47 replies to this topic

[notsoevil]

They look decent, not any better or worse than I expected PPM's to look. Yeah, there's some detail lacking on the skellies and others, but overall I'm pleased.

The problem is there are pletny of PPMs that look so much better. Hence my disappointment.

[Bruunwald]

Personally, I would rather see what they really look like, as presented here, and then not be surprised later. The opposite; the WoTC method of painting up to glorious perfection for the photoshoot, only to find out later that the actual paint job on even the most rare of rares, is shockingly God-awful, is, well... let's just say I'm ready for some truth in advertising.

Somebody made the comment earlier, that these look like butt, and haven't any of us ever seen AT-43, and my answer to that would be, have you? Because I hit my FLGS just about every week, and just about every week I get a good look at those things. They are pretty good quality (and amazingly overpriced), but they are far from perfect. Some aren't any better than your average DDM, which puts them below the LEs. Some are pretty darned good, sure, but let's not go overboard. Let's not generalize and act like the minotaur can't compete with any AT-43 in terms of quality. It does. And let's not pretend those AT-43 grunts don't oftentimes bite the big one. They do.

Prepainteds are notorious for inconsistencies in quality. It all starts with paint-friendly sculpts. In any line you're going to have some that are more friendly than others. For that reason, you have to evaluate each of these models individually. You can't bag a whole line at first glance and expect to be taken seriously.

[Sergeant_Crunch]

My complaint isn't with how quickly the product was displayed, but with the painting. Actually Bryan deserves some kudos for getting the pics up so quickly. You can tell in the pics that the minis have good detail to them, but the painting doesn't show it. Maybe they look better in hand, so I'll shut for now until I see them in person.

[notsoevil]

Personally, I would rather see what they really look like, as presented here, and then not be surprised later. The opposite; the WoTC method of painting up to glorious perfection for the photoshoot, only to find out later that the actual paint job on even the most rare of rares, is shockingly God-awful, is, well... let's just say I'm ready for some truth in advertising.

Somebody made the comment earlier, that these look like butt, and haven't any of us ever seen AT-43, and my answer to that would be, have you? Because I hit my FLGS just about every week, and just about every week I get a good look at those things. They are pretty good quality (and amazingly overpriced), but they are far from perfect. Some aren't any better than your average DDM, which puts them below the LEs. Some are pretty darned good, sure, but let's not go overboard. Let's not generalize and act like the minotaur can't compete with any AT-43 in terms of quality. It does. And let's not pretend those AT-43 grunts don't oftentimes bite the big one. They do.

Prepainteds are notorious for inconsistencies in quality. It all starts with paint-friendly sculpts. In any line you're going to have some that are more friendly than others. For that reason, you have to evaluate each of these models individually. You can't bag a whole line at first glance and expect to be taken seriously.

Actually, I said they look like ***, but the forum is a bit zealous in changing that.

AT-43 paint jobs might mis a line or paint a collar flesh tone, but the major difference is how the paint on AT-43 at least doesn't look GLOBBED on.

I've let my 4 year old paint my minis, and the paint doesn't look as thick as on those LEs.

Unless you're a Reaper fanboy, the current pics will certainly make people look the other way -- perhaps permanently. Yes, people bag an entire line at first glance. Gamers DO that and you know it.

Edited by Reaperbryan, 27 July 2007 - 03:05 PM.
Expletive replaced.

[kristof65]

My complaint isn't with how quickly the product was displayed, but with the painting. Actually Bryan deserves some kudos for getting the pics up so quickly. You can tell in the pics that the minis have good detail to them, but the painting doesn't show it. Maybe they look better in hand, so I'll shut for now until I see them in person.

Heck, almost all of us who have photographed a mini can tell you that the picture often looks worse than the real thing. I'm going to wait until I see these in person, but over all, they don't look too bad. Based on the photos, I think you'll be able to bring them way up in terms of paintjob by giving them a dark wash - which takes all of what - 30 secs per mini? Heck, priming takes longer than that, so it's a definite times savings.

I've looked at the AT43 minis as well - and quality-wise, the LE prototypes on display at RCon were better than what I've seen of AT43 - so my expectation, photos aside, are that the LE will be about the same as the AT43s. Plus, the LEs have a better cost per fig than the AT43s, and they're different genres.

[vejlin]

well the pics I've seem of AT-43 minis show the very small. Small enough that I can't see detail. These pics are rather large.

[joshuaslater]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: some will people dig'em, and some people won't.

As an avid "metal only" painter/collector/gamer, I'm not bothered by PPPMs enough to rave or complain. I've reaped the benefits however, of enjoying them in many roleplaying sessions where lots of grunts were involved. 'Didn't matter to me that my painted figure representing my character was one of the few metal ones on the board. I grew up playing D&D where we used pennies, Parchese pieces and anything available to represent monsters. You kids have it easy today. (old man rave over)

These are for people wanting the convenience of prepainted plastic, period. If you're lookin' for Golden Demon/award winnin' paintjobs, well, they don't seem to come unless you're a painter, and they may not be for you.

