Toys for use as minis

[countgray]

Yugi-Oh

I have used a few Yugi-Oh figures for D&D minis. They have a cool fishman that makes for a good Sahuagin. The pumpkin king actually makes for a decent beholder. And they have a squid figure that I always use for a fiendish octopus or squid.

Not to mention, Yugi-oh has several good dragon figures

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

In 197p, there was a fully articulated Alien action figure that Kenner released in conjunction with the movie.

It was 18" tall, had an articulated tail & limbs, and the inner jaws shot out when you pulled a lever on its back.

I wish I had bought it (I wanted it so bad, I couldn't buy it- I was just a kid, and it freaked me out).

However, if you have one or could find it, it would be totally awesome for a homebrewed demon of some kind. Just be prepared to shell out some bucks...

http://www.toyzine.com/magazine/articles/alien.html
http://www.bugeyedmonster.com/toys/alien/
http://cgi.ebay.com/1979-Kenner-Ali...467QQihZ009QQcategoryZ348QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Pepster]

Though not exactly toys, I bought some snowmen ornaments to use as minis for my Savage Worlds Winter Storm Warning scenario. There were a dozen small and a big one as the BBEG.

Heath

 

[TheAuldGrump]

A few years ago the DM who was running the game I was playing in used his daughters 'My Little Pony' toys that came from a vending machine. The paladin's warhorse was pink, and had a rainbow on its rump.

For my Iron Kingdoms game I use a cheap plastic train that came from Toys 'R' Us, useful since the steam engine has been invented in that setting. That same line (Fast Lane) has a lot of toys that would be useful in a D20 Modern game, including vehicles and a tower crane.

The Auld Grump

 

[awayfarer]

Back when we still did tabletop, the DM of my MERP group used to use figures from the LoTR version of Risk. Handy as there were lots of them and also, quite appropriate.

 

[Odhanan]

Scheich toys, on Monte Cook's Boards.

Do not underestimate Fish tank props as well: go to your local pet shop and look at them, these can make for amazing AND cheap tools for your game sessions !

 

[Woas]

Chess pieces are good. Especially if you have sets that have special figures. I also use them as props like columns, statues, and other 'objects on the battlefield' that I place on the battlemat.

I also use PPGs that have appropriate images on them. They had a MARVEL Super-Hero set of POGs out. And the ones with skulls make great undead.

 

[Modoc]

I have been looking at model R&R supplies. They have bulk packs of pre-assembled trees in varying heights and color schemes that would make good set props. They can be had relatively cheaply at Hobby Lobby and other such stores.

Modoc

 

[Thunderfoot]

Farm, dinosaur and insect packs of "toys" from Wal-Mart are excellent sources of large monsters (and the occasional huge) for about $2 a bag. Of course the paint schemes suck marmalade so if you're handy with a paint brush, these are a much better investment. I have a whole passle of monsterous spiders that started out as crappy toy figures. Unfortunately I have no way to post pics so...

But they're really good for $0.12 each (approx)

 

[Thurbane]

I had a couple of Jurasic Park solid plastic toy dinos (T-Rex and Triceratops) that were just about perfect in scale to my old 25mm lead miniatures. They got a lot of use at our table...if I can find them again, I might mount them on appropriately sized black bases for use on our current battle grid...