Pathfinder Battles: Bring Your PC to Life!

While a little disappointed there is only one female in the group, these still grab my interest. Thanks for the preview.

I've been looking for minis to better represent my group's characters. Here's to hopefully more premium figures to come!

I don't love that they are all standing on stuff. I prefer my minis on neutral bases.

I've actually been torn about WizKids transition to "clear" bases for large figures in their D&D line. I actually love the the idea of clear bases so you can see the map underneath, but I have SO MANY with black bases at this point that it's a little odd to see just a few clear ones.

I purchased the Deep Cuts version of the Elf Fighter. I like the detail of the mini. I'm interested in seeing the actual paint job. To get the painted version you're paying twice the prices for half the number of minis.

The Elf male fighter looks exactly like an existing Elf Ranger Nolzers figure like 95% similar.

variety of combinations of ancestry, class, and gender

6 minis. 5 male, 1 female. 5 human (because half-elf and half-orc is just a human heritage now), 1 non-human. 5 martials, 1 divine caster.

You couldn't even represent the iconic Fabulous Four party, yet, because there is no wizard.

I know, it's just the first wave, and I don't mean to bash the entire line, but that claim side-by-side with the reality of the first batch was just too much to let slide. Sorry.

You only know the classes because they tell you what they are. The cleric or fighter minis could easily be used for a wizard. A little imagination goes a long way in this game.

I thought the whole point of this set would be to find the mini that doesn't need you to overlook a bunch of things (like wielding the wrong weapon, wearing the wrong armor, being the wrong size/gender) so you can use it as your PC.

I gotta say that I'm disappointed to see only one woman and zero people of color represented among these minis. I get that they can't do all race/gender/class combos in six minis, and this does not seem like a very inclusive set.

*scratches head*

All the more jarring since there's a male human rogue as well, the only woman being in effect a duplicate is a rather meh feeling.

Equally jarring is the 'You must be THIS tall to be an Adventurer on Golarion' vibe...

Great start, for my money.

I’m looking foreword to seeing a more diverse array in future waves based on the various human ethnicities in the LO:CG...in particular the Erutaki, Jadwiga & Thassilonians.

At this point in my collecting, I’m most interested in a sculpt’s attention to fashion.

I think it would be cool to be able to look at two sculpts of a female barbarian and be able to tell which one hails from Whitethrone and which from Nantambu just by looking at their hair & clothes.

One dude’s opinion.

These six minis come with the "skateboard" terrain being part of the sculpt and have loose black bases included in the clear plastic blister package, on which they can be glued.

Personally, while i like the look of some of these minis, i agree that the selection is not ideal, both in the female/male ratio as well as in the class selection.

If these sell good enough, more waves will follow.
D&D Icons already has three waves out in stores and a 4th wave announced.

These "player character" minis have allowed the D&D sets to include monsters and NPCs only in their booster sets, which is something that seems to be liked very much.

The next planned Pathfinder minis product is
"Pathfinder Battles: Darklands Rising", currently scheduled for a december 9th 2020 release, in 14 weeks/100 days.
Hopefully previews will start soon. ;-)

I’m excited about what the theme of Darklands Rising might be. And what premium figure(s) would be offered.

BTW, if my math is correct, this will be the 19th set of Pathfinder Battles minis. An attestant to the quality of the minis line and of the Pathfinder line in general.

Criticism on the whiteness and maleness of this wave are fair and have been passed on to WizKids. There are literally thousands of potential combinations of ancestry, class, and gender, and we'll never get to them all, but that's no reason not to try for more variety in the products we do offer.

Marco's right that this line will allow randomized sets to feature more monsters and NPCs, though, so expect to see the PC-appropriate uncommons we normally include in booster-based sets appear as premium characters more and more as time goes on.

Sick! The design is pretty tight

Criticism on the whiteness and maleness of this wave are fair and have been passed on to WizKids. There are literally thousands of potential combinations of ancestry, class, and gender, and we'll never get to them all, but that's no reason not to try for more variety in the products we do offer.

