 
Sign in to create or edit a product review. There are only two possible negatives with this miniature. First, obviously, is its price. These gargantuan miniatures cost a lot, and you're supposed to be eligible to buy it only if you also buy an entire case. Second, it has a support rod. Some people don't like these. I don't mind them so much, especially because they allow for a greater range of poses than you'd otherwise be able to get. But be careful, because they snap off really easily. In all other respects, this miniature is fantastic. It's really impressive, and the detail is amazing. The paint job is really well done too. I wish the quality on the smaller miniatures matched that on these gargantuan case incentives. This is the tenth case of Pathfinder Battles miniatures I've bought (not including the smaller series, like We Be Goblins). It's the first time *ever* that none of the miniatures inside the case were broken. Ever. It's a little sad that that's even worth mentioning, but the packaging, which used to be terrible, has, as of this set, finally gotten a lot better. There was only one horrible twisty tie in the entire case (for the Red Dragonkin Rider). Each booster box contained one large miniature in a molded plastic shell that popped out easily, without snapping off a base, along with three medium or small miniatures, taped into their own baggies, sometimes with bubble wrap. This method is a lot easier to open and a lot better at protecting the miniatures inside. I like the paint schemes and the selection of miniatures here. I like that we're finally getting some tiny animals for familiars and pets. I'm actually not that bothered by the reduction in number of distinct types of miniatures here (45, down from 55); I have enough variety already now that I prefer a slightly more redundancy (for bigger battles) to a larger variety. The quality control still leaves something to be desired. One of my foxes looks like it has mange. A couple of the miniatures have mysterious white spray painted blotches around the feet. And the detail work on the rare miniatures is ambitious but often kind of sloppy. This is the main reason I'm giving the set 4/5 stars instead of 5/5. Still, when buying a mass product like this you just have to accept that the detail work isn't going to be as good as a well done hand-painted job. I got a complete set in my single case. Here's the breakdown: Of the thirteen common miniatures, I got anywhere between 3-5 of each (mean 4.31).
The two miniatures you get here are fantastic. Lots of detail, bright colors, and sure to elicit gasps of awe at the gaming table. The main irritant with this product is its packaging. It's got secret twisty ties everywhere, and you literally have to rip the box open to get at them. Even then, some of the ties are tucked away into crevices that you're basically better off with wire cutters. Have you ever been so frustrated trying to open a package that you literally rip it to shreds? That's what you're in for with this box. Good luck. Oh, and forget about preserving the box as a display case after you take the miniatures out. Ha. As I wrote in my review of the entire set, the main problem with the Wrath of the Righteous set of miniatures is that far too many of its miniatures extend well past their bases. The worst offender in this regard is the Slimy Fiend. Its wingspan is roughly 3x the diameter of its base. This makes it functionally terrible in actual gaming situations, because you won't be able to put anything next to it, and it'll knock everyone else around it over, or fall over itself. I really hope Paizo takes a hard look at its miniature design, to minimize this kind of thing happening in the future. I ordered a case and got a complete set. That's good. There were no obvious painting mistakes, unlike my *Legends of Golarion* case. The case had "only" one broken miniature (a Grimslake snapped off its base), which is better than previous sets but still worse than 0, and therefore bad. The color choices are still too drab for my taste; some of the miniatures again just look like bumpy lumps of brown or black, for example the Mongrel Archer. I wish Paizo would revert to the brighter, more contrasting color scheme from *Heroes and Monsters*. (Some people complained that those miniatures were too cartoony, but I like that cartoony look.) However, the biggest issue I have with this set is new: there are far too many miniatures that overhang outside their bases. For example (this is not an exhaustive list): Slimy Fiend, Tarry Fiend, Death Demon, Frost Drake, Rift Drake, Vescavor Queen, Khorramzadeh. I'll basically never use these miniatures in a game, even if they're a perfect fit for the creature the miniature is supposed to model, because it's just too much hassle to fuss with them and prevent them from knocking each other over or falling down. The sad part is that I remember reading a response given by a Pathfinder Battles developer to the question of why the Pathfinder Battles gargantuan dragons seem smaller than the old D&D miniatures gargantuan dragons. One of his answers was that the Pathfinder Battles team refused to have the monster overhang so far past its 4x4 base, and that they thought the D&D team cheated in this respect. Apparently the Pathfinder Battles team has now reversed that decision. That's too bad. Ironically, overhang is less important for gargantuan miniatures, first because you can find a way to fit the medium sized characters around it, and second because the gargantuan miniature is heavy enough that it's in no danger of toppling over. But significant overhang is a really big deal with medium and large sized miniatures, because it just makes things so fussy, and everything keeps falling over. Anyway, I'm disappointed that about 20% of these miniatures will never see actual play at my table, not because they're too exotic or ugly but just because their wingspans extend so far beyond their bases. Paizo: please address this overhang issue and don't let it happen again. Thanks. The sculpt here is good, but the paint job is terrible. The color are too close to each