FA+
Shop
675
Views
Views
4
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Other / Portraits
Species Avian (Other)
Size 3073 x 7882
File Size 7.27 MB
Report this content
★
More from butterfly-dragon
Listed in Folders
Heroforge improvements over the years: A comparison
I was one of the first people to ever kickstart heroforge several years ago. In 2014.
And i must be honest... Heroforge only ever satisfied a very... peculiar group of players.
Namely you had to:
• not be good at modifying your own mini. (which requires encyclopedic knowledge as well as dedication)
• have more money than the average mini-enthusiast.
Let's preface with: Heroforge minis have never been cheap.
For the price of a single heroforge mini you can buy either several cheap tokens or a squad of normal minis. Even at the same price of the cheapest... you can get highly more detailed minis from any store.
Also that rough price comparison does not include the shipping, so keep in mind... buying in bulk is a lot cheaper than buying a single mini.
They would not be "your character".
Over the years there have been incredible improvements.
In the first row of this montage i have put the old 2017 lineup of standards... in the rest of the page i put what could be called the "2020 cheap lineup" (45$ or less).
The prices right now are as follows by this link. Which i screenshotted for future reference, as they change over time.
but at the time of that first line (which, by the way, you can click here to see in full resolution in case you need to) the now defunct "white plastic" was 15$, with the "gray plastic" being almost 30$.
Nowadays the "gray plastic" is the standard entry level and comes (as can be seen in the first link i linked) at 20$.
The gray plastic comes pre-primed which is why it loses some details (compared to the current lineup's black plastic) BUT it's also easier to paint. The black plastic is basically the same as the grey plastic but has no primer coating and is printed at a much higher resolution.
It must be stated that the current grey plastic still has a better resolution than what it started like, even if it used to have no primer over it. The current gray plastic resolves details that are quite fine, while the old one required details to be rather... coarse to even appear.
Namely at the start of Heroforge (see the first row) you could at most resolve details like the stud/gem on the forehead tiara. And you needed to pay for the 30$ grey plastic or the 100$ bronze mini. Even then the $30 grey plastic would have the lamp freely dangling, while the bronze one would be stuck in place, so that means there were tolerances that were not being accounted for.
Thankfully the waste of money that was the "steel" mini (that coppery/brown mess) is not an option anymore. Those minis were only ever useful as improvised weapons as they were the weightiest and also the least detailed ever and they asked about 35$.
The white "coarse" plastic is also gone, but given it used to cost 15$ that's not a big loss...
In the current lineup the grey plastic has fairly improved, you can see some of the finer details on the chest plate, even the beady eyes of the songbird or the fact that the character has a rim that is not part of the eye itself.
Not only it is far more detailed than it used to be... today that comes at less than half the price it used to ...
And you can now buy the 30$ black version which is even more detailed, as you can even tell apart the various details and indentations on the chestplate (colored gold in the color version).
If it were up to me... i would recommend you buy either the gray... or ... if you really need to... the black. No need to consider other options.
I was unable to buy the bronze version of Philomela on account the base was incompatible with the bronze printer (something i found out ONLY after ordering the first 3).
In any case... if the quality comparison has stayed similar to the old... the bronze version is less detailed than the grey one. Comparable, but less detailed. If you have to pay 20$ for a (current) gray plastic version or 99 for a bronze version... eh... i'd go for the plastic one anyway.
Heroforge minis are very sturdy compared to other minis.
(probably because they are very simple in design compared to other minis)
And they do not come cheap. I have been repeating the prices here often.
But let's be frank. Games Workshop, being the bloodsucking source of despair for every wallet ever...
...sells the indomitus boxed set (60 minis, in 19 unique designs) for 300$
I spent about 130$ to get these 3 versions of the same mini.
So, unless you are completely unaware of how much it costs to get a mini... let's put it this way.
If you buy Heroforge minis in their digital STL version only and then started printing them... it would cost (to get 19 designs and about 60 minis in total) around 400$ in STL downloads and printing materials (excluding any printer amortization).
