2019 Secret Sophie

[SGHawkins09]

What is Secret Sophie, you ask? 

 

Well, it's a lot like Secret Santa, with a more attractive (albeit more dangerous) delivery person!  (For those not in the know, Sophie the Succubus is Reaper's mascot.)  This is the time of year for Reaper forumites to give a little holiday cheer to each other. 

 

Unlike most of the exchanges we do on the forums, this will have two categories

- miniature and gift exchange and gift-only exchange. 

 

Signups will run from October 23rd to November 3rd, with the assignments going out by November 10th.

If you've never done an exchange before, how it works is like this:

·         Everyone who is interested PMs me (SGHawkins09) with the questionnaire below filled out by the deadline. 

·         The organizers (SGHawkins09 and robinh) then matches you with a person to whom you will send your gift/mini, and another person from whom you will receive a gift/mini from in return (sometimes it's the same person).

·         Halfway through the exchange, you'll need to send the organizers a WIP. 

·         You have until the deadline to send your gift/mini out.

 

That's pretty much it, feel free to ask questions in this thread, or PM them to me.
 
This exchange is based on trust.  Please be respectful of the fact that someone else is investing their time, money and energy into painting a mini for you.  I am simply the organizer, but I will do everything I can to make sure that everyone who paints a miniature receives one.

The Rules (tl;dr version)

• Gifts should be primarily new, Reaper-branded presents.
• Exchanging painted miniatures is optional.
• Fill out the questionnaire below and send it to me via PM.
• Painters must send the organizers a WIP of their mini by December 29th.
• The deadline for non-painters to mail their items is December 21st.  The deadline for painters is January 31st.

Full Rules

• Decide whether you are doing gift and miniature exchange or gift-only exchange.
  • "Gifts" are Reaper paints, unpainted miniatures, or other Reaper painting supplies.  Recommended dollar value of gifts is $25 or less.
  • The miniature exchange is where you paint a Reaper miniature for someone and mail it to them.  If you want to paint more than one miniature, you may do so.
  • Reaper minis are the focus. If you want to paint more than one miniature, you may do so. If you wish to include other gifts for your recipient, you may do so, but please keep them small.  The focus of the exchange should be a Reaper product.
• Fill out the appropriate sections of the questionnaire below and send it to me via PM.  Please fill out the current version of the questionnaire, Please don't just send an old one, as questions may have changed.
• Please don't contact your partner unless they have listed themselves as okay with contact. I've included it on the questionnaire, so you'll know who wants to keep it secret and who doesn't.
• In order to encourage people to start painting early, you will need to post a Work In Progress (WIP) image of your mini to either this thread, or as a reply to your organizer, by December 29th.  The mini should be at least base-coated by this time.  If you don't post a WIP by this point, I may have to demote you to gift-only or drop you from the exchange.  Please don't make me do this.
• Try really hard to get your miniature out by the deadline.  Let an organizer know if you are going to be late.
• In the past some people have wanted to send food - please verify allergens, etc. with your partner before proceeding.
• If you are mailing internationally and plan to send more than just miniatures/paint, you must contact your recipient to get any "bonus items" approved.  We don't want any trouble with customs.  As an example, plant matter or powders can cause a lot of trouble.
• If you want to participate but acquiring Reaper minis is a problem, please contact me first.
• The organizers (SGHawkins09 and robinh) can help facilitate any anonymous conversations you want to have with your partner.
• Have fun!

Deadline
The deadline for mailing gifts is December 21st.
The deadline for mailing exchange miniatures is January 31st, but it's even better if you can get them out by Christmas.
 
Assignments Deadline
The organizers will send the assignments out in about two and a half weeks (November 10th).  Please let me know if you're interested by end of day, November 3rd.  I can't make any guarantees if you're late, but I will try to make arrangements.
 
Exchange Assistant
robinh will be helping me run this exchange. He will coordinate and communicate with some of the participants and you can contact either of us with questions and/or issues.
 

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Secret Sophie Exchange Questionnaire
 
-Contact Information-
Name:
E-mail or Phone #:
Address:

 

 

-General Information-

Are you signing up for the gift exchange only, or for gift + miniature exchange?

 

-Gift Information: Inbound-
What are you interested in receiving?

-Miniature Information: Outbound-
What can you paint?
What do you like painting the most?

