funded Reaper Bones 5: Enthusiasm and Commentary thread

[YronimosW]

56 minutes ago, LittleBluberry said:

 

...I'm actually more interested in the fan favorites this time around, that balding rogue is really cool....  

 

For those who weren't there for it, there was a guy in the Kickstarter comments who requested the figure - he was rather persistent about it, but creative in how he made the request - he'd tell little stories where the punchline would be "and that's why we need a rogue with male-pattern baldness!" and so on, I wouldn't even realize where he was going with it until he got to the punchline and so on.

 

What's cool about the result is that it really does help this figure stand out as something more than a generic rogue - it gives him a little character.

 

I'm hoping Reaper does that more often with the minis, playing them against type and giving them a few quirks that you wouldn't normally expect to see from stereotypical fantasy adventurers (who otherwise tend to be the usual mix of beardy-wizards, dashing or mysterious rogues, aloof elves, belligerent dwarves, muscular and brave young warriors, sexy women in chainmail bikinis or form-fitting catsuits, etc.)

 

I guess the idealized, stereotypical archetypes are there for a reason:  they're popular, and they're a safe bet.

 

But, it would be cool if every Kickstarter saw a handful of unlikely heroes mixed in with the usual crowd....

 

 

42 minutes ago, Thoramel said:

Well. I just added up what I plan on getting from this KS while the PM is open. If I get everything on my want/maybe lists we're talking $1151. After I deduct what I've already committed during the last month and add in an estimated shipping fee then I should be able to add around $20 every couple of weeks to get everything. Provided we get a year of the PM being open that is. 

 

Thing is, my wife has been encouraging me to open a little storefront on Etsy to offload some of the 1000 or so figures I have painted up. Now I personally don't think the quality of my paint jobs is good enough that folks would actually buy them. But if I'm wrong, and some of these sell, then she is telling me I should just get 2 of everything I want to paint so I can sell some stuff. We shall see. This could go from being merely expensive to ridiculous.

 

There was a discussion many, many pages back on the complexity and difficulty of assembling Bones figures for the out-of-the-package-and-onto-the-game-table segment of the role-playing audience.  I should imagine you'd definitely have customers among them who are looking not just for pre-assembled minis, but pre-assembled and pre-painted minis, at a more reasonable balance of supply-and-demand than random collectible pre-painted minis alone could manage.

 

In other words, I don't know anything about the quality of your paint jobs, but if there's a demand for Bones with mediocre-quality Chinese pre-assembly, then there's bound to be a demand for even mediocre-quality pre-painted Bones. 

 

You can't do any worse than some of the prepaintwork on some of those early Wizkids collectible minis, anyway, and even those had a loyal customer base!  (I've got a handful of Mage Knight figures sitting around in a shoebox somewhere that look like they were painted by blind orcs who found out they were about to be terminated without pay and started drinking their sorrows away while finishing a last shift they had no investment in....)

 

 

[Jeronimus]

4 minutes ago, YronimosW said:

I'm hoping Reaper does that more often with the minis, playing them against type and giving them a few quirks that you wouldn't normally expect to see from stereotypical fantasy adventurers (who otherwise tend to be the usual mix of beardy-wizards, dashing or mysterious rogues, aloof elves, belligerent dwarves, muscular and brave young warriors, sexy women in chainmail bikinis or form-fitting catsuits, etc.)

Seconding this! Well, I'm sure I'm not second - I've seen a lot of people praising the diverse choices made in this kickstarter.

 

I know for a fact that the muscular female bartender in the Brinewind expansion will be a huge hit with every single D&D player I know. All of the sculpts in that second part were so full of character. The female adventurer in the ghoul pit encounter was another one that people were really excited by. The female landsknecht looks like it could be awesome too - just seeing a woman actually wearing heavy armor is great and the whole aesthetic of Reaper's Dreadmere and Brinewind has just been so INSTANTLY inspiring. Now, sure, if a sculpt has too much character, a player won't pick it out to represent their player character.

 

I for one would love a professorial dwarf wearing a pince-nez and a fez. Would it be useful for other people? ....  I mean, yes, yes, it would, it's the best character concept I've ever come up with.

[Sirithiliel]

2 minutes ago, Jeronimus said:

Seconding this! Well, I'm sure I'm not second - I've seen a lot of people praising the diverse choices made in this kickstarter.

 

I know for a fact that the muscular female bartender in the Brinewind expansion will be a huge hit with every single D&D player I know. All of the sculpts in that second part were so full of character. The female adventurer in the ghoul pit encounter was another one that people were really excited by. The female landsknecht looks like it could be awesome too - just seeing a woman actually wearing heavy armor is great and the whole aesthetic of Reaper's Dreadmere and Brinewind has just been so INSTANTLY inspiring. Now, sure, if a sculpt has too much character, a player won't pick it out to represent their player character.

