First time at Reapercon

[Shadowphaze]

So this will be my first time at Reapercon.  What are some MUST dos while there?  Also I need to eat on occasion, so how about places to eat that are a must?

 

PS - I'm a major introvert so don't send me to a stadium filled with chatty people.

[Dr.Bedlam]

Reapercon is where ALL the introverts go to hang out.

Do not miss the factory tour, and be aware that when at the factory, you may buy figures and figure bits directly from the Boneyard.

Do not be afraid to talk to the artists. They almost never bite, and if they didn't want to talk about what they do, they wouldn't be there.

[Green Eyed Monster]

51 minutes ago, Shadowphaze said:

So this will be my first time at Reapercon.  What are some MUST dos while there?  Also I need to eat on occasion, so how about places to eat that are a must?

 

PS - I'm a major introvert so don't send me to a stadium filled with chatty people.

Most of us who will be attending are introverts to a greater or lesser extent.

Like the Doctor said, the Factory Tour is a Must See/Do.

The venue is not just First Class but is Premium Class, the hotel staff has a lot of game geeks so they are super enthusiastic to host RC.

There are restaurants nearby and a Wally World less than half a mile away so any forgotten items can be quickly acquired.  The weather will be warm and may be humid.  We had a frog choker of a rainstorm one afternoon [just when the wife and I decided to drive over to the factory] so bring appropriate wardrobe.

There is basically too much fun to be had so just dive in and go with the flow.  Thee will be lots of chatter here on the Forums, both for the benefit of those who can't attend and for unofficial events such as the Farewell Dinner [you're invited].

You will see people with tails of ribbon badges hanging off of their credentials.  Some of these are official as in you get them for participation in various activities and others are handed out by individual attendees for other activities.  There's a discussion thread just for badges.  Make sure you tell the people at registration that this is your first time, there's a special badge for that.  There are also badges for wearing costumes, for wearing con T-shirts, just a ton of stuff.

Reaper doesn't produce the T-shirts in house, they give the artwork to Zazzle and you order through them.  The people at Zazzle are easy to work with and they produce a real quality product.

Look forward to seeing you there, don't be afraid to walk up and introduce yourself to people, especially at the Wednesday Night Pizza Dungeon.

GEM

 

Twinkle   Twinkle

 

[Mnemonic]

Don't overload on classes. You can physically register for 5 classes in a day, but will it register with your brain afterwards? Spread them out if you can. 

 

Bring hand sanitizer, battery power source to recharge stuff, portable light if you have it, glasses/magnification, brushes, and a notebook. Basic wet palletes should be readily available. 

 

Take lots of notes. I've always kick myself for not writing down paint colors or technique steps when I try to replicate stuff I learned 1 month after the Con.

 

Take lots of pictures of the mini's in the contest area. Lots of awesome talent there to draw inspiration from. Class instructors typically don't mind, but ask them first before taking photos of their examples. 

 

The factory tour is cool, but involves a bit of travel. Watch how it overlaps with your class/game schedule.

If you have a car with you, the hotel is 1 mile (or so) from a very busy street with tons of food and retail options. I live 1 hour away from the con, so as a local I can recommend the following places to eat.

Seven Mile Cafe (Vegan and American Breakfast   & Lunch), Boca 31 (Latin street food), Cracker Barrel (Comfort food like grandma would make),  Torchy's Tacos (unique tacos with secret menu), McCalisers / Panera bread (Soups, Salads, Sandwiches and bread), El Pollo Loco (Mexican chicken faire), Taco Casa (No chicken, but the Best Iced tea!), , Firehouse SUbs (subs), Chick-fil-a (chicken sandwiches), Raising Cain's (chicken fingers and fries),

 

 

 

And most importantly choose the Maggotcrown faction. They have the best parties and all other factions pale in comparison.  (kidding, or am I?)

[Doug Sundseth]

16 minutes ago, Mnemonic said:

And most importantly choose the Maggotcrown faction. They have the best parties and all other factions pale in comparison. 

 

Nobody is paler than Maggotcrown. They're almost corpse-like in their visages.

