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First off let me state my expertise; I have been collecting D&D PPM's since I saw them advertised in Dragon Magazine. The first packs I bought were Harbinger and immediately I was addicted. By the end of the line myself and a cabal of friends were purchasing 1-3 cases each of each set. I played competitively from 2005 til the death of the game, even traveling across the county multiple times to play.
The set list for Heroes and Monsters seems to be a pedantic and boring with very few unique highlights or excitement. The paint jobs as a whole are rather bland with very little inspiration, however there are few of the minis that pop, pop, pop and are truly great grabs. While I was not floored and amazed, as an inaugural set this is a great offering.
Mini by Mini
1-4 The goblins; HFH, these little dudes are the best part of the set. Detailed, pretty paint jobs and best of all PPM Paizo Goblins...score A+
5-6 The orcs: meh, sculpts were ok, paint ok, the brute is top heavy and has a 'mushy' sculpt. D
7 Skeleton; You'd have to try and mess up a skeleton, pretty, accurate and a great common. B
8-9 The watch; boring, plain, but an OK base for future repaints. C+
10 Lizardfolk Champion; hmmmm a new style lizardfolk, not sure if I like it yet. Paint ok, sculpt a bit 'mushy' waiting for more lizardfolk to see if I like the new style. C-
11 Zombie; not good, doing the thiller dance, paint not great. D-
12 Giant Spider; capital A, Amazing, perfect sculpt, great paint. Perfect common. A+
13 Wolf; Great common, good paint, good sculpt, good job. B
14 Venomous Snake; did this guy shuffle through a bucket of red paint on the way to a fight? At least the sculpt is pretty good. C
15 Mummy: no paint, odd sculpt, better mummies out there. C-
16 Human Rogue; I love this guy the web photos do him no justice. Awesome uncommon. B+
17 Human Ranger: All my bows were bent upward, the sculpt looked like it wanted to be great but got lost in the mold and came out 'mushy'. Paint is pretty boring. C-
18 Elf Wizard: If the paint was a bit more creative this guy would be an A, he is a great 'blank' for repaints. B+
19 Half Elf Cleric; nothing special here and the holy symbol is lost to the mold and a blotchy paint. C+
20 Dwarf Fighter; not quite sure about this guy, good overall i guess. B-
21 Human Druid: Awesome sculpt, pretty good paint, overall great figure. A
22 Gnome Fighter; Not great but I like this little guy. B+
23 Dire Rat; WTH did a druid precast animal growth...too big (bigger than most of the humans). Paint is just bad, almost a total fail. D-
24 Gargoyle; Needs a black wash, otherwise OK, better gargoyles out there. B-
25 Half Orc Barbarian; Stumpy arms, little ax, odd sculpt. Needs better paint, very boring. C+
26 Spectre; Damn I wish he was clear plastic. Awesome mini. A-
27 Seelah, Human Paladin; WTH happened here, sculpt and paint should have been as good the Beginners Box set and it failed miserably. Boo! C-
28 Werewolf; Great paint, looks just like the common wolf, I love it. A
29 Medusa; Good sculpt, but WTH happened to the paint, no paint of the snake, BOO!!! C-
30 Minotaur; boring sculpt, boring paint, better minotaurs out there. C-
31 Ogre; Needs a flesh wash, sculpt needs cleaning up, Good effort and my 3yr old loved it so... B-
32 Troll; new way to go on the troll, a bit small, needs a skin wash, good effort. C-
33 Ettin; double-take, I love this guy and I got 3 of em. Too bad about the paint job though, needs wash a better detail. A-
34 Chimera; Fail, Fail, Fail. A lioness with wings, and two heads glued on, looks like a monkey with 3 butts. F
35 Manticore; could be better, but I like old school sculpt. Needs a wash, needs a wash, needs a wash. C-
36 Giant Caveweaver Spider; Super win, awesome sculpt, awesome paint, awesome rare. A+
37 Frost Giant; I love the hand swap, but WTH happened to his arms, is anemic, does he need to work out, anyway he needs something on the paint it's pretty boring. B-
38 Succubus; Seems Ok, paint is pretty boring, wings look tacked on. B
39 Lich; Capital C, Crazy, mad love for this guy. Awesome paint, awesome sculpt, awesome job guys. A+
40 Vampire; great sculpt but the paint is pretty boring. A
Overall Set Grade: B-. Great first offering, buy with little fear and definitely pick up singles.
Thanks to the Paizo and Wizkids for feeding my unhealthy addiction to plastiicrack.
