# Mageknight and Dreamblade minis for D&D?



## Matrix Sorcica (Jul 28, 2008)

How do these fit if I wanted to use them for D&D? I know the bases are off, and rebasing is properbly necessary. But how are the sizes compared?
Does anyone have some comparativephotos?

Thanks.


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## Sammael (Jul 28, 2008)

Dreamblade monsters are OK. Some will work better when based on large bases, some will work better on small bases. Dreamblade humanoids, on the other hand, are huge compared to DDM's 28-32 mm humanoids. Heck, they look huge when compared to some of WotC's recent 35 mm humanoids.

MageKnight creatures work about as well as Dreamblade ones, and the humanoids are a bit more to scale with DDM (particularly the ones from recent sets).

I have about a hundred total DB and MK minis, and they are nicely matched with DDMs.


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## frankthedm (Jul 28, 2008)

Some Dreamblate figs are trapped in a Twilight zone of mini size, looking like a medium mini, but being far too big to look right on a 25MM base.


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## Larrin (Jul 28, 2008)

Mage knight figures work nearly just as well as DND minis....as you said,their bases are a little big, and they occasionaly have arms and such that stick out too far, they might not fit perfectly especially if its tight quarters, but they have alot of the iconic figures that you'll want for a game.  If you have them USE THEM, there isn't any gameplay reason you can't, the scale isn't far off, nothing you can't ignore.


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## frankthedm (Jul 28, 2008)

[quote='csp kris' on reaper board]
I've cut a few off their bases (though I did slice my finger in the process).

Some were more of a pain than others, but it wasn't all that difficult - just be careful not to slip  :: 






D&D cleric mini thrown in for scale purposes.[/quote]


Flushcutters are helpful with Mageknights and other Clix minis.


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## Matrix Sorcica (Jul 28, 2008)

Thanks! That's a great picture and shows that Dreamblade minis indeed can be used.

Any chance of a comparative shot of a Mageknight mini?

Also, side question. Where can I get bases to use for rebasing?


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## Quantarum (Jul 28, 2008)

I converted my mage knight collection by debasing them with a scraper style  x-acto blade (most are easy, but some are a real pain, wear cut resistant gloves!) and gluing them to wooden bases made by Litko Aerosystems. You can get 100 3/4" bases for about ten bucks. I blackened the bases with a big permanent marker before gluing the figure on, and they look great. I'm especially fond of the 2.0 orcs.
You can get large and huge sized wooden bases, they are considerably more expensive.
http://www.litkoaero.com/

-Q.


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## frankthedm (Jul 28, 2008)

Matrix Sorcica said:


> Thanks! That's a great picture and shows that Dreamblade minis indeed can be used.
> 
> Any chance of a comparative shot of a Mageknight mini?
> 
> Also, side question. Where can I get bases to use for rebasing?




1/4": Metal washers

20mm: US Pennies, metal washers

25mm: Metal washers, wood disks, Brittish 2 pence coins, US Quarters Upwords Tiles, Othello disks, Mosiac tiles.

40mm: Poker chips, mosiac tiles, metal washers.

50mm: Metal washers, Mosiac tiles

75mm: Canned food lids opened with a side cutting can opener.

Or...

http://www.gf9.com/store/index.php?cPath=64&osCsid=bc622382a3fe533502b255688ef07e50

http://www.em4miniatures.com/acatalog/MINIAATURES_BASES.html


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## Ginnel (Jul 28, 2008)

I can't agree enough with the advice to not cut your fingers I put a nice slice lengthways on my index finger and I am not normally prone to carelessness or clumsy accident.


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## frankthedm (Jul 28, 2008)

Indeed! Rebasing prepainted minis seems to be a big cause of X-Acto wounds.


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## Glyfair (Jul 29, 2008)

Larrin said:


> Mage knight figures work nearly just as well as DND minis....as you said,their bases are a little big, and they occasionaly have arms and such that stick out too far, they might not fit perfectly especially if its tight quarters, but they have alot of the iconic figures that you'll want for a game.  If you have them USE THEM, there isn't any gameplay reason you can't, the scale isn't far off, nothing you can't ignore.