[incubusgames]

Also, to add to the restaurant list -

Dix Coney Island (great for brunch and open late during the week/ 24hrs on the weekends)

Spiral Diner (veg/vegan, great brunch)

Mellow Mushroom (fantastic pizza)

Rusty Taco (great happy hour with STRONG Margaritas)

 

Most of these are on the square/in downtown Denton

 

And Mnemonic is correct. Maggotcrown is the superior faction.

[Dr.Bedlam]

 The factory tour is a major hoot, if you're interested in how metal gets made into miniatures.

The Adoption Table is also fun.
Essentially, you can bring old figures, scrap pewter bits, sprue, and so forth, and they'll give you credit for it. This credit may be exchanged for pretty much anything on the Adoption Table. And you'd be amazed at the things people throw away. Note that they take a cut of your credit; it's what, ten percent? But that's still better than old metal getting thrown away or sitting unpainted. And at the end of the convention, they cook it down and make new minis out of it.

NOTE: They prefer Reaper minis, but will take recent make from other manufacturers. They will NOT take certain manufacturers, old lead minis or your mom's old pewter spoons. Check with whoever's manning the table for fresh up to date information.

 The BONEYARD is where they put all the minis and their bits while waiting to package them and ship them out. All those little yellow bins? Each contains a particular miniature, sometimes dozens of him. Sometimes the bin will contain a sub-bin, usually containing a part (the main bin would be "Necromancer" and the sub bin would be "Necromancer's Left Arm, Holding A Sandwich," or whatever. Each bin is identified by its stock number, so if you're looking for something in particular, check the Reaper site and get the stock number. USED to be, they'd just let you shop out of the bins, long as you pay for it up front at the Asylum. Far as I know, they still do; check during the factory tour with one of the many helpful folks you will find scattered around.

Note also that if a thing is out of stock you can just ask them if they can recast it for you. Buglips the Goblin still talks about this old Reaper dragon he found somewhere that didn't have the wings, and they just cast him up some shiny new wings, right from the original molds....

Last I heard, they did NOT have Bones production moved to the US yet, so you'll have to buy those out of the blisters. However, between the Asylum and the Warehouse, you can find just about any Reaper miniature that is still in production.

They do expect you to pay for it, though. Really, about the only down side, that.

Edited June 7, 2019 by Dr.Bedlam

[buglips*the*goblin]

1 minute ago, Dr.Bedlam said:

Note also that if a thing is out of stock you can just ask them if they can recast it for you. Buglips the Goblin still talks about this old Reaper dragon he found somewhere that didn't have the wings, and they just cast him up some shiny new wings, right from the original molds....

 

It was a pair of Ebonwrath wings, I needed them because they were also the alternates for Kyra & Lavarath.  But no more discontinued dragon bits, though, any of the retired molds are not eligible for casting as of RCon 2018.   They also hide away the bins of rare OOP stuff (old sophies, etc.) that we raided in 2017, so I guess we weren't supposed to be able to do that.   

 

 

2 hours ago, Mnemonic said:

And most importantly choose the Maggotcrown faction. They have the best parties and all other factions pale in comparison.  (kidding, or am I?)

 

River Widows faction is best faction.  Winners 2 years running, and this will be our third.  All the cool kids pick River Widows!  Widows 4 Lyfe!  Join us or die!  

 

 

[Shadowphaze]

I don't want to die by the hands of a goblin of all things.

[buglips*the*goblin]

11 minutes ago, Shadowphaze said:

I don't want to die by the hands of a goblin of all things.

 

Especially not if you know where those hands have been.

[Dr.Bedlam]

2 hours ago, buglips*the*goblin said:

It was a pair of Ebonwrath wings, I needed them because they were also the alternates for Kyra & Lavarath.  But no more discontinued dragon bits, though, any of the retired molds are not eligible for casting as of RCon 2018.   They also hide away the bins of rare OOP stuff (old sophies, etc.) that we raided in 2017, so I guess we weren't supposed to be able to do that. 

 

Well, booger. I'd heard they'd quit casting at least some of the metal dragons. I'm glad you got in under the wire. But surely, they'll still be casting the stuff that's still in production on request!

