Pull Up a Stool (The Rusty Dragon Inn Debrief)

Thanks very much for taking the subscriber concerns re:singles on board. It doesn't surprise me, but being expected doesn't make it any less appreciated. :)

I just received one of my cases today, haven't had a chance to crack it open yet.

Thanks for everything, Erik. I really mean it. I know a lot of us don't say that enough.

I got a case from my brick and mortar and was very pleased with one exception. I got four booster with "beaky" which is great and in every one there was also a cut purse which also would have been great except Beaky killed every one! All four were smashed beyond repair, and the replacement set up with Wizkids frankly stinks so I'm stuck buying some cut purse figures. I could be a lot happier about that. Beyond that my vote for a dressing piece is a gallows a set of stocks/pillory and a cage.

I am on a budget (saving for PaizoCon AND Gen Con) so the option to buy singles for a couple of my PFS characters (Watch commander and city guard) was huge.

My order is still pending, but hopefully by this time next week I can offer a critique on them.

Will let folks know how that turns out.

RDI is the best minis release ever! The sculpts and the paint jobs are wonderful. My personal favorite is the bartender; a beautifully sculpted piece with a perfectly painted face. WizKids should do a revision of the sculpt to add a weapon and armor to her so we could have a rogue or fighter version of the bartender.

Would it be possible for WizKids to make a promotional set of one table and two stools to be sold in the web store? I know I'd snap up six to help fill out the tavern.

Hello Eric.

Great news all around, thank you.

I would like to suggest my top 5 dressing pieces:

1. rectangular table (2 squares long and 1 square broad) - every single AP has them.
2. chair (with a real low sitting space and a high back, so we can place a small or medium mini on it).
3. shelf (2 squares high and 1 or 2 broad - with books or without).
4. stairs (1 square broad and 2 long)
5. fireplace (1 high, 1 deep and 1 broad - with a seperate clear orange plastic fire in it).

And please consider making them uncommons.

Thx for everything.

My case won't be here until Monday, but I saw a complete open set at my local gaming store tonight. It looks WAY better in person than in the pictures on any site. I'm very happy with all of them except the dwarf wizard's eyes and the face on the one female sword fighter (can't remember her name a.t.m.). For future dungeon dressings I would like to see #1 Doorways (functional): wood, metal, secret hidden door, gate #2 Fireplace, with transparent fire so that light hitting it from behind would make the flames look illuminated. #3 Thrones: elaborate golden throne for goodies, and dark evil looking for badies. #4 Weapon racks. #5 Torture/Execution Devices: rack, stockades, guillotine. #6 Crypt Things: sarcophagus, coffins, tombstones. #7 Campsites: bonfire, campfire, tents, bedrolls, torches.

Oh yeah, and bookshelves and wizard's table covered in magical devices/scrolls. City Square Water Fountain. Water Well. Outhouse.

Various sized piles of treasure hoard. Ok I'm stopping now, I could do this all night :)

Thank you for the update. This was a very nice set with characters and minis I would definitely use. Much appreciated!

Pictures of 4 minis from the box art of "Dungeons and Dragons: Icons of the Realms Monster Menagerie are online on
www.miniscollector.com

A female halfling ranger,
a large Bulette,
a large Displacer Beast
a medium female human with sword.

These should be out in february.

Arguably the best set yet. I think a lot of us have always wanted some high-quality tavern NPC stuff and this set delivered. Huge, huge, huge jump in paint job quality too. The faces haven't been this excellent since that first set of Iconic Heroes that kicked everything off.

Thanks for keeping up the great work and continuing to put out beautiful pieces. I've got a brand new group starting their first Pathfinder game ever this month and we'll be making good use of this set in their first adventure.

My case will not be here until next week, but in the meantime, a dungeon dressing item that occurs to me is the Ebon Acolytus (from the Bestiaries of the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP) ... an animated altar that can serve as dressing or a creature.

Also, now that we have Allevrah the Elf General, I'd like to see her other form done as well. :)

+1 for Allevrah & friends!

My case will not be here until next week, but in the meantime, a dungeon dressing item that occurs to me is the Ebon Acolytus (from the Bestiaries of the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP) ... an animated altar that can serve as dressing or a creature.