-Miniature Information: Inbound-
What do you want to receive?
What DON'T you want to receive?
What material do you want to receive?
Do you have a particular color scheme in mind?
What style of basing would you prefer?
Please give your partner some inspiration, especially if you have very few preferences above.

-Personal Information-
Will you ship internationally?
Would you be willing to have multiple exchange partners?
Would you like to know who is painting for you before they start painting?
Would you like your partner to know who is painting for them before you start painting?
Is there anybody you would prefer not to paint for?  (please include why)

-Special Requests-
For the organizer, your painter, or your recipient:
 

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Secret Sophie Exchange Questionnaire - Examples and Notes
 
-Contact Information-
Name:         robinh Forumguy
E-mail or Phone #: robinh at emailservice dot com / 1 (234) 567-8901
Notes: This is backup contact information in case we can't contact you via forum PM.  The organizers will not share this with anyone, and we'll only use it as a last resort.
Address:    1234 some street
                  anywhere, MA 12345
                  USA
Notes: Remember to include your zip code and country. 

Please format this correctly for your country in case you have an international partner.
 
-Gift Information: Inbound-
What are you interested in receiving? Metal or Bones fantasy monsters 
Examples: metal/resin/bones, scenic elements, Dark Heaven Legends/Chronoscope/Warlord/Pathfinder/Savage Worlds, paints

-Miniature Information: Outbound-
What can you paint?  Fantasy PCs or monsters
Examples: fantasy, sci-fi, monsters, PCs, women, undead, demons, etc
What do you like painting the most? bugbears and orcs
Notes: if possible, the organizers will try to match you up with someone who wants this thing, but if we can't we'll fall back to what you "can" paint

-Miniature Information: Inbound-
What do you want to receive?  Fantasy enemies for my players to fight!  Monsters or human(ish) are both fine.
Examples: mouslings, necromancers, warriors, dual-wielders, etc
What DON'T you want to receive?  No nudity please.  Also, I have plenty of goblins so I don't need more.
Examples: gross, nudity, undead, kobolds, animals, etc
What material do you want to receive?  I'm fine with any material
Notes: Reaper miniatures come in Bones, resin and metal
Do you have a particular color scheme in mind?  No preference.
Notes: If you're asking for a miniature to be used in army, you can ask your partner to match the colors.
What style of basing would you prefer? Plain or basic - I will use these miniatures in my PFRPG games.
Examples: round or square preference? Unbased, plain base (simple black base), basic base (standard sized base with some scenic elements), or scenic base (fancy base not really suitable for gaming)
Please give your partner some inspiration, especially if you have very few preferences above.
I'm starting the PFRPG Adventure Path "Jade Regent" soon.  Try painting non-human skin tones.  My favorite color is blue.  "Spring has sprung!"
Notes: Consider this a non-binding word of inspiration for your partner.  If they're stuck and can't figure out what to paint, maybe this will help them.  No need to repeat your preferences above.  You partner may ignore this question if they already have an idea from the your previously answered questions.
Examples: Are there any books or movies you've enjoyed recently?  Is there a challenge or technique you'd like your partner to try?  How about some song lyrics or a quote from a book?

-Personal Information-
Will you ship internationally? Yes
Notes: Be aware that postage costs will be higher than domestic postage.  If you mail internationally, you will need permission from your partner to include other gift items so that we don't run afoul of customs.  Most participants in these exchanges are located in the USA.
Would you be willing to have multiple exchange partners? Yes, I love painting!
Notes: If yes, specify if there is a limit (though it is unlikely we'll ask you to do more than 2)
Would you like to know who is painting for you? No
Examples: Yes, No, No Preference
Notes: If you say yes, your preference will be communicated to your partner.  It will be up to them to contact you.
Would you like your partner to know who is painting for them? No
Examples: Yes, No, No Preference
Notes: You can contact them directly to work out details or ask for advice.  We will attempt to match people with similar preferences, but can't guarantee this is the case.
Is there anybody you would prefer not to paint for?  (please include why)    I painted for johndoe123 in the last miniature exchange.
Notes:  If you like to paint for a variety of different people, you can list those you've painted for in the past.  We will do our best to pair you with someone new.  Another situation is that you know certain people in real life, and would prefer to paint for someone you don't know.
 
-Special Requests-
For the organizer, your painter, or your recipient:

 

 

[Adrift]

I haven't done this in years and am tempted to jump back in.

