According to crime researchers and statisticians, only about 6% of serial killers are female. But what makes more sense; that half the population is wildly under-represented in a particular demographic, or that that they're participating in statistically balanced numbers, and are just way, way better at remaining undetected? After all, society conditions boys to be loud and rowdy, and conditions girls to be quiet and unobtrusive, so maybe all those women are just quietly getting away with it. Anyway, there's nothing saying a Mimic has to turn into a treasure chest - those are just the ones that are most often getting caught.
Why, imagine the sort of things they could turn into to lure
in the unwary... something a D&D player wouldn't think twice about reaching out and grabbing...
The D20s aren't really the draw of these Dicelings, but it is interesting to see how each of them differs from the others, and how the design has evolved even in a short period of time - like, the Owlbear was fully smooth and the Beholder has a couple panels with bumpy skin, but today's has inset wood grain sculpted into every triangular face of the die. Getting fancier every time!
Mimics are shapeshifting predators that take
the forms of inanimate objects to lure intelligent creatures to their doom.
Remember, kids: if you ask, an undercover Mimic has to tall you that they're a Mimic; it's the law. The Mimic was introduced in the 1977 Monster Manual, making it one of the oldest D&D creatures there is, but it's not nearly as famous as others. As iconic as a living treasure chest is, it's got nothing on a floating eye.
This Diceling definitely captures the classic image of the beast: a wooden pirate chest with the lid open to reveal giant fangs, a long tongue, and all sorts of ill-defined fleshy anatomy bulging about in there. There are five metallic blue eyes arranged along the top, so it can see what it's biting at. The way the die transforms means there's a big hinge between the "head" and the body, meaning the toy can accurately chomp up and down if you stick a figure's arm or leg in there.
The tongue folding out the front of the mouth has
a few smaller fangs along the sides, like the hooks on a squid's tentacles. The very tip of the tongue is flexible PVC, which means it's a little difficult to move it on its hinge when changing forms - the material wants to flex rather than move. The upper palate is made from the same sort of stuff, so the fangs won't be dangerous; the fact it makes the roof of the mouth spongy is just a fun bonus. The interior organs or whatever those things are on the inside of its... cheeks(?) are weird and unidentifiable, but having them taking up space in there is better than leaving it hollow.
While the other Dicelings had to contend with hiding the remnants of the D20's shape in their monster form, this one needs to both look like a monster and look like a square chest. Little panels fold
down to create straight, blocky forms along the ground in th front and sides, though not the back. The sides of the head are shaped like the lid of a chest, and all the panels on the sides have the texture of wood and metal supports. There are even tiny faux-handles on there! It's so nifty! The "metal" parts are the same blue as the eyes, the body is dark brown, and the mouth is a healthy pink with off-white fangs.
The other Dicelings figures were fun enough, but all the monsters would have been better represented by real action figures. But since a Mimic's entire ecological niche is disguising itself as other common items, it's the first that is perfectly suited for this format. It would have been more impressive if they'd been able to design a way for it to turn into a plain treasure chest first, but asking for a triple-changer is a bit much at this stage. The Mimic is still the best figure in the line yet.
-- 06/13/23
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