Also, now that we have Allevrah the Elf General, I'd like to see her other form done as well. :)

Heck yes!

My case is supposed to arrive Monday, but the extra case incentive I ordered from another vendor has already arrived. The bar is awesome, down to the bottles and keg. Two bars was the best way to get enough stools and tables. I can't wait to add the patrons, the scale looks great.

I'd sure like to see an alchemist lab in the future. Potion apparatus, bookcases, and a desk.

One piece of dressing I really think Paizo would be silly to leave out is a magical Galtan guillotine. Lots of flavor there!

Successfully received my case, and nothing busted. Quality seems average overall.

The large Silver Dragon is mini #15 to sell out.

The next one that will sell out is "Allevrah, Elf General" which is still unrated but looks to be a 4-5 stars mini.

Successfully received my case, and nothing busted. Quality seems average overall.

What do you mean by average quality?

Thx TriOmegaZero!

I've been asking for an NPC set of minis for a long time, and I love this set! Having said that, I'm a little unhappy with the quality. I've only bought a few boosters but already have two broken pieces. Both have the mini coming off of the base. The plastic seems warped a little and doesn't want to go back into the holes on the bases.

This is the first set I've ever seen where I genuinely wanted every piece. The number of NPCs is invaluable...I can't tell you how many times I've had to say something like "okay, this dude with a wand is really a merchant."

The dungeon dressing is very important. If needed I can go to Dwarven Forge for things like this, but my strong preference is to get it from the source. I will continue to obtain these whenever they come out, in whatever set they come out, and won't go to the secondary market at all as long as Paizo leaves me another option.

The quality of the miniatures continues to visibly improve with every set. The difference between old D&DM and these latest sets is very stark...even the difference between these and the (sloppy, unprofessional) D&D Attack Wing miniatures is really startling. You (and we) are definitely getting what we're paying for with these new sets.

RDI was my first case. I am buying all of the Iconics sets (including a future #7 please so I can have my Occult Iconics?) not only because I like the minis themselves but also to send a message of support for fixed non-random sets. I'm sorry that the undead and goblins fixed sets did not do well, but I respectfully submit that if a lot of these same minis already came out in previous sets that re-using them in a new set is not truly a new product and sales figures will be misleading. A completely new fixed set (such as the Iconic Heroes) is the true yardstick to measure by.

My point is that a fixed set of dungeon dressing would do better than you might think. And while you ponder that I will keep on supporting the other sets you put them in. Keep up the good work.

Note that the Builder Series weren't fixed sets the way that Iconic Heroes sets are. They were one-mini boosters with a much smaller set list and 100% adherence to theme.

What do you mean by average quality?

Some minis look great, others don't. A lot of the faces missed the mark. My Feiya and Irovetti replacements don't seem any better than my originals.

Marco Massoudi wrote:

What do you mean by average quality?

Some minis look great, others don't. A lot of the faces missed the mark. My Feiya and Irovetti replacements don't seem any better than my originals.

Thank you for sharing that info.

I have been hearing 50/50 info about the paint quality of the minis.

A lot of people seem to be unhappy with too dark and too glossy paint jobs and ugly face paints while the other half says everything is great.

I guess it depends on the person who painted the mini, how lucky you get and if you prefer a good face OR body paint.

Thx to Brontosaurus for more reviews!

I'd sure like to see an alchemist lab in the future. Potion apparatus, bookcases, and a desk.

THAT is a very sexy idea.

Having looked at a lot of the Feiya and Irovetti minis, I think it's safe to say that they are general improvements over the original, Irovetti especially (though he's now a bit more gothy thanks to an indulgence in eyeliner). The Feiya I got in my case was actually quite lovely, but even with a really good repaint it's pretty clear that the original sculpt is the primary culprit.

Almost all the figures in this set, and I think literally all the figures in future sets, are digital sculpts. I think that makes a big difference on things like faces, and I think it has a lot to do with faces being generally better this time around.

