Same-old Same-old

[evil tendencies]

Is it me, or have sculpts from many companies begun to be rather pedestrian? Reaper hasn\'t inspired me with anything in over a year (side question: has Werner Klocke stopped sculpting for them?). I used to get all their new releases, but their latest stuff seems to be inspired by their 80\'s sculpts, if not direct recasts of them.

Arena Deathmatch has some VERY well executed sculpts, but they seem to \"talk\" about the same old ideas of fantasy that have been around for decades. Same with Rackham, which used to be rather original, if not a little bizarre.

GW has some fun stuff, but from what I understand they had a sea change in their approach to model making that allowed them to do their new collector\'s range of minis. Even still, I\'d say that I\'d only paint most of them if they had a place on the gaming table. Privateer has stuff that\'s worth painting up, but I don\'t see much that I\'d paint up just for fun. Epic Skarre and the Paladin of the Wall are the only two I can think of right off the bat, out of a very large catalogue.

The most original sculpts seem to come from smaller companies, but that\'s a mixed bag as well. Hell Dorado has some neat stuff, but most of it is just kinda gross in my opinion. And they are discontinuing the line in any case.

Is anyone else noticing a lack of fresh ideas, or am I just becoming jaded for some reason?

 

[alextheartist]

I agree, the bigger companies are producing pretty middle of the road figs which dont do much for me, but some of the small compaines, like enigma, jmd etc.. are putting some really nice stuff out.

Alex

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by evil tendencies
Is anyone else noticing a lack of fresh ideas, or am I just becoming jaded for some reason?

In some respects I have to agree, Yes there is a limit on the amount of poses, that can be made into \"castable\" miniatures, just as there are a limit to the poses the human form can take.
As to making Fantasy figures seem limited, I don\'t think so. Werner Klocke\'s Freebooter line have some good variations on the Fantasy Genre (Yes he still Sculpts for Reaper as well) and there are other Figures which mix the Fantasy and Historical aspects of the hobby, such as Degra\'s sculpts or the Katherine Deloch (sp?) figure which is so redolent of the 17th Century Highwaymen (can\'t remember the name of the company but the Coolminiornot Store carries it.)

But if you are feeling jaded by whats available, take a break from painting miniatures directly and try a couple of practices.:-
Prime some Styrene sheet strips in either Black or White and practise some freehand. Flowers are a good starting point.
Hard Boil an egg and paint something on the shell. Sounds stupid but it\'s so funny and such a piece of hard work as well.

 

[ScottRadom]

I actually disagree completely! I have never been as inspired by mini\'s as I currently am. I\'ve move away from a pure gamer to other stuff, though always with an eye fro stuff that can paint nice and be used for a game. Stuff I\'m lovin\'....

-Incursion game mini\'s! Like space hulk, but with American terminators and Nazi Zombies. Woot!

-Hasslefree! Like their non exzaggerated (How the hell do you spell that word anyway?) sculpting style. Very refreshing!

-Wyrd Mini\'s. The opposite of Hasslefree! Every model seems completely over the top. And kick ass boots and goggles for EVERYONE! Very cool stuff!

-Andrea mini\'s. Okay, I have yet to try one but one day, you and me are gonna have a wrestling match on a fig Mr. Freeman!

-Knight Mini\'s Marvel line. I have the Iron Man model, and pre-ordered the latest three. Iron Man is the best mini I have ever beheld. So much so that I am just intimidated and not ready to paint it yet. One day I\'ll get you, Tony Stark!

-Hell Dorado. I love the \"icky\" demons, but if they\'re not your speed the range is probably bigger then you think. Also, don\'t count the game line out! I hear FFG is in the lead to procure the range.

-Dragon Forge Bases. Okay, cheap plug for my Buddy Jeff but a revolution in my painting style came from using these excellent bases for models and painting the fige seperate. The Wasteland II bases are even cooler in your hand then they areon his store.

-Guild of Harmony! I am a fanboy of Automaton\'s (We should be together (insert creepy emoticon -HERE-)) but the newest batch of mini\'s are really cool. The Dark \"I-Can\'t-Believe-It\'s-Not-A-Jedi\" fig is super cool. If only there was a decent star wars range. Not that the model is meant to be a jedi or anything.....

-Discworld figs, MaxMini, Gamezone

And the list goes on.....

Sounds like what I would do in your shoes is maybe take a slight creative break. I would think along the lines of what DragonsReach/Mike has suggested and start painting something for the process rather then the finished result. If nothing else, you\'ll get half way done painting an egg and go \"What the hell am I doing? I am a grown man painting an egg instead of a grown man painting a toy soldier! Nut\'s to this, I am now inspired to paint ______ from maunfacturer ________ and I am gonna huck this egg at the dude who told me to paint an egg!\". Or something.

I feel like I am at an incredible time in the hobby. The giant game companies (which I love, I ain\'t no hater!) are putting out some good mini\'s. The smaller lines are rockin\' out some greta stuff too. I can\'t imagine a better time to want to get into painting. This is a dangerous time for me to have a high speed connection and a credit card, I\'ll tell you that for free!

Oh yeah, UltraForge stuff too!

 

[supervike]

Most of the \'fantasy\' miniatures have been done ad nauseum, as well as most of the super armored \'space marine\' clone.

There are only a few that feel \'fresh\' to me.

