So i just found out that the THIRD SET for D&D minis Icons of the Realms is already slated for August 2015. I barely got started collecting my minis for Set 2 (Elemental Evil). 
Case incentive seems to be a Gargantuan White Dracolich.
Hmm
It subtitle will be a nice clue to what's next
Well, if they stick to the release schedule of a new mega-adventure roughly every six months, then that means there would be a new line of minis every six months too, to go with it,
Well, as of now, I have nearly "half" of the Set 2 (Elemental Evil) minis collected.
Overall, I'm disappointed with the quality and direction that WotC/Wizkids is going with the D&D minis. I say this while comparing to the few dozen D&D minis I have from "older sets" such as Lords of Madness, Harbinger, Blood Wars, War Drums, etc.
My observation of the new set (Elemental Evil) is that the paint quality has really gone down, compared to many of the outstanding minis from the prior sets I mentioned above. I also note some slight changes, both positive and negative. The mini bases, for example, is now noticeably different. The black base is now "stiff", although the texture and look feels cheap and gritty, as if the Chinese factory purposely used the cheapest grade of recycled plastic. The stiffness means that they no longer bend like they used to on Large and Huge minis from the past, which is a good thing.
Another observation is that the underside-of-base "marking" (the name of the figurine, for example "Forest Gnome Ranger 4/46" is very very tiny, you almost need a magnifying glass to read it. This is true for minis of the Small and Medium sizes (but not the large or huge). Whose idea was it to make it this small? It was small before, but you never needed a magnifying glass to read it.
Examples of horrible quality minis in Set 2: Troglodyte, Wolf Spider, Water Elemental. Really?? The water elemental is colored a brackish green color of water. From what Ocean did this water elemental come from? From the polluted industrial sewage rivers of Beijing China? Terrible.
There are a few minis from my Set 2 collection which deserve the rare mention of reasonable quality. I got the Brass Dragon as one of my random rares from the Brick. It's a good-looking dragon, about on par with previous dragons from the legacy sets. The Salamander is a very fine sculpt and paint job. The Air Cult Warrior is also a nice mini to look at. The Ettin is also a very well-done mini. I also have the unique Gargantuan (ancient) Silver Dragon, which of course is an impressive figure. But considering how much the unique costs, it had better be a very good sculpt and paint job.
What is disappointing is that the same company (Wizkids) is commissioned to do WotC's D&D miniatures line, and Wizkids also is commissioned to do Paizo's Pathfinder miniatures. It's like night and day. The Paizo minis are absolutely better-looking, better attention to detail and colors. I don't play and have never played Paizo Pathfinder anything. But now I'm beginning to understand why so many gamers prefer it over WotC's D&D. The Paizo production values are simply much better.
I really hope that D&D Set 3 minis are better..... but the hope seems small.
Rage of Demons is probably the title of the new Set 3 Miniatures. Same name as the D&D Campaign/Adventure product.
As already leaked (by Wizkids?), the Case Incentive figure is going to be another dragon..... a Gargantuan White Dracolich.
Lots of new images posted of the Set 3 minis. These are from GenCon 2015 I assume.
http://www.minisgallery.com/dnd/dnd4.htm
Previews of more minis for Set 3 (RoD). The new Vrock and Chasme demons look great!
I'm liking what I'm seeing on the link provided. There's a bunch I look forward to purchasing when they hit the FLGS. The troll computer render looks cool and the photos of the beholder, drider, and gnoll look like minis I'll be shooting for buying. If that Demogorgon box shot is actually a huge mini, i'll take it as well. Although like mentioned, it would cool to be similar in size to Orcus. I might be getting my hopes on the Demongorgon since that's the box package image seen behind other minis.
One problem I have with the "new" 5th Edition D&D minis is that the proportion of some creatures are really way out of proportion. I say this since I can compare them directly to some of the previous minis I got from older legacy sets. For example, the Gnoll. In the Set 2 Princes of the Apocalypse, the Gnoll Warrior is incredibly large.... I mean, it's supposed to be an ordinary gnoll, not some warchief type or some demonic gnoll variant. Just a plain gnoll warrior but it looks the size of a 9 foot humanoid. In contrast, the gnoll minis from previous sets are in line with the same size as their human counterparts (e.g. around 6-7 feet tall humanoids).