Also, the heroes from the first MK Dungeons set are almost exclusively old Ral Partha sculpts.  Scale is about as comparable as any you'll get from using different companies figures of the same supposed scale (the figures can be inconsistent, just like DDM miniatures).

Also, there are a lot of MK sides sets that work well.  The 3D dungeon tiles were priced pretty reasonably (although pretty standard, except for the traps set).  The castle pieces look fine.  The MK Dungeons sets had nice maps, some 3D terrain, etc.


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## Logan_Bonner (Jul 29, 2008)

Thanks for the link, Quantarum! I've been rebasing some Dreamblade minis I've picked up from work, and looking for good bases. (So far, I've been using D&D minis bases, but that requires cutting an extra mini—and I did that to a Harbinger rare without realizing it. )

I usually only rebase Mediums. I find the Dreamblade bases an okay size for Larges, and just paint them black. If you don't mind them being square, a bit tall, and having a line in them, I think they look okay on the table.

I'll get some pictures, but I need a camera.


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## mechascorpio (Jul 29, 2008)

frankthedm, how did you get a picture of my hand yesterday?!?!?

I'm nursing 3 X-acto wounds on my left index finger from de-basing (heh) a number of Dreamblade figures. I'm really impressed with how a few of them are going to work out for D&D (a big purple ooze, some statues, racoons in armor, the chain golem pictured above, some big 'ol ratmen).

The rule of thumb seems to be that the better that the DB figure will translate to D&D mini compatability, the harder it is to remove from the base.

OTOH, the statues look really good splashed with blood.


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## Fifth Element (Jul 29, 2008)

Bah. I wear my rebasing scars with pride!

(Seriously: wear a glove or something.)

I generally use Warhammer 40k bases. Rackham Confrontation bases are also good for larger sizes.


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## fiddlerjones (Jul 29, 2008)

I have a veritable plethora of converted MK and Dreamblade minis that I use for D&D on a regular basis.  A lot of the MK sculpts are far and away better than the newer DDM stuff (though the paintjobs are awful).  If you don't mind rebasing and sometimes repainting, it's definitely the way to go.  Most useful Dreamblade minis are large.

As far as bases are concerned, for large figures I usually use Games Workshop products.  For medium, I slice DDM minis I don't want off their bases.  Catfolk finally have a use!  Buying a lot of commons in bulk online is often cheaper than buying empty bases.

For cutting, I find a safety razor (the razor blades with one blunt side) works best, offering the most control.


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## blargney the second (Jul 29, 2008)

WotC_Logan said:


> (So far, I've been using D&D minis bases, but that requires cutting an extra mini—and I did that to a Harbinger rare without realizing it. )



Ouch!  That's just brutal!


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## Riley (Oct 25, 2008)

There's a 50% off clearance sale on Dreamblade minis here:

Singles - 50% OFF - LIQUIDATION SALE - DreamBlade

...which means you can get some great minis for ~$0.30 each!

I also found some nice unslotted 25mm bases here:

25mm round bases, Toys Hobbies items on eBay.com

Enjoy!


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## justanobody (Oct 25, 2008)

For Mage Knight bases that are too large, just cut them with scissors into square to fit the grids.

Then grab something from Litko Aerosystems - Miniature Bases to glue it on that matches the size category for the mini.


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## Riley (Oct 26, 2008)

justanobody said:


> grab something from Litko Aerosystems - Miniature Bases to glue it on that matches the size category for the mini.




Thanks for that link.  Litko has some seriously cool stuff!  

I'm definitely buying these:
4E Condition Tokens, Game Masters Set

And filling out the set with some custom tokens

And there's just a lot of cool stuff that I need to find a use for:
Jim's Product Lab (especially the sunken ship markers)
Nuke Blast Marker, Large


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## FATDRAGONGAMES (Oct 26, 2008)

frankthedm said:


> indeed! Rebasing prepainted minis seems to be a big cause of x-acto wounds.





