Multi Piece Miniature

[ixminis]

2772 Iris female gnome come to mind, due to the really cool helms they are all holding (if you've never seen it, Iris the gnome, an fairly unremarkable miniature, is holding a beautifully articulated, rodent -think badger or squirrel- themed helmet dangling from her belt in the back, where no one can see it-its the best part of the whole mini!!)

I'm pretty sure that it's a stylized lion's head, but I'm not the definitive authority on that one.... If yall want I'll dig up a picture of it?

[spiritual_exorcist]

I'd actually bet it is a badger, D&D Gnomes have an affinity with 'burrowing animals' and are very often associated with animals like Badgers and Racoons.

 

I don't have the mini in question, but I have seen it and i've always thought it was a badger

[Vaitalla]

It was a badger helm. Thus her complete name, "Iris Badgerpants" which I dubbed her with when she was being a bit...troublesome...during painting. Unfortunately, Ron liked the name, and it stuck. >.<

 

To stay in-thread, the difficulty with doing multiple poses of one character is not only that it takes up sculpting funds which could be allocated to completely new models, but that it may do so to no appreciative benefit. In otherwords, people who run other fighting companies aren't going to just switch over to Necropolis when they see a new sculpt of Judas Bloodspire. Instead, the number of Bloodspires already selling will just be split between the two sculpts--and inevitably one is going to be dubbed "cooler" and the other will end up mostly sitting on the shelf. You might get a few sales from painters who like the new sculpt a lot, but would it be enough to pay for the sculpting, painting, and production of the mini?

 

--Anne

[twjolson]

Instead, the number of Bloodspires already selling will just be split between the two sculpts--and inevitably one is going to be dubbed "cooler" and the other will end up mostly sitting on the shelf. You might get a few sales from painters who like the new sculpt a lot, but would it be enough to pay for the sculpting, painting, and production of the mini?

 

--Anne

That might happen, where one is thought better and the other is left to dust. But at the same time, there are plenty of other sculpts that lots of people buy, but I don't (and others don't) because they don't tickle my fancy. A second figure might just pull enough in and get them to buy a mini of a character that they would have otherwise ignored. WOuld someone switch armies because of a cool new sculpt? I don't know, it's not uncommon for war gamers to collect more then one army, and having a handful of second sculpts in another faction that they love would help them decide to take that faction.

Would the increase in sales warrent a second figure, I don't know. But the feedback I'm seeing on here says that it's at least worth looking into more.

 

Thanks for your point of view Anne

[spiritual_exorcist]

The point being, many of the character sculpts that would get redone are already very very cool. So if a person isn't already playing or buying them it is unlikely that a new sculpt would lure them in.

 

A new set of characters that offer up new stats and a wholey different direction or option for a force is far more likely to get people to buy into a new force.

 

I think Anne is pretty dead on with this issue, as much as I would like to see some resculpts just for cool factor.

 

That being said, I do really like your idea of having more models that could be easily posed intoa large variety of position.

[ixminis]

To stay off topic, I'm now looking at Ms. Badgerpants and see what yall are saying -> quite not a lion...

 

MG

[Mourningcloud]

Given the breadth of Reaper's lines, however, I think it would be reasonable to do a few multi-piece packs as described. I will admit that one thing I envy GW users for is the way they can build up such cool bitz boxes.

Hallelujah!

 

thats the point ive been trying to make all along-

 

I do not want more multipart miniatures made so by the complexity of the sculpt not lending itself to being easily cast as one unit.

 

sorry bout that, but at least half this discussion has been from people mis-understanding what i was talking about. if this doesnt clear it up, nothing short of lobotomy will.

 

but id like to see maybe one or two multipart sets for the more popular monster types, such as the ubiquitous orc, and maybe goblins, bugbears, and gnolls, or even an ogre!

 

 

and not because the pose is complex, but rather

because it want the miniature to have a certain "range of motion" if you will, where i can pick the weapons, and the position of the arms.

 

i know alot of people would be interested in this-all you who have said you envy GW because of the options available, but who dislike the company, the minis, or just prefer the quality and range at here at reaper (like I do!)

 

P.S. i see where you were coming from IXMINIS, Iris's helm kinda does look like a stylized lions head. and if they had sculpted it on her head, where it belongs, it would have made it an exceptional miniature, instead of an unremarkable mini with another generic Garrity face. I even thought about decapitating poor Iris, removing the helmet and putting it up where it belongs; alas it is too well attached to her hip to make removing it possible. bummer. and alas i am too poor of a sculptor to attempt to recreate it.