 

I for one would love a professorial dwarf wearing a pince-nez and a fez. Would it be useful for other people? ....  I mean, yes, yes, it would, it's the best character concept I've ever come up with.

 

i know we have used the naked dwarf jester with hand puppets (77569) a lot more than we thought we would, unique minis definitely can find a place in many campaigns

Edited November 4, 2019 by Sirithiliel

[YronimosW]

Then again, that's where Game Masters come in:  there's no tired character archetype so cliche, and no eccentric and bizarre character concept so weird, that a good GM can't find a use for it in a story somehow!

[ksbsnowowl]

8 minutes ago, Jeronimus said:

20 minutes ago, YronimosW said:

I'm hoping Reaper does that more often with the minis, playing them against type and giving them a few quirks that you wouldn't normally expect to see from stereotypical fantasy adventurers (who otherwise tend to be the usual mix of beardy-wizards, dashing or mysterious rogues, aloof elves, belligerent dwarves, muscular and brave young warriors, sexy women in chainmail bikinis or form-fitting catsuits, etc.)

 

Seconding this! Well, I'm sure I'm not second - I've seen a lot of people praising the diverse choices made in this kickstarter.

 

Granted, I'm relatively new to the realm of unpainted mini's, but I'm quite experienced in the realm of pre-painted mini's, and I can tell you from watching the prepainted market... mini's that go against type don't sell well.

 

There is a pretty darn good Tiefling Fighter from one of the recent D&D sets.  You can get it for under $2 in most on-line stores and eBay, because no one wants it.  Tieflings are usually Rogues or spellcasters.  Someone on a prepainted mini board was complaining that he has tons to sell in his eBay store, because no one wants it.

 

That said, I'm all for ladies in appropriate levels of armor (the Landsknecht will be useful, for sure), as well as the less-armored ones to represent rogues, etc.

 

But something tells me that there actually is a market reason for there not to be a lot of mini's that go against type.

[Pezler the Polychromatic]

When the end of the kickstarter was nearing, I found myself paring away some pledges so that I could add a couple of the expansions. I held myself to a limit and was pretty proud of myself, until they revealed the Fan Favorites expansion. I checked it and thought that it would be great to add on in the pledge manager after the Kickstarter..............and then I saw the Buglips figure. Instant click and add on, and I went way over budget due to shipping costs.  It cost me some money, but I couldn't not get it because my friend has been immortalized.

 

I am a poorer man for knowing @buglips*the*goblin, but I am rich in stank (which is the goblin word for 'friend'. I guess that makes Buglips VERY friendly).

[AuralEntropy]

58 minutes ago, ksbsnowowl said:

 

How are you getting a count of 159 mini's in the Core set?  I and someone else here in the thread both only came up with 152...

 

Unless you are counting each individual die in Sophie's Lucky Dice set as its own miniature? I'm betting that's what you did, but I just want to confirm. 

Yes, I counted the dice as individuals. They (to me) are roughly the equivalent of a small mini each, maybe less, but figured I should break them up for counting, same as the 5 goblins, etc.

[TaleSpinner]

5 minutes ago, TGP said:

 

I am glad it helped. Was the issue figuring out a way to avoid undercut zones on the Mermaid?

 

 

No, she was going to be separate, so those aren't an issue.  The issue I had was the ropes I was going to have holding her onto the beam.  They would have to both be a part of her and a part of the beam; where to I put the break in the rope so it matches and models up well.  Very hard to do right.

 

I'm not certain we'll do the plaque either, I mean the beam is a big plaque.  could just put nail head in behind the beam to make it look like shes fastened from behind.  That said, the plaque does add something, but it would then HAVE to be molded as a part of the beam (mostly from a molding cost perspective; every part added adds cost to the molds and later to the end product), and I think that defeats the purpose you are looking for.  I need more thought on it.

[YronimosW]

3 minutes ago, ksbsnowowl said:

 

Granted, I'm relatively new to the realm of unpainted mini's, but I'm quite experienced in the realm of pre-painted mini's, and I can tell you from watching the prepainted market... mini's that go against type don't sell well.

 

There is a pretty darn good Tiefling Fighter from one of the recent D&D sets.  You can get it for under $2 in most on-line stores and eBay, because no one wants it.  Tieflings are usually Rogues or spellcasters.  Someone on a prepainted mini board was complaining that he has tons to sell in his eBay store, because no one wants it.