If you are a gamer who won't touch these, then continue to buy enough metal to fill out your ranks, and leave'em.

Reaper will have a go at these, as it's now a part of their business. If sales plummet, or they don't take off, you can bet they'll re-evaluate and start again.

[Enurunner]

Personally I'm a little disapointed.
When I say that, you have to take into account what high standards I've come to expect of Reapers.

The skeletons are ok.
The orcs look like something I've sculpted (and painted) in 5th grade. Not good.
The troll is a pretty cool sculpt, I think. Then again it's hard to see through all that shiny paint.
The ogre chieftain is pretty good, both sculpt and paint.
The minotaur is an awesome sculpt, that no amount of prepaint can do justice. :)

I've got a bunch of prepaints from wizards, and I think that they generally look better than LE. Then again, with the right light, or paint, LE have the potential to beat wizards several times over.

So, please get the next batch out soon! :D

[Mengu]

These are for people wanting the convenience of prepainted plastic, period. If you're lookin' for Golden Demon/award winnin' paintjobs, well, they don't seem to come unless you're a painter, and they may not be for you.

I'm quoting your post because it's easy, please don't take these comments as directed to you.

I don't think people who are looking at buying PPM's are looking for Golden Demon quality. Just competitive market quality. D&D Minis (I'll lump all WoTC minis like SW in there), Heroclix, AT-43, and Battlefield Evolution are the PPM's I'm familiar with. If I were to compare pictures of those miniatures from the company web sites, to the pictures of LE miniatures posted yesterday, I would not hesitate to say LE are the lowest quality. They are also the cheapest, and the only ones of their genre that are not collectible.

Reaper will have a go at these, as it's now a part of their business. If sales plummet, or they don't take off, you can bet they'll re-evaluate and start again.

I think that's what these messageboards are about, for Reaper to hear feedback from their customer base.

One thing I'll add is that having seen the prototypes in person, the casts are really quite impressive. You wouldn't know they weren't metal if they didn't weigh like plastic, which is far better than you can say for the other miniature lines I mentioned. Unfortunately, for presentation, the paint job is really what counts for 90% of the sell factor.

I know quite a few people who have very high expectations of this line, and are tired of paying collectable mini prices for D&D minis. Sadly, I'm not sure if they'll be sold on the line based on these previews.

[joshuaslater]

Dig. This forum is for people to weigh in on Reaper's product, positive or negative. I may grab a few, if they look good at my FLGS, but I think I'll just stick to collecting and painting my metal models and let y'all worry about the plastics.

[GreyHorde]

I won't judge based on snapshots. I've waited this long, I can easily wait for better pics or better yet, have a look when they arrive at my FLGS. I have not previously bought any PPMs, so I'm a little indifferent about what other companies put in their expensive, blind-random packages. Or sci-fi. For me, it's simple: LEs will stand or fall on their own merits, comparing the looks vs. cost vs. my own definition of usability. With the low cost, if I need to bulk out a skirmish group, WL faction or solo encounter, if they need a little shading, it won't bother me at all to spend 10 minutes to dip & seal 'em. I look forward to finding out for myself.

[Breltar]

I am hoping that its the lighting that makes them a little worse. Im not much for pre painted anyway so regardless of what they looked like online I will wait and see what they look like in hand. There always seem to be some kids in my local store that have something new open so I can look over their shoulder :) . I like that Reaper is brave enough to try to compete in this market and I hope that it will bring other lines into action *cough* Aicomm *cough*.

[tabascojunkie]

I grew up playing D&D where we used pennies, Parchese pieces and anything available to represent monsters. You kids have it easy today. (old man rave over)

These are for people wanting the convenience of prepainted plastic, period.

That's kinda how I see it. If I have a Fantasy HERO game and the PCs run into a bunch of orcs, I think these would work better than my bare metal DHL army packs and miscellaneous DHL minis, also bare metal, just because of a better visual appeal than said bare metal. My "naked" orcs will get painted one day, and if I need skeletons in an FH game I will definitely pull out my personal Necropolis stuff, 'cause it looks better . That's not a dig at all, though.

Being one of the winners, (no, I'm not bragging) I'll give a review of them when I get them. I don't recognize any of the other names on the list from forum members, but I'm sure plenty of others will pop up with what they think.

[thedespot29]

Sure they don't look amazing, but I think the pricing is great. Combine that with a discount from your local store or online retailer and you have incredibly well priced stuff. Who cares if you need to spend 30-60 minutes touching up the minotaur, its only 6 bucks.

From a re-painting point of view, legendary encounters are a good thing as they are cheaper than metal equivalents. AT-43 tacarms are like $9.33 each. Though I agree, they are much better painted, for someone intending to repaint them, they are not really cost effective (although, I am very cheap, so take that with a grain of salt).

[Tomash]

Oh man...

I've seen AT-43 prepaints, both "live" and on photos. LE prepaints simply suck compared to them. Yuuck!