D&D General WizKids Issues Refund for Baldur’s Gate 3 Character Boxed Set

WizKids announced they will issue refunds to all customers who purchased the D&D Icons of the Realms: Baldur’s Gate 3 Character Boxed Set from their webstore. From the statement:

As a company, WizKids seeks to create products that enhance and add to the enjoyment of game play. We want our customers to build long-lasting, fond memories around game nights with friends and family using our products.

Unfortunately, we missed the mark on this goal with the D&D Icons of the Realms: Baldur’s Gate 3 Character Boxed Set. If you purchased this set through our online stores, we will be offering a full refund to those who are unsatisfied with their set. To begin a request, please contact customerservice@wizkids.com.

We’re aware of the recent reports and complaints and are taking them seriously. Our team is currently investigating these issues and taking action to make this right for those whose purchases were negatively affected and to ensure these issues do not recur in future products and reprints.

If you purchased your set from a local retailer, please return it at your point of purchase for a full refund. If you have any issues, please reach out to us for assistance at the email above. However, if you wish for a product replacement, we ask that you create a case through Wizkids Product Replacement. We will work with you to provide a product replacement and ensure that it meets the standards expected.

A Reddit thread posted on Friday, May 16, shows images of the miniatures and complaints of poor quality on the details of the pre-painted miniatures. Here are examples using promotional images from pre-order solicitations next to the images from the Reddit user:

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[Koloth]

To be fair, the quality of the photography of the received minis is pretty poor as well. But the first model does seem rather poor, even for a cheap China made/painted mini.

When I bought my WOTC pre-paints back when the D&D minis and game came out, I pretty much got what I expected. A slap-dash paint job on a decently cast soft plastic mini. But that was when a Reaper metal mini ran $3~5 on average and then I had to paint the thing. Being able to buy a wide range of pre-paints for decent prices was cool. Even when I paid new prices for the boxes(IIRC-$15 range - maybe $30 in today's money), it seemed a decent deal considering you usually got a large/giant sized model included in the box. Those bought in metal could be $15+ for one. Loaded up on WOTC minis on the secondary market when they were often 10 cents or sometimes less for commons.

These BG3 minis seem to have been sold as a collectors set so one might expect a somewhat better quality. Apparently, that didn't happen.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

Yeah, these don't seem worse than standard WizKids paint jobs to me. You're usually going to be seeing them from a distance on a table, not examining them under a magnifying glass, so the quality is generally good enough for me.

 

[Abstruse]

From what I understand, the biggest problem with HeroForge's method is that it extremely hard to do at scale. Each mini needs to be individually done (vs mold injection and paint application) and the hardware (and software) needed to do it is expensive.

I'm not very knowledgeable about the process, but I also believe it's a lot more time-consuming. I think each individual mini takes a minimum of 2 hours to print. But again, I'm not sure and a quick search couldn't find any info.

 

[Distracted DM]

Those are pretty dire, and not in a good way.

It seems like at some point there would be a market for a computer-controlled machine able to paint minis according to a program. Combine a 3D printer with inkjet technology not made by HP or Canon, and some sensors.

Or do whatever Heroforge does to 3D print color minis, but at scale. Surely the cost per item drops a lot when you're doing lots of 10,000?

AFAIK, heroforge's options are either colored plastic, or hand-painted. The colored plastic is... well, here ya go. First one is heroforge hand-painted. the second is colored plastic. This is from someone's post in 2022.

 

[DarkCrisis]

LOL.

I mean thats par for the course.

Again, I hate how they sort things. Yeah you can get most of the mains in the big box set but if you want Minthara and Jaheria etc you have to be very lucky or pay $50 a piece for them on ebay.

I never did get Sheila from the cartoon because shes $100 on Ebay now

 

[Azzy]

Yikes!

 

[EthanSental]

Looks like mine were in the pretty good batch of painting and I’ll skip that refund request.