Yea, these mini's basically suck. They took FOREVER, the quality is really , REALLY bad, came with lathe lines all over the place, and if that isn't enough, it BROKE the first time it fell on the floor. SKIP Hero Forge.
I've been halfway to obsessed with the new 2.0 editor since I discovered it's been released. While it's unfortunate to hear that the miniatures aren't as good as the digital tool, HeroForge does tell people their miniatures are intended for "gentle use", and they provide copious warnings that the mini you receive will not perfectly match the high resolution image on your computer. Frankly it's impressive enough that one can order a miniature in the ballpark of your design, especially during CoronaHoedown 2020. For those unable to paint miniatures themselves, it's a nice alternative.
The digital tool is splendid fun and a great help in creating on-the-fly artwork for your character, to use in character profiles or digital tabletop tools. While I do not have the Pro service, I've wiled away much of my free time this week creating a double dozen HeroForge minis for several different characters. The high-resolution digital images are perfectly serviceable for character portraits, they can serve as reference art for more traditional commissions artists, and the tool can even give rise to new ideas by simply assembling pieces you like into a new character concept. It's an excellent service if one recognizes what it's good at and what it's suited for.
I've ordered several minis from Hero Forge, and I have been satisfied with the quality of each, and each arrived in a reasonable time. You do remember that there's a global pandemic going on, right? A virus that has killed over a million people worldwide and that continues to kill 1000 people every single day in the US. You remember that whole thing, right? Yet despite that, the folks at Hero Forge are still going to work every day to make miniatures of your D&D characters. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that the Postmaster General has intentionally slowed down our entire mail system. So maybe it's not Hero Forge's fault if your mini didn't arrive on time. And if you don't want your mini to break, don't drop it. Sorry. No one ever said these things would be made of mithril. You paid for a mini, not one of Wolverine's bones (which I know are adamantium, not mithril, thank you.)
If you're not satisfied, take it up with Hero Forge.
Sorry if I sound a bit grumpy tonight. But that's only because... well... I'm a bit grumpy tonight.
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Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
My experience has been completely different, having bought both STL files and color prints. Obviously for STL files the 'shipping time' is trivial, but for my color print, it shipped really quickly from the states to the UK when they were experiencing high demand and limited resources.
As for 'lathe lines' (which is strange, because they're not lathed but 3D printed), they're basically imperceptible on my print. It may depends on the material; the lower quality plastics might produce more noticeable layer lines.
Finally, the fragility isn't a heroforge thing; I've had three different STL prints, one by one friend, two by the same company using two different materials, all bring from mishandling. Resin printing is just fragile, it's the nature of the material. These aren't your plastic 40k minis, these will break if you drop them.
I think Heroforge offers a great service, especially with their token and portrait creators. I too have 'wasted' a lot of time making characters to use as NPC art, and I'm planning on getting STL files for my IRL group once we all feel safe to play again, as a 'welcome back present'.
I haven't bought anything from Heroforge, but I have spent a good amount of time designing characters in the mini creator. The new colour tool is great.
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A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
The layer lines can be noticeable on areas with a lot of curve, at least on the cheaper plastics. But that's a limitation of the production method, and they warn you about it ahead of time. For some stuff you just need to make final adjustments yourself. I think there might be a bit of an issue with the difference of a CAD render with adjustable lighting effects and textures versus the reality of 3D printing, which I'm hoping as more examples of printed minis come out will help people realize 'oh yeah, that glass texture probably won't look quite like that in real life,' etc. I'm still waiting for some of the stretch goals to be implemented before I print my own. I've got time.
I did have one mini break on me, but it was my ranger, who has an outstretched arm with a bow in it (I hate but acknowledge why the weapons scaling is what it is). It broke at the wrist when a friend dropped it. He was horrified and offered to pay for a new one, but I kept telling him, "hey, there's this cool new product out on the market called glue." We only got to play a couple more sessions before the 'rona hit, but the glue seemed to hold just fine.
I remember the old days when I actually got to play D&D at table with physical dice and miniatures :(
I've been using this virally enforced break from physical play to slowly stockpile miniatures and develop my painting skills. By the time it's safe to play in person again, I hope to have a neat little collection.
I stand by my review. I ordered this mini in APRIL. It cost $40, I paid for the "high quality" material as an upgrade, it showed up with tons of layer lines all over it, and it snapped and broke the minute it fell off the table. For $40? Nope. Thumbs DOWN.
I've been using this virally enforced break from physical play to slowly stockpile miniatures and develop my painting skills. By the time it's safe to play in person again, I hope to have a neat little collection.
