Filippo Franco
Hero Forge is a site where you can design and have many types of miniatures made. Have you created a fantastic character that you are very fond of? Isn’t there a miniature for sale that is worthy to represent it? Thanks to Hero Forge you can make it a reality quickly and intuitively.
How does it work?
The process is simple. As soon as you enter the site, you can immediately start designing your own mini with an intuitive interface full of possibilities. You can register to save the various projects, upload and edit them later, all for free. After that if you want to buy your creation there are several options.
The cheapest one is to buy the STL file and then print the mini on your own thanks to a 3D printer. The cost starts at $ 7.99 (approximately € 6.70). Otherwise you choose a material and Hero Forge takes care of the making the miniature and shipping it. Standard-sized plastic figures start from $ 19.99 (about € 16.70). Then there are other materials, with different characteristics of durability, detail and value. Premium plastic, steel, bronze and double-sized nylon plastic: on the website each material is explained in detail. The ability to request pre-colored thumbnails is being implemented, in addition, but is not yet available.
What can be realized?
There are so many possibilities it is simply impossible to describe them all. In this review we have added some screenshots just to give an idea of the extreme breadth in scope of customization available. We have been following the Hero Forge site for a few months now and it appears that new elements are constantly being added. Races, highly editable body types, poses, equipment, even an excellent facial expression editor – everything is customizable.
Most of the possibilities involve fantasy races and gear, but contemporary and futuristic genres are also well represented. Then there are vehicles and mounts, objects added on the base of the miniature, and the options continue to increase with great frequency. Even the figure bases allow freedom of choice in shape, surface modeling, and writing on the underside.
Our experience with Hero Forge
Hero Forge gave us a budget to make some miniatures for the purpose of writing this review, so we got down to business. We made about 10 in rather a short time, and had a lot of fun in the process. We have chosen four of these, in three different types of materials, to illustrate the results we were able to achieve.
Again, The creation process has been simple and intuitive. The ability to save projects and reload them allowed us to play and vary the details, and even to “sleep on it” before continuing the process. It is also possible to export an image of the thumbnail. Beyond the final result, the feature we liked most is the broad spectrum and depth of customization it allows. It isn’t about buying a miniature that looks like your character, or one that makes you think of them. This way, you don’t have to settle for a “similar” figure just because it is recognizable by type on the table.
Hero Forge lets you create exactly the creature you want. You can make your miniature unique by combining the same details that went into making the character it represents memorable as you did when you created them on paper.
The starting screen A dragonborn with nanic beard, elven ears and demon horns seems confused by her aspect… I am quite a hottie, do I? Wolf, beers and lollipop: we can start conquering!
The four miniatures of our own!
Here you are Aukan, Kyrax, Boilbur and Vyk Frokkestein. We will tell you their stories in future articles, so you will understand why we chose the various aesthetic custom details for each. For now, just know that Aukan is a goliath barbarian (made of steel), Kyrax a human inquisitor (premium plastic), Boilbur a dwarf warrior (plastic) and Vyk a grippli doctor alchemist (plastic).
As explained on the site, the steel miniature doesn’t show the details very well. It has excellent resistance and durability, however. In our opinion, the lack of detail isn’t noticeable from afar and the weight of the metal is very pleasant in hand. In contrast, the cheaper plastic is rich in details, even if it doesn’t show the most delicate parts or components well, and it is lighter. The premium plastic represents a good compromise between those two materials, but the dark color makes it more difficult to enjoy their higher degree of detail.
For the final result we can say we are absolutely satisfied and let the images complete the evaluation. We didn’t try the bronze nor the nylon plastic, so on those we can’t offer an opinion.
Packaging and shipping quality of Hero Forge
We closed the order on July 24th. Our request was processed the next day and on August 13th the package was shipped, arriving undamaged in excellent condition on August 17th. Not bad considering the current circumstances!
Given the cost and sentimental value of these miniatures, we were happy with the quality of the package. The cardboard box was light but strong; the interior was completely filled with padding to avoid impact damage. Inside that, our miniatures were packaged individually, each with a sticker marking which design was which. The plastic ones had additional padding inside, plus an additional adhesive seal to close them.
Only the steel miniature had no protections inside the bag, and it still has a slightly crooked ax handle (easily corrected manually). We don’t know if that was due to printing or happened during shipping, but it’s a minor flaw at worst.
Final consideration
We are very happy with our new miniatures. Hero Forge has delivered exactly what it promised, with precision and professionalism. There is really a lot of quality in every step. The editor is simple and well done, the materials are varied and valid, the packaging and customer service are absolutely up to snuff.
Obviously the cost of the miniatures, plus any shipping costs, is much higher than that of mass-produced counterparts. For the right character, however, we believe their price-points are commensurate with the very attractive products, and the fact that they participate in the attachment invested in the original (paper) character. The important thing is that the result is proportional to the money spent and expectations.
Such beautiful custom miniatures are physical reminders of precious memories, and provide everlasting links to times (and any number of stories) that mean so much. But above all, it takes a truly heartless GM to kill a character represented by such a precious miniature, the result of so much effort on the part of the player, and GM’s know this!
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