So. The only reason ever to buy from heroforge is if you want your specific character and do not want to learn how to merge splice cut and meld minis together. (or... welll... you do not want the headache of finding the pieces around.)
Which... if you ask me... it's a very, very, very fine point indeed. His noodly goodness knows if i could print time i would be first on the line to get more extra time for myself.
But if you are already into minis... yeah. No. Just... you can probably already do a better job yourself.
If any of you asked "wait... what about the painted Philomela mini?"... uh... i have no clue.
I only ever ordered one painted mini until now. And chose the cheapest "machine painted" option at 45$.
(the "hand painted" is... woah... guys... get a job at heroforge, if they give you the equipment and pay you even a third as much as they show that they ask, you would be swimming in money).
If you ask me... i have no clue if what i got is a mistaken print or... what. I will have to do more research.
Why i say so? Well... it is very evident in the closeups... the details are totally there. (those were 2 links, by the way)
In fact very tiny details of paint have been rendered, i can see tiny rings and dips and really tiny beads.
But... WTF is that "transparent" finish?!?! I... have no clue? I am in the middle of the process of contacting Heroforge to inquire about that weird "finish" that the colored mini is covered with.
Not only it makes everything fuzzy... the mini itself is barely recognizable and most of the details (which have totally been painted, because it can clearly be seen) are lost because of it.
So... uhm... yeah... no clue what happened there. And will ask.
BOTTOM LINE:
• If you know what you are doing buy the $20 or $30 version and paint it yourself or the $8 STL and do everything from scratch with a 3D Printer and cut away with the shipping costs. Finding the parts for your characters is an hassle and can take hours if not days and shipping from multiple sources. But be sure to buy these minis for the whole group of players as the shipping does not really scale with the number of minis bought.
• If you are a newbie... the $45 pre-painted mini might be interesting in case i got a "weird one". But i still suggest you find a friend that knows how to paint or print minis and pay that friends to color your mini for you. Sooo see the advice for the experts.
Philomela original design by
tegerio
• Support the artist here: https://www.patreon.com/tegerio
• Artist Page: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/tegerio
• Commission Info: https://www.furaffinity.net/commissions/tegerio/
And i must be honest... Heroforge only ever satisfied a very... peculiar group of players.
Namely you had to:
• not be good at modifying your own mini. (which requires encyclopedic knowledge as well as dedication)
• have more money than the average mini-enthusiast.
Let's preface with: Heroforge minis have never been cheap.
For the price of a single heroforge mini you can buy either several cheap tokens or a squad of normal minis. Even at the same price of the cheapest... you can get highly more detailed minis from any store.
Also that rough price comparison does not include the shipping, so keep in mind... buying in bulk is a lot cheaper than buying a single mini.
BUT
They would not be "your character".
Over the years there have been incredible improvements.
In the first row of this montage i have put the old 2017 lineup of standards... in the rest of the page i put what could be called the "2020 cheap lineup" (45$ or less).
The prices right now are as follows by this link. Which i screenshotted for future reference, as they change over time.
but at the time of that first line (which, by the way, you can click here to see in full resolution in case you need to) the now defunct "white plastic" was 15$, with the "gray plastic" being almost 30$.
Nowadays the "gray plastic" is the standard entry level and comes (as can be seen in the first link i linked) at 20$.
The gray plastic comes pre-primed which is why it loses some details (compared to the current lineup's black plastic) BUT it's also easier to paint. The black plastic is basically the same as the grey plastic but has no primer coating and is printed at a much higher resolution.
It must be stated that the current grey plastic still has a better resolution than what it started like, even if it used to have no primer over it. The current gray plastic resolves details that are quite fine, while the old one required details to be rather... coarse to even appear.
Namely at the start of Heroforge (see the first row) you could at most resolve details like the stud/gem on the forehead tiara. And you needed to pay for the 30$ grey plastic or the 100$ bronze mini. Even then the $30 grey plastic would have the lamp freely dangling, while the bronze one would be stuck in place, so that means there were tolerances that were not being accounted for.
Thankfully the waste of money that was the "steel" mini (that coppery/brown mess) is not an option anymore. Those minis were only ever useful as improvised weapons as they were the weightiest and also the least detailed ever and they asked about 35$.
