Review - WizKids D&D/Pathfinder Miniatures

Last night while chatting with my friend Stan online he asked me if I had painted any of the new WizKids line of miniatures for D&D and Pathfinder.  It's funny because I bought some about 2 months ago but hadn't actually painted one yet, so I decided to bust one out late last night and see how they painted up and held detail.

The first thing to call out about these figures is that they are similar in price and material quality to the Reaper Bones line.  For some people this is a huge plus (the price), while for others the softer material can be a big downside.  I will say that the same issue as Bones exists where longer narrower features (primarily weapons) can come out of the package with a bend.  Having said that the detail is much crisper on the WizKids figure I worked on than any of the Bones figures I've done to date.  I'm not sure if the cuts are marginally broader or deeper but even after 2-3 layers of paint and 1-2 washes I hadn't lost any perceptible detail.  The other big positive I can call out is that these figures do in fact come pre-primed.  I painted mine directly over the existing coat of primer and had no issues what-so-ever.
Here's the cleric I painted in about 45 minutes.

Overall I don't think there's much mystery in who these figures are for.  If you're price conscious and need some classic D&D characters and monsters I think this line is really good value for money.  If hyper-detailed figures for painting contests are your thing these are still slightly (but only slightly) behind hard plastic, resin or metal.  I would recommend this line for gamers on a budget or those who don't want to put tons of time into each individual model that they paint.  I bought about a half-dozen packs and can personally easily see myself buying more.

-Jay