I am really happy to see Pathfinder miniatures added to the Premium Miniatures lines.

While this set is more male focused, the Pathfinder Battles lines of miniatures have done a great job in offering many pc/npc (and monsters) in female appearance as well. In fact several past PB sets had more female pc/npc minis than male.

As a veteran gamer, I have seen the game and it's players grow from the predominant white male player base it started with. Based solely on my attendance at conventions (and gaming stores in my Canadian city which embraces multiculturalism) I still see the majority of the player base as being white males (although the ratio has greatly changed) -- and white males predominantly pick white male characters to play.

I can understand why there are so many white male pc/player options, as often marketing and product development efforts are highly focused on the primary demographics of the persons buying the products. A major drawback of that type of focus though is that you alienate persons outside of the target market -- which are potential customers.

I really credit Paizo in always promoting an image of inclusivity, in all aspects (race, gender, and sexual orientation).

With so many more female players and non-Caucasian players coming to the hobby over the last decade or two, it is important to ensure that they feel fully supported/embraced -- something Paizo has done well. Surely part of the reason it took these players so long to make the leap, was because based on the art/images/visuals/products they were seeing in the past, they weren't feeling welcomed.

Also, just because I'm a white male, doesn't limit me to playing white male characters. I have enjoyed roleplaying many different characters from a variety of race / ethnic backgrounds. However, when I have played non-Caucasian appearing characters, I obviously did not really have any options in pre-painted plastic minis. Sure I could just break out the paints and remedy that, but all gamers should be represented in the products being made for them.

Paizo has done a good job over the years in introducing female pc/npc character options in pre-painted plastic minis, but all miniature lines have done a very poor job in representing persons of color.

My two main recommendations for Paizo for the Pathfinder Battles are:

1. If the standard flesh tone applied to miniatures was a little darker, the miniature could still be used for representing Caucasians, but could also be used to represent a variety of most other races. Even persons of the same race are not all of the same skin tone, so going with a more neutral flesh tone could really appeal to a wider audience. If someone wants to play a pasty-white, flesh toned character and they believe it is important that their miniature reflects that -- they can break out a paint set :)

2. Ever since Pathfinder Battles has been produced, I have repeatedly requested race/ethnic/region-themed sets. Golarion has such a rich and ethnically diverse culture, I would like to have a decent selection of minis available from each region. I envision buying a themed set of say 6-8 minis, all of the same region, depicting different classes typical from region. (i.e. Shoanti, Garundi, Tian, Mwangi) Each of these could be their own themed set, and would go a long ways towards correcting the imbalance which currently exists with pre-painted miniature options.

...

I think that 2. is a really great idea!

With Wizkids doing single premium minis and boxes/blisters like "Cave Defenders", i certainly see the possibility and market for such themed sets.

@Mark Moreland:

Mark, can you give an estimate when the previews for "Pathfinder Battles: Darklands Rising" (current release planned for december 9th) will start?

The only things truly gendered about the rogue minis are the labels on the bottom. The "female" rogue could be a teenage boy, and the "male" rogue could be a rugged and muscular woman.

It looks like the next "D&D Icons of the Realms: Fangs & Talons" set may now release in early december instead of late november.

This could affect the release date of "Darklands Rising", which is currently still scheduled for a december release.

We have nothing to announce here about the release schedule for Darklands Rising, but will share any updates as soon as WizKids makes their plans public. Darklands Rising hasn't been officially solicited yet, so there's not much we can say about it until WizKids does so themselves through official distribution and marketing channels.

Are you going to be selling new D&D minis going forward? The only ones I have found on this site are a few years old.

Are you going to be selling new D&D minis going forward? The only ones I have found on this site are a few years old.

Hey David, we do not currently have any plans to offer the new DnD releases in the immediate future. As we get through some of the transitions we’re making in the warehouse and get lore caught up with CS, we might revisit this but for now you’ll need to find them somewhere else.

