Miniature Mondays: Fresh Meat
Last week you all stopped by for a bite to eat, and unfortunately I had nothing to serve. Sure, there were a few stale projects that were ALMOST miniature projects.
But they didn’t satisfy.
Don’t worry though, since then I’ve gone out, restocked the cupboards, and prepared a real smorgasbord. I’m not hungry, but you go ahead an pig out on all those delicious projects, I’ll just sit over here and watch.
No, really – I’m fine.
Since I have curtailed my purchases, Kickstarter has taken on all the pain of a diet. To quote Al Pacino “Look but don’t touch. Touch, but don’t taste. Taste, don’t swallow.” Despite the hardship, I have persevered, and found you five new projects to drool over. Let’s just jump right in shall we?
- Spinespur – This project is wall to wall survival horror miniatures. This is the second attempt to get a successfully fund a project by this creator, and it looks like 2 might be their lucky number. With over a month and less than a thousand dollars to go, this project is definitely going to fund. My only concern is that $7,000 for the ~40 miniatures currently promised seems like way too little to fund the project; either they are expecting to overshoot the lowball target, or they are going to create this project regardless. Either way, that means they aren’t being honest with us.
- Tudor, Valois and Habsburg Wargames Project – at 25% of its much more reasonable target of it’s 20,000 pound target, I am not sure this historically accurate project is going to succeed. After an initial burst of activity in its first three days, it seems to have flat lined at a level far too low to end well. This project is part of a company that probably does not need to use Kickstarter. Normally I would rant about this, but they address this point pretty well, so for now I will cut them some slack as they seem to have thought a lot about the subject. I reserve the right to freak out if they start launching project after project.
- Zombicide: Season 2 – CMON is at it again. If you will recall I have backed two of their projects in the past, but when Rivet Wars was launched I publicly worried they would go past the point of using Kickstarter to get off the ground, and instead start using it as their regular distribution pipeline instead. By launching a sequel to a previously successful Kickstarter that seems to be doing well all by itself on store shelves, I feel like they have certainly crossed that line. With 5 successful projects representing more than two million dollars in the last 12 months, maybe it is time to take the training wheels off. I for one would at least like to see them deliver their current backlog of three projects before adding any more to their plate.
- THON – In my opinion, this is the one to keep your eye on this week. Not only does offer decent value at 35 miniatures for $75, but it is created by one of those rare and illusive creators that happen to be genuine (as opposed to a product line in disguise.) This project has its flaws, true, but I would argue those are content based and an issue of personal taste. Of the projects I have found this week, this is the only one that tempts me to see a creator’s dream reach fruition. Fortunately it has already exceeded it’s $35,000 funding goal in the first 48 hours, so it lessens that particular urge, but I will be following the progress of this one closely.
- Torn Armor – This miniature project has a lot in common with comments already made about THON, save that it is fantasy based. It also appears slightly more whimsical, and I am not as impressed by the quality of sculpts. None-the-less, if you want mouse slingers or Greek golems, than this is the project for you! At 1/7th of it’s goal, it is well on its way to being funded, and also packs 39 miniatures into a $75 price tag, making it a tremendous value.
With that done, let us turn to painting.
This week, because of a variety of complications already discussed in previous posts, I wasn’t able to get much done. I was hoping to finish at least another third of my riflemen, and bring my Rhulic army one more noticeable step toward completion. Apparently pain and Vicodin are both powerful wards against progress, and I was only able to get one miniature done. This unit is now 4/10 complete. Again, I am not completely happy with this model, but I blame the green primer.
Jessica is showing off another mini in her growing eldar army. I really like the classic look, and though the highlight’s might be a little excessive on this one, it looks good as a whole and I think she did a wonderful job on the base and the helmet especially.
Clint like me is continuing on his Warmachine army, and has posted a well painted but creepy mechanic. His wonderful photographic format this week almost outshines his paint job though. My favorite part on this one is the leather. Rather than go for a straight brown color, he goes with a deeper red-brown that has both wear and stains, and is consistent from apron to pouches.
Caffeineforge 
I have to admit, I hate the way CMON does their projects, but I’m backing Zombicide 2. The first game is well made, and plays well. I like the additions of the prison & mall. So, yeah, I decided to back it. Rivet Wars was a tempting offering, no doubt, but $150 for a game I’d never played before? That’s madness.
CMON is definitely abusing the Kickstarter system. They set the goals ridiculously low so they can a) get into the “popular projects” section when they go several thousand percent over their goal in the first day, and b) add more figures in a constant stream of stretch goals. Considering they’re probably going to surpass the $782k take for Zombicide 1 in the next day or two, I wonder if they have enough planned. I’m pretty much in this for the extras, as I missed out on Z1, and all the goodies that came with.
The miniature market on Kickstarter seems to mostly operate on CMON’s method of lowballing the goal and adding stuff as stretch goals. Maybe I should say Reaper’s method, as I suspect it was their Bones project that set the path other mini makers would follow. Still, Kickstarter seems to have weathered them gaming the system, and I’m sure they love all that sweet miniatures cash.
Jessica, ignore David. The highliighting is awesome!
Thanks Clint, I’m pretty fond of the highlights as well. I do, however, think that the photos make them seem more intense than they are when you look at the actual miniature. That’s a down side of photos I suppose, you can look at the minis in so much more detail than you ever could with the naked eye.
That’s a very fair point Jessica, considering we’ve talked about that exact topic. Making a mini look good at playing distance isn’t the same things that make it look good under the microscope as it were.