Almost every miniature listing leads with a millimetre number, and almost none of them explain it. That number is not total height.
It is a rough measurement taken from the base up to the character’s eye line for an average human-sized figure, which is why a figure labeled 28mm usually stands around 30 to 35mm from base to crown. Once you know that, the labels stop being mysterious and start being a compatibility hint.
The measurement that actually decides whether a figure works on your battle map is the base. A standard D&D battle grid uses one-inch squares, or about 25.4mm, and a typical humanoid miniature sits on a round base roughly 25mm across. That is why both 28mm and 32mm figures drop into a single grid square without overhang. If you have ever wondered why two different scale labels both seem to work at the same table, this is why.
Scale and base size are separate decisions, and confusing them is the most common mistake. The scale number mostly affects how a figure reads next to its neighbors: proportions, paint surface, visual weight. The base diameter is what determines grid occupancy. A medium creature with a 25mm base occupies one square. Many large creatures step up to a base in the 40 to 50mm range and straddle the space around them. Huge and gargantuan monsters can span two or more squares, and if you are running a fight with a dragon, that footprint matters more than the height printed on the box.
D&D’s own size categories, Small through Gargantuan, map loosely onto this. Medium covers most player characters and sits at the standard humanoid base. Large covers ogres, big cats, and plenty of mid-tier threats. The mapping is a hobby convention rather than a hard specification, and it varies between manufacturers, so treat it as a strong tendency instead of a rule you can measure against.
For most players, the practical difference between 28mm and 32mm is small. Both read as a normal-sized hero on a one-inch grid, and both coexist on the same table without looking broken. The difference shows up in consistency with an existing collection, in how much surface area a painter has to work with, and in visual presence when a figure stands beside a larger ally or enemy. If you are building on a collection you already own, matching what you have usually beats chasing a new standard. If you are starting fresh, pick one and stay with it.
Scale is also a convention, not an exact science. Two figures from different makers can carry the same nominal number and still look noticeably different in build and proportion. When that happens, the mismatch usually reads as a posture or base difference rather than a scale error, and a base swap or a slight repositioning closes most of the gap.
When you are standing in a storefront filter or scanning a product page, run the checks in this order: confirm your grid, confirm the base diameter, and only then think about the nominal scale. That sequence answers the only question that matters at the table: will this figure physically do what I need it to do?
Painted or unpainted: what you are actually signing up for
The painted-versus-unpainted label looks like a quality signal. It is really a time commitment, and it is worth reading that way. Pre-painted figures arrive table-ready out of the pack. Unpainted plastic and resin figures typically need assembly, cleanup, a primer coat, and paint before they look finished on the table. Neither state is better than the other; they serve different players.
Unpainted is not a defect. It is a hobby step, and it is the reason a lot of people get into miniatures in the first place. What the label does not tell you is how much work the step involves. A single character figure with moderate detail might be an evening’s project. A bulk box built around a themed encounter can carry dozens of figures and turn that evening into a season. When a listing advertises unpainted miniatures in quantity, the figure count is a stronger signal of the work ahead than any description of the sculpt.
The multiplication effect is the part buyers underestimate. Forty figures at one clip and one figure at one clip are not the same hobby, even though both carry the same “unpainted” tag. Preparation work scales with detail level too. A figure with crisp recesses, layered cloth, and fine armor takes longer than a smooth silhouette, not because the technique is harder but because there is more surface to address.
Do not assume a specific product is paint-ready, primed, or table-ready out of the box unless the listing or the manufacturer’s own material says so plainly. Modern manufacturing has blurred the line between materials, and a product that looks like primed grey plastic in a photo may not behave that way in hand.
This is also where your purchase format decision starts to intersect with your calendar. Bulk packs lower the per-figure cost, but they only deliver that value if you actually intend to prepare the figures. If you want to open a box and play tonight, budget for pre-painted, or accept that this is a painting project as much as a gaming one. A useful self-check before you buy: how many hours this season are you willing to spend on preparation versus play? Answer that honestly, and the painted decision usually makes itself.
Plastic or resin: durability, painting, and price tendencies
Material is the attribute storefront filters handle least helpfully. Most pages reduce it to a single word, which hides the fact that plastic, resin, and the various plastics used for pre-painted and board-game figures behave very differently in hand.
Start with handling. Plastic tends to be more flexible, so thin parts such as spears, sword blades, and delicate limbs can bend rather than snap. That flexibility is a real advantage for figures that get picked up, moved, packed into a case, and unpacked again every session. Resin tends to be more rigid. Normal assembly and tabletop use hold up well, but a drop is less forgiving, particularly on protruding detail. Community collectors describe the pattern clearly from experience: the materials that hold detail well are often the more brittle ones.
