Friday Publisher Preview: Iconic Heroes Return!

I'll definitely be buying these. I don't like the pot-luck nature of the Battles packs - I like to know what I'm buying. So far the only Pathfinder minis I've bought are the beginner box iconics. MOstly I use pawns and paper minis.

I have wanted a full line of iconics for some time - particularly the iconics used as PFS pregens, as they make a nice visual for demo games.

I think these iconics will be very useful as PC miniatures.

Most of the time, miniatures will be bought by a DM, to use as monsters in his scenes. This means miniatures will face limited table time, since you cannot use the same monster every session.

PC miniatures by contrast will be used again and again and again, which means that spending more will be set off by not just higher quality but also more table time. The cost per hour of gameplay for these mini's will thus be lower than most other miniatures.

Since you know exactly what you'll get (they are non-random, I presume) this also means that players can invest in these to have their own mini, rather than having the DM purchase them.

I would strongly suggest combining them in sets which include at least one fighter-ish, one mage-ish, one rogue-ish and one divine-ish character, so that players are more easily able to buy a set together and split the miniatures (and the bill) together. This set already seems to do a very reasonable job of that!

From my own perspective, I -love- that something like an eidolon, familiar or animal companion will be included in each pack - this really makes the whole set-up more complete.

One worry is whether WizKids will deliver on the quality. I've seen some amazing mini's from them, so I trust it, but there has been 'variance' in the quality in the past. Regardless, I am sure they will be up to the challenge.

As for my own purchase, it will depend on how easily (and at what price) they will be available in Europe, since customs and shipping make the actual price when ordering from the colonies overseas too uncertain for me. I do look forward to seeing these!

As for my own purchase, it will depend on how easily (and at what price) they will be available in Europe, since customs and shipping make the actual price when ordering from the colonies overseas too uncertain for me. I do look forward to seeing these!

Depending on the shipment cost these should not be too bad in a subscription:

If with shipping they end up costing as much in € as they do in $ that will be about the same price as ordering them online (e.g. @ mtgandmore)

Very interested in these, and hopeful there's a subscription for them.

I have waited and waited and waited for this!! I was about to give up hope of ever seeing the Iconic Heroes sets. I actually logged on this morning to make a post suggesting something like this.

Erik- If you put the samurai and ninja from Ultimate Combat in this line .... I'LL DEMAND A SUBSCRIPTION OPTION!! This is so awesome!! I'm so excited. I started putting money aside to save for buying the current iconics off of eBay. Now I won't have to. I'll just have to have patience. It will be worth it. (plus I was dreading paying those outrageous prices on eBay. I feel more comfortable giving my money to you directly.)

Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!!! TAKE MY MONEY!!!
(but make sure you give me that samurai)

They are both in the line.

The digitals look great. However, I'm going to save judgement until actual figures start making it into peoples' hands. If they are on par with the four iconics from the starter set, I'll be pleased.

I've done the maths.

-skeld

Depending on the shipment cost these should not be too bad in a subscription:

30€ (45$US) is the threshhold for customs to just wave a parcel through.

If with shipping they end up costing as much in € as they do in $ that will be about the same price as ordering them online (e.g. @ mtgandmore)

Thanks for the extra information on this!

The threshold is part of the problem for me. If I -know- that it'll get through customs without issue, then I know what I will actually pay for the miniatures, since it will simply be the price of the product plus the shipping cost converted to euro's, and I'd be more likely to get them directly from paizo.com if it were cheaper then ordering locally.

However, customs here tend to be fickle - I've seen people have to pay over 60 euro's in customs fees for a 30 euro order, because the customs officer read "10 items for 30 euro's" as "total 300 euro's" instead of "total of 30 euro's, 3 per item". It also costs 80 euro's just to register a complaint :(

Others may feel more comfortable with this, but I do not like the uncertainty of not knowing what exactly I will be spending.

I may pay a little bit more for them at my local store, but they take the hassle of international shipping and customs out of my hands for me and I think its worth the slightly larger pricetag (they are usually about 10-15% over the paizo price). Might be different for different people and different parts of the EU mind you ^_^

I'm in Germany and one of my kickstarter packages was declared at 45$ value and arrived streight at home, with costoms processing sticker but no payment due.

The 2 sets of 10 emerald spire ninis were listed as two items.

so with this set ins a single parcel it will probbably be declared as:
toys, figures.....29$
totals(1)...........29$

and an invoice on the isinde listing "one set" @ 29$

It should be pretty unabiguous.

