Minty Miniature Review
Hi-ho fellow gamers, lurkers of the internet, and general epistemologists. It's time for a Minty Mini review. Today we examine Reaper's new Legendary Encounters Wave 2 miniatures in comparisson to D&D equivalents. For scale's sake they are all standing on a Chessex 1" grid-map.
So first up we have on the left: Reaper's Bathalian ($5 approx)and on the right: WotC's official Mind Flayer Scourge ($10 rare approx). Reaper's Bathalian has a pleasantly sinister atmosphere to it, as though it's plotting something. It's pose implies cunning and a certain dark intent. He has several different colours very nicely painted and though it's not apparant in the photo his robes have decorative etchings. For $5 + tax at your local FLGS you really can't go wrong with this fine cephalopod. By contrast we're not quite sure if the scourge is doing anything but hissing. It's disproportionateness tends to make it look silly. Its outfit is simple to the point of making it seem like a common miniature and there is a gross inconsistancy in the skin colouring between the head and hands. I'm really kind of sorry I have two of these and hope to trade sell one eventually as the Bathalian is so much cooler.
Next up we have left to right Reaper's Elf Archer ($4.50) and WotC's Elf Archer ($1 common mini). Honestly bang for buck if you can find the D&D one go for it. While the Reaper one has a nicer paint job, it is not worth the extra $3 as they share many things in common including a very rigid pose. Biggest reason to by the Reaper version is for PC use as it is fancier and not half-naked.
Ok, three at once this time because I couldn't be bothered to go through ALL my D&D armored minis...believe you me there are a lot. Anyways, from left to right we have: Reaper's Human Warrior: Evil ($4.50), WotC's Sword of Glory ($4.00 approx), and Reaper's Human Warrior: Good ($4.50) ...well, aside from the cheasyness of the names my money is on the Human Warrior: Evil. His pose is by far the best of the bunch, if a little backward's leaning and he has nice detail-work on the shield. Of course if you just want an army of arthurian soldiers in armor go for Human Warrior: Good. The Sword of Glory is really a lieutenant, boss or PC piece and while nicely detailed suffers from a bit of the flacid blade syndrome that is the bane of PPMs with swords. That being said he is well balanced with a dynamic pose. A repaint would do him wonders. All three of these are good.
So how about some female minis then? Don't see these too often in PPM actually. Left to right we have Reaper's Female Ranger ($4.50) and WotC's Elf Warlock (1 of 5 minis including a Dragon in the current minis starter, $14.00 for the box). Ok honestly the only reason these are up is so that I can point out that Reaper is currently doing a better job with dynamically posed female miniatures that look cool without showing excess skin at the expense of armor...although the dirth of female miniatures of any variety is somewhat annoying. Anyways, given WotC's one is only available in a starter with the ugliest green dragon this side of the rift, I think it's safe to recommend Reaper's entry instead.
And undead, who doesn't like undead? Left to right we have Reaper's Ghost ($4.00) and WotC's promo repaint of the Lurking Wraith ($6-$10 approx, regular version which is black instead of blue will be about $3-$8). Honestly I like them both. The Ghost has the amusing value of porting his own grave with him and passing right through the tombstone. The detail is loverly and the paint job is superb. The Lurking Wraith is made of clear plastic with rotting flesh paint over the hands and what's left of the face. It has two red dots for eyes. I love clear plastic myself so it is a real win for me. Regrettably it will be an uncommon in a huge set and I expect high in demand given that the last regular wraith mini from WotC was in Harbinger and a rare to boot. So for reasons of simple time saving and money saving your best bet is probably the ghost. If you see one of the Lurking Wraiths at a FLGS locally though you could probably pick it up for $3-4 and consider your money well spent. ^_^
Two larger critters here, on the left: Reaper's Great Worm ($7.00) and on the right: WotC's Purple Worm ($10-12). Now the great worm has a lovely paint job and does have the advantage of being all one piece so there are no seem lines but with that being said I think the Purple Worm is a better deal. For less than twice the price you get double the height and about 9 times the volume making it a much more impressive piece on the table. Finding WotC Purple Worms is also relatively simple. Just ask anyone who collects D&D minis, as it was a huge uncommon we all have excess. I myself have 2 spare...well, technically 3 but I'm repainting one black so that I have a Nightcrawler mini as well as a Purple Worm. ^_^
Next up, the ever popular Orcs: On the left is Reaper's Orc with Scimitar (Sold in 3 packs for approx $7.00) and on the right, WotC's Orc Raider ($1.00 common). Well, this one is a toughie as the detail work on Reaper's Orc is significantly better and he has the classic green skin some of us have nostalgia for. On the Downside, he's short. REALLY SHORT. If you want your orcs to be intimidating thugs, your money is best spent on the Orc Raider as you can get them at $1.13 each after tax. Quite honestly I would not pay more than that as the paint job is horribly simplistic on them unfortunately. If on the other hand you want more cunning orcs or variety, the Reaper version also comes as Orc Archers or Orc Spearmen. Finding an official WotC Orc Archer is an epic quest in and of itself so unless you have to have all your orcs looking like they come from the same race (and even that is a challenge with the WotC orcs) I recommend a mix-and match for budget reasons.
And last but not least: Zombies, inproving the quality of any product through their addition by at least 10%. On the left is Reaper's Zombie ($3.00) and on the right is WotC's Chillborn Zombie ($1.00). Now per se WotC has several other Zombies available too so my thoughts are buy a bit of everything just so you have a nice varied crowd of Zombies. Saves confusion and adds believability. Besides, it's pretty hard to screw up a zombie. That being said, Reaper's is the nicer product but WotC's is more affordable by far for something that comes in hordes.
