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Thoughts on new Tiamat vs Bones Tiamat


Rakumi
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Not too familiar with all the rules so I am not going to name the other brand.  But there is a new Tiamat mini being made.  It is $400 + dollars.  Seems ridiculous when you can get this amazing Bones 5 headed dragon Maal Drakar for $150.  Just want to hear people's thoughts on comparing from what is known?  Are you excited?  Would you purchase?  Is the Bones all you need?  How does the size stack up?  I have Maal Drakar but never had a chance to put him/her together.    

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3 minutes ago, Rakumi said:

Not too familiar with all the rules so I am not going to name the other brand.  But there is a new Tiamat mini being made.  It is $400 + dollars.  Seems ridiculous when you can get this amazing Bones 5 headed dragon Maal Drakar for $150.  Just want to hear people's thoughts on comparing from what is known?  Are you excited?  Would you purchase?  Is the Bones all you need?  How does the size stack up?  I have Maal Drakar but never had a chance to put him/her together.    

Personally, I'm a little tired of Wizkids Size changes. Yeah the model looks cool but knowing how ABYSMAL Wizkids prepainted minis can be lately, ill pass on that risk. In my humble opinion, it is NOT worth $400+. Maybe $250 but comparing it to other products they make, that $400 price tag seems STEEP. Like, greedily steep.

I'd be curious to see it in person before making up my mind about it's inherent quality and worth but I still won't be buying it.

 

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Let's be perfectly honest... the regular posters on this forum aren't the target audience for this.  This forum  is heavily populated with mini painters, and most of us who make the decision to have a Tiamat are going to want to paint her ourselves, especially given how... bad... the Wizkids Prepaints can look. 

All that being said, they still sell.  They sell well enough that Wizkids thinks enough people will pre-order this to justify making it.  Just probably not many of the people here.  

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I hadn't heard anything about this until reading your post, so I went searching for pics and a bit of info. I like the pose a lot, I'm wondering exactly how heavy it is compared to Ma'al. Either one is going to take up a bit of space for storage though.

 

2 hours ago, Cygnwulf said:

Let's be perfectly honest... the regular posters on this forum aren't the target audience for this.  This forum  is heavily populated with mini painters, and most of us who make the decision to have a Tiamat are going to want to paint her ourselves

 

This is true (I couldn't find it stated in the few press releases I read, but I assume this is pre-painted?). At a $400 price tag, I couldn't justify buying it (if I had the money for it) since I could buy Ma'al, an airbrush and a compressor for almost the same price. That $250 difference is a lot of money that could be allocated towards long-term hobby enjoyment.

 

Given the popularity D&D and RPGs have been experiencing, this is most likely aimed towards the higher disposable-income crowd and the celebrity players (the Matthew Mercers, the Joe Manganiellos, etc).

 

But I do like the pose.

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Even if I could justify dropping $400 on a mini (which is way, way beyond my budget), I am just not the biggest fan of Wizkid's miniatures in general.  I do own a number of their miniatures but I find the quality is just so wildly inconsistent.  A lot of them are great, some absolutely stunning infact, but a lot are horrible (cheap plastic and poorly moulded features, I've literally received models with their faces missing!).   My purchases have been so hit and miss that I just wont gamble with them anymore. 

 

I'm also not a fan of how they use gorgeous 3D renders of the models on their sales pages, rather than actual photos of the real life miniature, which aren't half as detailed and nice when you receive them.

 

I know a lot people, including members of this forum love Wizkids, and swear by them.  I am just commenting based on my personal experience with them.

 

Edited by Dan S
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I kinda don't trust them after the ship they released. Before it was out, they were saying it was going to be like how Reaper's ship turned out - have multiple decks you could stack and unstack, so you had a real time play area. As the Reaper ship wasn't in the world yet, I was excited - but I'm glad I didn't preorder it, because it turned out to just be basically one deck and then some deck inserts you put out next to it. VERY disappointing. MUCH happier with the Bone V ship!! And from now on, on anything Wizkids over $20 I gotta see it before I decide to buy

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Well to go by the wizkids website the miniature is roughly 75cmx40cmx40cm and I can see at least 3 major spots on the dragon necks where the painters missed and the raw primer is still showing.  Not the best foot forward.  I have Mal and I am very happy with that mini and my players Live with the fear I might on day bring her out to play...

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I agree that a $400 + mini is outrageous, but I do like the fact the head sculpts are correct, which they can do without concern because the have the licensing.  The dragon heads for Tianot (Maal Drakar) don't match the Forgotten Realms head shapes, and a lot of head shapes frankly, of the lore for chromatic dragons.  I saw a conversion that someone did to make it match, but seems a bit out of my league at the moment.  

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13 hours ago, lowlylowlycook said:

So is this thing more or less expensive than the GW Smaug?

About $150 less, but also the GW Smaug is resin cast to have the best detail possible, while the WK Tiamat is injection molded plastic and provided prepainted (which, for WK usually means applied with a trowel, not a brush)

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I paint for fun and display, like mentioned above, the quality is hit and miss with their stuff.

And...

I do own a 3d printer and there are many great files out there to make something similar for a fraction of that price.

For those who don't Bones Ma'al is a amazing and affordable piece.

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