Having looked at a lot of the Feiya and Irovetti minis, I think it's safe to say that they are general improvements over the original, Irovetti especially (though he's now a bit more gothy thanks to an indulgence in eyeliner). The Feiya I got in my case was actually quite lovely, but even with a really good repaint it's pretty clear that the original sculpt is the primary culprit.

Almost all the figures in this set, and I think literally all the figures in future sets, are digital sculpts. I think that makes a big difference on things like faces, and I think it has a lot to do with faces being generally better this time around.

Generally i think that the line has improved a lot over the years.

Every set has one or two minis that are the "stinkers" but that's ok.
I don't think wizkids need to put out a replacement for those (even if the spirit of such a decision is much appreciated).
Personally i will continue to buy every set as long as 50% of the minis are good looking, even if i already got the creature from D&D or a previous Pathfinder set.
That said, while i appreciate the Rusty Dragon Inn set being extremely humanoid heavy, as a lot of people probably don't have as many as i have from older D&D sets and there being a lot of useful humanoid minis in it, i would like to see the next set concentrate more on nonhumanoid monsters that have never been done in prepainted plastic like a medium or large crab for instance. Of course there should be some humanoids from the NPC Codex, as well as maybe 2 sets of 4 humanoids from the Monster Codex (maybe some drow or duergar).

Also i think the next set will have the Gargantuan Black Dragon as Case Incentive. ;-)

Keep up the great work!

I think a dungeon dressing box set would sell well. Considering what some pieces are going for online right now, it might be worth testing the waters on.

And on topic, picked up a brick at my FLGS early this week. Everything looked great. I can't wait to drop the Quivering Cube or the Flesh Golem on the table. The Flesh Golem came out excellent!

Like several above I haven't received my case yet but I'm very much looking forward to getting it this week, especially after some of the reviews I've read elsewhere. Hats off to you and the wizkids crew. So happy to see the line gathering strength as it ages.

I would second an alchemists lab, esp and calmly if it contains a large green incubating tank, complete with suspended body. I'd also like to see a temple theme - pillars, alter, elaborate standing candelabra.

Stairs would also be a welcome add, after all what map doesn't contain at least one 1" stair set or a 2" x 2" set. You could always put them together for a larger set. Perhaps even a large spiral stair.

I know wizkids did a very nice set of dungeon artefacts in the dim dark past which included some nice pillars, some backed seats and a great long table. So this is probably easy for them.

In terms of utility maybe a camp fire.

Some natural effects/terrain would be cool - D&D did a death cap mushroom once and it sold like wildfire. Another could be good and double as fungal creatures, especially if the set included a variety of cool myconids or fungal people, something née ally lacking in plastic. Add some stalagmites and you have the start of an orvian set.

Berk the Black wrote:

I'd sure like to see an alchemist lab in the future. Potion apparatus, bookcases, and a desk.

THAT is a very sexy idea.

And while we're on the subject, maybe keep an eye out for ways to insert traps and mimics in these settings.

Have we heard any hints about what the theme of the next set might be? I don't remember anything being dropped after RDI.

Here's some guesses, just for kicks:
-- Wilds of Golarion. We've just seen dungeon and urban sets, so a wilderness set seems the obvious next direction. I'd actually really welcome such a set.
-- If instead they feel like it's time to do another set built around an AP (which I got the impression they're increasingly less likely to do), I'd think it would be one of two things, either Mummy's Mask (which they've supported in lots of ways, including audio books and the next Card Game installment), or Hell's Rebels/Hell's Vengeance, which actually makes a lot of sense since you'd be covering 2 AP's for the price of one, and could maybe even sneak in some stuff for earlier AP's like Council of Thieves or Curse of the Crimson Throne (widely thought the be the single strongest AP, if I'm not mistaken.) On the other hand, such a set would be likely to skew urban, and that might not be attractive right on the heals of RDI.

My own hope is that it'll be a wilderness set. With Shocker Lizards. (SHOCKER LIZARDS!!!) And some fey. How do we not have a nymph or dryad yet? Just look at the Bartender: sexy minis sell. This set could also cover some more stuff from Kingmaker, which would make me *very happy*.

