News from the GAMA Trade Show!

Friday, March 18, 2016

Greetings, everyone! I'm writing to you today from the floor of the GAMA Trade Show, the game industry's annual convocation of manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in lovely Las Vegas, Nevada. GAMA is not only a great chance to meet up with industry friends and business partners, but it's also a great place to pick up exciting news from the attending publishers. This year, Paizo and Pathfinder are no different! You've probably also seen the news about our new paperback Pathfinder RPG Pocket Editions of the Core Rulebook and Bestiary, as well as the exciting announcement of September's Curse of the Crimson Throne hardcover Adventure Path. You may not have seen the great news about Pathfinder miniatures, however, so I wanted to carve out some time from my busy convention schedule to bring you up to speed.

Our partners at WizKids, who have already produced nearly a dozen sets of prepainted plastic Pathfinder Battles releases, announced on Tuesday that they are launching a brand-new line of unpainted plastic miniatures based on their two popular fantasy miniatures licenses—Pathfinder and Dungeons & Dragons, along with some original unbranded dungeon scenery!

In all the new unpainted figure line will launch with more than 150 unique sculpts, and is scheduled for a fourth-quarter 2016 release. All of the figures will come fully assembled, and will be pre-primed with Acrylios Vallejo primer, some of the finest-quality hobby paint available. The figures will come in a few different configurations:

• Hero Packs will contain both a low-level and a high-level sculpt of the same character, such as the Pathfinder iconic hero Valeros, pictured below.
• Monster Packs will contain 1–3 miniatures with different versions of the same type of monster (for example, goblins, orcs, etc.).
• Item Packs will contain scenery and items (treasure chests, traps, furniture and the like) for detailing adventures.

Each pack will be priced from $2.99-$3.99, depending on the size and number of figures included.

I had a chance to review early versions of these figures in hand at the show, and I think you will all be blown away by the enhanced sculpting process WizKids will be using, which highlights minute elements and includes deep cut surface details and scaled features for easier hand painting.

Take a look at the quick photos I took of Valeros on my iPhone to get a sense of how cool these will look. Much more detailed photos will appear here in the weeks to come.

The launch of WizKids new unpainted figure line will not impact either of Paizo's two existing miniatures lines, Pathfinder Battles from WizKids and Pathfinder Miniatures from Reaper. As the new figures will use completely new sculpts and poses, there should be very little overlap with existing figures, though it's safe to assume that some familiar faces are certain to appear in the new line.

Also at the show, I revealed two more digital sculpts from the forthcoming Pathfinder Battles set Deadly Foes, scheduled for an October release.

Look out! It's a Cockatrice! He nips you with that nasty beak of his and you're sure to be turned to stone. The Cockatrice is a Small, uncommon figure.

Look out! That friendly NPC you picked up a few dungeon rooms back isn't friendly at all—it's a Doppelganger! The Doppelganger is a Medium, uncommon figure.

Lots more to reveal in the weeks to come. Keep your eyes on this space for more exciting Pathfinder miniatures developments!

Until the stars are right, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher