The world of Dungeons & Dragons is incredible due the sheer variety of locations you can visit and people and creatures of the world you can interact with. Whether you’re travelling to the Feywild or into a dreary Domain of Dread you’ll want to show the players what kind of foe they’re facing. Wizkids Sand and Stone Blind Box collection provides DMs with different characters and creatures that players might expect in sandy or rocky locations from the obvious Earth Elementals all the way to Dinosaurs.
If you’re looking for a wider variety of Wizkids miniatures then you can check out some of our previous reviews for different releases of Collector Edition boxes such as the Wizkids Spelljammer: Adventures in Space Minis, Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, or Wild Beyond the Witchlight. Wizkids also routinely partners up to create Critical Role minis of party members like Vox Machina and the Bells Hells, as well as other friends and foes of Critical Role campaigns. While many of these miniatures come pre-painted there are also options to get unpainted minis in case you want to tailor their colors for yourself.
The first grouping of minis are those that loosely fit into the humanoid or semi-humanoid category. Here we see a mixture of rock-based creatures including Earth Elemental Myrmidon (16/43). The earthy texture on these minis is excellent and gives more weight to their clunky style filled with cracks and jagged edges. Also included in these blind boxes are some good generic creatures to add to your game; a few Yuan-Ti, a Thri-Kreen (with quality on par from the Spelljammer set), and some mummy enemies. I really enjoy a lot of these minis because they’re the type of smaller and quicker encounter that you always need more of.
The Bone Knight (36/43) is my favorite in this group. The black of his armors undercoating helps the skeletal frame placed above it really pop making sure that this mini is legible from across the table. On top of his look is his powerful pose, with great sword reared up overhead the Bone Knight is in the middle of preparing to deliver a powerful blow to any who are in front of it.
Taking a page from the spiritual there are a number of minis that relate to religion or deities. The Djinni is not only an essential mini to have for any lion headed cave delving but if your player happens to be using a Genie as a Warlock Patron introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything it will allow a presence for their Patron on the field. The detail in the Djinni’s outfit is vibrant but what’s most beautiful about this mini is the way the legs transform to smoke emerging from the golden lamp. I’ve had issues in the past with minis from Wizkids that have fine details where eyes on a face might be askew, the tattoos on the arms of the Priest of Osybus are incredibly detailed. It’s not often at the table that I’ll have to look that close at a mini but when I do I’m glad it looks good.
Something that the Wizkids Sand and Stone set has a lot of is not only humanoids but the hybrid or demi-humans. Wereboars, Weretigers, Jackalweres, and a Harpy. The Lamia sits proudly brandishing a blade, but what’s more impressive is the definition in the muscles of the lion body that her human torso is attached to. Looking at this mini you can see the definition and power behind their strikes.
Treading more into the monstrous realm this collection of minis small and large show off some of the more alien creatures that characters might come across in the desert. The Flying Snake manages to nail exactly what it should be, unfortunately for the Dust Mephit I can only really understand that it’s a Mephit partially emerging from a cloud of dust, otherwise it looks like it’s sitting on a spore or coming out of an egg. The two swarm insects are a bit difficult to discern unless you’re told what they are, when I first opened the Swarm of Wasps I thought it looked like DNA you’d see in an educational video.
From this group my favorite has got to be the Butelle, also known as a land shark, with its sleek metallic head bursting out of the rocky ground is extremely eye catching. By having it’s body underground this mini also manages to give itself a larger presence by filling the whole space on the token instead creating a dense structure. While nowhere near as terrifying the vibrant colorinig on the Basilisk as it shifts from the blue body to the vibrant red of the quills on it’s back. Wizkids normally nails the look of a creature from its official artwork but the choice for a far more vibrant red really makes this creature pop.
Moving from monsters to even more monstrous the next collection from Wizkids Sand and Stone is a series of animale of various shapes and sizes. Large birds, large insects, and large snakes. Everything you need for your party to come across out in the wilds of the desert are in here, as well as some interesting additional choices. Something that’s excellent in this grouping is the versatility of some of the minis. A Spirit Naga is an excellent choice that informs players of what they could expand their ideas of encounters to, but it also works just as nicely if you need a giant snake.
The details on the different body sections and claws of the Giant Scorpion are phenomenal. I probably like it so much due to the fact that this miniature is the size of a large scorpion in real life, but getting to see this at the table or in your hand almost makes you feel like you’re holding onto a Scorpion for real.
Giant Scorpions and Flying Snakes might be common to see in the world of Dungeons & Dragons but an exciting part of this box set is the dinosaurs that are included. Anyone who has had a character with access to Polymorph knows how important it is to be aware of the power of dinosaurs so whether you’re needing it to transform into, time traveling, or playing an Ebberon campaign these minis are a fun addition.
The Triceratops is my favorite of this group as it’s turning around, mouth open letting out a roar. The texture across the surface of the forehead crest to the leathering along its back has excellent variety that catches the light giving it an extra sense of realism.
Saving the biggest and baddest for the end are the Chimera, Wyvern (which is sold separately), and Gorthok The Thunder Boar. Both Chimera and Wyvern come with detachable wings that not only assist in creating a sense of “Chimera with it’s wings tucked away” but also is helpful for storage of these larger minis. From this set of three though my personal favorite is Gorthok The Thunder Boar. The mini has an incredible level fo detail on the texture of it’s fur while also using semi-transparent blue plastic to show off the lightning that is meant to arc from it’s tusks.
What Are Our Final Thoughts On Wizkids Sand and Stone Icons of the Realms?
There’s a lot of positive things to be said for the Wizkids Sand and Stone Icons of the Realms miniatures. One of the aspects of it that I like the most is that unlike some of the other collections that have creatures that you might want to set encounters around, this collection has a number of minis for the time between those big encounters. It’s for the times that your party might encounter a few Yuan-Ti, or you just want to put a giant animal in front of them as they’re hunting through a rocky cliff face. As a DM these minis are already filling my head with ideas for where a group of these could show up to create more variety in games. Alternatively the biggest drawback from this collection is that they’re a Blind Box. A Mummy Lord might be perfect for the next leg of your campaign, but if you pull a camel it likely won’t be worth your while. Something you see above might be perfect for your game, but unless you’re going to be purchasing it second hand it makes it hard to plan for something.
Should I Buy Wizkids Sand and Stone Icons of the Realms?
Wizkids Sand and Stone is another excellent collection of high quality of miniatures. I personally saw a lot of value in it for the kind of smaller enemies between big battles that you always want to have more variety in. If you’re looking for minis to drop onto your table that immediately get across the monster you’re wanting your party to fight against then there’s truly no better than Wizkids. That being said as a Blind Box if you’re looking to purchase these it should be because you’re just wanting to add…. something to your collection as opposed to adding anything specific. Coming in with a specific desire will likely lead to disappointment unless you’re going to be purchasing second hand where the miniature you get is guaranteed.
The copy of Wizkids Sand and Stone Icons of the Realms used to produce this review was provided by Wizkids.
WizKids Sand and Stone Icons of the Realms Review
Source: Pinay Guide Blog
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