other, so you can't see any of the sculpt details. Before I bought any of these, I figured the photo on the website is just terrible because you can't tell what's going on in the picture, but it turns out that the same issue arises even if you hold the miniature in person: the miniature is just painted terribly. I've ordered at least one case of every Pathfinder Battles set so far, two of most of them. I ordered two cases of the *Legends of Golarion* set. This is the first time that all the miniatures arrived intact. My expectations on this issue (broken miniatures) were so low that I was pretty happy. As others have mentioned, the paint jobs here could stand some work. This is true both in terms of quality control (one of my goblin pyro #2s has half brown lips, like he has impetigo) and in terms of drab color selection. Some of the color choices are downright bizarre, for example the kobold archer, who is basically just a bumpy lump of brown. The scourge hellknight also could have used more contrast. I understand that some people didn't like the bright, cartoony colors from earlier sets, but I liked that look, and I don't like these darker, duller, drabber miniatures. A related disappointment is that the orcs from this set don't look the same as the orcs in *Heroes & Monsters*. They look like different species, or orcs from two different fantasy universes. I wish I could place a variety of orcs on the table, some from this set, some from *Heroes & Monsters*, and have them look like they could all belong to the same species. That's not really possible here, though. Oh, I got complete sets from each of my two cases. Between those two cases, I averaged 7.2 of each common figure (range 6-10) and about 5.2 (range 4-6) of each uncommon figure. I got exactly two of each rare figure. And, again, at least nothing was broken this time. I ordered one case, and only one figurine arrived broken (Sentinel Devil, #15). (I had like 7 broken figures in two Shattered Star cases.) The case was also missing The Matron, #49. The sculpts and paints seem good. The figures aren't generic enough for me to want more than one case, but they do look nice. I'm disappointed that there are no more maps in these comics. Even more disappointing is that this decision wasn't announced. I had to confirm it by coming here and looking through the comments section for this issue. The only reason I subscribed to these comics at all was the maps, so I'll be canceling my subscription as soon as I can, and I hope to get a refund on this issue (though I suspect I won't be able to). Oh well. See that right sword arm? It tends to snap off during shipping. You won't get more than one of these per case, so good luck getting an intact one! This miniature's skinny little ankles tend to snap off during shipping, leaving their feet on the base, which makes regluing a lot more difficult. Good luck getting intact ones in their original packaging! Those delicate little legs tend to snap off during shipping. Good luck getting intact ones in their original packaging! Those delicate little spider legs tend to snap off during shipping. Good luck getting intact ones in their original packaging! 2 of the 5 of these I received in two cases had snapped off their bases. In each case, one foot was still stuck on the base, which will make re-gluing more annoying. Good luck if you're getting these in their original packaging! See outstretched right arm, pointing? Prepare for that to be snapped off in shipping if you get one of these in its original packaging. Good luck! As a few others have mentioned, these miniatures are far, far too prone to breaking during shipping. I ordered two cases and got seven broken miniatures in them: 1x Portioque, arm snapped off
This is worse than the Rise of the Runelords set (three snapped off bases in one case), and it's frustrating. One bit of good news relative to Rise of the Runelords is that each case I ordered contained a complete set. (I was missing a couple of figures in my lone Rise of the Runelords case.) I didn't get a single duplicate Rare figure in either case though, so after 2 cases I have exactly two of each Rare figure (including the broken ones). This dragon doesn't come preassembled. Instead, Paizo decided to save a little money on the size of the box by making you attach each wing and the tail yourself. When I tried to attach the tail, the feet snapped off the base. Now my fingers have superglue residue on them as I type this, and I'm having to dry the dragon upside down (base in the air) so that it doesn't fall over while the superglue dries, as it's not balanced on the two feet alone. I know the previous Rise of the Runelords set had quality control issues where some of the minis would fall off their bases. Apparently the Shattered Star set has the same issue, and it's disappointing that this issue wasn't fixed. I should have just stuck with the old out-of-print D&D gargantuan blue dragon--at least that one came preassembled and was in no danger of snapping off at the base. These tokens are okay, but they're missing Bloodied and Grabbed. Also, they could have done a better job of pairing similar conditions together on the double-sided tokens as is done for the Pathfinder tokens, e.g., Slowed / Immobilized on one token, Dazed / Stunned on another, and Restrained / Helpless on another. Also, as the other reviewer mentioned, these would be a lot better if the conditions could be written across the circumference as well as the large surface. (That would mean the tokens can't be double-sided, though.) I ordered two cases of these miniatures. I got a complete set of all 40 miniatures from each case alone. Also, as others have mentioned, there were no duplicates in any of the bricks. (Each case contains four bricks.) In general these miniatures are more brightly colored than the out-of-print D&D brand miniatures. Others have described the look as "cartoony", but I'd describe the designs as sometimes more whimsical than serious (example: the cute goblins). Personally I like that, because I like my campaigns light-hearted, but it's good to be aware in case you don't. |