I'm excited about the previews of Set 3.... IIRC this is the D&D minis set that will have the beloved Blink Dog! I've researched all the other older DDM Sets and those never had any blink dog figure.
(Yes yes I know that older pewter and lead metal minis like Ral Partha and Grenadier have had blink dog minis way long ago. But I'm specifically talking about the plastic D&D Minis sets only). I hope this blink dog is not a rare.
I...really want all of these. Goodness.
Do we have an actual release date yet? August is almost over.
Chakrum wrote:
I just hope that WotC hears this ... put the white lettering on all the figures. It is nearly impossible to read the molded in black on black lettering on the bases. This set has some with white lettering and some with molded in black lettering. I love the figures in the first brick of my case but it is so dang hard to read too many of the figures!
And, when do we get the complete list and nice pictures of each?
With my second brick opened up, I have to add something about the miniatures, especially the miniatures that have the clear posts. I'm sitting here cursing WotC because the stupid post of the gold dragon (figure 46/55) simply refuses to go into the dragon. I line up the flat, push and wiggle and push and turn and the stupid thing just falls out again. And, I have the Gold Shadow Dragon here and I hesitate to even attempt that one because it looks like the same figure only cast in clear gray plastic.
Is it just me or do other people have these problems, too?
When will they make the D&D minis like they make the Attack Wing minis and put the post in for us? This is frustrating, to say the least. Really? Do I have to epoxy these stupid things together? Is it too much to ask for a quality piece for my money? Do I stop buying a case every time these miniatures come out or will they fix these annoyances in the line? I hate this.
@ geoharpts: Yeah, I am no fan of the new "flying above clear plastic stands" dragons. In fact, I already purchased a few of the older (legacy sets) dragons which are in non-flying pose. Some of them look even better than the flying ones, but it depends on the pose. Please send an email complaint to WotC about this issue. If they receive enough complaints, there is a chance the "mistake" will be addressed. How do I know? Because WizKids (same company that molds and manufactures these figures) has issued "fixed" versions in the past, especially with their Pathfinder line where they messed up on specific figures, and had to apologize and ask customers to recall their flawed figures back in exchange for the "fixed" figure (at no extra charge).
Looks like a release date of Wednesday 9/9/15, less than a week away before I can pick a few up.
Set 3 pre-orders are just barely starting to trickle in (early shipment for some).... and already the tentative name of Set 4 is.... weird..... "Monster Menagerie"? Ummm.... whut?? Anyways, Gargantuan Treant is the case incentive. 
Hi all,
My Set 3 pre-orders should be shipping soon and I look forward to it. If you have already received some Set 3 figures, could you please given some input as to which ones stand out (your favorites) and which ones are simply disappointing? I only pre-ordered the Dracolich promo (gargantuan) and a single brick (8 boxes). That means I would still need to pick up a few (non-random) singles.
EthanSental wrote:
moonbeast wrote:
And I couldn't resist and on my drive home from work, picked up 3 more boosters from the new FLGS. Nice looking minis from the 3 large and 9 mediums i recieved today.
Also, Gale Force Nine just posted a new Graz'zt mini on their site today. Looks good! I've been more impressed with their resin minis as I've slowly picked them up. Elminster, Drizzt, Kleef Kenric, Red Dragon have all been top notch stuff and easy to work with. Price point is a little high but so far awesome stuff.
Definitely agree that GF9's minis are of way better quality than the WizKids minis made for DDM. But regardless, I'm among those that have never been good at painting minis, so that's that. Pre-painted plastic minis (like the WizKids ones) will suffice for me.
I've opened up 11 booster packs as my brick of 8 came in today. I have 3 Ropers, 2 trolls, red dracolich, nightmare, dryder, chasme demon, vrock demon and carrion crawler for my large creatures. All are nicely done. The medium or small are great too. Just a couple doubles but are ones I can use like hobgoblins and the ilk. The human wizard is top notch and got one in the clear plastic version.