Ahrien wrote:

I see none commented on the price increase. So far, a retail medium miniature used to be around $3. (4 iconics for $13, boosters with 3 medium and 1 large (that could be counted as 2 mediums) for $15).

And now we see a 66% price increase in the minis (6 for $30 it's $5 per miniature). I know there are PACG cards included, but come on, a $2 increment per mini is a bit step.
[snippage]

First off, your maths wrong. 3 is 60% of 5, meaning it's only a 40% increase, not a 66%. Also, 4 iconics for $13 is actually $3.25 apiece. Lets just use that figure so we don't have to debate whether or not a large should count as 2 mediums. $3.25 to $5 is only a 35% increase. A significant increase, but far from 66%.

Ahrien and Jimi have both neglected the cost of the cards, even though Ahrien did acknowledge they're part of the deal. I don't think we can assume they're free, so that further decreases the percentage increase in the price of the minis.

NB: I haven't checked anyone's math, but Jimi's approach seems right.

Price "increases" aside, I want these. All of them. A subscription would be great, but either way works. As for Wiz-Kids' past quality problems, it looks like they're going to go the extra mile on these sets from the git-go, so I'm not too worried.

Can I haz them naow, pleez?

1. I'm glad to see that so many people are looking forward to these. Many of us in the Friday Previews section have been saying for a few months now that higher-quality limited sets of PC-types would be well received. I'm glad to see that the Iconics are the starting point for such a line. Hopefully the sales reflect the early excitement.

2. The trade-off for higher quality miniatures in visible packaging is an increase in cost per miniature. It's really as simple as that.

3. It's great to hear that the Ninja and Samurai will find their way into this line; I've seen these two miniatures requested by numerous folks over the past year. It's also great to see yet another source book, Ultimate Combat, will have representation in miniature form.

4. I think one of the underrated aspects of this announcement is that we won't have to wait years and years for certain Iconics to be released. Instead of waiting another three Battles lines, for example, for the Ninja to pop up, we now should see him within the next twelve months.

5. I'm so excited for this line!!!

Vic Wertz wrote:

As Erik said in his post, "WizKids plans to apply 'premium' paint jobs to these figures, using some of the very best figures we've produced to date as a quality benchmark."

The average number of paint operations on these minis should be notably higher than the average number of paint ops on most of the existing rare figs.

That is great to hear, I am really looking forward to seeing these minis. I just wish that these steps would be taken with the 'entire' PFB line, not just the iconics.

I would be willing to pay the extra money needed if I knew we would be receiving the higher quality benchmark.

I completely agree with you and I'm most definitely in your boat. Based on some of the reactions regarding the price increase per miniature, however, I'm not sure we are in the majority. While I think these higher quality Iconics (and other possible PC/NPC miniatures) will do well as a separate line, I'm not so sure it makes sense to do an entire Battles line this way.

In truth, it's primarily been the medium human miniatures, from a quality perspective, that I've had a problem with. With a few exceptions, I find that I'm okay with the quality of the medium and large monsters and non-humans in the Battles line.

Presuming no new blog today with Gen Con. I'm looking forward to seeing more minis previewed again soon.

I'm starting to dislike Con's. I never get to go so all it means to me is no Battles preview lol

Blog wrote:

Each set comes complete with six figures—five iconic Pathfinder heroes and one associated creature,

So who is the 5th iconic in the first set??

Hm? Valeros, Seelah, Seoni, Sajan, Lini, and Droogami - that’s 5 plus a companion, making 6.

Did they update it after you posted?

I'm starting to dislike Con's. I never get to go so all it means to me is no Battles preview lol

So much that!

The iconics look decent, i am sure they will be treated with special attention from wizkids, since they are in non-blind packages too.

Scribbling Rambler wrote:

Blog wrote:

Each set comes complete with six figures—five iconic Pathfinder heroes and one associated creature,

So who is the 5th iconic in the first set??

Hm? Valeros, Seelah, Seoni, Sajan, Lini, and Droogami - that’s 5 plus a companion, making 6.

Did they update it after you posted?

Yes they did. They added Sajan, the Monk.

agraham2410 wrote:

I assume you can use these cards with any game set?

Correct.

Will PACG subscribers get these promo cards also with their subscriptions, or will they really only be available with the packs of minis?

My current understanding is that they are not promo cards, and will not be included in PACG subscriptions.

We tend to identify promo cards as promotional give-away items.