Don't give me any ideas. My collectors' impulse is bad enough as it is.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I stand by my review. I ordered this mini in APRIL. It cost $40, I paid for the "high quality" material as an upgrade, it showed up with tons of layer lines all over it, and it snapped and broke the minute it fell off the table. For $40? Nope. Thumbs DOWN.
Fair enough. You're free to your opinion.
I got a 1.0 mini last year, and it came out pretty nice. There were layer lines on the blade, but I wasn't too worried about it. The one thing I really didn't like was that the customization process didn't really have everything that I wanted. It was really a non-issue, and I solved it by doing some modifications with an exacto and some sanding tools. Otherwise though, I thought the quality was pretty nice, especially compared to the some of the official minis you can find in a LCS. I'll have to check out 2.0 once I gather up some more gold.
My main problem with HeroForge is there aren't enough options. I know - first world problems and all that - but about half my characters can't be made using it because it just doesn't have what I need.
One of my characters has ankle length hair - one has white hair with cobalt blue streaks - one is covered in white tattoo-like markings - one uses the sling weapon - one has a prosthetic leg - and the list goes on.
Don't get me wrong - it's a great tool - it just needs a bit more work before I can make full use of it (especially for the price of the minies).
I stand by my review. I ordered this mini in APRIL. It cost $40, I paid for the "high quality" material as an upgrade, it showed up with tons of layer lines all over it, and it snapped and broke the minute it fell off the table. For $40? Nope. Thumbs DOWN.
Would it be possible to press that thumb on your phone's camera shutter and provide some pics? It sounds like your experience is very different from those that other have. Maybe if it's truly a bad print, you could contact them?
My main problem with HeroForge is there aren't enough options. I know - first world problems and all that - but about half my characters can't be made using it because it just doesn't have what I need.
One of my characters has ankle length hair - one has white hair with cobalt blue streaks - one is covered in white tattoo-like markings - one uses the sling weapon - one has a prosthetic leg - and the list goes on.
Don't get me wrong - it's a great tool - it just needs a bit more work before I can make full use of it (especially for the price of the minies).
I'm still playing with it, but I'm leaning to become a pro member and then do a cost/benefit assessment after the year's up. I'm doing that because I don't see myself buying minis (part price point, part to minimize the amount of plastic I'm dumping on the planet) but I really like the tool, my kids have a ball with it, and I like the photo booth feature (through which I'll probably do some 2-D standees on cardstock, yay arts and crafts forums for getting my head sorted on that idea), and want to support the company for otherwise using the tool for free. I dig the company, I forget whether it was Celebration or another Wizards event, but I liked how they showed up to at least one of the "celebrity sessions" chat rooms and ponied up "biz level" donations to the Extra life drive. I thought that was cool.
Yes the weapons are cartoonish, but I'm ok with that. As for hair length and ability to do more sophisticated coloring of hair, they're always adding stuff. There are some clothes and such that allow for two color adding, for shading or better contrast, I imagine hair sculpts will go that way eventually since multi colored hair is pretty omnipresent across the genres HeroForge is set up for.
To pivot off the haters and price balkers. Two questions, who else does this sort of bespoke miniatures business? Also has anyone inquired about doing a bulk order (like a skeleton army builder) that might offset the cost of some of the "hero" prints?
Heroforge doesn't require you to use the props as prescribed.
Squidface (not an Illithid which is protected by Product Identity) is mentioned in the thread that Davedamon linked. The thread includes how I created it when squid-heads aren't an option in HeroForge. So, get weird. Stretch that creativity muscle you have.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Heroforge doesn't require you to use the props as prescribed.
Squidface (not an Illithid which is protected by Product Identity) is mentioned in the thread that Davedamon linked. The thread includes how I created it when squid-heads aren't an option in HeroForge. So, get weird. Stretch that creativity muscle you have.
...how *did* you do it before the illithid head was an option?
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Formerly Devan Avalon.
Trying to get your physical content on Beyond is like going to Microsoft and saying "I have a physical Playstation disk, give me a digital Xbox version!"
I stand by my review. I ordered this mini in APRIL. It cost $40, I paid for the "high quality" material as an upgrade, it showed up with tons of layer lines all over it, and it snapped and broke the minute it fell off the table. For $40? Nope. Thumbs DOWN.
I ordered my first hero forge mini year sago back when the plastic they used was the clear resin that was extremely brittle. They warned me about it too, but nonetheless, it didn't take long for me to break the sword off of my guy from an errant tumble. The new plastic they use is better about this, but as you experienced, a fall from a table can still break a mini. It is not like the springier plastic that WizKids and Reaper Bones minis are made from.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience. I might feel the same way you do, had it happened to me. It is fortunate that I have a friend with a resin printer, so when I buy a mini, I just buy the STL file, and he prints of two or three of them for me. This lowers my risk considerably, but not everyone is privileged to have access to their own 3d printer.
