Interregnum

Friday, December 19, 2014

As a famous pin-headed man once said, "I have such sights to show you."

Only the timing's off. WizKids has not yet solicited the spring Pathfinder Battles set, and until they do (which should happen imminently, but at this point is unlikely before the Christmas holiday) I can't show off any of the numerous awesome images I'd love to unleash on you as a special gift from Santa.

But leaking images out of the elves' workshop before their time is a good way to disappear in a suspicious sleigh accident, so I'm afraid there's nothing I can do but look over these images myself and smile about what's in store.

What is in store, you ask? Let's do a quck recap of what we (I) know so far:

1. Starting in January we've got at least six monthly Iconic Heroes Sets, each featuring six premium sculpts with premium paint jobs and six exclusive cards for use with the smash hit Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. We've already revealed the contents of the first three sets in digital form. For the first set, we've shown every step in the process, from digital sculpt to paint master to final production figures. I'm looking at my own sample of those final figures right now, and I'm still amazed we were able to pull of the quality of detail on the set. It's really going to set a new standard for paint application on prepainted figures.

   Folks have been asking for nonrandom "visible" prepainted plastic figures since the very beginning, and at least as far as Pathfinder Battles is concerned, this is exactly what people have been demanding from the start. I certainly hope all advocates for the line have plans to buy these. If for whatever reason they don't sell well, I think it's fair to say we'll probably never see another release like this in the future.

   No pressure.

   We're currently shipping the most recent full set, The Lost Coast, to positive reviews. If you're considering an Ongoing Pathfinder Battles Subscription, now would be a great time to sign up. Subscribers who have had at least one full release ship to them will be eligible for a 30% discount on Iconic Heroes sets. In order to unlock this discount for the first set, which releases in late January, you've got to have a full set ship before then. No time like the present for a present to youself!

2. We currently plan to release two full sets in 2015, one in the Spring and one in the Winter. I've approved paint masters for the entire Spring set, and I've got to say it includes some of my favorite models we've produced to date. This will be the first set to benefit from digital sculpts, and the degree of control that's given us over fine details is really staggering. As usual, this set will "flesh out" a couple of key monster types (including a major one people have been demanding from the start, but which we've not yet included in a single set).

   Both sets will include a type of figure we've also never done before, and these special figures will be in addition to the normal number of figures per set (45). I can't reveal more on pain of death, but this is one of the elements I'm most excited to share with you.

3. The second set in 2015 is currently scheduled to include a VERY special case incentive figure unlike anything we've ever done before. I'm super stoked about it. It's so special that it may not happen. The workshop elves are still measuring and evaluating, but ooooh, boy it'll be awesome. We're in the process of reviewing digital sculpts from this set.

4. The line is healthy, and we're continuing to plan into 2016 and beyond. I'm currently pulling together the set list for the first 2016 set, and am always looking for new ideas to fill in the blank spots.

   What figures are you especially hoping we include in future sets? I'll give some oblique hints in the comments below if people make particularly good guesses, and I look forward to translating some of your suggestions into the setlists I'm working on now! Help a brother out!

Things are going to go dark here in the Friday Publisher Preview for the next two weeks as the Publisher takes a much-needed winter vacation. We'll be back on January 9, and I certainly hope I have some cool new images to reveal then.

In the meantime, have a very Merry Christmas, and try to get some gaming in over the holidays!

Erik Mona
Publisher