 

[sanctuary13]

since im back after a 5 year painting hiatus, i\'m feeling inspired by every mini i paint, although i\'ve discovered that some of the reapers, which i had previously thought to be a very high quality company, the sculpts just arent... i dunno... GREAT. I finished a Dwarven Brewer from Reaper Legends, and every other reaper i\'ve painted was a high quality sculpt, but i gotta say, this one was just a pain due to a few \'shortcuts\' the sculptor took (bulbous eyes, irregular cylinders, misshapen hands) as well as some VERY poor casts of what probably were great sculpts (Reaper Water Sorceress, nice sculpt, awful cast)

but with so many companies to choose from, i\'d say just avoid big companies for a bit, or maybe commission a green sculpt from someone or something, i have no idea.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

it\'s takien time, but their are new minis steadily coming onto the market.
It\'s the smaller/newer companies that are doing it as they don\'t have expectations from their customers.

People need to remember that the likes of GW,Reaper,PP have certain looks to their more popular ranges, as such they stick within the bounderies of what sells.

Taking risks on something different in business, can end a business.

 

[Dragon Forge Design]

There is something to be said about following formulas..if it\'s not broken don\'t fix it sort of approach.

While saying that I do agree that Ive seen some rather \"Stiffness\" in Reapers main lines but their Chronoscope on the other hand is releasing some interesting stuff.

I think whats at hand here is you have a very narrow viewpoint of your figure favorites. As Mr. Radom said branch out and look at other companies figures. I think there is some exciting stuff coming out of a lot of small companies in Spain right now.

BTW Scott, thanks for the plug.. your package is in the mail

 

[sanctuary13]

ah! i\'d forgotten about Chronoscope, those mini\'s are fantastic, easy to forget they\'re Reaper

 

[Shawn R. L.]

This reminds me of when I used to draw for a greeting card company that did targeted greeting cards - cards that were specific to industries.
One of the repeating theme\'s was swimming pool upkeep. After about 10 years of doing it, and for each one selected there were 5 that were rejected, it got real hard to think of how to make something NEW and fresh within the same limited parameters.

Seems mini\'s are in the same boat.

 

[jahminis]

i\'ve never once, in 23 years of collectin\' minis, gotten sick of the little buggers...

i\'ve lugged way too much paint and metal around in my pack, to the most remote corners of the world...

i\'ve watched minis go from a solid lump of metal, to refined multi-part kits...

i\'ve seen the market explode, and produce an almost unlimited array of options(theme-wise)...

i\'ve bought more minis than i will ever be able to paint, and still can\'t get enough.

i can only remember one time where i thought i should hang up the brushes, and call it quits, but that was just from bein\' frustrated with paintin\' only what other people wanted for a few years solid...

sometimes a little break helps, but once bitten, it\'s hard to shake the addiction...

cheers
jah

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by jahminis
once bitten, it\'s hard to shake the addiction...

cheers
jah

amen brother

 

[squidders]

perhaps.

 

[DarkStar]

Originally posted by evil tendencies
(side question: has Werner Klocke stopped sculpting for them?). I used to get all their new releases, but their latest stuff seems to be inspired by their 80\'s sculpts, if not direct recasts of them.

Didn\'t see this answered, but yes he still does. Couple of new works by him for Reaper lately on their page in the greens and previews section.

For the second part, they are re-releasing alot of their older sculpts lately (not solely, but concurrently with their other lines) as part of a cheaper price level for minis with more lead content, to explain why you\'re seeing alot of those as recasts, indeed they are.

 

[evil tendencies]

Thanks for the freehand advice Mike. I\'m gonna try it - it\'ll get me doing something with my brush, and I might even have some material to put on a figure at a later point.

However, to clarify...based on all your comments here, I think I\'m actually just frustrated with gaming minis. These have always been really cool toys to me, so not seeing something that I want to play with is a bit frustrating. My fault, really, but there it is.

Thanks guys.

 

[ScottRadom]

Don\'t know if this is your bag or not, but I am really digging them! Free rules as well.....

http://www.incursiongame.com/

I would also reccomend a swap if you\'ve got tons of stuff. Cleaning out the old crap for some new stuff may be the trick!

 

[nick232]

-Guild of Harmony! I am a fanboy of Automaton\'s (We should be together (insert creepy emoticon -HERE-)) but the newest batch of mini\'s are really cool. The Dark \"I-Can\'t-Believe-It\'s-Not-A-Jedi\" fig is super cool. If only there was a decent star wars range. Not that the model is meant to be a jedi or anything....

i\'ll warn you now that the jedi mini is f***ing tiny, and also add DEGRA such detailed minis, and very origional

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by ScottRadom
Don\'t know if this is your bag or not, but I am really digging them! Free rules as well.....

http://www.incursiongame.com/

good call, nice models there


also if you like 54mm stampunk, try smart max. BEAUTIFUL

 

[nick232]

Originally posted by freakinacage

Originally posted by ScottRadom
Don\'t know if this is your bag or not, but I am really digging them! Free rules as well.....

http://www.incursiongame.com/

good call, nice models there


also if you like 54mm stampunk, try smart max. BEAUTIFUL

+ bloody expensive!

 

[Hinton]

If you\'re interested in gaming minis, Wyrd is coming out with a new game later this year called Malifaux that uses most of the minis they\'ve produced so far.

http://wyrd-games.net/index.php