 

[buglips*the*goblin]

6 minutes ago, Dr.Bedlam said:

 

Well, booger. I'd heard they'd quit casting at least some of the metal dragons. I'm glad you got in under the wire. But surely, they'll still be casting the stuff that's still in production on request!

 

 

Yyyyyeeeesssss... but when we went tp the factory last year we were told that multipart figures couldn't have all their parts cast.  That sounds as weird to me as it does to you, so I did specifically ask for clarification that it was any multipart figure, in catalog or not, and was told that's how it is.  Or was.  It may be different this year, who can say?  

[Cranky Dog]

9 hours ago, Shadowphaze said:

So this will be my first time at Reapercon.  What are some MUST dos while there?  Also I need to eat on occasion, so how about places to eat that are a must?

 

PS - I'm a major introvert so don't send me to a stadium filled with chatty people.

I think being an introvert is a requirement in our hobby. Even many of the guest pro painters are introverts. But once in there, in the middle of tons of people who share the same passions, we oddly loosen up. Someone said it's like a family reunion with the people you *like*, especially if you meet up with fellow forumites (it can be weird putting a face to a forum name, my real name sounds weird around you guys).

 

There are some fun side activities like the "Sophie says..." painting game.

 

Last year, we had some basing material swapping/sharing.

 

After hours, we tend to easily hang out, even us introverts.

 

If you're present during the last day auction, it becomes a madhouse of people pooling their Reaperbucks to earn some loot (like surplus paint that was used during RCon; one of a kind RCon banners; surplus KS sets; and the many sponsored products from the vendor area).

 

A fun class to take at least once in your life is the Bones Mashup class (hosted by sculptors Jason Wiebe, Gene Van Horne and Bobby Jackson). Buckets and buckets of unnassembled Bones parts, sharp knives, blood, glue, and you assemble your own unique monstrosity.

 

If you have a nicely painted mini, bring it and enter it in the competition. You'll win (everyone wins) an award according to your skill level and can even speak with the judges to understand what they liked and where you can focus on improving.

 

Food wise: if you booked a room at the hotel, breakfast is included, and it's a hot buffet. I could eat enough at breakfast to last me until the end of the day.

[Green Eyed Monster]

2 hours ago, Cranky Dog said:

I think being an introvert is a requirement in our hobby. Even many of the guest pro painters are introverts. But once in there, in the middle of tons of people who share the same passions, we oddly loosen up. Someone said it's like a family reunion with the people you *like*, especially if you meet up with fellow forumites (it can be weird putting a face to a forum name, my real name sounds weird around you guys).

 

There are some fun side activities like the "Sophie says..." painting game.

 

Last year, we had some basing material swapping/sharing.

 

After hours, we tend to easily hang out, even us introverts.

 

If you're present during the last day auction, it becomes a madhouse of people pooling their Reaperbucks to earn some loot (like surplus paint that was used during RCon; one of a kind RCon banners; surplus KS sets; and the many sponsored products from the vendor area).

 

A fun class to take at least once in your life is the Bones Mashup class (hosted by sculptors Jason Wiebe, Gene Van Horne and Bobby Jackson). Buckets and buckets of unnassembled Bones parts, sharp knives, blood, glue, and you assemble your own unique monstrosity.

 

If you have a nicely painted mini, bring it and enter it in the competition. You'll win (everyone wins) an award according to your skill level and can even speak with the judges to understand what they liked and where you can focus on improving.

 

Food wise: if you booked a room at the hotel, breakfast is included, and it's a hot buffet. I could eat enough at breakfast to last me until the end of the day.

And not just any old hot buffet but one with Eggs To Order, including Omelets.

GEM

[Sylverthorne]

The regular swag bag usually includes a notebook and a pen. This is invaluable. There's plenty of space for notes; last year's had a nifty zip pouch for tucking class tickets and other flat bits of paper into.

The bag the goodies come in is also generally very useful for carrying stuff about; you'll see a lot of them going hither and yon on the con floor, often overflowing with Stuff.

 

.. if you're participating in the auction, join a table pool. And don't be too surprised if you see grownpants adults whooping with glee when somebody's kid gets a thing. We're mature like that.