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Cheap(er) Miniatures for Role Playing Games

I am always on the lookout for inexpensive miniatures for my Pathfinder games.  In particular, with my Pathfinder Pirates campaign starting I am looking not only for the typical 1" = 5ft 25mm miniatures, but also for the 1" = 30ft scale miniatures for ship battles, where minis might represent a sea creature.

Several good new additions have greatly grown my collection of animals and creatures.

First is anwo.com, where I found a great source for 1" animal miniatures.  The scale is slightly off, because all of the miniature creatures are 1 inch, but for most things it is ok.  The creatures do not have bases and are made of a rubbery material which makes them very durable, but in some cases, almost impossible to stand up.  I'll probably end up super-gluing them to some washers for bases.  The price is very good at only $0.49 each, but the shipping makes it worth your while to buy them in large lots.

Second is Safari Limited.  Their toobs are a great source for small sea creatures, dragons(1, 2), and all sorts of things.  In addition, they carry a great collection of larger dragons.  You can, of course, order these online, but I also was able to find them at my local craft store at similar prices.

I occasionally have a need for large dragons to represent great wyrms.  These dragons are hard to find in official form, and when you do find them, they are terribly expensive.  To substitute, I found some ornamental dragons that fill in quite nicely.  Stealstreet (also on amazon) has a number of dragon statues under $30 that work nicely for great wyrms.  A quick search for "Tom Wood Dragons" will also turn up a lot sources for similar size dragons with good detail for less cost.

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