That's it for today folks, sometime in the near future I hope to compare skeletons and scenery. ^_^
So first up we have on the left: Reaper's Bathalian ($5 approx)and on the right: WotC's official Mind Flayer Scourge ($10 rare approx). Reaper's Bathalian has a pleasantly sinister atmosphere to it, as though it's plotting something. It's pose implies cunning and a certain dark intent. He has several different colours very nicely painted and though it's not apparant in the photo his robes have decorative etchings. For $5 + tax at your local FLGS you really can't go wrong with this fine cephalopod. By contrast we're not quite sure if the scourge is doing anything but hissing. It's disproportionateness tends to make it look silly. Its outfit is simple to the point of making it seem like a common miniature and there is a gross inconsistancy in the skin colouring between the head and hands. I'm really kind of sorry I have two of these and hope to trade sell one eventually as the Bathalian is so much cooler.
Next up we have left to right Reaper's Elf Archer ($4.50) and WotC's Elf Archer ($1 common mini). Honestly bang for buck if you can find the D&D one go for it. While the Reaper one has a nicer paint job, it is not worth the extra $3 as they share many things in common including a very rigid pose. Biggest reason to by the Reaper version is for PC use as it is fancier and not half-naked.
Ok, three at once this time because I couldn't be bothered to go through ALL my D&D armored minis...believe you me there are a lot. Anyways, from left to right we have: Reaper's Human Warrior: Evil ($4.50), WotC's Sword of Glory ($4.00 approx), and Reaper's Human Warrior: Good ($4.50) ...well, aside from the cheasyness of the names my money is on the Human Warrior: Evil. His pose is by far the best of the bunch, if a little backward's leaning and he has nice detail-work on the shield. Of course if you just want an army of arthurian soldiers in armor go for Human Warrior: Good. The Sword of Glory is really a lieutenant, boss or PC piece and while nicely detailed suffers from a bit of the flacid blade syndrome that is the bane of PPMs with swords. That being said he is well balanced with a dynamic pose. A repaint would do him wonders. All three of these are good.
So how about some female minis then? Don't see these too often in PPM actually. Left to right we have Reaper's Female Ranger ($4.50) and WotC's Elf Warlock (1 of 5 minis including a Dragon in the current minis starter, $14.00 for the box). Ok honestly the only reason these are up is so that I can point out that Reaper is currently doing a better job with dynamically posed female miniatures that look cool without showing excess skin at the expense of armor...although the dirth of female miniatures of any variety is somewhat annoying. Anyways, given WotC's one is only available in a starter with the ugliest green dragon this side of the rift, I think it's safe to recommend Reaper's entry instead.
And undead, who doesn't like undead? Left to right we have Reaper's Ghost ($4.00) and WotC's promo repaint of the Lurking Wraith ($6-$10 approx, regular version which is black instead of blue will be about $3-$8). Honestly I like them both. The Ghost has the amusing value of porting his own grave with him and passing right through the tombstone. The detail is loverly and the paint job is superb. The Lurking Wraith is made of clear plastic with rotting flesh paint over the hands and what's left of the face. It has two red dots for eyes. I love clear plastic myself so it is a real win for me. Regrettably it will be an uncommon in a huge set and I expect high in demand given that the last regular wraith mini from WotC was in Harbinger and a rare to boot. So for reasons of simple time saving and money saving your best bet is probably the ghost. If you see one of the Lurking Wraiths at a FLGS locally though you could probably pick it up for $3-4 and consider your money well spent. ^_^
Two larger critters here, on the left: Reaper's Great Worm ($7.00) and on the right: WotC's Purple Worm ($10-12). Now the great worm has a lovely paint job and does have the advantage of being all one piece so there are no seem lines but with that being said I think the Purple Worm is a better deal. For less than twice the price you get double the height and about 9 times the volume making it a much more impressive piece on the table. Finding WotC Purple Worms is also relatively simple. Just ask anyone who collects D&D minis, as it was a huge uncommon we all have excess. I myself have 2 spare...well, technically 3 but I'm repainting one black so that I have a Nightcrawler mini as well as a Purple Worm. ^_^
Next up, the ever popular Orcs: On the left is Reaper's Orc with Scimitar (Sold in 3 packs for approx $7.00) and on the right, WotC's Orc Raider ($1.00 common). Well, this one is a toughie as the detail work on Reaper's Orc is significantly better and he has the classic green skin some of us have nostalgia for. On the Downside, he's short. REALLY SHORT. If you want your orcs to be intimidating thugs, your money is best spent on the Orc Raider as you can get them at $1.13 each after tax. Quite honestly I would not pay more than that as the paint job is horribly simplistic on them unfortunately. If on the other hand you want more cunning orcs or variety, the Reaper version also comes as Orc Archers or Orc Spearmen. Finding an official WotC Orc Archer is an epic quest in and of itself so unless you have to have all your orcs looking like they come from the same race (and even that is a challenge with the WotC orcs) I recommend a mix-and match for budget reasons.
And last but not least: Zombies, inproving the quality of any product through their addition by at least 10%. On the left is Reaper's Zombie ($3.00) and on the right is WotC's Chillborn Zombie ($1.00). Now per se WotC has several other Zombies available too so my thoughts are buy a bit of everything just so you have a nice varied crowd of Zombies. Saves confusion and adds believability. Besides, it's pretty hard to screw up a zombie. That being said, Reaper's is the nicer product but WotC's is more affordable by far for something that comes in hordes.
That's it for today folks, sometime in the near future I hope to compare skeletons and scenery. ^_^