[WitchyWolf]

As an avid D&D player, I make extensive use of miniatures for our characters and encounters. We use models, maps, and various props to help us stay "in character" and be able to see what is really happening in an encounter. It adds a huge amount of visual impact to the gaming experience. As I also value quality sculpts and the joy of painting, having more variety without having to use GW for rank and file nasties and grunts would be very nice. I've decided to just bit the bullet and purchase some of the the army packs of assorted monsters. It takes too long to figure out which models would be easily converted and then do the conversions.

 

As for my characters and primary NPCs, I'm very picky about the quality so I buy Reaper. However, I also end up buying 2-3 of a primary character and then start looking for other minis to cannabalize to make conversions. For example, one of my characters is a Sorceress with a Pseudo Dragon Familiar. Sometimes I want the Dragon on her (makes a difference in the rules and spells) and other times I need the little guy off by himself and her ready for battle in various forms. A lot of the choices I make in a miniature for a character is how "convertable" does it look? Can I easily exchange the sword for a staff, wand, scroll? Can I add/remove a shield? That sort of thing.

 

Don't even get me started on having female characters that are dressed for adventure that doesn't envolve a bar or throne room. For my spellcasters, I generally buy fighters and modify them to appear more arcane/divine.

 

I can see the problems and marketability is critical. Maybe Reaper will dabble, it will be hot and they will be inspired to dabble more. I look forward to whatever you folks produce as it is always good.

[twjolson]

What about having the extra head, arms, weapons, etc as a seperate pack? Or as individual pieces on the reaper site? That would keep the cost of an individual mini down, while giving the option for those that want it.

[Erion]

Yeah, but you still have production costs to deal with. Economy of scale (or the lack thereof) could make those "optional" parts very expensive.

[Digital M@]

I am all for the multi piece miniatures, I just ask for parts that fit together properly. I have my Wallord dwarven grunts and those shields are a real pain in the arse.

[TKD]

Multiple sculpts of the same "guy" are great, I can use them as multiple people in my games.

 

I don't mind multipart minis, but I do prefer single-piece unless I can actually pose mini differently...I like posing and building minis, not just assembling them.

 

One of the best "multipart" packs I ever got was the old TSR Dwarves pack with 3 dwarves. They had poses for shields and open hands for weapons, and came with 3 shields and 3 weapons. Nice. I ditched most of them, and glued in shields from Reaper weapon packs, other TSR sets, a sword from some obscure company's weapon packs, weapons from my various Warhammer boxed sets (I love customizable plastic minis), and so on. I ended up with 3 each of these packs - 3 different versions of each guy. Hammers, swords, flails, crossbows, extra packs, shields from everywhere...they came out great.

 

So if Reaper wants to do me any favors, minis with open hands and loose weapons are great. I'll mount in the weapon I need from a weapon pack. It's easier than sawing, pinning, and sculpting fingers, and allows for quick customization of grunts.

[friendlyfungus]

My $0.02 - Single piece for almost every figure. Assembling is a total hassle, my least favourite part of the hobby. On the plus side, even Reapers multipart figures are usually pretty easy to glue...my shadow dragon almost held together without glue!

[Chogokin]

There are pros and cons to multi-piece miniatures. I like the option to customize the appearance and pose of a miniature without having to mess around with a jeweler's saw, putty and pinning. On the other hand, these "kit" miniatures can be daunting for beginners. However, I do have to say this:

 

I am getting increasingly grouchy about miniatures carrying sculpted pole-arm weapons. The handles are always ridiculously thick, there is always flash between the pole and the body... a tight space that is really annoying to slip a file into, and usually the weapon tips are ridiculously large as well. Would it really be so difficult to return to an older style of miniature manufacturing, and sculpt the figure with open hands? Then you can just insert a pre-cut length of wire and maybe a pre-cast weapon tip/blade to stick on top. I realize that some miniatures have pole weapons with sculpted wood-grain and various bangles, runes, etc., but not all of them. I was just cleaning some Nefsokar polearm grunts this afternoon, and it took me an hour to remove the flash and file away the seams from just three. In part it was because there were some casting problems... a mild mold mismatch I would say, but I think the figures would be better and easier to work with if they were cast multi-part.

[twjolson]

I would like to see some mini's cast open handed so we could add our own weapons. Reaper already has weapons cast (I'm assuming they are the right scale) so it makes it uber easy to give, say, an elf a bow, sword, axe or whatever. Since Reaper sells most of it's mini's for people using them in roleplaying games, this makes open handed castings a natural fit. Obviously, we can't do that for EVERY mini, but a few would be nice. THen you could supply one weapon, and if someone wants something differant they can buy the weapon pack.