Wizkids D&D Frameworks - Sprue Miniatures

[Sooterkin]

I found this article when searching for more information about Frameworks Wave 2 Multipacks (Gnolls and Zombies). I don't know how much of this is currently valid, but there are images for a Frost Giant, Quasit and a Red Dragon Framework sets that I didn't see mentioned elsewhere:

https://www.gametrademagazine.com/Home/ ... eID=259386

[BBShockwave]

Thanks, interesting! I did not even know about these.

ICV2 has an article plus photos about what improvements the sets will have come Wave 3 - more torsos, more extra weapons, heads, terrain, accessories for the hobbyists.
https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/545 ... eworks-2-0

I don't know if these have been listed somewhere else, but they mention in the article these upcoming sets:

• D&D Frameworks: Fire Giant
• D&D Frameworks: Gargoyle
• D&D Frameworks: Goliath Barbarian (Male)
• D&D Frameworks: Male Half-Elf Ranger
• D&D Frameworks: Male Halfling Rogue
• D&D Frameworks: Medusa
• D&D Frameworks: Troll
• D&D Frameworks: Vrock
• Gilmore’s Fantastic Fabrications: Cyclops Stormcaller
• Pathfinder Legendary Cuts: Female Elf Rogue
• Pathfinder Legendary Cuts: Goblins
• Pathfinder Legendary Cuts: Male Human Wizard

I posted images of these sets here: viewtopic.php?p=57442#p57442

[DnDYuan-Ti]

Excited for the Vrock and the goblins to dip my toes into the improved line. Will report back!

[Clint]

I'm interested to see how this revised line and pricing works out. Obviously the first iteration was a miss, so will this be closer to the sweet spot? Wizkids are in a strange position because their primary competition is probably their own Nolzur's line.

[DnDYuan-Ti]

I'm interested to see how this revised line and pricing works out. Obviously the first iteration was a miss, so will this be closer to the sweet spot? Wizkids are in a strange position because their primary competition of probably their own Nolzur's line.

I hope it will be! These products could theoretically be complementary to one another rather than being locked in zero sum competition. Nolzur’s in my view will always hit that sweet spot of accessibility (and hopefully variety), while this could (potentially) hit the sweet spot for people who started with Nolzur’s and grew to prefer sprue minis of a higher sculpt quality. I see kids and younger teens buying Nolzur’s a lot. I can’t imagine them being as excited for something that comes in 30 pieces in a box, compared to a mini that’s sitting there in a blister pack out of a selection of maybe dozens. Plus, with the ever-evolving pool of what Nolzur’s minis are actually on a given store’s shelves, Wizkids could even potentially rotate creatures and people sculpts/ideas over the course of years so that the products don’t directly overlap too often. Who knows whether they could pull that off, though….

[BBShockwave]

So, I dunno if these are new, but I do not recall seeing images for them before. They were listed for 2023 June, so are about a year late, but they might happen? I really like the Gnolls, would love to see them in prepainted form. One even has what seems to be a Witherling torso as a pet. And some are so feral, they are not even wearing clothes, much like the MM2 Gnolls!
The Zombie bard is hilarious with the lute crashed over his head like a skit from a comedy show. And one is chasing a Crow that is making off with his own intestines!

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[Mattnuke]

We can hope, but man, Frameworks seems like it’s dead dead dead…

[jaredh]

We can hope, but man, Frameworks seems like it’s dead dead dead…

Frameworks was essentially DOA. Its original price point was insanity....I know of 2 FLGS that bought into it and lost a lot because nobody would touch it at MSRP.

[BBShockwave]

I have recently seen them at Tuan, a local FLGS, but yeah, overpriced as hell.

[Guyra]

Yeah, they blew it royally with the pricing. When they tried to fix it with the next releases, it was too little, too late. The damage had already been done.

[dr.dr.widdlesticks]

So, I dunno if these are new, but I do not recall seeing images for them before. They were listed for 2023 June, so are about a year late, but they might happen? I really like the Gnolls, would love to see them in prepainted form. One even has what seems to be a Witherling torso as a pet. And some are so feral, they are not even wearing clothes, much like the MM2 Gnolls!
The Zombie bard is hilarious with the lute crashed over his head like a skit from a comedy show. And one is chasing a Crow that is making off with his own intestines!



wzk75099_Gnolls.jpgwzk75091_Zombies.jpgwzk75085_Pit Fiend.jpgwzk75077_Male Half-Elf Ranger.jpgwzk75059_Chimera.jpg

Miniature Market said they were delayed in 2023, safe to say these were canceled after Frameworks flopped.

