D&D Kre-0 Sets - Pictures and Initial Thoughts

If you followed my previous posts about the upcoming Dungeons and Dragons Kre-o line (here and here), you know I am eagerly looking forward to their release next year. So you can image how glad I was to see preview images of some of the sets and details and prices on those products.

Unfortunately, after looking over the images and product descriptions in greater detail, I'm a little less enthused than I once was.

If you want to see more of the pictures and read the product information for yourself, check out the post here on battlegrip.com (the link will open in a new window, so you can look at the images and following along with my comments here).

First, a couple of things I like about the sets.

1. Variety of sets for different budgets. They have simple figure packs as low as 2.99, up to sets running as high as 24.99, so there's something for everyone.
2. For the minifigs (or Kreons as Kre-o calls them), there are a good variety of armors, helms, and weapons across the line. All the warriors and orcs are not the same.
3. The green discs the figures stand on look like they might be approximately 1 inch, which would make them great for use on a traditional battle map.

Now, for some of the things I don't like, and unfortunately this list is longer.

1. Blind Bags. Kre-o is referring to their random Kreon bags as "Blind Bags". There are two versions. One offers 36 different figures (way too many), and the other, just 10 figures (about right). Also, the bags only include one figure. I would have liked to see two figures per bag, one "good guy" and one "bad" for instant use right out of the bag.
        The Kre-o Cityville line does include two figs per blind bag in just this configuration.
2. The sets are cluttered with cards and firing catapults turning what could have been a storytelling imagination play set in to a simple build and break game. For younger kids this may be a great hit, but for fans of D&D, which skews older, it comes off childish. If that was the case, why bother with the D&D brand?
3. While there is variety in the warrior and orc figures, unfortunately, that's all you get, variations on human warriors, and variations on orcs; no elves or dwarves, or goblins.
4. And while we're speaking of orcs, in my opinion, they look more like feral zombies with their light grey skin tone. How about a little green?
5. The buildings in all the sets, from the top of the line to the most basic, are too simplistic. Again, this is due to the sets focusing on the build and break game and not as vehicle for imaginative play and storytelling.
6. The sets appear under the Dungeons and Dragons brand name, but there are no Dungons, nor Dragons in any of the sets. Again, why bother with the license name, when the sets don't even superficially live up to the name.
7. And lastly, of all the sets, only the Warriors sets seem to have anything related to the D&D IP, with "accessories to build iconic DUNGEONS & DRAGONS story vignettes". At $4.99 a pack of 30 pieces, I'm not expecting to see Drizzt vs Icingdeath or Sturm on the High Clerist Tower, and if you're not leveraging these great story scenes, I ask again, why bother using the D&D brand name?

Overall, I'm looking forward to seeing these products for myself, and maybe picking up a few sets (mostly fig packs), but clearly my enthusiasm for the product line is already dropping.