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I've been getting back into roleplaying lately after a 12 year hiatus, and I'm having a lot of fun with 5th edition. 4th drove me away entirely.

Now that I'm back, I've noticed some great looking miniatures out there, but I wanted to ask:

Are the current WoTC mini boxes randomized boosters?

I'm really worried that they are, and I don't want to go getting into something like that as I view those practices as little more than a gambling scam. I do not have access to a 3d printer, and often I prefer as close to official products as I can get. Any advice?

Yes they are random boxes. They include 1 large mini and 3 small or medium sized minis. There are also common, uncommon, and rare distributions for the smaller minis and then uncommon and rare for the large ones. Some sets also have ultra rare invisible minis of minis in the set. There are also some sets that have variants of some of the minis so for example you may get #8a and it has a sword while #8b has an axe with a different paint job. Hope this helps.

Miniature Market will sell the individual minis parted out (at a markup), and ebay is usually a good place to find them as well.

They also have a separate line of official DnD minis that you have to paint (can't remember what they call it sorry)

and then there is the Reaper stuff which is what most people use

If you're looking for something specific, WizKids (owned by Wizards) also has the Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures line, which is a pretty detailed line of pre-prime miniatures. They're not random, and have a pretty decent line. Miniature Market has them cheaper than Amazon. Considerably cheaper.

Thanks all! I actually rediscovered Reaper!

I used to paint their stuff all the time in Middle and High School, and I had no idea that they were still around and kicking. I think their products will work nicely for me!

 streamdragon wrote:
If you're looking for something specific, WizKids (owned by Wizards) also has the Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures line, which is a pretty detailed line of pre-prime miniatures. They're not random, and have a pretty decent line. Miniature Market has them cheaper than Amazon. Considerably cheaper.

These are also great, picked up a bunch of stuff from my FLGS last week, and I am really impressed with the quality.

The old Warhammer Fantasy range I think was great for DnD minis. Till they mostly axed it anyway. I'd hunted a few down for my purposes, like a Saurus for my Lizardfolk character and a Glade Guard for a Ranger I might make later. You can still find some models on eBay for decent prices.

Nolzur's Marvelous Unpainted Miniatures. They come pre-primed which is a mixed blessing because they stiil have the mold lines, and are not the easy to clean up plastic. Also, Pathfinder Battleseep Cuts are the Pathfinder equivalent of the Nolzur's. Same scale so there is plenty of cross-over. These both have the advantage of being inexpensive if bought from GameNerdz or MiniatureMarket. Reaper Bones are not as nice as these. But they are cheap too.

 Red Harvest wrote:
Nolzur's Marvelous Unpainted Miniatures. They come pre-primed which is a mixed blessing because they stiil have the mold lines, and are not the easy to clean up plastic. Also, Pathfinder Battleseep Cuts are the Pathfinder equivalent of the Nolzur's. Same scale so there is plenty of cross-over. These both have the advantage of being inexpensive if bought from GameNerdz or MiniatureMarket. Reaper Bones are not as nice as these. But they are cheap too.

I ordered the Patfinder townsfolk from my FLGS and the Gargantuan Red Dragon, very happy with Nolzur's stuff.