Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Based on Early Game Art Coming Soon

WizKids has announced a new line of Dungeons & Dragons miniatures based on artwork from the original Monster Manual. The D&D Classic Collection is a new collection of miniatures featuring classic Dungeons & Dragons monsters as based on their earliest depiction. The first set is titled D&D Classic Collection: Monsters A-C and appropriately contains a selection of monsters from the opening pages of the 1977 rulebook. Included in the set are a Ankheg, a Basilisk, a Beholder, a Bulette, a Carrion Crawler, a Chimera, a Cockatrice, and a Couatl. You can check out a rendering of the Beholder (which is sure to be the highlight of the set) below: 

The original Monster Manual, published in 1977, was a pivotal and important book for not only Dungeons & Dragons but all of tabletop gaming. The compendium was Dungeons & Dragons' first hardcover book and contained dozens of pieces of artwork depicting a variety of different monsters, including a mix of monsters from previous adventures and rules supplements and new monsters created just for the book. The book became so successful that other RPGs quickly adopted compiling a separate rulebook for monster and NPC statblocks. The Monster Manual has become synonymous with Dungeons & Dragons, becoming a "core" rulebook in every edition of the game along with the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide.

Given the number of classic monsters that appear in the Monster Manual, it's hard to say which monsters could be included in future D&D Classic Collection boxes. Some possibilities include the Umber Hulk, Nalfeshnee, Xorn, Displacer Beast or the Mimic.

The first D&D Classic Collection will be released in October and has a retail price of $99.99. Expect more information about the new miniatures set to be announced in the coming months.