 

That said, I'm all for ladies in appropriate levels of armor (the Landsknecht will be useful, for sure), as well as the less-armored ones to represent rogues, etc.

 

But something tells me that there actually is a market reason for there not to be a lot of mini's that go against type.

 

I wish I could tell you you're wrong, but I'm betting you're not:  some of the most fantasy-resistant folks I've ever met have been the "Generic Medieval European Fantasy" gamers.  If it doesn't adhere tightly to a D&D, Warhammer, Pathfinder, or Warcraft cliche (pick one) rendered as unimaginatively as possible, then it's cause for Table-Flippin'-Time, between yelling at you for being a "Narrativist", "Simulationist", or both, or neither....

 

Still, there are a few of us out here who do like and appreciate it when something goes against type.

 

And, it's not just the GMs, to be fair:  a good role-player from any side of the table could pull a random mini out of a grab-bag, and no matter how boring the cliche, or how weird and outlandish the mini's concept, that player should be able to make and play an interesting character with it.

[kristof65]

43 minutes ago, YronimosW said:

 

For those who weren't there for it, there was a guy in the Kickstarter comments who requested the figure - he was rather persistent about it, but creative in how he made the request - he'd tell little stories where the punchline would be "and that's why we need a rogue with male-pattern baldness!" and so on, I wouldn't even realize where he was going with it until he got to the punchline and so on.

 

What's cool about the result is that it really does help this figure stand out as something more than a generic rogue - it gives him a little character.

I thought it was awesome that Reaper was able to pull the figure directly from their existing line.  (3345 Ridley Darkedge, Male Rogue)

I personally like bald figures, as they're great for making unique by sculpting hair and hats on them. 
 

15 minutes ago, ksbsnowowl said:

But something tells me that there actually is a market reason for there not to be a lot of mini's that go against type.

that's true - Reaper has frequently indicated that the reason we see so many stereotypical elves and such is that they sell well. 

I do think that paradigm might be changing a bit - not that unique minis against type are suddenly selling as well as the stereotypical ones, but the hobby and offerings have grown so much that there are more people seeking the unique and exotic a bit more often in the past.

Edited November 4, 2019 by kristof65

[gloranphile]

My 4 year old daughter wants to know if there will ever be a unicorn mini. :D

[NebulousMissy]

There might also have been enough of an expansion of the hobby that new people want to find their mini as they expect it to look. They don't want to have to go through the gatekeeping of learning how to mod their minis. They want to find their actual mini, even and especially when their mini isn't the same Guy With Sword demanded by unimaginative purists who never researched polearms [grumble grumble].

 

Those new people who want to find their mini but are slow on picking up the tin snips might drive the expansion into non-generic minis. When/if they do learn the Ways of the X-Acto they might keep that demand for non-standard stuff.

[YronimosW]

 

From Reaper's online shop, SKU 77029!  I think it was among the first Bones minis made, before the first Kickstarter

 

 

 

 

[Xiwo Xerase]

2 minutes ago, gloranphile said:

My 4 year old daughter wants to know if there will ever be a unicorn mini. :D

Not only are there unicorn minis but they've already been released, so you don't have to wait for Bones 5 to fulfill!

 

Options include 77029: Silverhorn, Unicorn in Bones and various metal sculpts.  There's even a metal pack (02207: Foals) with a unicorn foal (and a bonus pegasus foal).

[TGP]

10 minutes ago, TaleSpinner said:

 

No, she was going to be separate, so those aren't an issue.  The issue I had was the ropes I was going to have holding her onto the beam.  They would have to both be a part of her and a part of the beam; where to I put the break in the rope so it matches and models up well.  Very hard to do right.

If you go with lashing her up there: A bunch of pirates slapping things together using scrap timbers and rope would likely use a variation of a "figure 8 lashing".  Here is an instructional video: it goes for 3:54 seconds, no silly music.  Bottom line: Clove Hitches and hiding the awkward details between her fishy tail and the cross timber using "Frapping Turns" are your friends.

 

10 minutes ago, TaleSpinner said:

I'm not certain we'll do the plaque either, I mean the beam is a big plaque.  could just put nail head in behind the beam to make it look like shes fastened from behind.  That said, the plaque does add something, but it would then HAVE to be molded as a part of the beam (mostly from a molding cost perspective; every part added adds cost to the molds and later to the end product), and I think that defeats the purpose you are looking for.  I need more thought on it.

That is interesting to know. Some (most?) of the cost is in the high-detail CNC carving time.

 

And it would be a trivial exercise for a decent modeller or converter to add a plank.