Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures

Hey folks!

From time to time, I read some fantasy literature to relax a little (or get through boring lectures) and I recently got my hands on a D&D novel (The Crystal Shard).... while reading it, I remembered seeing some D&D miniatures and wondered if I should get my hands on some and see if they can be painted in a good-looking way as well... But as it appears that they are difficult to get here in Germany, I wondered if they are worth spending money on or rather crappy sculpts.

So, if anyone has any experience, please share

I did a couple of the P.P D&D minis for Justin's campaign. He used most of the D&D minis straight from the box as somewhat inexpensive alternatives to the metal pieces I normally painted for him. The detail is noticeably lower on most of them & the soft plastic on things like spears that bend has a tendency to flake off. This Beholder is about the best of the lot:



It painted up okay, but there are a number of metal versions that are of superior quality.

Are metal D&D miniatures still being produced? If so, where are they retailed?

Well...when TSR owned D&D, they licensed Grenadier, Ral Partha, & a couple of other companies including Citadel/G.W. to produce minis for their game. Then WotC took over & produced their own line of metals. After they introduced the "collectible" prepainted plastics, I believe they dropped the metals.
Ral Partha is now Ironwind; to a large degree, they still have the minis that they produced for TSR available...they're just not called D&D anymore. Grenadier went out of business; their minis are being rereleased by Combat Zone & Mirliton.

I love D&D minis, but so much more can be used that are of better quality than the pre-painted ones they produce now.

Which reminds me, and this seems a good as place to ask as any...

I want a warforged model that does my character justice...He's one of the oversized ones with his head positioned kind of like an orc with oversized hands...To my knowledge I have not seen a mini of a warforged even coming close to that.

Is there a mini or set of bits I can assemble with a bit of green stuff that anyone would suggest?...I have looked for ages and cannot find anything.

ANOTHER THING ABOUT THE PP D&D MINIS: like their card games, WotC pack their minis as "collectibles": i.e., the contents of each box isn't known precisely other than it will contain a fixed number of "commons", "unusual", & "rare". This simulated a LOT of eBay trading with the "rares" going for some heavy $s.
Doing minis as a licensed thing has certain potential dangers for the mini maker; i.e, namely that if the licenser withdraws permission the minis can no longer be sold. This is a definite problem taken with the fact that WotC has business ethics that make GW look like a charitable enterprise.
Most of the D&Ders I know/paint for use more generic fantasy type minis from companies like Reaper.

@Figgy: I'd like to help you, but I don't know what a Warforged is/looks like...give me a clue & I'll do a search.
ADDENDUM: after rereading your description, Big Boris from Heresy popped into my mind, such as it is:




The mini comes with an alternate helmeted head & weapon variant. Cool, huh?!

I've got quite a bunch of D&D miniatures. My collection of the WOTC-produced prepainted variants is mostly skewed towards the large/huge weird beasties spectrum. There's a surprisingly active trading community in Sweden for D&D minis - I'd be surprised if that doesn't go for Germany as well. Check out Maxminis and Hordelings to find local enthusiasts.

On Quality - From what I've seen (which is just pictures) the detailing has gone completely down the drain the last couple of years. Especially on the big guys. I second DeafNala's comments completely - It's no problem to repaint, touch up or just properly base the WOTC Prepaints. Just don't expect the sculpt quality to match metallics or resins. The plastic is soft, so some conversions are easily done with just a sharp blade. I probably wouldn't bother with them if it wasn't for the large variety of unique monsters that can be had fairly cheap.

On randomness - The last couple of prepainted sets aren't sold 100% random - you get to see one big critter, so you can at least make a semi-informed buying decision

On Ebay - While it is true that a couple of the really iconic rare (and long OOP) minis go for absurd amounts, the opposite is also true. You can get boatloads of cheap commons and uncommons for just a few dollars.

On Metallics - DeafNala mentioned them above, but for real - If you want D&D-fitting minis in metal check out Reaper Miniatures. They have an insane selection, and they've got some damn fine sculptors on their payroll.
Another cool RPG miniature maker is Otherworld Miniatures - he's commissioning sculpts based on the really early D&D monster illustrations. Pretty much as old school as it gets

On Warforged - How picky are you with the details, Figgy? Reaper has a whole bunch of big, rowdy fighter-dudes in heavy armour with hulking postures. I don't know of anything outside the official WOTC prepaints that quite matches the Warforged aesthetic with the faces and super-detailed armour plates and some clothing thrown on top of their shells. Maybe a random hulking armor dude + a salvaged prepaint warforged head + a greenstuff loincloth or a hood or something? Sorry I don't have any specific sculpts to recommend.

Aye, Reaper has some crazy good D&D minis.

What I am looking for, sadly, does not exist. I am looking for a steampunk Warforged Artitficer that happens to be huge...

Imagine this guy - http://www.benwootten.com/images/Warforged%20Juggernaut.jpg

BUT in this guys outfit - http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/eb_gallery/82095.jpg

I fear I may just need to build it from near scratch.

(His name is Skeld, by the way...and I love him dearly.)

That you FKSN to drawing my attention to Otherworld minis, exceptional quality and styling!

If i played DnD that would be my first stop for minis (except orcs, no pigface yuk!). I still might pick up some randoms for painting fun!

Wow, otherworld has the best skeletons ever. Perfect for D&D encounters!