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"Not all those who wander are lost"
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Yea, these mini's basically suck. They took FOREVER, the quality is really , REALLY bad, came with lathe lines all over the place, and if that isn't enough, it BROKE the first time it fell on the floor. SKIP Hero Forge.
I've been halfway to obsessed with the new 2.0 editor since I discovered it's been released. While it's unfortunate to hear that the miniatures aren't as good as the digital tool, HeroForge does tell people their miniatures are intended for "gentle use", and they provide copious warnings that the mini you receive will not perfectly match the high resolution image on your computer. Frankly it's impressive enough that one can order a miniature in the ballpark of your design, especially during CoronaHoedown 2020. For those unable to paint miniatures themselves, it's a nice alternative.
The digital tool is splendid fun and a great help in creating on-the-fly artwork for your character, to use in character profiles or digital tabletop tools. While I do not have the Pro service, I've wiled away much of my free time this week creating a double dozen HeroForge minis for several different characters. The high-resolution digital images are perfectly serviceable for character portraits, they can serve as reference art for more traditional commissions artists, and the tool can even give rise to new ideas by simply assembling pieces you like into a new character concept. It's an excellent service if one recognizes what it's good at and what it's suited for.
Please do not contact or message me.
I disagree.
I've ordered several minis from Hero Forge, and I have been satisfied with the quality of each, and each arrived in a reasonable time. You do remember that there's a global pandemic going on, right? A virus that has killed over a million people worldwide and that continues to kill 1000 people every single day in the US. You remember that whole thing, right? Yet despite that, the folks at Hero Forge are still going to work every day to make miniatures of your D&D characters. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that the Postmaster General has intentionally slowed down our entire mail system. So maybe it's not Hero Forge's fault if your mini didn't arrive on time. And if you don't want your mini to break, don't drop it. Sorry. No one ever said these things would be made of mithril. You paid for a mini, not one of Wolverine's bones (which I know are adamantium, not mithril, thank you.)
If you're not satisfied, take it up with Hero Forge.
Sorry if I sound a bit grumpy tonight. But that's only because... well... I'm a bit grumpy tonight.
Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Anzio Faro. Lvl 5 Prot. Aasimar Light Cleric.
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ModeratorMy experience has been completely different, having bought both STL files and color prints. Obviously for STL files the 'shipping time' is trivial, but for my color print, it shipped really quickly from the states to the UK when they were experiencing high demand and limited resources.
As for 'lathe lines' (which is strange, because they're not lathed but 3D printed), they're basically imperceptible on my print. It may depends on the material; the lower quality plastics might produce more noticeable layer lines.
Finally, the fragility isn't a heroforge thing; I've had three different STL prints, one by one friend, two by the same company using two different materials, all bring from mishandling. Resin printing is just fragile, it's the nature of the material. These aren't your plastic 40k minis, these will break if you drop them.
I think Heroforge offers a great service, especially with their token and portrait creators. I too have 'wasted' a lot of time making characters to use as NPC art, and I'm planning on getting STL files for my IRL group once we all feel safe to play again, as a 'welcome back present'.
Here are some pics of what I've bought:
Colour print of 'myself', the Dungeon Master
Close up on the detail
Some 3D SLA prints of STL files I purchased
And finally, a 4x size print of my campaigns BBEG
D&D Beyond moderator across forums, Discord, Twitch and YouTube. Always happy to help and willing to answer questions (or at least try). (he/him/his)
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I buy the STL files directly and them print them in resin and I'm so happy with the results. The quality is great.
I haven't bought anything from Heroforge, but I have spent a good amount of time designing characters in the mini creator. The new colour tool is great.
A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
My Improved Lineage System
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ModeratorThere is a fantastic thread showcasing some great community creativity regarding what you can do with the various options, posing and colouring.
D&D Beyond moderator across forums, Discord, Twitch and YouTube. Always happy to help and willing to answer questions (or at least try). (he/him/his)
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat On - Mod Hat Off
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The layer lines can be noticeable on areas with a lot of curve, at least on the cheaper plastics. But that's a limitation of the production method, and they warn you about it ahead of time. For some stuff you just need to make final adjustments yourself. I think there might be a bit of an issue with the difference of a CAD render with adjustable lighting effects and textures versus the reality of 3D printing, which I'm hoping as more examples of printed minis come out will help people realize 'oh yeah, that glass texture probably won't look quite like that in real life,' etc. I'm still waiting for some of the stretch goals to be implemented before I print my own. I've got time.
