WizKids’ Sara Jenkins on celebrating 50 years of D&D through replicas, statues, miniatures and more

Sara, it’s great to connect. Before we dive in, for anyone new to WizKids, how would you pitch what you guys do?
We make fun games and unique merchandise featuring your favourite IPs – like D&D! No really, WizKids is the market leader in pre-painted collectible miniatures and game manufacturing. We take some of the world’s leading licenses and them bring to life in our games and products. We’ve really grown and diversified our offerings over the years.

While we’re most known for our popular collectible miniatures game HeroClix, we design and develop a variety of tabletop games, high-quality collectable miniatures, life-size foam replicas, resin statues, book accessories and more… We bring famed monsters and characters to life in physical form.

This year sees D&D celebrate its 50th anniversary – and WizKids has new launches tied to the occasion! Can you talk us through the highlights of this line?
Absolutely! We are happy to announce a series of exciting releases this year, celebrating 50 years of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. Our line-up spans a variety of product categories, including pre-painted miniatures, unpainted miniatures, plush toys, foam replicas, statues, action figures and more. There’s something for everyone across all price points.

“Most members of the RPG team at WizKids are seasoned D&D players.”

One of the many highlight releases is our 50th Anniversary pre-painted collectible miniatures set. This set pays homage to the rich history of D&D by including a collection of classic creatures and characters drawn from both 1st and 5th edition illustrations. In fact, this release marks the first time that several of these monsters are depicted in colour.

Amazing!
Right!? Working on this set has been an awesome experience for our entire team, which is comprised of all ages and experience levels. This set includes 10 secret rare miniatures and is scheduled for release this July at local game stores.

The miniatures are super impressive. Can you shed light on the design process here? What’s the key to authentically bringing these characters to life in this way?
Thank you! Once we identify which character or set piece we would like to bring to life, we begin with ideation. We typically start with original D&D artwork provided by Wizards of Coast. When specific artwork isn’t available, we may have a concept artists create preliminary sketches for us.

After establishing a vision of what the character could look like, we move on to 3D sculpting. This process continues until we feel all the little details are incorporated to bring the characters – and monsters – to life. Wizards then reviews our sculpt and once approved, we proceed to tooling and production.

Focusing on one mini for a moment: the Red Dragon, as depicted on the 1977 D&D Basic Set. Why did this stand out as a great character – and version of this character – to include in your anniversary line?
Dragons are of significant importance in the world of D&D, and we have taken great pride in creating and releasing very exciting 3D dragons over the past few years. From Bahamut to Tiamat, each dragon has a unique story to tell. The classic red dragon is no exception – it’s iconic: the beast among monsters, the tyrant among kings, the dragon among dragons.

We wanted to ensure our 3D version translated well when compared to the 2D version. We homed in on the classic art style with smaller wings and an expressive face. And, of course, made sure the dragon sits atop a pile gold coins!

Of course! Now, what makes D&D an exciting IP to build product around?
Most members of the RPG team at WizKids are seasoned D&D players, with some having played the game since its earliest editions. Some even played with their parents; it’s very multi-generational over here! Although D&D utilises ‘theatre of the mind’ for gameplay, we are thrilled to bring the beloved characters and creatures of the D&D universe to life in physical form.

Another line that jumped out are your Replicas of the Realms Trophy Plaques. It must be a lot of fun creating these kinds of ‘left field’ product launches that resonate with fans. How did these come about?
I mean, who doesn’t want a dragon head hanging on their wall in their game room?! This is the fun part of the job, where we brainstorm and dream up new ideas for interesting products. If our team values the idea and it’s something we would purchase as consumers of these types of products, we feel our customers would likely be interested as well. It is more than just a passion project though. We gather feedback from our distribution and retail partners which helps us establish that there truly is a demand for it.

Sara, this has been great. I have one last question: why do you feel D&D has continued to grow and thrive across the past 50 years?
So many of our friends and family have grown up with D&D, and they now get to share their love of the franchise with their children. As I mentioned previously, it’s truly generational. The expansion of social media and live streaming has made it more accessible than ever. Watching a group of players experience the game in interesting ways can be quite fun and addicting. I believe it will continue to captivate multiple generations to come.