Painting behavior splits the same way. Many painters prefer resin because fine detail reads more easily, washes settle into recesses more predictably, and highlights separate cleanly on complex texture. Plastic can absolutely reach a high standard, but it usually takes more effort to achieve the same definition, especially on softer or smoother surfaces. This is not a knock on plastic. It is a statement about where the effort goes.
Price positioning tends to follow production reality. Plastic is usually cheaper in a large set and widely available across product lines, since injection molding makes big runs economically sensible. Resin figures are often pricier per model, reflecting finer detail, smaller batches, and made-to-order production. Those are tendencies, not universal rules.
The rule of thumb for most D&D tables is simple: choose plastic for figures you will handle and transport constantly, and consider resin when detail and painting are the reason you are buying at all. Keep in mind that the word “plastic” covers real variability. A figure made for repeated handling behaves differently from one made for painting and display, and the two are not interchangeable just because the box says plastic.
Singles, sets, or bulk packs: a value and prep-time trade-off
Once scale, painted state, and material are settled, the purchase format question reads as a price question. It is better understood as a precision-versus-effort question.
- Singles buy precision. You want a specific monster for a specific encounter, or a specific character to represent someone at the table, and you buy exactly that. The cost per figure is the highest of the three formats, and building a collection one figure at a time is slow.
- Encounter sets and themed bundles cover a scenario in a single purchase. They trade the precision of singles for convenience and a lower cost per figure, and they cut the time you would otherwise spend hunting down individual pieces across multiple listings.
- Bulk packs push the cost per figure down furthest and give you volume to draw from. The trade-offs are duplicates, uneven quality across the box, and a meaningful increase in painting and storage work. A bulk pack that saves money per figure still costs you evenings.
If you are comparing bulk options, the truly useful number on the listing is the per-count unit price, not the headline total. A 60-figure box and a 20-figure box can look very different in price until you divide by figure count.
Treat retail prices as checkable, not fixed. Listings change, sales end, and pre-order status flips. Look at the current product page rather than committing a number to memory, and be skeptical of any guide that quotes stable prices.
A workable sequence: decide what this season’s campaign actually needs, then choose singles where the campaign is specific and a bulk base layer where it is broad. Most players end up somewhere in between, with a few precise purchases and one honest bulk box to cover the chaff.
Matching miniatures to a campaign, encounter, or party
Buying by category is easier than buying by campaign, but campaign-shaped buying is what makes a collection useful. Here is how that plays out for a few common table situations, then a sequence that works whatever your campaign looks like.
A goblin-heavy arc changes what your core needs to be. If most of your early sessions are goblinoids and their hangers-on, a matching block of low-tier raiders is worth more than a spread of single-use monsters, because a single fight can drain ten identical figures at once and you want them to read as a group on the grid. A single signature leader figure for the arc anchors the bigger scenes, and after that you can stop.
An undead arc pulls the same way, with a different target. Skeletons and zombies fill the same “recurring low-tier block” role, and the signature figure is usually the caster or commander behind them rather than a beast. The point is not a specific product; it is that the creature types your campaign actually repeats shape what you buy well before the storefront filters do.
A conversation-led campaign buys differently again. If your table spends most sessions talking, scheming, and traveling, your highest-use figures are party characters, key NPCs, and the occasional large set-piece creature for the scene the arc has been building toward. Ten identical monsters cover very little of that table’s real demand.
With those scenarios in mind, the sequence is the same each time.
Step 1: List what recurs
Before buying anything, write down the creature types and party roles that actually appear repeatedly in the campaign you are running or playing. Two or three lines is enough. Which of the three scenes above describes your table most often will already tell you a lot about what belongs on that list.
Step 2: Prioritize a common enemy core
Common low-level enemies are the highest-use purchase in almost any campaign. Ten matching figures of the same type cover a single fight cleanly and read as a group on the grid, which is often better than ten mismatched individual monsters that each appear once.
Step 3: Add one or two signature large creatures
A campaign is usually anchored by a handful of scenes with a major threat. Picking one or two large creatures that fit the campaign’s theme gives you more table presence than a dozen mid-tier generic monsters.
Step 4: Reserve character figures for the party
Player character miniatures are the most consistently used figures in any collection. They show marching order, they show positions during exploration, and they are the ones players actually care about seeing. This is the place where spending more per figure is easiest to justify.
Step 5: Reassess after a few sessions
A collection that grows in response to what the campaign actually did is far more useful than one that grew in anticipation of what it might do. Large collections do not guarantee that the right figure is findable mid-session, and a small, well-chosen set often plays better than a large, unsorted one.
When not to buy a miniature: standees, board-game minis, 3D printing, and digital tokens
Physical miniatures are one answer to “what represents this monster on the grid,” not the only answer. The substitutes below come from community and retailer comparisons, so treat the individual claims as general tendencies rather than measured findings.