 

The time I did it before, I painted up a fig for a guy, who in turn, just mailed me some figs; their justification was that they didn't feel like they could paint well enough. I was really disappointed.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Adrift

[SGHawkins09]

26 minutes ago, Adrift said:

I haven't done this in years and am tempted to jump back in.

 

The time I did it before, I painted up a fig for a guy, who in turn, just mailed me some figs; their justification was that they didn't feel like they could paint well enough. I was really disappointed.

 

Well if that happens this time, just let me know and I will get you a painted fig.

[Auberon]

I'll get this filled out and sent in in the near future.

 

7 hours ago, Adrift said:

I haven't done this in years and am tempted to jump back in.

 

The time I did it before, I painted up a fig for a guy, who in turn, just mailed me some figs; their justification was that they didn't feel like they could paint well enough. I was really disappointed.

 

I've done a number of these exchanges now, and count 13 minis sitting on my self.  So far so good.

[robinh]

37 minutes ago, Auberon said:

I'll get this filled out and sent in in the near future.

 

 

I've done a number of these exchanges now, and count 13 minis sitting on my self.  So far so good.

Doesn't your better half worry about the weight of those minis crushing you over time?

[Warlady]

I did it last year and it was a lot of fun. I'll send you my form in the next few days.  :-)

[Kangaroorex]

PM Sent!  Thanks for doing this again. Its always a lot of fun.

 

and there's always a few of us to help out if someone gets in a tight spot.  we just have to know it happened.  Looking forward to this again!

[rubegon]

This looks like fun, but I kinda suck.  I guess I’m not bad for someone that just started painting little things about a year ago, but I’m nowhere near the level of lots of people whose stuff I see here.

 

How do you handle people of different skill levels @SGHawkins09?  Could you match me up with someone similarly skill-challenged?  

 

I’d hate to sign up and get something really nice from someone and then have someone else end up with my “not bad for a noob” result.  I mean, I see that corporea participated last year - sheesh!  (I’m intentionally not going to @ her because she seems so nice she’d probably be embarrassed).

 

Or, should I just wait til next year when I’m better?  Be honest, please!

Edited October 25, 2019 by rubegon

[Auberon]

Any skill level is fine.  While many participants will push themselves to gift their best results, there's plenty of tabletop to go around.  I'd hazard a guess that no one is expecting a gold level mini out of this, though you are free to try and request one. 

 

If you are really worried about it though, there is always the "gift only" exchange that doesn't involve painting.

[SGHawkins09]

We welcome participation from everyone and thus there will be a variety of skill levels. When I do the pairings, I usually don’t look at skill level and instead focus more on what they want to receive versus what you like to paint. I think also that most participate because they enjoy receiving a painted mini from someone regardless of skill level.

[rubegon]

Ok, count me in then!

 

I’ll send the questionnaire.  I’m going to paint and do my best not to suck.

[Kangaroorex]

thanks for joining us!  Its great to be part of.  Every one of the exchange minis I have is special, and they come at all levels of quality.  Its really sort of neat to have a piece from someone starting out and then seeing the same person's work improve over the years.

[Inarah]

20 hours ago, rubegon said:

This looks like fun, but I kinda suck.  I guess I’m not bad for someone that just started painting little things about a year ago, but I’m nowhere near the level of lots of people whose stuff I see here.

 

 

...

 

Or, should I just wait til next year when I’m better?  Be honest, please!

 

You haven't posted much in show-off, but from what I have seen of your WIPs you have nothing to be embarrassed about. 

 

[rubegon]

3 hours ago, Inarah said:

 

You haven't posted much in show-off, but from what I have seen of your WIPs you have nothing to be embarrassed about. 

 

 

I haven’t posted anything in show-off yet.  I just started seriously trying to improve my painting after ReaperCon, and haven’t finished anything yet.

 

I feel like I have been improving quickly, but I still have a lot of skill gaps.  I was worried that people participating in the exchange might all be exchanging competition quality pieces and mine would be the lump of coal!  I think I’ll be good though.  I’m actually looking forward to this putting a little pressure on me to pull it all together and complete something nice.

 

Thank you all for the encouragement and for being so welcoming!

Edited October 26, 2019 by rubegon

[Kangaroorex]

Naw, the purpose is to have fun.  A lot of us use it as an opportunity to try something new.  Sometimes it works, some times it's a learning experience.  Either way we all have a good time!

 

Be welcome and be merry (not pippin... I didn't like that guy )