Friday Publisher Preview: Improving the Iconics

Friday, October 10, 2014

I'm writing today's blog from Times Square in New York City, where I'm staying while taking in New York Comic Con. NYCC is one of my favorite events of the year. For starters, the convention is the second largest event of its kind, bringing in more than 100,000 fans from all over the world. The show floor is like a marketplace out of a geek's dreams, filled with action figures old and new, original comic art, wandering nerd culture celebrities, back issues, original art, you name it. It's like four Gen Cons smooshed together, with an artist's alley off to the side that fills a room that could host most conventions. There aren't, alas, a lot of tabletop (or even video) game companies exhibiting at the show yet, but the fandoms are very, very similar and of course there's a ton of crossover with gamers. For me it's a chance to visit with East Coast business partners like Dynamite, publishers of the Pathfinder Comics range, as well as most of our book business distribution partners.

It's also among my favorites because it's the final convention of the year. For 2014 that makes it sixteen conventions or trade shows for me, and I have to admit I am exhausted. I always try to jam all of my business meetings into the first couple of days of the show, so I can enjoy wandering the floor as a fan myself. After focusing all of my convention attention on business from January until the end of October, it's important for me to spend a little while checking out all of the stuff that I geek out over. It's fun to get in touch with my own fannish soul, and at the very end of the convention season, just when I should be running out of gas, I find that New York Comic Con invigorates me, recharging my batteries for the year ahead.

NECA, the parent company of WizKids, have an awesome Pathfinder Battles display in their NYCC booth,
complete with some Lost Coast figures including the case incentive Shemhazian Demon!

Among the things that most tickle my nerdy fancy? Miniatures, of course! So let us turn our giggling, geeky hearts to three more paint masters for the upcoming Iconic Heroes Set #1!

Here we have Seelah, Human Paladin, our favorite champion of law and good. Seelah received one of the earliest representation of an iconic character in our regular Pathfinder Battles line, appearing in the very first set, Heroes & Monsters. That figure was fine—even impressive—for that early stage in the product line, but I never felt that it quite lived up to the early high standards set by the Beginner Box Heroes set, which predated Pathfinder Battles itself by a few months. It also had a bit of a scaling issue relative to other human figures, and came across as a bit small, not quite the imposing, powerful warrior we were hoping for.

I'm pleased to report that this new version of Seelah more than fits the bill. This version is considerably different from her original presentation, most notably in that the paladin wears her helm in this incarnation. That helm plays an important part in Seelah's origin story, so we thought it fitting to send the warrior into battle in her full regalia.

The shield appears white for now, but will soon get a tampo stamp with a crisp image of the holy symbol of Iomedae, Seelah's honorable goddess.

Sajan, Human Monk is another example, in my opinion, of improving a figure on the second attempt. The original Sajan figure looked pretty cool and didn't have any major flaws like scaling issues, but this new pose is so much better it automatically gives the newer model the edge. I love his battle-ready pose, and even his expression impresses.

While quality control at the production facility—something both WizKids and Paizo have repeatedly stressed for the Iconic Heroes line—will tell the tale when the final paint is applied, the new digital sculpting process allows for much finer and more interesting facial details than practical sculpts. From Valeros's smirk to Seelah's combat expression to Sajan's glare, these guys have real expression in their faces. It feels like a step forward for the line.

We last met Lini the druid's snow leopard, Droogami, in the Legends of Golarion set, where it was called simply Snow Leopard. Since then, we've given Lini's feline friend a sweet set of armor. We've also given it a somewhat realistic face—a first for the many great cats produced so far in the line, most of which seemed to end up with slightly comedic faces, like scary animals mixed with breakfast cereal mascots. I think this is a step up.

So there you have it. Three new figures, three improvements on their original appearances. I call that a win, and look forward to showing off the next set!

But before we can do THAT, we've got one matter of outstanding business for November's The Lost Coast set! I forgot to preview one last figure for the set. I'd held off because I didn't think the picture did the figure justice. Then I saw the replacement picture, which was blurry and even worse. Then I went back to the original picture.

Here she is:

This is the Elf Archer, who looks better in person than she does in our photo. She's based on one of my favorite pieces of art from the NPC Codex. She's a nice addition to our fairly limited ranks of elves in Pathfinder Battles so far. And if you're going to have an elf, it seems natural to make it an archer. The Elf Archer is a Medium, common figure.

And with that, I'm heading back to the convention! Enjoy your weekend, wherever you are, and we'll see you back here in a week for more exciting reveals!

Erik Mona
Publisher