Flat standees and cardboard pawns are generally cheaper per figure, lighter, and easier to store and carry, which makes them useful for players who travel to sessions. The trade-offs are typically lower-resolution art on budget lines, front-facing art with a plain or blurred back on many products, and a single fixed pose. If you search for high-resolution standees specifically, most of those downsides shrink considerably.
Board-game minis can deliver a lot of figures for the money, but scale and quality vary across boxes, and each set needs checking against your grid and your existing collection before you commit. A board game is a good source if you also want the game. It is a weaker source if you only want the figures.
3D printing offers design freedom you cannot get from a stocked catalog, at the cost of equipment, time, and finishing work. Since the figures come out of the process unpainted and often need support cleanup, printing and miniature-buying share the same preparation-heavy trade-off discussed earlier; you simply move the source of the figure upstream. Browser-based generation is one low-equipment entry point into that path. With Meshy, you can start from a text description or a set of reference images and receive a textured 3D asset, with GLB, FBX, and STL among the export formats the platform supports. Using several consistent reference views can give the sides and back that a single image never shows more information to work with, which tends to improve the silhouette and proportions of the result. From there you rotate the model, check it from angles the prompt did not cover, adjust the text or images and regenerate, retopologize or retexture it when the shape is close but the topology or surface is not, and export. Once the file is out, whether it works for a mini is a question for your slicer and printer settings, not something the generation step settles on its own.
Digital tokens remove physical storage entirely, which is a real advantage for DMs with limited space or frequent remote sessions. The cost is a different table experience. Physical distance becomes abstract, and the tactile quality of moving a figure does not carry over. That is a preference question, not a quality question.
Laid out side by side, the trade-offs sort by cost, portability, durability, immersion, and preparation effort rather than by any single winner. Standees and tokens win on cost and storage. Printed and purchased miniatures win on presence. Board-game minis sit in the middle on price and coverage. There is no universal answer, only the answer that matches the session you are actually running.
Reading storefront filters: what product lines and set names tell you
Once your scale, painted state, material, and format decisions are made, the filter panels on a storefront stop being noise. Product line families and their rough release windows exist as orientation so you can decode the labels you are about to click. Treat that as background, not as a set list or a release table to copy. Those details shift, and a guide’s snapshot ages faster than the storefront does.
The practical outcome is that you can now navigate the same filters a catalog presents with a decision already in mind. Availability and pre-order status still change, so confirm on the current product page rather than relying on any single overview, including this one. Do not assume one store’s category structure applies everywhere. Use the labels to understand what a filter means, then read the specific listing for what you are actually buying. When the shelf is one click away and you already know your grid, your material, your format, and your campaign’s recurring needs, the browsing stops being guesswork.
FAQ
What scale are D&D miniatures, and does 28mm or 32mm matter on a one-inch grid?
Both scales sit comfortably on a one-inch (25.4mm) grid square. The scale number is roughly a base-to-eye measurement for an average human-sized figure, not total height. The base diameter is what determines grid occupancy, so for most players the 28mm versus 32mm choice comes down to consistency with an existing collection rather than rules compatibility.
What does “unpainted” actually require before a figure is ready for the table?
Typically assembly, cleanup, priming, and painting before play. Pre-painted figures arrive table-ready. The work scales with figure detail and quantity, so a bulk box carries substantially more preparation time than a single character figure. Do not assume a specific product is primed or paint-ready unless the listing says so.
Is plastic or resin better for miniatures I will handle and transport often?
Plastic tends to be more flexible and forgiving on thin parts, which suits repeated handling and travel. Resin tends to be more rigid, holds finer detail well, and is often preferred by painters, but it is less forgiving when dropped. These are general tendencies that vary by manufacturer and intended use.
How do I decide between buying singles, an encounter set, or a bulk pack?
Match the format to the need. Singles buy precision for a specific encounter or character. Encounter sets cover a themed scenario efficiently. Bulk packs lower the cost per figure at the price of duplicates and more preparation work. Compare bulk options using per-count unit pricing rather than headline totals, and check current listings rather than trusting quoted prices.
Which miniatures should I buy first for a new campaign or a new party?
Start with the creature types and party roles that recur most. A small core of common low-level enemies covers the highest number of fights. Add one or two signature large creatures for the campaign’s key scenes, and reserve character figures for the player characters themselves. Then reassess after a few sessions and fill gaps the campaign actually exposed.
When is a standee, board-game mini, or digital token a better choice than buying a miniature?
When cost, storage, or portability matter more than table presence for a given session. Standees and cardboard pawns are generally cheaper and easier to store. Board-game minis provide volume but vary in scale and quality. Digital tokens remove physical storage entirely but change the table experience. The right answer depends on which trade-off your table cares about least.