[Imbalance]

So, here it is, my first and likely only Frameworks purchase. If not for the bundle, there's no way I'd have bought this. Some gripes, some praise, some pics, almost like a review...

Package and contents - I fully agree that there's a ton of wasted space here. The sprues are sleeved in two poly bags, plus another small baggy for the clear bases. It contained all of the parts except for the lense that appears on the box, that was also omitted from the instructions. Given the sculpted eye options, like the Nolzur's versions, it was disappointing to not find this part on the clear plastic sprue.

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There are two styles of eye stalks, one more tentacle like, the other more finger bone-y. The directions seem to have confused the optional magic blasts between the two styles. There is one such appendage per style, and it's pretty easy to tell which one is which. Otherwise, the single sheet of instructions are easy enough to follow, not really notably better or worse than other model kits from a dozen other makers that I've seen.

My biggest gripe are these strange casting details, pretty hard to get pics of.

Eyestalkcontours.jpg (1.56 MiB) Viewed 234 times

I don't know how far back I noticed these, but I'm sure I commented on them on some forum before. I used to think they were most likely fingerprints in the factory paint on HeroClix, but really they looked like layer lines from 3d printing, which made zero sense for something that obviously comes out of a mold to have. But here they are. On sprue cast, unpainted pieces. They only show up on the pieces themselves, not the sprue tree. They are definitely not fingerprints.

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Weirdest part, these contour lines only really show on one side - these same eyestalks are smooth when I flip the panel over.

Nocontours2.jpg (1.74 MiB) Viewed 234 times

They aren't consistent at all. They would stand out for sure on the eye pieces or teeth. It's...weird.

Nocontours.jpg (1.42 MiB) Viewed 234 times

Even after sanding and test fitting and filing some more, fitment isn't great. I'm not the best at putty work, but I'm going to get some practice on this model. It's definitely not the exact duplicate of the Nolzur's cast.

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Having the two in hand reveals some similarities but also a host of differences. This Nolzur's specimen is the remains of someone else's unfinished project, in a state that allowed me to really poke and dissect it. There are indeed several parts in the assembly besides the obvious, but the "ball" itself is a mult-tool casting and solid. The Frameworks version, however, is assembled of six plates, guided with only a few pill-shaped nubs that fit poorly into small grooves. The sprue itself is not well layed out, as in some cases the gate is at the point of one of these attachment points. Still, assembly isn't all that bad - the most difficulty I experienced so far was attaching the two lower tusks of the "b" mouth option.

I stopped building here to let my glue dry and mull over my remaining options (whichever eyestalks I don't use are going to end up on the Nolzur's mod). When I get around to painting, I'll either complain in this thread or just post finished pics in my painting thread if it's fine.

I did figure out why these are so stupid expensive. It's on every damn sprue.

$&.jpg (1.63 MiB) Viewed 234 times

[Clint]

I never understood the rationale behind this line, and I still don't. What sucks is that it really seemed to take the wind out of the Nolzur's line, which has been languishing ever since.

[Guyra]

I never understood the rationale behind this line, and I still don't.

Yeah, same. Having two different product lines for unpainted minis basically means you're competing against yourself. Sure, some people will prefer one over the other, but there's probably like a 90% or higher overlap in the customers interested in either.

They probably imagined a huge, untapped, exclusive market that will immediately buy extremely overpriced minis just as long as they're HIPS...

[Kikoli]

I never understood the rationale behind this line, and I still don't. What sucks is that it really seemed to take the wind out of the Nolzur's line, which has been languishing ever since.

It's a good idea in concept.
Miniatures that you can build and adjust however you see fit, so you can more make it your own character or monster than a base miniature sounds like a fantastic idea.

In execution though, the issue comes down to a number of factors, including the obvious one of competing with themselves and the Nolzur line. The price point in particular was a huge turn off, when you could 3D print cheaper or just get Nolzur minis that were 'close enough' in most cases.

But the idea in theory was good.
Had things worked out differently, Frameworks could have replaced the Nolzurs line, giving people more options and customization, but there were a few too many factors that worked against it in the end, including the current markets and cost of living crisis across the world. Things like that you can't plan ahead for sadly...