The white "coarse" plastic is also gone, but given it used to cost 15$ that's not a big loss...
In the current lineup the grey plastic has fairly improved, you can see some of the finer details on the chest plate, even the beady eyes of the songbird or the fact that the character has a rim that is not part of the eye itself.
Not only it is far more detailed than it used to be... today that comes at less than half the price it used to ...
And you can now buy the 30$ black version which is even more detailed, as you can even tell apart the various details and indentations on the chestplate (colored gold in the color version).
If it were up to me... i would recommend you buy either the gray... or ... if you really need to... the black. No need to consider other options.
I was unable to buy the bronze version of Philomela on account the base was incompatible with the bronze printer (something i found out ONLY after ordering the first 3).
In any case... if the quality comparison has stayed similar to the old... the bronze version is less detailed than the grey one. Comparable, but less detailed. If you have to pay 20$ for a (current) gray plastic version or 99 for a bronze version... eh... i'd go for the plastic one anyway.
Heroforge minis are very sturdy compared to other minis.
(probably because they are very simple in design compared to other minis)
And they do not come cheap. I have been repeating the prices here often.
But let's be frank. Games Workshop, being the bloodsucking source of despair for every wallet ever...
...sells the indomitus boxed set (60 minis, in 19 unique designs) for 300$
I spent about 130$ to get these 3 versions of the same mini.
So, unless you are completely unaware of how much it costs to get a mini... let's put it this way.
If you buy Heroforge minis in their digital STL version only and then started printing them... it would cost (to get 19 designs and about 60 minis in total) around 400$ in STL downloads and printing materials (excluding any printer amortization).
So. The only reason ever to buy from heroforge is if you want your specific character and do not want to learn how to merge splice cut and meld minis together. (or... welll... you do not want the headache of finding the pieces around.)
Which... if you ask me... it's a very, very, very fine point indeed. His noodly goodness knows if i could print time i would be first on the line to get more extra time for myself.
But if you are already into minis... yeah. No. Just... you can probably already do a better job yourself.
If any of you asked "wait... what about the painted Philomela mini?"... uh... i have no clue.
I only ever ordered one painted mini until now. And chose the cheapest "machine painted" option at 45$.
(the "hand painted" is... woah... guys... get a job at heroforge, if they give you the equipment and pay you even a third as much as they show that they ask, you would be swimming in money).
If you ask me... i have no clue if what i got is a mistaken print or... what. I will have to do more research.
Why i say so? Well... it is very evident in the closeups... the details are totally there. (those were 2 links, by the way)
In fact very tiny details of paint have been rendered, i can see tiny rings and dips and really tiny beads.
But... WTF is that "transparent" finish?!?! I... have no clue? I am in the middle of the process of contacting Heroforge to inquire about that weird "finish" that the colored mini is covered with.
Not only it makes everything fuzzy... the mini itself is barely recognizable and most of the details (which have totally been painted, because it can clearly be seen) are lost because of it.
So... uhm... yeah... no clue what happened there. And will ask.
BOTTOM LINE:
• If you know what you are doing buy the $20 or $30 version and paint it yourself or the $8 STL and do everything from scratch with a 3D Printer and cut away with the shipping costs. Finding the parts for your characters is an hassle and can take hours if not days and shipping from multiple sources. But be sure to buy these minis for the whole group of players as the shipping does not really scale with the number of minis bought.
• If you are a newbie... the $45 pre-painted mini might be interesting in case i got a "weird one". But i still suggest you find a friend that knows how to paint or print minis and pay that friends to color your mini for you. Sooo see the advice for the experts.
Philomela original design by
tegerio• Support the artist here: https://www.patreon.com/tegerio
• Artist Page: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/tegerio
• Commission Info: https://www.furaffinity.net/commissions/tegerio/
Category Other / Portraits
Species Avian (Other)
Size 3073 x 7882px
File Size 7.27 MB
This was incredibly insight full actually. I have been wanting to see a good quality review on how these minis compare. Normally i paint all mine by hand, but i have been intrested in the painted versions they have. I also came from Warhammer Age of Sigmar. And have painted my entier faction by hand. And by ra. So much time spent.