Take a healing surge dude!  :d


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## justanobody (Oct 26, 2008)

I haven't even seen the 4e condition markers yet! 

Enjoy, they are great little things there for many purposes beyond just minis. I just wish I could afford to order more custom from them.



> Nuke Blast Marker, Large




That is actually a Gargantuan Flumph with jaundice.


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## Quantarum (Oct 26, 2008)

I recently bought a ton of Dreamblade minis on the secondary market for cheap. I like them so much they have inspired me to create the first campaign for my redesigned homebrew for 4E. The Faceless King was the main inspiration (King in Yellow anyone).
Stabbed myself in the thumb five times debasing them, the weave of my Kevlar gloves is separating from wear. -Q.


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## Kunimatyu (Oct 26, 2008)

I also have a scar on my index finger from an overzealous exacto knife from rebasing figures.

I've since figured out a safe way to do it.

Put down the Exacto knife and get a box of safety razorblades.

Get a small "mat" of cardboard and set it down on a table. 

Place the miniature on the mat so that the base is at a 90 degree angle to the mat.

Holding the base and miniature such that no fingers are below the path of the blade, put the safety razor at one end of the base and slowly work it down through the bottom of the mini.

If it starts cutting faster, the blade will embed itself in the cardboard below the mini and your fingers will be safe.


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## Mark (Oct 26, 2008)

The Gale Force Nine Store

Want to try some take-out

Econo-Bases are a good deal.


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## Morbid Angel (Oct 27, 2008)

So I just picked up some GF9 bases. I have a bunch of old Mageknight figures I've been wanting to rebase. What sort of glue would you guys recommend? I've never really done any rebasing before. Also any other tips would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## Mark (Oct 27, 2008)

Morbid Angel said:


> So I just picked up some GF9 bases. I have a bunch of old Mageknight figures I've been wanting to rebase. What sort of glue would you guys recommend? I've never really done any rebasing before. Also any other tips would be appreciated. Thanks!





I use cyanoacrylate (Maxi-Cure (tm), locally) for most things, including anything I base on masonite (like the GF9 bases) or hard plastic (like GW bases).  But after I glue the fig on, I water down some white glue to attach the flocking.


While we are on the subject, though, I am looking for a better method of using hard foam rubber bases under hard or soft plastic figs.  Anyone got ideas?


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## Riley (Oct 28, 2008)

Morbid Angel said:


> So I just picked up some GF9 bases. I have a bunch of old Mageknight figures I've been wanting to rebase. What sort of glue would you guys recommend? I've never really done any rebasing before. Also any other tips would be appreciated. Thanks!




I remounted a bunch of these on Warhammer bases with super glue (aka cyanoacrylate) and it worked just dandy.

The nice thing about rebasing Mage Knight minis is that they are pretty easy to remove cleanly from the old bases.  It's pretty easy to 'pop' them off their original bases just by sliding a flat razor blade under the minis' feet.

Every time that I've let a DM raid my minis, I've soon found myself battling a pair of these critters:
Mage Knight 2.0 Skull Golem 073 Weak DC - eBay (item 200263395845 end time Nov-12-08 16:23:36 PST)
http://img.mercadolivre.com.br/jm/img?s=MLB&f=66402658_8681.jpg&v=P

It's happened three times now.


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## CharlesRyan (Nov 5, 2008)

Hi, all--

Count me among those who have recently come into some Dreamblade minis I'd like to use for D&D.

Has anybody tried removing the coloured "outer" base (the part with the writing) from the inner base (the part that's physically connected to the mini itself)? If so, any tips for doing it successfully? The "inner" base is just a hair over an inch square, so it would fit a battlegrid fairly well.


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## Nebulous (Nov 5, 2008)

CharlesRyan said:


> Has anybody tried removing the coloured "outer" base (the part with the writing) from the inner base (the part that's physically connected to the mini itself)? If so, any tips for doing it successfully? The "inner" base is just a hair over an inch square, so it would fit a battlegrid fairly well.




