WizKids Reveals Redesigned D&D Adult Black Dragon Miniature

WizKids has revealed the first redesigned dragon figure for its Dungeons & Dragons line. A new Adult Black Dragon miniature will be released in March 2025, with a suggested retail price of $79.99. The new miniature is a huge miniature that sits on a gargantuan base, in part to help support the figure's 10-inch wingspan. This marks the first of the newly designed dragons to get a miniature and will be released as a standalone figure, not tied to a particular miniature set release.

All five chromatic dragons and all five metallic dragons got redesigns as part of D&D's 50th anniversary, with the intent of making the dragons look more iconic and have their figures and features fit their actual abilities. For instance, the black dragon's skull and horns are exposed due to the immense amount of acid breath that the dragon uses on its foes. Speaking with Screen Rant earlier this year, D&D art director Josh Herman pointed out that the Black Dragon (and the chromatics in general) were inspired by the designs of Scar and Mustafa in the Lion King. "[Y]ou can also see that in both of those, there's an intelligence in those designs and those creatures," Herman said. "So you can tell they look like lions, but they also clearly can do something later, especially in the movies. We wanted to take that approach, specifically for the Black Dragon. We wanted to make this something that you recognize immediately and know this is a villain, of all the dragons, when you look at the Black Dragon."

You can read the description of the new miniature below, along with a full look at a 3D render of the new dragon. Coincidentally, the render also provides fans with a new look on what the black dragon looks like, with hints of green scales visible on its tails.

The D&D Icons of the Realms Adult Black Dragon will be released in March 2025, and the suggested price will be $79.99.

Product Description:

The Adult Black Dragon is among the most terrifying and hateful of the evil chromatic dragons. Wielding corrosive acid breath, Adult Black Dragons are drawn to secluded swamps and forgotten ruins when making their lairs.

Sculpted from the newest edition of the Monster Manual, the Huge-sized D&D Icons of the Realms: Adult Black Dragon pre-painted miniature sits on a 75mm (3-inch) in diameter base, making it perfect for your next encounter. With a 10-inch wingspan, this loathsome dragon will invoke fear in players and awe in admirers.

 

[Charlaquin]

I think it'll be a clear 4" round base with a black 3" ring printed on it to show the true tabletop size space. Most of the big dragons have this.

Makes sense for added stability.

 

[Superchunk77]

I have all 5 of the Metallics and Chromatics of the new designs, and the 4 gems that have been made (waiting on Amethyst). But I prefer the Lockwood designs, so I'm not intending on buying the new designs.

I'm also a big fan of the Lockwood designs. Nothing has even come close to those IMO. I still have the blue, black and Colossal red on my bookshelf. This new one doesn't even really look like a dragon to me.

 

[doctorhook]

They went back to concept on most monster designs during the design of 5e, and many of the revised concepts were voted on in the D&D Next open playtest. The finalized designs ended up very similar to the 3e designs, probably in part as a course-correction from 4e, where they didn’t even stick to the standard 5 metallics and 5 chromatics. But they were new designs, just heavily influenced by 3e’s designs. I would argue these newest designs still reflect that influence, but they’ve deviated further that the previous iteration did.

Fair enough! I know they changed the lineup of core dragons in 4E, but other than Green I thought the designs stayed the same for each dragon (or at least I didn’t notice any significant changes). However, I’m willing to be corrected.

I don’t personally like the look of this new Black dragon, but the resemblance is clear

 

[dave2008]

I have all 5 of the Metallics and Chromatics of the new designs, and the 4 gems that have been made (waiting on Amethyst). But I prefer the Lockwood designs, so I'm not intending on buying the new designs.

I'm also a big fan of the Lockwood designs. Nothing has even come close to those IMO. I still have the blue, black and Colossal red on my bookshelf. This new one doesn't even really look like a dragon to me.

For the chromatics, I only really liked the 3e red. Much prefer the new black, green, and white. I mostly like the new blue better too, but miss the ears, and the red is a wash for me

 

[Scribe]

This new one doesn't even really look like a dragon to me.

?

I dont know what else it could be if not a Dragon.

 

[Von Ether]

It is cool, but not sure how many $80 dragons I need/ want/ have to have. My group has one dragon of bigger than normal size that seems to pull quadruple duty.

You don't.
I assume, though, they are cranking multiple dragons the same reason a company needs like a dozen different type of adventures, it's appealing to several niche markets at once:

1. The GM who wants one specific dragon for their game
2. The fan who thinks that particular dragon is the coolest in the lore
3. The gamer who just loves the look of the piece
4. The super fan completist who buys anything D&D.

I am not a fan that "canon" reason the dragon has skeletal head is because of exposure to its own acid breath. Lore wise it sounds cool, but some gamer is going to try to chisel at that bit as a loophole.

 

[Von Ether]

WizKids are charging GW prices for less quality miniatures.

That still need assembling and painting vs pre-paint? I'll paint when I retire.

And I'd say some of the choices are less cool looking to be honest.

https://www.warhammer.com/en-US/shop/dragon-2022

 

[MockingBird]

Makes sense for added stability.

Yeah with the more recent releases they have been putting them on bigger bases with a ring etched on the base of the actual in game size. They did this for stability.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

75mm (3-inch) Base is said. That means it should be a Huge Mini, not a Gargantuan. I think Christian just made a mistake.

 

[MGibster]

I dont know what else it could be if not a Dragon.

A newt on steroids.