I bought the male cleric and female rogue Pathfinder premium minis. Both have excellent paint jobs and I'm very pleased with them. Looking forward to what future waves of the series will contain.

We have nothing to announce here about the release schedule for Darklands Rising, but will share any updates as soon as WizKids makes their plans public. Darklands Rising hasn't been officially solicited yet, so there's not much we can say about it until WizKids does so themselves through official distribution and marketing channels.

But i do.

Unfortunately "Darklands Rising" has been delayed to april 2021, according to Patrick O'Hagan from Wizkids. ;-(

While that is a major blow to Pathfinder players, the good news is that the 1st "Starfinder Battles" set should come out before that date, my guess is january or february 2021.

It looks like the "Starfinder Battles" set #1 has been delayed to march 2021. ;-(

STARFINDER NEWS:

MARCH 2021:

-"Starfinder Battles: Planets of Peril" (32 different minis in blind boosters)
One booster will be $14.99 and contain 3 random small, medium or large miniatures.
Renders show a large "Vracinea", medium "Garragakal", large "Sarcesian", large "Ksarik", large "Barathu" & medium "Swarm Corrovox".
One brick contains 8 boosters for $119.92.

-"Starfinder Battles: Planets of Peril: Docking Bay" premium set will cost $59.99 and include 12 terrain pieces (i count 11):
-Some kind of armored Jeep for two persons (1)
-a trailer which can be coupled to the jeep and be loaded with stuff (1)
-metal crate 1x1 inches (2)
-round green container 1x1 inches (2)
-round orange container 1x1 inches (2)
-transport box 1x2 inches (2)
- metal bench 1x2 inches (1)

PATHFINDER BATTLES NEWS:

APRIL 2021:
-"Pathfinder Battles: Darklands Rising:
"The Darklands are inhabited by dangerous creatures from the deepest reaches of Golarion. Collect all 52* figures from Darklands Rising, including monstrous foes from the depths.

Pathfinder Battles: Darklands Rising fantasy miniatures come in two product configurations the Standard Booster and the Standard Booster 8. Ct. Brick.

Pathfinder Battles: Darklands Rising Standard Boosters each contain four figures, with a higher ratio of Large and Huge creatures than ever before!

Each booster contains one of the following configurations:

2 Medium or Small figures and 2 Large figures
OR
3 Medium or Small figures, and 1 Huge figure"

There are two renders:
-Huge Shoggoth
-Huge Jabberwock

The premium set will be:
-"Pathfinder Battles: Darklands Rising: Mengkare, Great Wyrm Gold Dragon"

Shoggoth! Jabberwock! Mengkare!

Oh boy is this shaping up to be a great set.

Interested to see the gold dragon!

For those curious, here are links to the articles, with digital renders.

Darklands Rising

Planets of Peril

Price for one Darklands Rising booster seems to be $19.99.

Mengkare, the Gargantuan Gold looks to be about 15 inches high from base to wingtips, because he sits on that rock. Price is $89.99.

These are the other minis (Bestiary & page & creature level):

-Huge "Arboreal Regent" (Treant) B1 25 CR 8
-large "Fleshwarp Drow Abomination" (male drider) B1 159 CR 6
-Huge "Adamantine Golem" B1 189 CR 18
-Huge "Shoggoth" B1 293 CR 18
-large "Fleshwarp, Irnakurse" B2 118 CR 9
-large "Wood Giant" B2 124 CR 6
-Huge "Jabberwock" B2 150 CR 23
-large "Norn" B2 185 CR 20
-large "Skaveling" B2 241 CR 5

Deleted a bunch of posts that crossed the line. Let's make sure we treat each other with kindness and work to build the community and not tear it down.

Thanks for posting this news, Marco! We're still months away from our own previews of the sets, but the previews on WizKids' solicitation should hold folks over until we get around to more detailed blogs.