I've been utterly unsuccessful removing the square inner base from the outer base.  The risk of seriously cutting yourself is just too high, and i wouldn't recommend trying. You're better off trying to removing the mini by the feet and gluing to a new base. 

And yes, i do think that many of the DB minis make excellent D&D (or Cthulhu, or Star Wars) monsters.


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## Riley (Nov 5, 2008)

CharlesRyan said:


> Has anybody tried removing the coloured "outer" base (the part with the writing) from the inner base (the part that's physically connected to the mini itself)?




I pulled this off once, but it wasn't easy, and it really wasn't worth the effort.  The inner base has five prongs in the bottom that are almost more of a pain to remove than the figure is from the top of the base.


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## Riley (Nov 5, 2008)

Another question on rebasing: for the ones I'm going to treat as 'large' miniatures, I'm thinking about just leaving them on the original bases.

Has anyone tried using a solvent to remove the painted lettering from the bases?  I'm looking for something that will remove the paint easily, without damaging the plastic or finish.


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## frankthedm (Nov 5, 2008)

Riley said:


> Another question on rebasing: for the ones I'm going to treat as 'large' miniatures, I'm thinking about just leaving them on the original bases.
> 
> Has anyone tried using a solvent to remove the painted lettering from the bases?  I'm looking for something that will remove the paint easily, without damaging the plastic or finish.



Eh, I think painting over with black paint or permanent marker may be more efficient than trying to chem-strip  the base's lettering.


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## Mark (Nov 5, 2008)

frankthedm said:


> Eh, I think painting over with black paint or permanent marker may be more efficient than trying to chem-strip  the base's lettering.





I'm a big fan of utilizing the fat Sharpies markers to go around the outside of my bases once they are complete, as a way of finishing them off.  As always, good ventilation is a must with those markers as much as with chemicals and solvents to avoid headaches or worse.


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## Riley (Nov 5, 2008)

I could paint them, but the white print is on the colored sections of the bases, and the colors aren't the easiest to match.

Oh well, I'll see if something in the basement wouldn't be a close match.


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## frankthedm (Nov 5, 2008)

WotC_Logan said:


> Thanks for the link, Quantarum! I've been rebasing some Dreamblade minis I've picked up from work,



So was nightfusion the last set produced or did those 'from work' figs include Serrated Dawn figures?


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## justanobody (Nov 6, 2008)

Why not just texture the bases? Put some ground covering on them for the most logical area the mini would be found in and completely cover the base like that.

A black paint pen should work goot to cover any lettering or anything else.


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## frankthedm (Nov 6, 2008)

justanobody said:


> Why not just texture the bases? Put some ground covering on them for the most logical area the mini would be found in and completely cover the base like that.
> 
> A black paint pen should work good to cover any lettering or anything else.



Flocking and ballasting a base works well, but I find that doing that to a prepaint takes more _time per fig_ than I usually prefer. Definitely a good idea to make the base a single colour before applying the basing material though.


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## justanobody (Nov 6, 2008)

frankthedm said:


> Flocking and ballasting a base works well, but I find that doing that to a prepaint takes more _time per fig_ than I usually prefer. Definitely a good idea to make the base a single colour before applying the basing material though.




Paint glue on the base and dip into the ballast or flock. Repeat with finer grain ballast or flock until the base is covered.


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## CharlesRyan (Nov 6, 2008)

Fair enough. Thanks for the responses. I'll cut them off the bases completely as others have suggested and rebase them.

Thanks!


