Reap the Rewards

Finally! A little over a year and a half after the paying end of things, my Reaper Bones II Kickstarter backer stuff turned up.

The armchair it's sitting on is only toddler-size, sadly. And thank you Blogger for your mystic ability to undo photo rotation, very helpful.

Seeing as I've been banging on about it for ages, I thought I'd do what middle-aged nerds of the internet generation seem to do and unbox it. Not as a video, I know that's the tradition. But I just don't have the power, sorry chaps.


So, what's in the box? Find out after the break!

Yes! The inside of a cardboard box! Never has wargaming looked so exciting! 

Lots and lots of resin, that's what. Fifty-fifty very nicely wrapped, with classy storefront boxes...

Juicy Dragon Pieces in Every Bite!

...and the rest in ziplock baggies, just like plastic crack ought to be.

Street Value: Nil
(even if you powder it and lie)

There's masses of it. The basic backers package was around a hundred models, I never really counted it out. But I got a few extras as well, mostly massive dragons, worms, etc. What I'm basically looking at here is the total heat death of my painted-to-non leadpile ratio.

I got wrist lock just looking at this.

Like any good bag, this is a mixed one. Some of the models aren't quite what I was expecting, but on the whole this is not a problem. For every poor soul whose weapon is a bit wah-wah...

It's never happened to me before, I swear.

...there's one who's bigger, bolder or gnarlier than the early photos suggested. I've even managed to score a duplicate or two here or there, as well as a bit of stalactite I wasn't expecting. Fixing wilted weapons is pretty easy, too - simply run them in near-scalding water, reshape to your desire, then plunge into icy cold water. Along with your near-scalded hands, I particularly recommend that.

The white resin stuff they're made of is pretty good. Holds detail very well. Although it's not quite as sharp as a GW plastic, which means intricate bits are going to need a steady hand to bring out, it's all there. And the edges are sharp, much more so than, say, the rubbery men of Shadows Over Camelot.

Huge sword, tiny head. Tells you something about the guy, I think.

Time to trim yer bush, love.

Assembly is either already dealt with (needs a bit of green stuffing here and there) or very simple. Superglue bonds this stuff really well, and the parts are made with big, generous slotta-style joints.

Simply plug...

...and play

It's dead easy to snip apart, too, as it's quite light, soft and bendy. That's a bit of a worry on the slimmer bits like weapons or fingers. At the same time, I have no fear of snaps or chips once they're in the Bag of Endless Minions. I've already done a weapon swap (forthcoming), it took under five minutes from conception to completion. I fear this may, for an impulsive fool like me, be a mixed blessing.

Like I could stick Connor McLeod on the top of this, no bother! And then regret having a tiny Christofer Lambert in my model collection for all time.

Yes, some of them are downright ridiculous. But in a way that makes them look fun to paint, or at the very least palm off on an unsuspecting Woffbooter.

As the full moon rises, Jay Hawes becomes the mighty Sharkman!

Overall? I'm well chuffed with this lot. If I wasn't on the fatigued downslope of my painting habits right now, I'd be hyperactive. Even with that proviso, two of them are already well underway.

For a bit of scale comparison, here are some GW troopers. It's a good match, the Reaper stuff is bulkier than I thought they would be.

That's not a bow, mate. This is, well, okay, I suppose this is also a bow. We both have bows. Good on ya.

Most of all, though, the monsters and heroes here make me miss playing DnD. Lots of them are sculpts of classic beasties like carrion crawlers or ropers, and they touch a neglected chord in my nerdy soul. Not so much that I've rushed out to buy 5th ed (or whatever it is now)! And I don't really think I am about to kick off another rpg epic in the near future, I think I've rather exhausted my enjoyment of those at the moment. But I did wipe a fond tear away and think on the old Undermountain days, so that alone was worth the price of admission for me!