I'm not so keen on AP themed sets either.
Some more Animal Companion, Familiar and (Pally/Chavallier) Mount choices would be welcome. "Wilderness theme" would probbably serve that just fine.

And, as always, what else would you like to see in future sets?

To selfishly lobby for something of limited use because I'm currently running it: I could use a Runewell of Greed!

Personally, I do like AP-themed sets and would love to see one for Mummy's Mask. Or perhaps a desert theme if AP is too restrictive.

There are a lot of animal and fey minis to be done.
Also people need DEVIL minis as there are virtually none (Sentinel Devil and Drowning Devil the only ones i can think of) for Hell's Rebels and Hell's Vengeance.

So a set named "The Devil's Wild" or "Wild Hells" would be great.
Better yet "Hell's Wilds". ;-)

I hope we get some much needed Big Bads from APs like Second Darkness, Kingmaker, Jade Regent and Mummy's Mask.
In short - plastic versions of some Reaper Minis.
Add some gods and a few Pathfinder Tales characters and voila.

Hopefully we'll get a preview soon.

Seconding shocker lizard So! And fire place is good too. I would also suggest desk, barricade made of debris, and a selection of non-dire in scale garden variety animals (deer' cow goat cat ect)

Goat's been done (Reign of Winter), so you can already get your own goat :-) There are some nice elk in a variety of colors that Wizkids put out as Mage Knight minis long ago. An ox would be cool, and I'm sure a cat would find a market too (though no doubt Paizo would have requests for an endless variety of promo repaints.)

I really liked this set, I think the paint job was pretty amazing for prepainted plastic, very good job overall. I can always touch up the odd mini here or there that I need to fix. The price was well worthwhile. I really love looking over my mini collection.

I was slightly underwhelmed by the bar. Although cool it's a little finicky to hold it all together, I think it might have been nicer to see the bar itself as a single piece.

I think the bar would be a lot cooler if combined with a flip mat.

I find myself missing a gargantuan mini of which there are several we need...

would have been nice to have gotten more than one quivvering cube, that seems to be an expensive mini in any form, but it's so cool.

Still waiting for my set, but moving forward I would suggest terrain pieces that are only needed in limited supply. This way when we get 1 of each we are satisfied and not longing for more (I know this may not line up with your sales perspective). A nice brazier, altar, fireplace would all be welcome. Things like beds are needed in such supply that it can be frustrating.

I really think a fey set is the way to go! There are so many cool fey creature (good and evil) that need to be done. Whose game hasn't traveled through the forest and just thought of the fairy folk taking control! Fun, fun, fun! However, I can't diminish the want and desire for devil minis! I have enough demons, but would love some more devils!

I haven't had my case shipped yet because my credit card had expired on the site (who remembers to update all sites that have your credit card info until they remind you - EZPass, stores, etc). So, I received an email the other day that I needed to update it. All good. However, when I went to update it they asked for an almost $20 charge to re-update my credit card!!!! I've never heard of such a thing in my life so sent an email to customer service! That's ridiculous! I just started with my case subscription and this is what happens! When I saw the email I immediately went to update my credit card with the new expiration date, but when they said there was an almost $20 fee to do it I stopped and was quite bothered!

Erik, please tell me this additional $17+ charge is a mistake so I can get my case and continue my subscription!

Just a little interesting bit of info, we had our normal PFS session yesterday at our local gaming shop. The shop had already sold out of the minis. They did not have a single box in stock. (I normally buy a box or something to help support the store that supports us.) On the plus side, I did win our PFS lottery...hurray! Store credit for me :)

I got my case and I'll be inventorying it later tonight. :-)

It's complete. I got the replacement King Irovetti and Feiya. I could have used fewer frost giant ice mages, gorgons, kirrix, ghoul cultists, and vampire spawn, and more dungeon dressing.

Re: holding the bar together. I'm thinking of trying some poster tack. It should also hold the bottles on the shelves.

Got my case today. Wow! Wow!!! Wow!!!!! Love it. The minis turned out great.

The paint and sculpts are all great.

Beaky is my favorite owl bear mini of all time.

The kobold trap maker is my favorite kobold mini of all time.

The frost giant ice mage is simply cool.

The orc rider on the dire wolf fits so nicely with dire wolves already on the market - a great figure in its own right.

The bar scene with so many characters that fit with the theme are perfect for many bar scenes in game.

The two goblins make me smile. Good unique minis with stories yearning to be told tying them into story lines.

I could go on, but you get the picture.

I have only 2 very minor things I will fix -
1 bugbear mystic lost the bottom half of her staff. I may just leave it. It looks pretty good as is.
1 farmer has one foot off the ground - a little glue will fix that easily.

Getting a case of this was awesome. There are only a few minis that I won't use (probably only ever use 1 flesh golem - got 3, 1 gorgon - got 3, 2 frost giant ice mages - got 4, 1 city watch commander - got 3, 1 or 2 dwarf wizards - got 4). The rarities for this case were perfect for me. I only wanted 1 of each rare. I understand the reasoning for the rarity of the dungeon dressing, but will add my voice to others' voices that more of these would be great - love the table, cart, and wagon especially.

Thank you Erik, Paizo, and WizKids!

Got my case today and received a full set with no breakage, so I no longer have to worry about singles being sold out!

I think this is absolutely the best set yet, quality-wise. No faces that make you cringe when you pick up the mini to look at it, though a few are a bit muddy (Guard and Half-Elf Bard in particular). The detail on the kobold trapmaker is amazing: you can see every little tooth on his trap.

The replacement Feiya still sucks, sadly, but at least we have the Iconic Heroes Feiya coming. My original King Irovetti wasn't all that bad, really. This one looks a bit more crazed and Conanesque.

Of the large minis, the silver dragon and the orc on the dire wolf are just stunning.

One potential problem with a fey set; a high proportion of them would need to be smaller than small, but with Pathfinder Battles not using bases below small you cannot fit multiples into one square.

I got my case. Only one broken farmer, which isn't a big deal. Overall, I like the set and think it's well done. The main exception to that is the bugbear mystic. It's just terrible. The sculpt is way too soft looking and the paint job on all of mine is sloppy.

I’ve only opened up one brick yet of my first case, but part of that brick was the super booster (King Ivoretti and Feiya). The king looks great, but Feiya is leaning forward around 30-35 degrees. Is this normal for this mini?

And it’s not like she’s off the base, her feet are planted firmly and actually trying to bend her back doesn’t even work as her robe blocks doing that (there is no gap between robe and base).

My other issue is the Aristrocrat. He is painted just fine, but his cane is quite deformed. Both the top and bottom portions (either side of hand) are bent back. My experience is when something like that happens is I can bend it back, but it won’t stay.

So far for dressing pieces I’ve received a table, crate and small cart. All look very good.

Only had one "casualty", a vampire spawn with one foot off the peg and the other foot with a clean break halfway through. Not a big deal, since I have 4 other healthy spawn and a little glue should make the bad one serviceable.

In terms of numbers, there may be a few singles I'd want to pick up (another orc rider and 1-2 goblin riders) but nothing really urgent. Maybe another barrel and another crate, but I'm set with the rest of the dungeon dressing.

Overall very pleased with the set and extremely pleased with the way Mona is leading the Pathfinder Battles line.

I agree that Rusty Dragon Inn may be the best set yet; however, the case I just opened had the most damaged pieces of any case I've opened.
Two (of my 4) owlbears have broken claws, Cayden's sword is broken, Bugbear Mystic's staff is broken, though only one mini was separated from it's base. I'll be making extensive use of Wizkids's replacement system this time. Typically in a case I get one broken mini and one separated from it's base. Side note: I gently pried the quivering cube off it's base so that it could more properly engulf it's prey. Attempt this at your own risk.

This is also the first time I've not received every figure in a set. My cart was missing. I know that "Buyers who purchase factory-sealed cases should get a nearly complete set of figures. (As with any randomized product, collation is not guaranteed.)" I guess I have to pick up a single when the cart becomes available again.

Feiya was slightly better than the original and also has an exaggerated forward lean. Irovetti was acceptable, though he has extensive black eyeshadow around his newly stamped eyes.