Do you still buy metal minis?
- Thread starter Krug
- Start date
Angel Tarragon
Dawn Dragon
Nope. Never have never will.
RichGreen
Adventurer
Hi,
Voted yes. I've bought several packs of each set of the plastic D&D figures, and I have the Fiery Dragon counters, but the best figures are still metal ones that you've painted yourself! I like Reaper's Dark Heaven figures but my favourites are Rackham's Confrontation minis.
Cheers
Richard
Voted yes. I've bought several packs of each set of the plastic D&D figures, and I have the Fiery Dragon counters, but the best figures are still metal ones that you've painted yourself! I like Reaper's Dark Heaven figures but my favourites are Rackham's Confrontation minis.
Cheers
Richard
Mini-answer: Both
I have a veritable tonne of metal minis primed and still waiting to be painted, and a much smaller weight that have been finished off since I started back to minis again a year or two ago. It's easy to get interrupted, taking such time and concentration to get back at the hobby. I mean, it's so time consuming to do metal minis right. It is, however, ever-so-rewarding! But I'll often spend a whole week's worth of all my leisure time working to finish just 3 or 4 figures. (Sometimes more.)
The sculpts do tend to be so much nicer on the metals ... plus they're generally quite adjustable, so you can often make duplicate monsters look different by gently rearranging the arms, legs, tentacles & weaponry into different, dramatic positions.
Nevertheless, I can't negate the fact that D&D pre-painted minis are just so damn simple by comparison. You get sculpts for creatures and some PCs (halflings especially) that you'd never be able to find a proper equivalent for from Iron Wind or Reaper ... although sometimes it's surprising just what those companies do make. (Of course, the same is true-in-reverse if you want Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed figures.) The D&D figures certainly started out to be crappy to the extreme, but they've made some big leaps in colour selection, paint application and even sculpture over the last several editions. So I've been picking up a lot of the really cheap ones, and the more expensive figures when I figure there's no other way to get an achaierai or a barghest, for examples. Also, I'm someone who likes the fact they've continued to make new orcs and kobolds and hobgoblins, because of course, one of the benefits of metal minis is they tend to come in packs of 4 or 5 kobolds in a set that are all posed and equipped differently -- and that just looks so much cooler in play.
In the end, I definitely prefer hand-painted minis, but I deal with plastic to fill in the gaps and make up for the ever-glaring paint-lag.
I have a veritable tonne of metal minis primed and still waiting to be painted, and a much smaller weight that have been finished off since I started back to minis again a year or two ago. It's easy to get interrupted, taking such time and concentration to get back at the hobby. I mean, it's so time consuming to do metal minis right. It is, however, ever-so-rewarding! But I'll often spend a whole week's worth of all my leisure time working to finish just 3 or 4 figures. (Sometimes more.)
The sculpts do tend to be so much nicer on the metals ... plus they're generally quite adjustable, so you can often make duplicate monsters look different by gently rearranging the arms, legs, tentacles & weaponry into different, dramatic positions.
Nevertheless, I can't negate the fact that D&D pre-painted minis are just so damn simple by comparison. You get sculpts for creatures and some PCs (halflings especially) that you'd never be able to find a proper equivalent for from Iron Wind or Reaper ... although sometimes it's surprising just what those companies do make. (Of course, the same is true-in-reverse if you want Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed figures.) The D&D figures certainly started out to be crappy to the extreme, but they've made some big leaps in colour selection, paint application and even sculpture over the last several editions. So I've been picking up a lot of the really cheap ones, and the more expensive figures when I figure there's no other way to get an achaierai or a barghest, for examples. Also, I'm someone who likes the fact they've continued to make new orcs and kobolds and hobgoblins, because of course, one of the benefits of metal minis is they tend to come in packs of 4 or 5 kobolds in a set that are all posed and equipped differently -- and that just looks so much cooler in play.
In the end, I definitely prefer hand-painted minis, but I deal with plastic to fill in the gaps and make up for the ever-glaring paint-lag.
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I can't stand the plastic minis that WotC produce. I dislike the bendy plastic and can only assume that they've employed a labor force of monkeys to paint them.
Warhammer prove that quality plastic minis can be produced, so why WotC decided on their own bendy, monkey painted versions I have no idea
So, I purchase metal minis. Some new (Reaper, Warhammer and others), but many off Ebay. I still love the old Ral Partha and Grenadier figures and have a sizable collection. Not sure exactly how many, but maybe a thousand or so. Some are pianted, but mostly not. If I ever get the time, of course...
Warhammer prove that quality plastic minis can be produced, so why WotC decided on their own bendy, monkey painted versions I have no idea
So, I purchase metal minis. Some new (Reaper, Warhammer and others), but many off Ebay. I still love the old Ral Partha and Grenadier figures and have a sizable collection. Not sure exactly how many, but maybe a thousand or so. Some are pianted, but mostly not. If I ever get the time, of course...
Suit Monkeys
If I recall correctly, the whole idea was that of "safety". That is, "you or your little brother" (as they put it) could step on the figures and not get hurt, or break the mini. However, I agree, the plastic is awful. You have to pick through 10 to 15 loose figures to find one where their sword or spear or staff isn't twisted beyond all recognition. They're almost impossible to get adjusted back into shape.
Fester said:Warhammer prove that quality plastic minis can be produced, so why WotC decided on their own bendy, monkey painted versions I have no idea
If I recall correctly, the whole idea was that of "safety". That is, "you or your little brother" (as they put it) could step on the figures and not get hurt, or break the mini. However, I agree, the plastic is awful. You have to pick through 10 to 15 loose figures to find one where their sword or spear or staff isn't twisted beyond all recognition. They're almost impossible to get adjusted back into shape.
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JonnyReb
First Post
I had used & collected minis since the days when you got 6 of the same (metal) figure on a sprue because they were for strategy games not that "weird" D&D game. Hence, every orc encounter was with 6 identical orc spearmen, or mixed with 6 identical orc axemen - of course you & you're 6 dwarven warhammer weilding brothers could handle that, yes?
But I got tired of lugging all that metal around. Last year I sold off the last of the collection, totalling more then 650 pieces dating from the mid-seventies to the nineties, about the last third of the collection on it's glory.
I've gone plastic, mainly for two reasons:
1) no paint time anymore - life overtakes rec time.
2) weight - when your colection fits in a tackle box it's one thing. When you've got 9 chessex boxes, a hardware drawer box, and other pieces in improvised cases that's another. I can throw a few hundred plastic pieces in a bag and ~~go~~. Amd that's worth a lot more to me then what color the cape for my ranger is.
But I have to admit, sometimes I miss my Dragontooth Hill Giant.
But I got tired of lugging all that metal around. Last year I sold off the last of the collection, totalling more then 650 pieces dating from the mid-seventies to the nineties, about the last third of the collection on it's glory.
I've gone plastic, mainly for two reasons:
1) no paint time anymore - life overtakes rec time.
2) weight - when your colection fits in a tackle box it's one thing. When you've got 9 chessex boxes, a hardware drawer box, and other pieces in improvised cases that's another. I can throw a few hundred plastic pieces in a bag and ~~go~~. Amd that's worth a lot more to me then what color the cape for my ranger is.
But I have to admit, sometimes I miss my Dragontooth Hill Giant.
Lord Pruitt
Explorer
Choose your caliber ....
I enjoy both - the plastics are cool, but nothing delivers a message like a metal mini hurled at extreme velocities .....
I enjoy both - the plastics are cool, but nothing delivers a message like a metal mini hurled at extreme velocities .....
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