Kickstart My Heart–Reaper Miniatures’ Bones II Project

Copyright 2013 Reaper Miniatures

Copyright 2013 Reaper Miniatures

     I stumbled upon my first gaming miniatures around Christmas of 1981. I was 13 and had tagged along with a neighbor one Saturday night to a small bookstore named, Book Villa, located in Huntsville, Alabama. They had a pretty impressive selection of Dungeons & Dragons products including a large rack of Grenadier & Ral Partha miniatures.  I could (and did) browse those blisters and boxed sets for hours.

     I’ve loved game miniatures ever since and in my opinion, the company that’s consistently been making the best RPG minis out there for years has been Reaper Miniatures. Luckily for me, my modest collection of unpainted Reaper figures survived our fire, although the packaging is a bit worse for wear. One of the projects on my seemingly endless “To Do” list is to strip all the water/smoke damaged packages off and bag each figure in little ziplock bags with labels (because I’m OCD), where they shall await painting and basing.

     So, imagine my glee when I found out that Reaper was back on Kickstarter with Bones II, the massively anticipated follow-up to their crazy successful Bones project from the Summer of 2012.  I’d missed Bones I since I didn’t dip my feet in the KS pool until early this year.  That little blip on the Kickstarter radar ended up getting 11431% funded with nearly 18,000 backers and a final take of just under $3,500,000.  Apparently I’m not the only one out there who loves me some minis.

Beautifully sculpted minis by the dozen and they're practically giving them away you say?

Beautifully sculpted minis by the dozen and they’re practically giving them away you say?

     Because my lovely wife reads this blog, I’m not going to get into specifics of my personal backer level. I’m already on pretty thin ice. Yeah, thanks eBay for making my phone’s e-mail app ping twice everytime I close a deal.  I’m getting alot of sideways glances over here!  And yes, I know I should turn my sound off but then I might miss Scarlet Johansson’s call.  Let’s just say that, once that box arrives next year, I’ll probably never need to buy another mini in my life.  Not that “need” factors into that particular aspect of my life.

     The only knock on the Bones minis that I’ve heard revolves around the type of plastic they’re made of.  I’ve never held one in my hands and I’m no plasticologist. Apparently it’s not the hard styrene you’d find in a Games Workshop figure, but instead a softer type of plastic that has been compared to the kind used in green plastic army men.  I gather that the main issue with the cheaper plastic is warping of weapons, arms, legs, etc.  Of course, that’s a problem that a little boiling water and some free time can fix right up.

     Personally, I wonder if the plastic is as good at holding paint as a harder figure?  I listened to a podcast awhile ago that concluded that some primers are better than others for Bones minis (in that some just “stick” better) but I can’t for the life of me remember the source. If any of you guys can recommend a good primer, leave a comment for me and I shall send good vibes your way. And while we’re on the subject, check out this great review of the 1st Bones project by a fellow blogger. I’m in the same boat as him. I’ll take some quirkiness for the quality and value here.

     If you’re a mini-lover as well, you’re probably already all over this. If you’re not, get your buns over there ASAP.  If you don’t start drooling over the designs, the prices, and the possibilities, then I don’t know what to tell you.  Until next time…stay nerdy my friends.

Copyright 2013 It Came From The Nerd Cave