D&D General WizKids Announced Details for 50th Anniversary Icons of the Realms Miniature Set

WizKids released images and opened pre-orders for the Dungeons & Dragons Icons of the Realms: 50th Anniversary miniature line.

The line-up of random figures includes 50 pre-painted miniatures in both their original 1st Edition and current 5th Edition incarnations to celebrate the history of the iconic characters and monsters. There’s also 10 “secret rare chase miniatures” in the series that have yet to be announced. Each random booster includes 1 Large miniature and 3 Medium or Small miniatures available for pre-order for a retail price of $24.99 with an expected Q3 2024 release.

The set’s exclusive stand-alone mini is a red dragon as depicted on the cover of the 1977 Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set sitting on a pile of treasure. This pre-painted miniature is a stand-alone product and is not randomized, available for pre-order for a retail price of $29.99 with an expected Q3 2024 release.

Also as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations, WizKids also has a new entry in the Replicas of the Realms line. The Red Dragon Wyrmling is a 1:1 scale pre-painted foam figure at 2 ½ feet tall with a “sweet looking face and adorable pose”, according to the description. This figure is available for preorder for a retail price of $649.99 with an expected Q2 2024 release.

 

[Meech17]

The medium minis are about an inch tall, and have clear or black bases about 1 inch in diameter. The large ones have a 2-inch diameter base, but their height varies quite a bit - usually between one-and-a-half inch tall to a little over two inches tall. There are even bigger ones for giants, dragons and the like and conversely smaller ones for things "smaller than medium" like halflings, gnomes, kobolds, flying cats and other pint-sized creatures (usually on a 3/4 inch base, height varies).

As an aside, while I love my minis, these days if I was getting into grid & mini combats I'd go with acrylic or cardboard tokens. Though 2D, the better ones have die-cut front/back images and end up taking a lot less space than 3D minis - and can be relatively cheaper and surprisingly better looking.

I've historically always been a theater of the mind player, but with the recent dump of the Campaign Cases at Ollies I've picked up one of each. I plan to mostly use the chits that came with the case, but I wouldn't mind getting a handful of actual minis.

I have been looking at some of the flat minis.. Like the Arcknight ones.

 

[teitan]

As someone who has only just started toying around with using a grid and minis, I might get one or more of these.

What are the sizes? Are the medium minis your standard size, like what you'd use for a character or NPC? They take up a whole 1 inch square? Then the large are like the 2x2 ones? Or are large the 1in ones and the other ones are smaller?

If you go on Amazon you can get bricks of D&D and Pathfinder minis for less than $100 bucks. I put them in my cart and watch for price drops. Some older sets drop down to $80 pretty routinely.

As for the size, yes it is about 1" like others said but they are small compared to Reaper or other modern manufacturers. Wizkids are true 25mm in scale, so they have smaller, finer detail without the exaggerated proportions of older miniatures from the 70s-2000, which had bigger heads, hands and feet that made them easier to paint. The most recent sets have been amazing for prepainted miniatures though and the price increase, unlike the usual Wizkids price increases (the Pathfinder unpainted dragons for example) where they doubled the price on a LOT of their product, is reasonable for the jump in quality. My Fizban from the Fizban's Guide set is a beautifully done tampograph paint job.

A great source for character minis & supplements though is either Ral Partha Legacy or Reaper over the Wizkids minis. Ral Partha is across the board on the details because they have models from the 70s up to now from Tom Meier, probably one of the three greatest miniature sculptors of all time and you can watch his evolution just looking at their catalogue.

 

[Distracted DM]

If you go on Amazon you can get bricks of D&D and Pathfinder minis for less than $100 bucks. I put them in my cart and watch for price drops. Some older sets drop down to $80 pretty routinely.

As a former mini-addict I'll say that I've been stunned by the sales I've seen on Wizkids' own site, most often 50% off, beating pricing I'd see on Amazon, ebay, and discount retailers like Gamenerdz.
Alas that I have so many now that I couldn't justify buying more, and most of my games are online nowadays

 

[teitan]

As a former mini-addict I'll say that I've been stunned by the sales I've seen on Wizkids' own site, most often 50% off, beating pricing I'd see on Amazon, ebay, and discount retailers like Gamenerdz.
Alas that I have so many now that I couldn't justify buying more, and most of my games are online nowadays

They are great sales but they also are a lot of money at the same time. You get a lot but man, chucking out 300-500 at once is a big ask with a toddler in the house!

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Sorry this almost off topic but it is enough interesting for me.

Wizkids is going to release also a new miniature, the spiderdragon

And what is so special about it? Some time ago in this forum myself mentioned it, and now I have got some suspects somebody read my suggestion. I don't say it was wrong.

I miss the iconic wings, and I never imagined it with horns of black dragon but more like the picture from "Dragonlance: Wild Elves".

 

[teitan]

Sorry this almost off topic but it is enough interesting for me.

Wizkids is going to release also a new miniature, the spiderdragon

this is horrifying