I mentioned the Graz'zt by GF9 in passing as its nicely made and just came out. I think I'll pick it up just to have. They also have Zuggtmoy as well.
It's interesting that we have new monster minis.... of monsters that are NOT in the current Monster Manual. A Shadow Beholder? I wonder if the stats are in OotA.
When is your brick supposed to arrive? That's a good question about the shadow beholder, be interesting to find out when my copy of OotA arrives next friday hopefully.
My order should arrive any day now. I pre-ordered 1 brick and the Gargatuan dracolich. I can always pick up individual singles or boosters as needed.
I picked up three bricks and a handful of singles.
Rage of Demons is an absolutely stellar miniatures set, one the the best Wizards has produced in years -- and maybe one of the best pre-painted sets to date. The paint jobs on the staple commons -- like the drow, lizardfolk, and kuo-toa are fantastic, and the material quality of the scupts is top notch. There are very few misses or droopy sad swords in the set.
The Beholder is hands-down the best one WoTC has ever made, ditto for the Red Dracolich, the Drider, the Vrock, and the two Genies in the set are amazing.
Actually, this is bit of a strange set, since the only figures that are a little disappointing are some of the Rares.
It's also a set that has very few PC figures, which I really like as a DM.
It's a little disappointing there aren't any promo figures for the Demon Lords -- I would have loved a gargantuan Demogorgon -- but Rage of Demons is still an amazing set.
Here are the case results from 7 sealed cases, for those that are interested:
____ | 1 … 2 … 3 … 4 … 5 … 6 … 7 | avg | Name (Rarity/Size)
001 | 5 ... 3 … 4 … 5 … 4 … 4 … 5 | 4.3 | Derro (Common/Small)
002 | 3 ... 5 … 4 … 3 … 5 … 5 … 4 | 4.1 | Dretch Demon (Common/Small)
003 | 4 ... 6 … 5 … 5 … 5 … 4 … 5 | 4.9 | Kobold Guard (Common/Small)
004 | 4 ... 4 … 3 … 4 … 4 … 4 … 4 | 3.9 | Goblin Archer (Common/Small)
005 | 5 ... 4 … 4 … 4 … 4 … 5 … 4 | 4.3 | Quasit (Common/Small)
006 | 3 ... 4 … 5 … 4 … 5 … 3 … 4 | 4.0 | Cockatrice (Common/Small)
007 | 5 ... 5 … 4 … 3 … 4 … 5 … 4 | 4.3 | Duergar Fighter (Common/Medium)
008 | 5 ... 4 … 4 … 4 … 5 … 4 … 4 | 4.3 | Dwarf Wizard (Common/Medium)
009 | 4 ... 4 … 5 … 5 … 5 … 4 … 5 | 4.6 | Kuo-Toa (Common/Medium)
010 | 5 ... 5 … 4 … 5 … 4 … 5 … 3 | 4.4 | Grimlock (Common/Medium)
011 | 3 ... 4 … 5 … 4 … 4 … 5 … 5 | 4.3 | Lizard Folk Fighter (Common/Medium)
012 | 3 ... 5 … 5 … 5 … 3 … 4 … 5 | 4.3 | Hobgoblin Soldier (Common/Medium)
013 | 5 ... 5 … 4 … 4 … 5 … 4 … 4 | 4.4 | Drow Scout (Common/Medium)
014 | 2 ... 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 2 | 2.7 | Human Wizard (Uncommon/Medium)
015 | 4 ... 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 2 … 3 | 3.0 | Half-Orc Paladin (Uncommon/Medium)
016 | 3 ... 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 | 3.0 | Drow Captain (Uncommon/Medium)
017 | 3 ... 3 … 3 … 3 … 2 … 4 … 3 | 3.0 | Quaggoth (Uncommon/Medium)
018 | 3 ... 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 | 3.0 | Ettercap (Uncommon/Medium)
019 | 3 ... 3 … 3 … 2 … 3 … 3 … 2 | 2.7 | Water Myrmidon (Uncommon/Medium)
