The bloggosphere and social media has exploded in a frenzy of activity regarding the announcement yesterday that Paizo and WizKids (the heroclix people) have come to an agreement regarding a line of prepainted plastic Pathfinder minis. See more details here, but the bloggosphere is filled with
Personally, and very honestly, I couldn't care less. I won't buy them myself. I like to prep, prime and paint my minis and that part is important to me.
That said... many others do not share my love of painting and playing with miniatures. And for those people, I think this is good news. The "sample" presented, the Kyra miniature is very nice and looks pretty good. Wizkids' stuff used to look pretty bad in its infancy but recently the quality has gone up very nicely, case and point, their superhero stuff is pretty cool (I do own a collection of Marvel un-clix'd minis). I used them for Mutants and Mastermind and really enjoyed them.
Though not announced yet the price will be a big factor in determine its overall success. There is little doubt in my mind that the comparable 4e characters mini packs have sold reasonably well (judging by how often they appear on the table). Packaging, pricing and grouping will be critical to the success.
I expect a pack that includes all or most of the main rulebook's iconic Pathfinder characters (such as Kyra, Merisiel, Ezren and Valeros) and maybe some special goodies (goblins and an ogre maybe?). The packaging will resemble the latest special packs produced for their superheroes line (clear hard plastic to showcase the minis).
So while I can say a clear "not for me" to those, I look forward to playing with those new figs. I actually predict they will do well. Well enough for a bigger set or more "monster packs"? That remains to be seen. But I recommend you store owner stock up early on this.
WOW! Predictions that do not predict the end of time and that do not include a single jab towards 4e... I surprise myself! Have a good day everyone, the world of gaming is not yet ending!
JP
Well, yay for not jabbing 4e! I'm a "can't we all just get along?" guy.
ReplyDeleteAs for these minis, I'm not a minis guy, either, but I do like to keep a few on hand for new players to use as PC figures, so I could see myself ending up with some of these if the price is right. From Eric Mona's post, it sounds like these are only going to be available as part of the Beginner Box, at least at first, which makes sense. A nice little bonus for people just getting into Pathfinder (which might include me at some point, as I currently have the Core Rulebook checked out from the library).