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## frankthedm (Apr 14, 2009)

BTW, metal washers may be seeing some price jumps due to a sagging economy and higher demands on world metals markets. 1" metal washers I was paying 4-7 cents for a few years back launched up to 23 cents each at my local hardware store. By the box price was a bit better though.EDIT: local places were just gouging. Some hardware stores still have good prices on metal washers. (Menards (Chicago Suburbs) is offering 70 1" wahers for just $2)

While I do not advocate harming or defacing any country's currency , I just want to mention again US pennies are fairly close to being 20mm round bases [19.05 mm] and the British two pence coin [25.9MM] is also quite close to being a one inch base Inch [25.4MM]


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## Firebeetle (Mar 5, 2011)

Resurrecting this thread with this video:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y89hs7Fyfc]YouTube - How to Make a Dreamblade D&D Mini[/ame]

You're welcome!


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## Systole (Jun 24, 2011)

I'm in the process of making myself a bunch of minatures for a Pathfinder game I volunteered to run. Not wanting to spend ludicrous amounts of money, I decided I'd do this with cheap Mage Knight, Dreamblade, and Warcraft grab bags. I knew that I'd have to rebase to 1", and I tried my best to read up and prepare, but I was still surprised at a few things.









*A Rebasing Guide for Newbies by a Newbie*

*Econo bases from Gale Force 9 are really, really good.* However, you probably don't need the quart size. Pint size is _plenty_.

*Shop for minis at Troll and Toad.* Technically, EBay has the best miniature selection. However, if you want to buy 20 minis, you're probably going to have to deal with 17 sellers and the shipping adds up quick. Troll and Toad has a very good but not quite as extensive selection, but it's all in one place and the shipping is way cheaper.

*D&D bases are 25mm (~1 inch).* Large creatures are 50mm (~2 inch). Star Wars minis are 25mm, with large creatures also being 50mm. Mage Knight and Heroclix figures are 1.25 inch. Warcraft minis are 1.5 inch. This is probably very basic for everyone else, but it's tough info to find written down anywhere.

*Most Mage Knight minis work well for D&D.* Most MK minis will fit on a 25mm base and they have a fantasy look to them. A few do not fit, especially if they're particularly squat and wide, and some are kind of steampunk and not very D&D-looking.

*Heroclix minis are really hit-or-miss.* Mechanically, they rebase to 25mm pretty well since they're almost all human-shaped, so you don't have the extra-wide MK problem. However, they're really hit-or-miss when it comes to looking D&D-ish. A few guys are rocking the medieval weaponry, but most of them are in spandex with laser guns.

*Most Warcraft minis do NOT work well as medium sized creatures.* There are a few that do, but for the most part, they're too big and have wide, senator-in-a-men's-room type stances that do not fit on 25mm bases. Even if they do they're much taller than D&D or MK minis. The exception to this is gnomes, who are pretty reasonably halfling/gnome sized.

*Some of the larger Warcraft figures look pretty badass as large creatures.* Specifically, elementals, orcs, tauren, and draenei. A Warcraft orc looks almost like an armoured D&D ogre. A draenei looks like a pit fiend. A tauren looks like a minotaur.

*Star Wars minis don't generally work well as D&D figures, despite the common sizing.* There are a few aliens that look good as demons or dopplegangers or other weird humanoids, and there are a few droids that might work as warforged. For the most part, the figures are carrying firearms or are immediately recognizable from the cantina scene. Overall, not recommended.

*If you're not sure whether a figurine will work size-wise, look at the picture.* Specifically, look at the feet compared to the base. If it's a Mage Knight mini, does it look like it would fit on a base 80% of the size? If it's Warcraft mini, would it fit on a base 2/3 the size? Yeah this one is dumb, but it was something that didn't occur to me until after the fact.

*Don't go overboard on grab bags.* Yes, they're cheap, but if you buy 50 figures, 30 of them will be comprised of six sets of quintuplets, and half of them will be unworkable as D&D figures, either for size or looks. You're better off finding cheapie singles than buying grab bags and throwing half of them away.

*Square bases are more forgiving than circles.* Personally, I like the look of circles, but if you've got a cool-looking mini whose feet are 30mm apart, you can't make him fit on a circle. You can make him fit on a square 25mm base if you orient him corner to corner.

