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.

 

[doctorhook]

Some folks have pointed out that it may be a larger, clear base with a 3 inch ring to indicate combat space.

This “combat space” thing on minis confuses me a bit—with humanoids the creature is usually much smaller than its base (ie: 1/2 inch wide body on a 1 inch base) but with monster sculpts their bodies are spilling out of their combat space. Maybe it’s not confusing at all, just artistic license

 

[Charlaquin]

This “combat space” thing on minis confuses me a bit—with humanoids the creature is usually much smaller than its base (ie: 1/2 inch wide body on a 1 inch base) but with monster sculpts their bodies are spilling out of their combat space. Maybe it’s not confusing at all, just artistic license

It’s an abstraction for gameplay purposes. The idea that a human-sized character occupies 5 square feet in combat is pretty silly, let alone a halfling taking up that much space, but it’s convenient to be able to treat the player characters as each occupying a single space on a grid (or hex) battle map, so we make up some some handwavium about a space in combat representing the space the character controls, rather than the space they physically occupy. With larger creatures, we tend to want to fit them into smaller spaces so battle maps don’t need to be absurdly large to accommodate them. But it looks much cooler and more intimidating if their minis are way bigger than the PCs’ minis.

 

[NerdyRotica]

No need to prove yourself! I sounded harsher than I intended, didn’t mean to sound judgey or gatekeeper-y. I’m fairly active on Reddit too (different name) but over there the shilling can be pretty real and shameless, so I have a habit of calling it out; sometimes I forget where I’m posting when I’m over here.

This site is old (25 years maybe?) but it’s still very active. Mods here are much better than Reddit and most other forums—they’re fair and even-handed. This site is also a major place to get TTRPG news, though if you’re used to Reddit it might seem old fashioned. (This site was the best place on the internet for info about 3E, 4E, and 5E when those editions were still being previewed, that’s what attracted a lot of the community!) There are some regular columns here by industry veterans which are extremely insightful. Members here are probably older than Reddit on average, since lots of the very active members here have been here for a decade or more, but don’t be intimidated! Lots of newbies here too.

Welcome to ENWorld!

Thanks for the warm welcome!

 

[Queer Venger]

Some folks have pointed out that it may be a larger, clear base with a 3 inch ring to indicate combat space.

Im a big fan of the newer clear bases with the inner ring. This sculpt is terrifying and the paint job is amazing.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Some folks have pointed out that it may be a larger, clear base with a 3 inch ring to indicate combat space.

It's not, this has been checked. It's a 3 inch base. I think Christian was just wrong.

Edit: I am seeing other places that report a Gargantuan base, but also multiple sources that it's a 3 inch/75 mm base.

 

[MockingBird]

Im a big fan of the newer clear bases with the inner ring. This sculpt is terrifying and the paint job is amazing.

I like it better, if gives them space to make the creature look better

 

[MonsterEnvy]

It’s 3 inches aka a huge base. The given proportions don’t work otherwise. (Not my work)

 

[Superchunk77]

Does it look less demon-like than the old 3e colossal red?

View attachment 379789

No

 

[dave2008]

No

Really! I find that hard to believe, but everyone has their own viewpoint, experiences, and biases.

 

[Azzy]

Looks like a dragon to me. My only complaint is that I like the horns on the 5.14 and 3e black dragon better, but the rest is cool.