So the promise of a pre painted figure has me interested. But I'm a little eh on the outcome. It may still be better to do it all by hand (but then you run into the problem of paint flaking over the years!). But i thank you for fully giving a visual so i can finally see it for my self hoe all their stock stacks up with each other!
So the promise of a pre painted figure has me interested. But I'm a little eh on the outcome. It may still be better to do it all by hand (but then you run into the problem of paint flaking over the years!). But i thank you for fully giving a visual so i can finally see it for my self hoe all their stock stacks up with each other!
my takeaway here, is that there's a balancing act to be found, and if you don't have the time, space, steady-hand, vision (the list goes on), HF is filling in a wide gap generally in the availability of minis. and that $300 from Games Workshop vs $400 for the same quantity of Minis from HF.... that's 'only' +30% over the standard-line AND you're getting fully-customized minis.
If you don't want to get into Painting Minis as a hobby, and you do have the long-interval discretionary budget for it, the $45 color-print (if they can resolve that surfacing weirdness) is a very attractive option.
plus, you can 'just' use it as a character designer for online play without any buy-in, which is hard as hell to find even in 2D with the broad scope of options HeroForge provides
If you don't want to get into Painting Minis as a hobby, and you do have the long-interval discretionary budget for it, the $45 color-print (if they can resolve that surfacing weirdness) is a very attractive option.
plus, you can 'just' use it as a character designer for online play without any buy-in, which is hard as hell to find even in 2D with the broad scope of options HeroForge provides
Something.I saw recently on a Hero Forge subreddit reminded me of Philekdikisi, and now I'm curious:
Would you be interested having another go at these in HF now that more components, facial customization, and kitbashing are out? The stuff you can do with enough know-how, time, and observation of other works is insane.
Would you be interested having another go at these in HF now that more components, facial customization, and kitbashing are out? The stuff you can do with enough know-how, time, and observation of other works is insane.
If you do and want a physical mini of what results, I recommend springing for an STL so you can get it printed out yourself.
Hero Forge still has that surface and tone issue with their color-printed minis, probably as a result of the materials and equipment used. And the company that always printed for them recently went belly-up. The replacement doesn't quite have their ducks in a row yet, so customers are experiencing delays and QC slip-ups with their orders.
Hero Forge still has that surface and tone issue with their color-printed minis, probably as a result of the materials and equipment used. And the company that always printed for them recently went belly-up. The replacement doesn't quite have their ducks in a row yet, so customers are experiencing delays and QC slip-ups with their orders.
STLs are mono-color but yes I have bought a 3d printer and am waiting to transfer to my own apartment to learn "how to print".
That said.
If I had to learn how to kitbash I would have just learned how to sculpt because all 3d software from blender to substance to whatever export in STLs.
That said.
If I had to learn how to kitbash I would have just learned how to sculpt because all 3d software from blender to substance to whatever export in STLs.
🤣
it is a useless feature that is just there because people cannot think outside of what they are used to, as far as I am concerned.
I'm not sure how to parse the meaning of some of that, but will take the overall answer as a 'no'.
Then would you mind if I or others took our shots?
Personally, at least part of the satisfaction I get from Hero Forge comes from the fact it forces me TO think outside the box to get cooler stuff done. I don't have the rote convenience of accurate Songbird parts lying in the menus for assembly together, nor do I have the true freedom of crafting them on my own terms. I have to manipulate a bunch of things within a framework of rules to kludge facsimiles. Succeeding at that challenge can be very rewarding.
Then would you mind if I or others took our shots?
Personally, at least part of the satisfaction I get from Hero Forge comes from the fact it forces me TO think outside the box to get cooler stuff done. I don't have the rote convenience of accurate Songbird parts lying in the menus for assembly together, nor do I have the true freedom of crafting them on my own terms. I have to manipulate a bunch of things within a framework of rules to kludge facsimiles. Succeeding at that challenge can be very rewarding.
Comments