*Cut resistant gloves are your friend.* Seriously. I have couple of fingerprints that don't line up anymore due to some failed whittling experiments in junior high. Kevlar gloves are $10 at a local hardware store. Get some.
I haven't gotten my Dreamblades in yet. I'll add more info once I do.


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## wingsandsword (Jun 25, 2011)

Systole said:


> *Shop for minis at Troll and Toad.* Technically, EBay has the best miniature selection. However, if you want to buy 20 minis, you're probably going to have to deal with 17 sellers and the shipping adds up quick. Troll and Toad has a very good but not quite as extensive selection, but it's all in one place and the shipping is way cheaper.



I'll definitely agree with this.  I've had good experience shopping with them for miniatures.



> *Most Mage Knight minis work well for D&D.* Most MK minis will fit on a 25mm base and they have a fantasy look to them. A few do not fit, especially if they're particularly squat and wide, and some are kind of steampunk and not very D&D-looking.



Mage Knight minis work great for D&D.  That's actually most of what I use.  When MK first came out, I bought them up for use in D&D games, transplanting them to 1-inch bases.  By the time DDM came out, I was pretty satisfied with what I already had.  

Yeah, they do have a certain amount of steampunk that's not useful, and no gnomes or halflings, but it's a pretty good selection overall.



> *Heroclix minis are really hit-or-miss.* Mechanically, they rebase to 25mm pretty well since they're almost all human-shaped, so you don't have the extra-wide MK problem. However, they're really hit-or-miss when it comes to looking D&D-ish. A few guys are rocking the medieval weaponry, but most of them are in spandex with laser guns.



If you hunt and pick and choose, you can find some really nice ones.  Silver Samurai is easy to repaint into a samurai of your choice.  The Hand Ninjas are good for ninja mooks.  Several minis make good monks.  Definitely shop around and pick and choose and you can get ones for character types you wouldn't find with Mage Knight minis.



> *Star Wars minis don't generally work well as D&D figures, despite the common sizing.* There are a few aliens that look good as demons or dopplegangers or other weird humanoids, and there are a few droids that might work as warforged. For the most part, the figures are carrying firearms or are immediately recognizable from the cantina scene. Overall, not recommended.



I'll also agree with this.  Some gamorrean thug miniatures are workable as orcs, but yeah, too easily recognizable or iconic to Star Wars.  Unless you're running Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, you probably won't need many Star Wars minis.



> *Don't go overboard on grab bags.* Yes, they're cheap, but if you buy 50 figures, 30 of them will be comprised of six sets of quintuplets, and half of them will be unworkable as D&D figures, either for size or looks. You're better off finding cheapie singles than buying grab bags and throwing half of them away.



Also agree, grab bags from vendors are that way because they are the unsalable stuff nobody wanted.  You likely won't want them either.  Maybe one just for some variety and stuff you might not buy otherwise, but don't count on them to fill out your collection.


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## Wallraven (Apr 13, 2015)

Thread necro! 


Systole said:


> *Shop for minis at Troll and Toad.* Technically, EBay has the best miniature selection. However, if you want to buy 20 minis, you're probably going to have to deal with 17 sellers and the shipping adds up quick. Troll and Toad has a very good but not quite as extensive selection, but it's all in one place and the shipping is way cheaper.



If you're in Australia, a good alternative to Troll & Toad is Games Empire. On the ones that I was looking at, their price beats eBay. Though you'll need to buy a bunch at once to avoid overpaying on postage (they have a $10 per-order postage fee, plus a 1.9% insurance fee).



> *Star Wars minis don't generally work well as D&D figures, despite the common sizing.* There are a few aliens that look good as demons or dopplegangers or other weird humanoids, and there are a few droids that might work as warforged. For the most part, the figures are carrying firearms or are immediately recognizable from the cantina scene. Overall, not recommended.



There's some reptilian aliens (could pass as Lizardmen or Dragonborn). Some characters wielding metal swords. Some of the Mandalorians can pass as knights. And force-users (with staffs instead of lightsabers) that can pass as magic users. But yeah, you need to pick & choose.


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