Friday Publisher Preview: Iconic Heroes Paint Masters

Friday, October 3, 2014

I've already spoken at length about our plans for the monthly series of Iconic Heroes Boxed Sets that begin in January. I've mentioned that WizKids intends to produce these figures at the highest possible standards, with premium sculpts and paint jobs.

I've even shown digital sculpts of some of the new figures. I've mentioned how digital sculpts give us as Paizo a lot more opportunity to ensure that details are exactly right (we just sent 17 sculpt comments for a single figure yesterday). But until now, all you've had beyond digital renders is my word that they're going to be awesome.

That changes today, as I reveal the paint masters for three figures from Iconic Heroes Set #1, the very first set that will hit in January 2015. WizKids factory painters will do everything they can to replicate these paint jobs exactly, so these figures should be an excellent preview of what you can expect from the final production run.

They are, however, missing some finishing details. Super-detailed work like complex patterns on clothing and pupils are applied via a stamping process called a tampo during the production run, so these elements often do not appear on paint masters. Try to imagine Seoni's tattoos and some of the dress detail work and you'll have a better idea of how the final figures will look.

Here we have the Valeros, Human Fighter like you've never seen him before. I think the face says everything you need to know about the power of digital sculpting over traditional practical methods, and the quality of all of his little pieces of adventuring gear really pushes it over the edge. Check out that tankard! Look at the bedroll on his back! I can't wait to get this figure for my own collection.

Valeros has a gnome buddy, and her name is Lini, Gnome Druid. Frankly, I really like the original Lini figure from The Lost Coast, but this one comes with a slightly more action-oriented pose and puts a little more focus on her sickle. We'll show off Lini's riding cat animal companion, Droogami, in next week's preview.

Seoni has always been one of our most popular iconic characters, and was one of the originals to appear on the covers of our Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path, the very first appearance of the Pathfinder brand. Along with Valeros and several others, she stars in the Pathfinder Comics produced by Dynamite Entertainment, where she is coming into her own as the leader of the iconic adventurers. Like Lini, Seoni got a fantastic figure in an earlier set. The speed with which that figure sold out was one of the things that convinced us that we needed a better option for iconic character minis, and I think the pose on this new version is significantly more interesting than her original sculpt (which I also really liked). Of the six figures included in Iconic Heroes Set #1, Seoni has by far the most tampos still to come, but I think she's off to a great start.

Iconic Heroes also includes Sajan, Iconic Monk; Seelah, Iconic Paladin; and Droogami, Lini's snow leopard animal companion. Each of the sets also includes six unique Pathfinder Adventure Card Game cards specific to the included adventurers and animals. These cards are available exclusively in Pathfinder Battles Iconic Heroes sets, and are not part of existing Pathfinder Adventure Card Game subscriptions.

Swing by next week for a look at the paint masters of the other three figures in this set. In the meantime, check out the WizKids Pathfinder Battles items we've added to our annual Great Golem Sale, including Shattered Star boosters for $11.99, $10.00 off White Dragon Evolution, and more!

Erik Mona
Publisher