Hey Game Fans, we’re back with a look at something we thought was particularly awesome when we first heard about them way back in September (we think). The wonder children at Wizkids Games have been working on an unpainted line of fantasy adventure themed miniatures. The D & D ones are called Nolzur’s Marvelous Miniatures, (itself a riff on a magic item, that basically works like the paint from Bugs Bunny Cartoons), and the Pathfinder ones are from a line called Deep Cuts. Let’s take a closer look (like we broke out a camera and everything), and see what we can see.
Nolzur’s Marvelous Miniatures & Deep Cuts
I’m sure that some of you are wondering why we need a line of unpainted fantasy miniatures. Well, some of us like being able to customize how our characters look without going to the trouble of grabbing a multi-part plastic kit that we will have to clip, assemble, and go through the whole process to put together. Even then, we may not be able to find a miniature to represent our character. Nolzur’s MM fill three key areas for me as a miniature painter and a gamer. Most of these packs come with 2 figures, either two versions of a heroic figure, or two different poses for a monster. The big monsters (Troll, Griffon) come as single figure packs.
Area 1
First, can i find a miniature that fills my specific need? Not many Dwarven Wizards or Dragonborn fighters wandering around in fantasy miniature land, and this line would have to include things like this to hit a broad spectrum of gamer folk. Nolzur’s has divided their opening run of minis into a fairly even split of heroic adventurers and fiendish monsters.
Area 2
Second, How hard are these minis to get out of the packaging and onto the paint table? I was pleasantly surprised that i didn’t need a concrete saw and a host of tools to get these packages open, and the miniatures come as a single piece model* with a flat base to sit on. The models are primed out of the package with a Vallejo ultra HD quality primer that looks to be very capable of enabling me to paint these models out of the packing. (The asterisk is a reminder that the spell effects that come with certain models will need a teensy bit of assembly/positioning, but are not a part of the core model).
Area 3
How do they look? Are the models detailed enough to stand up to other miniature kits and how do they measure up against other Wizkids products (like their collectible miniatures lines that feature both Pathfinder and Dungeons & Dragons sets?). I’ll be taking some side by side comparison pictures, but my initial feel is that they are very very well constructed models. They are superb blank canvases for a painter to express themselves, and you can have a lot of fun painting these guys. They’re simple enough models that i don’t forsee having a problem painting them because of equipment and weapons that might be in the way, and i like the look of them. That simplicity is not a knock on their quality, (which i’ll show you some pictures in a minute), but rather an appreciation for people who decided not to overly design and overly complicate the product they were making.
Area 4 (I know, i said there were three key areas)
The other thing that i really like about these is the price point. With an expected 3.99 price point per pack, you can have a grand time assembling a miniature collection. For 20$, you can assemble a five person team of adventurers (with both low and high level versions of the characters), or you can put together a war party of goblins or orcs at a full 10 models. This is an astonishingly budget friendly alternative for new gamers to build their collections.
Conclusions
For the price point, i can’t think of a better product on the market for a new painter getting into the hobby. Single piece, pre-primed models that are a drop of glue from being on the base and ready to paint models are a fascinating entry into the miniature hobby marketplace, and while they will not necessarily take a swing at a miniature war game, they aren’t intended to. They are designed for new gamers to put together collections of miniatures that they can use to tell their adventures. I like these a lot, and i will probably be putting together a few articles on these to show some painting progress and some comparison shots of other models in this family.
Pretty Pictures
Beaksly
Mr. Blammington
Deep Cut Pathfinder Paladin (I haven’t named her yet)
Youtube Videos? (Shut up, That’s still a thing)
Now if you’re really looking for more looks at these, i did an unboxing video that you can hopefully find later today on my Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEEkksevvmdWt35ODaZMZtA
Those are my initial thoughts and looks at this wonderful new gizmotron. Game on, Game Fans
(Oh, if you’re reading this, Wizkids, I’d be happy to take a look at as many more of these as you want to throw my way)
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