCrae]

So the new ettercap killed the thri kreen and took its things arms?

FIFY

 

[grimslade]

I guess my annoyance with this set is that I have liked a lot of the concept art for 4E so far but some of these sculpts are not my cup o' tea. Some of it is an atrocious paint job too.
I don't mind the Black Woods Dryad. I suspect that is a new variation for 4E and different tree fey are fine, especially if they can be evil. Plus I like that sculpt.
The ettercap does not look spider-y. It looks like an obese thri-kreen. It does look better than the original sketch in the Fiend Folio, however. I want a brutish man-spider who uses tricks and traps to lure prey into its web not a fat formian.
There are good sculpts here and this is only a partial list of the 60 sculpts but man some just set my teeth on edge.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

FIFY

Not really.

 

[Festivus]

Tradition is out the window in 4e. Everything shall be reimagined!

You say that like it's a bad thing. I don't see the problem with these figures, they all look ok for tabletop use. I like that the mounts don't have anyone on them... now I can put whomever I want on it (it was my understanding that you will be able to put a medium mini on any mount figure).

Remember some of these are extreme closeup shots... many of my minis look fine from a distance, but horrible close up.

 

[lukelightning]

To me, the painful part is the male Harpy. That kind of defeats the whole concept, and use of the word Harpy as their name, doesn't it?

Just because the only harpies in mythology were female doesn't mean all of them are. By that logic there would be only male minotaurs, because the only minotaur in myths was male. All the orcs in LotR were male (I think?), does that mean only male orcs (like in the Peter Jackson version...I never understood the mining for orcs thing but it was an interesting concept)?

And the word harpy comes from the greek word "to snatch." Women are called harpies in reference to the myth, not t'other way around. Of course mythological harpies were not the D&D version, which were conflated with sirens. The original harpies didn't charm people, they stole food and defiled what they couldn't take.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Human cleric looks fine to me, as does the lawful good anklyosaur. The sphynx is ok, I guess. The elf conjurer looks fine. The nightmare looks cool, as does the flame snake. The naga is cool....or would be, without the bones sticking out of his face. Fire elemental is fine (nice to see the transclucent stuff on this and the nightmare). The ogre looks good.

Some of the other minis (ettercap, harpy, manticore) look pretty crappy to me, but I don't think it's a worse percentage than any other set.

RC

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

DeTerlizzi's ettercap is certainly better than the 3E (and apparently 4E) ones. Still, not quite as skin-crawling as "humanoid spider who traps and kills solitary travelers" ought to be.

 

[JRR_Talking]

dont like them at all, even the ogre

all part of the cartoony, consoley swicth that is 4e

the more i hear the less im impressed.

add 4e to the 2e game i never played

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Most of the 3E DDM stuff was pretty cartoony too. I don't think you can really get super-offended by the quality of sculpts in terms of what it says about the 4E art direction. (You can certainly get offended by them as miniatures fans, of course.)