020 | 3 ... 3 … 3 … 3 … 4 … 2 … 3 | 3.0 | Shadow Demon (Uncommon/Medium)
021 | 3 ... 2 … 3 … 3 … 4 … 2 … 3 | 2.9 | Banshee (Uncommon/Medium)
022 | 2 ... 3 … 2 … 2 … 3 … 3 … 3 | 2.6 | Air Myrmidon (Uncommon/Medium)
023 | 2 ... 3 … 2 … 2 … 3 … 3 … 2 | 2.4 | Drow Archmage (Uncommon/Medium)
024 | 3 ... 3 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 2 … 4 | 3.0 | Kuo-Toa Archpriest (Uncommon/Medium)
025 | 3 ... 3 … 3 … 4 … 3 … 3 … 3 | 3.1 | Troll (Uncommon/Large)
026 | 4 ... 2 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 2 | 2.9 | Drider (Uncommon/Large)
027 | 3 ... 4 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 2 … 3 | 3.0 | Carrion Crawler (Uncommon/Large)
028 | 2 ... 4 … 3 … 3 … 4 … 3 … 3 | 3.1 | Roper (Uncommon/Large)
029 | 3 ... 2 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 | 2.9 | Vrock (Uncommon/Large)
030 | 3 ... 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 4 … 3 | 3.1 | Chasme Demon (Uncommon/Large)
031 | 4 ... 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 4 | 3.3 | Nightmare (Uncommon/Large)
032 | 3 ... 3 … 2 … 3 … 4 … 3 … 2 | 2.9 | Djinn (Uncommon/Large)
033 | 2 ... 3 … 4 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 4 | 3.1 | Efreet (Uncommon/Large)
034 | 0 ... 1 … 1 … 1 … 0 … 1 … 1 | 0.7 | Wood Elf Archer (Rare/Medium)
035 | 0 ... 1 … 1 … 1 … 0 … 1 … 1 | 0.7 | Blink Dog (Rare/Medium)
036 | 1 ... 1 … 1 … 1 … 0 … 1 … 1 | 0.9 | Bugbear Hunter (Rare/Medium)
037 | 1 ... 1 … 0 … 0 … 1 … 1 … 0 | 0.6 | Champion of Veenoghu (Rare/Medium)
038 | 1 ... 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 0 … 0 | 0.7 | Mind Flayer Lich (Rare/Medium)
039 | 1 ... 0 … 1 … 1 … 0 … 1 … 1 | 0.7 | Rust Monster (Rare/Medium)
040 | 1 ... 0 … 0 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 0 | 0.6 | Xorn (Rare/Medium)
041 | 1 ... 0 … 0 … 1 … 1 … 0 … 0 | 0.4 | Copper Dragon (Rare/Medium)
042 | 0 ... 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 0 … 1 | 0.7 | Helmed Horror (Rare/Medium)
043 | 1 ... 1 … 0 … 0 … 1 … 1 … 0 | 0.6 | Grell (Rare/Medium)
044 | 1 ... 0 … 1 … 0 … 1 … 1 … 1 | 0.7 | Spectator (Rare/Medium)
045 | 0 ... 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 0 … 1 | 0.7 | Hook Horror (Rare/Large)
046 | 1 ... 1 … 1 … 1 … 0 … 1 … 1 | 0.9 | Gold Dragon (Rare/Large)
047 | 1 ... 1 … 1 … 0 … 1 … 0 … 1 | 0.7 | Nalfeshnee (Rare/Large)
048 | 1 ... 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 | 1.0 | Red Dracolich (Rare/Large)
049 | 1 ... 0 … 0 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 | 0.7 | Beholder (Rare/Large)
050 | 1 ... 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 | 1.0 | White Dracolich (Promo/Huge)
051 | 0 ... 0 … 1 … 1 … 0 … 0 … 1 | 0.4 | Invisible Human Wizard (Ultra Rare/Medium)
052 | 0 ... 0 … 0 … 1 … 0 … 1 … 1 | 0.4 | Invisible Blink Dog (Ultra Rare/Medium)
053 | 1 ... 0 … 0 … 0 … 1 … 0 … 0 | 0.3 | Invisible Mind Flayer Lich (Ultra Rare/Medium)
054 | 1 ... 0 … 0 … 0 … 0 … 0 … 0 | 0.1 | Gold Shadow Dragon (Ultra Rare/Large)
055 | 0 ... 1 … 0 … 0 … 0 … 1 … 0 | 0.3 | Shadow Beholder (Ultra Rare/Large)
thanks for the numbers Kor. I guess my invisible human wizard is indeed a rare find for me as well as the red dracolich.