I did have one mini break on me, but it was my ranger, who has an outstretched arm with a bow in it (I hate but acknowledge why the weapons scaling is what it is). It broke at the wrist when a friend dropped it. He was horrified and offered to pay for a new one, but I kept telling him, "hey, there's this cool new product out on the market called glue." We only got to play a couple more sessions before the 'rona hit, but the glue seemed to hold just fine.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
That BBEG looks awesome.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I remember the old days when I actually got to play D&D at table with physical dice and miniatures :(
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Yeah.
And it's not COVID that has stopped me, but the fact that everyone lives in another state or even country from me now.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
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ModeratorI've been using this virally enforced break from physical play to slowly stockpile miniatures and develop my painting skills. By the time it's safe to play in person again, I hope to have a neat little collection.
D&D Beyond moderator across forums, Discord, Twitch and YouTube. Always happy to help and willing to answer questions (or at least try). (he/him/his)
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat On - Mod Hat Off
Site Rules & Guidelines - Homebrew Rules - Looking for Players and Groups Rules
I stand by my review. I ordered this mini in APRIL. It cost $40, I paid for the "high quality" material as an upgrade, it showed up with tons of layer lines all over it, and it snapped and broke the minute it fell off the table. For $40? Nope. Thumbs DOWN.
Don't give me any ideas. My collectors' impulse is bad enough as it is.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Fair enough. You're free to your opinion.
I got a 1.0 mini last year, and it came out pretty nice. There were layer lines on the blade, but I wasn't too worried about it. The one thing I really didn't like was that the customization process didn't really have everything that I wanted. It was really a non-issue, and I solved it by doing some modifications with an exacto and some sanding tools. Otherwise though, I thought the quality was pretty nice, especially compared to the some of the official minis you can find in a LCS. I'll have to check out 2.0 once I gather up some more gold.
My main problem with HeroForge is there aren't enough options. I know - first world problems and all that - but about half my characters can't be made using it because it just doesn't have what I need.
One of my characters has ankle length hair - one has white hair with cobalt blue streaks - one is covered in white tattoo-like markings - one uses the sling weapon - one has a prosthetic leg - and the list goes on.
Don't get me wrong - it's a great tool - it just needs a bit more work before I can make full use of it (especially for the price of the minies).
Mega Yahtzee Thread:
Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
Lowest 9: JoeltheWalrus (#312), Emmber (#12,505) and Dertinus (#20,953).
Would it be possible to press that thumb on your phone's camera shutter and provide some pics? It sounds like your experience is very different from those that other have. Maybe if it's truly a bad print, you could contact them?
I'm still playing with it, but I'm leaning to become a pro member and then do a cost/benefit assessment after the year's up. I'm doing that because I don't see myself buying minis (part price point, part to minimize the amount of plastic I'm dumping on the planet) but I really like the tool, my kids have a ball with it, and I like the photo booth feature (through which I'll probably do some 2-D standees on cardstock, yay arts and crafts forums for getting my head sorted on that idea), and want to support the company for otherwise using the tool for free. I dig the company, I forget whether it was Celebration or another Wizards event, but I liked how they showed up to at least one of the "celebrity sessions" chat rooms and ponied up "biz level" donations to the Extra life drive. I thought that was cool.
Yes the weapons are cartoonish, but I'm ok with that. As for hair length and ability to do more sophisticated coloring of hair, they're always adding stuff. There are some clothes and such that allow for two color adding, for shading or better contrast, I imagine hair sculpts will go that way eventually since multi colored hair is pretty omnipresent across the genres HeroForge is set up for.
To pivot off the haters and price balkers. Two questions, who else does this sort of bespoke miniatures business? Also has anyone inquired about doing a bulk order (like a skeleton army builder) that might offset the cost of some of the "hero" prints?
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Heroforge doesn't require you to use the props as prescribed.
Squidface (not an Illithid which is protected by Product Identity) is mentioned in the thread that Davedamon linked. The thread includes how I created it when squid-heads aren't an option in HeroForge. So, get weird. Stretch that creativity muscle you have.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
...how *did* you do it before the illithid head was an option?
Formerly Devan Avalon.
Trying to get your physical content on Beyond is like going to Microsoft and saying "I have a physical Playstation disk, give me a digital Xbox version!"
I ordered my first hero forge mini year sago back when the plastic they used was the clear resin that was extremely brittle. They warned me about it too, but nonetheless, it didn't take long for me to break the sword off of my guy from an errant tumble. The new plastic they use is better about this, but as you experienced, a fall from a table can still break a mini. It is not like the springier plastic that WizKids and Reaper Bones minis are made from.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience. I might feel the same way you do, had it happened to me. It is fortunate that I have a friend with a resin printer, so when I buy a mini, I just buy the STL file, and he prints of two or three of them for me. This lowers my risk considerably, but not everyone is privileged to have access to their own 3d printer.
"Not all those who wander are lost"