Christmas in July - Polar Bear from Christmas Familiars (Reaper 01553)

 Another one of the Christmas Familiars, these are great figures to use the snow effects I have, but might explain why I just didn't go all in for Frostgrave.  

Christmas in July - Christmas Seal from Christmas Familiars (Reaper 01553)

Just how many times can I put Christmas in a blog post?  

Not in time for Christmas (There I go again), but this little seal is just one figure out of the pile of Reaper holiday packs my buddy Scott gave me back at Mepacon Fall 2024.   Out of the lead/plastic/resin pile, I'd like to see all them finished up eventually.  

(Painting) A Werewolf, a Duck, and a Road Cone: The Musical

After a month of fooling around with role-playing characters, I'm still cleaning things off the painting bench. 

The Werewolf is from the original Reaper Bones line (77009).  It's honestly one of the better Original Bones sculpts, and at $3.99, was quite affordable.  It looks like they've transitioned it to the Bones USA grey plastic and the price has doubled.  

The Duck is a leftover from the ones Millie printed up in class for me.   God help me if more start showing up.

And after a thorough cleaning, I finally recovered the road cone from the Reaper Modern Accessories pack that I dropped off the painting bench and it vanished.  

In fun news, I finally found employment.  It's a step up from entry level, I like my coworkers, and I shouldn't have any issues coming forward with Mepacon or Historicon.  Being a single guy on a limited budget means my evenings are getting focused on RPG sessions, painting sessions, and working through the back catalog of games, particularly Gnome skirmish, Mousling campaign, and prepping for more Egypt games with the girls. 

In the Queue - Teddy Bears (and another "fun with paint colors"), Death Planet Iota characters

Project: 350 -  441 (283/156)  from 466 (282 /184) 

(Painting) Gnome Tinkerer by Reaper

Well within the Christmas season, time for another holiday figure!  

Last year I got a stack of Reaper holiday themed minis, and I continue to knock them out.   This fella, the Gnome Tinkerer, is definitely in the snow blue holiday blister, but I can't find him anywhere on the Reaper website. (Edit: Good old Tinker the Gnome is listed as one of the options for the 2025 12days of Reaper).

Gnome Tinkerer - 01595

(Painting) Balazar, Iconic Summoner Gnome Sorcerer by Reaper Bones

Another Reaper coming off the painting bench, although it's not holdiay... but it is a gnome.

Balazar, Iconic Summoner Gnome Sorcerer is a figure I painted up while at Mepacon last month. With a large and medium brush, I was satisfied with the subtle detail (and to be honest, it's barely acceptable for a figure I don't think I'll use).  

Balazar, Iconic Summoner Gnome Sorcerer

Having finally seen the original Reaper Pathfinder Metal figure, I continue with the degradation of the molds that transferred over to Reaper Bones.  Details, such as a dagger, are marred, and things are so smoothed over along the face that I thought a feature was a tiny brim to Balazar's headpiece, when in the metal version they are very distinct and giant eyebrows.

Just to prove the point, I wasn't able to determine what exactly the head of the gnome's staff was.   On the metal figure, it's easily two pieces of metal curving away.  There's so much odd flash  and trim on the figure, that I originally interpreted it as a gnome-equivalent of a 10-foot pole with a cartoon gloved hand pointing.  

(Painting) Ankheg by Reaper Bones

 As I'm delving into Tomb of the Serpent, I'm pregaming all of the potential figures I'll need.  I'm not using the exact figures in many situations, so I'm making due with what I have.  

And in the recent office reorganization, this Reaper Bones Ankheg fell out of a bin and demanded an appearance in the campaign. 

RPR 77230

One thing that I did manage to confirm with this figure:  The $4 sealant from Hobby Lobby is great on a sunny 60-degree day with no wind or humidity.  I'm not sure if my warm well-ventilated area was wrong, or I just need to spray away from everything for five seconds before using, because I sprayed away for three and the first spot I started with got the crackle.  

In my office clean-up, this lone Micro-Machine Jawa fell out of a box, but it has rejoined its brothers with a hearty, Outinnniiiii!

(Painting) Modern Accessories by Reaper Bones Black

 In a recent poll on The Miniatures Page (TMP), in relation to non-GM attendees, they asked:

"If you are just there to attend and/or play some, how far out do you prepare for the con?"

That's like a wargaming therapy onion question, unleashing decades and layers of issues from beyond.  

To answer the actual question, just attending Mepacon as an attendee on a Sunday in November, has involved me coordinating with friends since August.  

To go even further, after announcing my projects for the year, a week and a half later, I announced our plans for Historicon 2026 last weekend.  

So is it any surprise that my painting bench is a anomalous timey-whimey mess, with some figures I purchased more than a decade ago, a pile of Historicon purchases from the summer, yet one of the more recent acquisitions getting completed first? 

The Modern Accessories pack from Reaper was one of the participation prizes given out during Sword in the Stone Games' belated #FreeRPGDay celebration in August.  Six road cones and six jerrycans to flesh out a modern board, all in the better Bones Black material.  They are small pieces, and there already is a road cone hiding somewhere in the game room... or right on the painting bench itself. 

The Gnomish Engineers have a little more safety equipment to work with...

I already painted up a ton of cans bright orange for Death Planet Iota.  These are actually painted up more realistically for civilian use.

Red: Gasoline

Yellow: Diesel

Blue: Kerosene

In a world where even the Bones prices seem out of control, the accessory pack for $3.99 seems reasonable. 

In the Queue:  Some Pulp stuff may have jumped the line, but bore Rebel Commandos and  Tiki Island Gnomes are still on the bench,  and the mounted OG Mouslings have reared their heads out of the lead pile once again. 

Project: 350 -  An expected decline to 479 (284 draft/195 scheduled) from 482 (286/196).  I've got a lull in scheduled posts in the 2nd half of October, so hopefully I can get some games in.  

Another Month of New Gaming (September 2025)

With the Diamond bankruptcy and the subsequent reorganization, plus the liquidation of warehoused elements of a number of game stores, I hold my breath each month now for Game Trade Magazine (GTM), Alliance Games pre-order solicitations. 

For folks who've never read this monthly post, or wondered how I list what I do...  Alliance has produced for over 25 years, a mixture of articles about the products they wholesale, along with all the newest product solicitations for stores (and customers to contact stores) to pre-order.   I don't simply regurgitate everything here, rather using three criteria

ViscountEric's Want List - Stuff that I'm either pre-ordering with a store, website, or looking for at the next con I'm at. 

ViscountEric's Money-Is-No-Object Want List - What is it says.  Stuff that's out of my budget, on my periphery, or something I might pick up if it's sitting by the register/on-sale. 

The Imaginary Store List (The Pegleg Gnome) - I worked most of the 90s in game stores, during the original Magic boon right into d20.  I started with The Armory and Chessex photocopied solicits and love the concept that GTM has been attempting to do.  

The Pegleg Gnome is a decent imaginary store with a decent budget, subject to my whims and preferences, some inevitable ordering (Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!), and what I see move/sit at the stores I visit, staff I talk to.  I will put some commentary on from time to time, usually about new product line dumps (Those Kickstarter deals are great for you and the publisher, now try to imagine your FLGS budget six books, a GM screen, dice, and other gadgets for a brand-new untested game... and a new one like this comes out EVERY MONTH.  I'm a huge fan of new economical (under $10) dice sets to offset the $25-50 sets that companies love to manufacture.  I'm not going to list every mini, or variant of a variant of a special edition.  

One more note, Alliance loves to slide in "Spotlight On" entries with the regular entries.  Sometimes they're items that never appeared in a previous issue, and they are now available for immediate sale.  Other times, they're simply relisted current inventory, a mini-ad hidden in the new solicitations.  I try not to mention those, unless they list a month for delivery.  

Yet another caveat: Now that I've gone through this month's listing, I'm noticing products with no release dates, some that might already be out.  Not every distributor normally carries every company, and searching my previous posts in this series don't list the products, so I'm comfortable listing them.   (I've never needed to search "syrup" on my blog before).  

So, without further ado...

Issue #307 of Game Trade Magazine can be found at most FLGS or online in pdf format here. 

ViscountEric's Want List

Firestarter Games

Downstream ................................... $20.00

Masters of Maple Syrup ................. $18.00

Not only do I want my own copy, but Christmas as well. 

(Edit: If they ever shipped to the United States)

Looney Labs

Cat Fluxx ................................ $20.00

More Christmas gifts solved.  

Reaper Miniatures

Lady Mariella & Sakeeta (Mousling on Dragon) RPR 30254 .................$19.99

ViscountEric's Money-Is-No-Object Want List

Arc Dream Publishing

Delta Green RPG: Handler's Screen ........................................ $24.99

Legendary Press

African Monsters (5e or Tales of the Valiant versions) ............ $29.99

New Comet Games

A Time for Sacrifice  (Cthulhu 7th) ............................. $28.00

Ice Caves of Mt Fuji (Cthulhu 7th) .............................  $15.00

Wizkids

Warner Brothers Heroclix Iconix - Thundercats ........... $39.99

The Imgainary Store List (The Peg-Leg Gnome)

Archon Studios

Dungeons & Lasers: Baef Horned Demon ............................. $19.00

Dungeons & Lasers: Cavern Relics ........................................ $31.00

Dungeons & Lasers: Demonic Caves Terrain ......................... $79.00

Dungeons & Lasers: Gervase, the Ettin .................................. $19.00

Dungeons & Lasers: Infernal Imps ......................................... $34.00

Dungeons & Lasers: Ritual Sites Terrain ................................ $69.00

Dungeons & Lasers: Skeleton Crew ........................................ $34.00

Dungeons & Lasers: Demonic Caves Pre-Painted Prismacast Terrain .... $99.00

Dungeons & Lasers: Ritual Site Pre-Painted Prismacast Terrain ............. $79.00

Masters of the Universe: Battleground - Clamp Champ .......... $19.00

Masters of the Universe: Battleground - Faker Pake ................ $19.00

I think I remember seeing some of the Dungeon & Lasers stock at conventions, perhaps portions of the earlier parts of the line.  The pricing is very affordable, and I'm more confident in paying nineteen bucks for an ettin, rather than Faker from MotU.   Your mileage may vary.  

The Army Painter

Speed Palette ........................................... $8.99

I don't see a ship date, so it might be in stock already, but in a world were random accessories start at $25, a nine dollar palette is something I could recommend to a new painter, and they might be able to come back and buy more from me. 

Bandai

Digimon TCG: Time Stranger Booster

One Piece TCG: Egghead Starters

Bedouin Games

Rise of Babel ....................................... $50.00

Ceaco

Dragon Isles ........................................ $20.00

Lying Cheating Raccoons ................... $16.00

Compass Games 

Combat 3: Arnhem ............................ $139.00

World War II Commander: Market-Garden .......... $69.00

Cryptozoic Entertainment

DC Comics DBG Rivals - Superman vs Lex Luthor (Standalone or Expansion) .... $29.99

Deck and dice building games historical have a horrible shelf life after the first month.  If the Peg-Leg Gnome has a rabid DC DBG fanbase, yes, otherwise...

Dan Verssen Games

Eagle Leader .................................... $139.00

Fulcrum Leader ................................ $139.00

I didn't expect my first example of an inventory dump coming from, of all places, Dan Verssen Games.

Eagle Leader is a solitaire air combat games using Cold War-era NATO fighters from the 70's up to the 90's.  Fulcrum Leader is the solitaire version of Soviet/Warsaw Pact aircraft. Not a usual store demographic, although solitaire play for wargames is a big draw.  I love true wargames, since I just casually listed Compass Games' Combat 3: Arnhem above at the same price tag.   I might wince and order each one, but the punch in the gut:  Eagle Leader has 8 expansion sets at $40 a pop, and Fulcrum Leader has 7 at a very non-communist $40 price tag each.  

Dolphin Hat Games

Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza - Ridiculously Large .................... $14.99

The Dungon's Key

Dirtbags! RPG ................................... $30.00

Drifting Offline (for Death in Space) ......... $15.00

Draco Ideas

Drums of War: Conquest ....................... $29.00

Exalted Funeral Press

The End of Amarna: A Printweaver Adventure ................. $28.00

Hexen Volume 1 (OSR) ......................... $20.00

Zombie Braineaters!  Suburban Decay in the USA .......... $20.00

Explore Dungeons

Explore Dungeons Zine #4 ............................ $10.00

I love zines, I would stock zines in the imaginary store.  Hell, ViscountEric might pre-order the zine from his FLGS for ten bucks, but the description makes boiler plate into flowing prose:

• Explore Dungeons Zine 4 features two new adventures, new monsters, new character archetypes, maps, single page dungeon encounters, and more!

Is it 5e?  OSR? DCC?  System agnostic fantasy?  

Fanroll 

D&D - Dragon Scale Metal Dice - Gold (7) .................. $49.99

D&D - Dragon Scale Silicone Dice Set - Red (7) .........  $29.99

After years and years, I for one am happy with the saturation of D&D products, from cookbooks, to crochet guides, and, of course, third party licensed dice.   I will never say I am close to the target demographic of anything but all the D&D dice I've seen in person are either unimpressive or overpriced.  I'm throwing these in the imaginary dice case at the store, just on principal. 

Firestarter Games

Reforest: Plants of the Pacific NW Coast .................... $22.00

Reforest: Old Growth Expansion ................................. $37.00

Floodgate Games

Squirrel Away ............................................................... $29.95

Free League Pulbishing

Alien RPG: Evolved - Core Rulebook ......................... $39.99

Alien RPG: Evolved - Starter Set ................................. $39.99

Alien RPG: Evolved - "GM" Screen ............................ $24.99

Alien RPG: Rapture Protocol Adventure Set ............... $39.99

Alien RPG: Rapture Protocol Miniatures Set ............... $59.99

Gale Force 9

Gothic Sector Eldar ............................................................ $30-70 each 

I'm going to admit, I hate the ad/solicitation style of Gale Force 9, as well as Renegade Games items.  Love the pictures, but I honestly missed many months because I assumed it was just a promotional ad, which companies do but in GTM.  The grimdark adjacent terrain in their section is priced right and should move.  The Tenfold Dungeon and Clash of Steel stuff I'm not that enthused with. 

Goodman Games

Goodman Games Yearbook #12 .................................. $29.99

Tales from the Smoking Wyrm #10 (DCC) ................. $20.00

Hrothgars' Hoard

RPG Character Journals ............................................ $40.00 each

Can mix and match between Blue/Green for colors and Arcane Symbol or Sword and Rose. 

Kobold Press

Tales of the Valiant RPG: Monster Vault 2 HC ........... $59.99

Limted Edition HC for $79.99

Tales of the Valiant RPG: Monster Vault 2 Pawns ...... $34.99

Legendary Press

Heroes of the Wild (Pathfinder) ................................. $39.99

Ancient Idols (5e) ....................................................... $11.99

The Dragon's Hoard #55 (5e) ..................................... $11.99

The Dragon's Hoard #56 (5e) ..................................... $11.99

Wardens of the West (5e) ........................................... $24.99

I will say I would pick up issue #55 of The Dragon's Hoard as an impulse buy, simply because it has the first picture of the "mutant" sunflower I've seen outside of ChatGPT, and one of the characters in my current Gamma World campaign is one (that dresses in human clothes).  

Mongoose Publishing 

Traveller RPG: Great Rift Adventures 1-5 ................... $49.99

Traveller RPG: The Riverland ...................................... $49.99

Traveller RPG: Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society Volumes 13-18 .............. $24.99 EACH

Moreblueberries

The Time We Have .............................. $39.99

I think I heard an actual play of this on the One-Shot Podcast.  Great game, although for forty bucks, I hope the production values match, so I can do a proper imaginary store promotion.   The deluxe version for $79.99 seems a bit much.

Paizo Publishing

Pathfinder Fiction: Operation Hellmouth HC .................... $29.99

Pathfinder RPG: AP - Revenge of the Runelords 2 of 3 - Crypt of Runes ......... $29.99

Pathfinder RPG: Battlecry!  Pocket Edition ...................... $29.99

Pathfinder RPG: Monster Core 2 HC ................................ $69.99

Retailer Exclusive Cover $69.99, Special Edition $89.99

Pathfinder RPG: Lost Omens - Draconic Codex HC ......... $64.99

Special Edition $84.99

Starfinder RPG:  Flip Mat - Renegade Outpost .................. $19.99

Starfinder RPG: 2nd Edition GM Screen ............................ $24.99

Starfinder RPG: 2nd Edition Alien Core HC ...................... $64.99

Retailer Exclusive Cover $64.99, Special Edition $84.99.    This has always been a thing with Paizo, but with multiple books like this in a month, I get a 90's comic book vibe that's not particularly great. 

Para Bellum Games

So Para Bellum has released/is releasing Conquest a fantasy miniatures games with separate skirmish and traditional rank and file rules .  Here's a seven minute interview with Defective Dice.   I had not heard of this until their entry in this month's GTM.   One negative:  The link to their "About Us" on their website is broken.  The positive:  There's a bunch stores within two hours of their store locater, so if I, as an imaginary store owner, didn't want to contact them directly and see the product in it's natural retail state, they could take an afternoon.... I also found a store in Sunbury that I need to add to my reviews.  Fantasy figures with a different sculptors take on coolness, the $160.  Eight different armies, each with a Supercharged ($159.99) and a First Blood ($99.99) option, plus other cool stuff to boot.   Before my imaginary store is ordering a figure, I'm researching more and reaching out for retailer support.   

Pelgrane Press

13th Age RPG 2nd Edition Boxed Set ......................... $129.95

13th Age RPG Gamemaster's Guide ............................. $ 54.95

13th Age RPG Heroe's Handbook ................................ $ 59.95

The Art of 13th Age ...................................................... $ 39.95

Pinnacle Entertainment Group

Deadlands (Savage Worlds) The Weird West, Carnage in the Cascades Boxed Set .... $39.99

Deadlands (Savage Worlds) The Weird West, The Abominable Northwest .... $39.99

Deadlands (Savage Worlds) The Weird West Map Pack 7 - Logging Camp ... $14.99

Pokemon USA

Pokemon TCG Scarlet & Violet - Mega Evolution Enhanced Boosters

Reaper Miniatures

I know I'm getting old when a five dollar Reaper figures is by far the cheapest of multiple Bones offerings.  

Renegade Studios

Vampire: The Masquerade RPG -  Tattered Facade Sourcebook ..... $50.00

G.I. Joe RPG - Hawk's Personnel Files Sourcebook ........................ $50.00

Kids in Capes RPG ......................... $39.99

A spin-off of Kids on Bikes?  Okay, I'm intrigued.

Right Wrong Games

Oh No Canada ................. $12.50

Rogue Games 

Colonial Gothic RPG 4th Edition Guidebook .......... $19.99

Sirius Dice 

D&D Adventure Dice .............................................. $17.99 to $34.99

More licensed D&D Dice. Seven polyhedral sets for $24.99, a sharp edged polyhedral set for $34.99, and just seven fireball themed d6's for $17.99

Ultra-Pro International 

Good Lord, D&D  book covers,dice scrolls, dice towers, and other acessories.  GTM doesn't list suggested MSRP (due to varying discounts versus a stores standard one), but everything is Drizzt-themed.  Hopefully your stores mailing list has "middle-aged drow fans" as a tag. 

Wizards of the Coast

Magic: The Gathering CCG - Avatar the Last Airbender

Beginner Boxex, Bundles, Collector Boosters, Gift Bundle, Jumpstart Boosters, Play Boosters, Scene Boxes. 

Wizkids

DC Heroclix: Iconix - Flash Speed Force ................... $44.99

Marvel Heroclix: 400:  X-Men '97 .............................. $34.99

Marvel Heroclix: Starter Set 2026 ............................... $39.99

Wizkids Heroclix:  The Labors of Hercules ................ $49.99

D&D Icons of the Realms - Anthradusk, Ancient Blue Dragon (Painted) .... $119.99

Unpainted Nolzur's Version: $99.99

If Thundercats (listed in my Money-No-Object list) wasn't the biggest gimmick that hits my nostalgia (and possibly wallet), WizKids is also releasing Stranger Things in the unpainted line:  Demobat Swarms, Demodogs, Demogorgons, and Vecna himself.    God bless two-packs of figures for $5.99.  There appears to also be painted versions of these and other available in 2-figure booster packs.

Christmas in July - Christmas Mockingbeast (Reaper 01591)

At last year's Fall Mepacon, I received from a buddy a pile of Christmas-themed miniatures made by Reaper. I got a few of them done in time for Christmas, I got one done after the New Year, so I figured it would make nice Christmas in July filler.

Christmas Mockingbeast 

The entity might be simply mimicking the presents, so I fear this be useful with a failed search roll on a Christmas landscape. 

(Painting) Blood Nebula Mercenary by Reaper Bones

Knocking out some more figures as the long-term projects keep progressing. Another disappointing Reaper Bones Black Figure.

Blood Nebula Mercenary was a cheap ($3.49) figure and pretty uninspiring.  I should have known better when I couldn't find any finished figures where that took advantage of the line work.  The line work was so shallow on the model that inks and washes didn't hold, or if they did, it smoothed over the figure.  

RPR 49017

To make matters worse, despite priming and sealing figures in sub-zero temps all winter long, I hit a catastrophe with the sealant, and the now the merc looks like it got hit with high-speed wet sand.  Still might find a use for him in the Fistful of Lead - Galactic Heroes game at Historicon.

(Painting) Stormwing, Corrupted

 My God, has it really been a decade since Bones 3?   I didn't start pledging to the Reaper Kickstarters until 2 and I have never done the base $100 pledge for an exponentially exploding piles of figures.  I simply used the a la carte option.  

The biggest one I invested in was Bones 3, mostly for a bunch of giants I have NEVER painted.

And one dragon.  

Stormwing came out really nice.  It had a use in a mousling/giant Ragnarök concept game that never came to fruition (only it's still hiding in my drafts here on the blog).  

Of course, with a mini that size, there was no good place to store it.  When I was still at the house, it sat on the top shelf in basement.  It suffered the slings and arrows of curious cats, although never getting knocked over, plus a few overhumid basement floods thanks to some hurricanes, and, of course, the move to the apartment.  

But even before most of that, the "dragon rampant" pose began to sag, to the point now that it looks like Stormwing is looking for a lost contact lens in a shag carpet.  

Worst yet, despite three or four heavy layers of lacquer, the paint has chipped and peeled off in numerous locations.  

For the sake of repairing it, I removed the surrounding areas, did a coat of primer and two standard coats of paint with a little detail.  Stormwing has changed a bit, corrupted by something.   

The goal was to cover up the damaged parts, throw some lining on it, and get it a spot on a shelf.

But the second I hit it with sealer, despite all the layers of paint, despite no reactivity before, the old paint on other parts of the figure began to curl.  

In hindsight, I would completely avoid the Reaper Kickstarters, and my investment in all of them were minimal.  From the stock skeletons to Stormwing, they don't handle general use, heck, the skeletons in Bones aren't handling individual spots in a Chessex case in a dry, room temperature area, where I've only needed to touch up one metal Reaper skeleton after heavy play... and I've owned them for over 25 years.  And while my "Blue Martian" goblins have mostly held up.  There's stress marks on bows and other flexible parts.  

I went to my FLGS this past week, and they have a full line of Bones dominating a wall.  I had a crazy concept of starting with #77001 and just painting stuff for fun, but the costs have now gone up enough that I can still find appropriate figures in metal through a different manufacturer at a similar, if not cheaper, price.  

I will say that off the three recent Reapers I painted, I assume the Ghost (old  white Bones) is going to degrade, and the Rand figure (black) lost considerable detail from the metal version, but I have hope to the two Androids (black) will hold up.  Compound everything else going on with my personal life and family, and most of the unopened blisters will now go on a shelf.... of items ready to go to the flea market at the next con

And if true hindsight could be acted upon?  I would have invested in the Grenadier dragons back in the day, they were affordable and I appreciated the economy of scale now more than ever. 

(Painting) Rand, Space Smuggler in Reaper Bones Black

 The lead/plastic/resin pile hasn't diminished much, but I learned a valuable lesson.  Sometimes you need to paint for the sake of painting, not just projects. 

Recently, as I cleaned/reorganized by painting bench, and search for the Sacred Zulu Left Arms, I pulled out three random blisters of Reaper Bones.  I painted up the Androids first, the ghost last week, and now I complete the trifecta with a space smuggler.

RPR 49021 - Rand 

Rand started out as Rand, Space Smuggler in metal and is now available in Reaper Bones Black.  The Bones version is simply lacking in facial detail.  The face is flat, and any attempt to create some resulted in a partial plastic surgery disaster.  This is one of the figures I'm adding to both Planet 28 and Star Wars d6 for the #CharacterCreationChallenge in January, with an intriguing backstory involving Death Planet Iota, Chaos Space Marines, and the New York Jets.

Next:   Gnomes, Cultists,  Ducks .... and Mushroom Dudes

Project 350:  Ticking downwards, 472 (295/177)  from 473 (297 /176)  

Dire Gummy Bear by Reaper

 April Fools' passed without much incident, the continuing joke that the other 364 days of the year are unbelievable enough in recent years overshadowing the usual attempts at humor.  

Then I realized Reaper ran their April Fools' post with a real product.  

The Dire Gummy Bear is real... and full of warnings not to eat the damn thing.

RPR- 30227 - Dire Gummy Bear

I do want to know how big this guy is, at $8.99, but with some Reaper tinted gloss paint, or a contrasting company's, I'm hoping the translucent bear can fill in a squad of ogres in a Christmas, Oz, or Candyland themed game.

DO NOT EAT!

(Painting) OG Mousling War Party by Reaper

 We're kickin' it old school for this week, and it only took a year and a half to finish these beloved figures. 

August 2023, I was picking up Magic commons for a Pauper League, when the daily searches scored some of the original Reapers, on what I believe are second generation cards.

Without further ado, most of the Mousling War Party.  

There's five in the eBay picture, and I'm not sure where that one disappeared to.  

My original Mouslings were from the first generation baggie/red placard line when I worked at New Frontiers in Philipsburg.  The Vermnites still show up on eBay, but are overpriced.  

My original Mousling Wizard, now long gone, has the distinction of being mounted on one of the figureless Reaper Scrye counters.  Same red robe this time, but slightly better job compared to 1995.

The original blister

Next:  Sci-Fi, Gnomes, Cultists, and Ducks

Project 350: Turning the previous trend, we're at 473 posts in the pipeline (297 drafts/176 scheduled posts) from 475 (301/174) .  I'm behind two Gamma World Actual Plays, one game AAR, and with no easy projects to lower the number for some time. If I get those caught one, there's a group of post around Easter.  

(Painting) Ghost by Reaper Bones

 Perhaps it is the newness of opening up the blisters, but while my larger projects are moving at a grind, two out of the three blisters I randomly opened up last week on a whim?  They are finished. 

Today is just a Ghost from the original Reaper Bones line.

RPR 77007 - Ghost

I know exactly why I grabbed this one: a simple and quick paintjob a la my Irish Ghost Brigade for Gnome Wars.  

Easy-peasy, even if I should have double checked the flocking material for my graveyard pieces. 

Next: Star Wars, Gnomes, and Ducks!

(Painting) Androids in Bones Black by Reaper

In a search for some missing items, I fell upon some blisters of easy-to-paint figures. Although it's been years of "You don't need primer" for any variety of Reaper Bones, the only figure that has chipped and cracked that I've primed before was a large Bones figure that warped over the years. 

I'm still slapping on a quick coat of black primer, even if the figures are Bones Black link, just to help . 

Androids (2) RPR 49011

I have a bunch of worker bots, but androids/protocol droids, will be great objective markers, or (god forbid), someone wants one in their unit.

Next:  Cultists, more quick Reaper stuff, Ducks, Mouslings, Gnome, sci-fi, and more Gnomes

Project 350: We take a bump up to 471 (299/172) from 459 (296/163).  After the #CharacterCreationChallenge and #ZineQuest, it was time to reload some holiday posts and some new game concepts.  Right now, my mission is to play more zombie games and find my missing parts for the Pulp game.

(Painting) Christmas Penguin Familiar - 01553 - by Reaper

My friend Scott gifted me a bunch of Reaper holiday minis when we met up at Mepacon, There's a host of other painting projects I'm working on, but there's not better time to paint Christmas minis, than, well...Christmastime! 

The one for today is a Christmas Penguin, part the Christmas Familiars, 01581. 

Remind me not to paint up an army tiny penguins familiars.  Outside of an objective marker or similar plot device, I see this fella getting put safely away.  

There's technically 13 holiday-related minis on the painting bench.  We'll see if anything else get finished, especially with an uptick of basketball games this week.  

(Painting) Christmas Dragon - 01581 - by Reaper

 My friend Scott gifted me a bunch of Reaper holiday minis when we met up at Mepacon, There's a host of other painting projects I'm working on, but there's not better time to paint Christmas minis, than, well...Christmastime! 

The one for today is 01581, The Christmas Dragon.  

I know we can make this like a draconic elf almost, but fiddling around with an ice theme makes me ponder whether or not to dig out my Reaper Frost Giants.  

No Queue Update or Project 350 unless I'm posting on a Friday.

Reapers 12 Days of Christmas

 For the first half of December 2023, Reaper Miniatures is offering their 12 Days of Christmas promotion.  

For each $40 you spend on one order, you can select one of the 12 Days of Christmas minis offered.  With a mousling caroler, I feel obligated to mention this.  

(Kickstarter) Dungeon Dwellers RPG by Reaper Miniatures

Reaper Miniatures is taking a head-first dive into the world of role-playing games with their Kickstarter for the Dungeon Dwellers RPG.

Named after one of their early fantasy lead miniature lines, and a newer line made our of Bones, their vision of a FRPG seems to be slimmed down rules with an OSR tilt, but still residing in three hardcover books. 

But fear not, true believers, for Reaper isn't focusing on games entirely with this campaign.  Not only will their be new minis for the Dungeon Dwellers Collectors Box, but the there is a completely separate miniature-only pledge which appears to have it's own "miniature" stretch goals.  It should be noted, however, that the same growing stretch goals for the $50 minis-only pledge is also included in the $99 Collectors Box with three rulebooks.