On a side note and it might have been covered with the Tyranny of Dragons minis came out and calling the Tiamat figure gargantuan along with any of the new gargantuan dragons. Maybe I'm hoping for the truly Gargantuan Black, blue, white, etc from a few years ago and the size of them. The new gargantuan seem to pale in comparison and seem more like a large dragon. I want a dragons claw to be be able to wrap around an mini and toss him in the jaws like the older ones. The new ones don't seem as terrifying in size to me. Opinions? or a guide to a link where they talk of the new gargantuan sized dragons?
Thanks for the pics Moon, great visual to show the difference in the dragons. I'm with you on the next set of minis and make something besides more dragons.
My 1 case was missing the following:
36 Bugbear Hunter
38 Mind Flayer Lich
40 Xorn
48 Red Dracolich
52 Invisible Blink Dog
53 Invisible Mind Flayer Lich
55 Shadow Beholder
I guess that can be added to the statistics.
I don't mind the ultra rare invisibles not being complete but I didn't get even 1 Red Dracolich, Xorn, Mind Flayer Lich or Bugbear Hunter.
If WotC is listening, that sucks. If I buy a full case, like I now only do for WotC D&D miniatures, I expect to get a complete set except for the ultra rares.
If they think I'll be buying boxes to try and find the missing ones, they need to think again.
But, I thought I should report my (disappointing) case results.
To comment on the size of the "gargantuan" minis, yeah, it's another example of the more $ for less figure that seems to be the trend at WotC. 
Kor2015 wrote:
geoharpst wrote:
Yeah, I'd be disappointed as well. How many is in a case? 24 boosters? 8 boosters makes a brick as about my spending on minis, the rest I pikc up in singles from various sites.
There are 4 bricks with 8 booster boxes in each brick for a total of 32 booster boxes per case. At 4 figures per booster box, that is 128 figures per case for 55 figures that includes the gargantuan figure and the 5 ultra rares. At my FLGS, I get the case and the gargantuan figure (#50 White Dracolich in the RoD set) for about $430. I know I could buy it cheaper online but this is one way I support my FLGS. And, with a booster listed at $15.99, the retail price is over $500. Yes, Paizo and WotC don't guarantee that a case will get you all the figures. In the past I have always gotten all the rare figures in my case and then only had to chase down any of the 3-5 ultra rares that I was missing. This held true for the Paizo figures, too. I have all of the official D&D prepainted plastic mini sets, all the way back to Harbinger, and this is the first time that I recall where I didn't get all of the rare figures in my full case. That is all that I am stating and that is why I am disappointed. 
Geo, dude, that is quite a mini collection! Amazing choice of monsters to choose from. You the DM for your group or just like to collect? How do you store them? Chessex carriers or something else?
I have for of the double layed Chessex in your photo above for my metal minis and another box with homemade styrofoam that I picked up so long ago that I can't remember where i found it now. My plastic minis are on the lined up on the hutch near the gaming/dinning room table for ease of use (although any I'm using for that session are tucked behind my DM screen).
I probably need the sterilite box for some of my larger minis. I've had the Colossal red, then I picked up the gargantuan black about a year ago along with Orcus shortly after. I just got lucky on eBay for IcingDeath and Drizzt / Wulgar set for $31.76.
geoharpst wrote: