Superhero minis, where to find them Part TWO:

A couple of posts back, I was pointing toward some of the sources for comic book miniatures.  I have a few more I'd like to talk about, and will probably continue this series in future posts. 

Pulp City
I believe the company is based out of Poland and has quite a large selections of both Villains and Heros.  From what I have read about it, the game system that these miniatures were designed for is well balanced, and quite fun.  However, I'm primarily a painter and modeller, so I'll leave the assessment of the game to others.

The miniatures are very well designed, and look fantastic.  At first, it seemed to me that they focused far too heavily on more of a Sci-fi feel, and less a comic book one, but in the last couple of years they have gotten more into that look, and all the better.

I've yet to get my hands on any of the miniatures, so I don't know how they are in the flesh.   And that seems to be the biggest con for them.  At least here in the states, it's hard to find these.

 Ordering directly from the Pulp City site is an option, and I'll have to take advantage of that soon, but the minis are a bit on the expensive side, and shipping from overseas adds even more.

The other point I'd like to make is that these minis are specifically designed to fit into the story line of Pulp City.  So, it makes converting them into more of my favorite heros/villians more challenging.  That's not necessarily a con for everyone, but it is for me.

Pros:  Well designed, look great
Cons:  Hard to find from US distributors, too specific to be anything other than Pulp City characters.


Superfigs

Superfigs have been around for a while.   While they were designed to work with the Supersystem set of gaming rules.  The sculpts are rather generic, and what you would expect for comic book fare.  I find this to be a big positive, as I've used several of them for conversions (like my Wolverine from last post).

They do have all the charm that many old school minis have, but that also means there are some seriously dodgy sculpts in the line.

However, there are also some real gems in the line too, so it's worth it to check them out.  There are a few painters around the web that have done some awesome things with the minis, and have probably done more to sell these than most of the website's versions.



 
PROS:  Cheap, generic. A few gems.
CONS: Not great sculpts.

Crossover Miniatures

The last company I'll mention for now is Crossover Miniatures.

They have a small but growing line of generic super heros and villians.  

I've yet to actually get any of these minis, and need to rectify that soon.  To be honest, most of them do nothing for me, the sculpt quality just isn't great, and I find some of them just too 'squat' to look right.

But, like the Superfigs line, there are a few gems hidden in there, and look worthy of at least a try.

I'll keep an eye on this line as well, as it continues to grow, and hopefully the quality will improve.

Pros:  Old school, look fun to paint, Inexpensive.
Cons;  Not my favorite designs.


Anyhow, that'll do for now!  Please feel free to add comments about any miniature line you enjoy and point me to some I may miss.

I'll continue this theme in future posts!  Until next time!

Showing off stuff I done did.

Thought I'd take a chance to repost some of my older Comic Book minis.  I've posted some before, on various places, but I thought it'd be nice to get them all in one place.  Plus, I now own a camera that is capable of taking much better pictures.    These minis were all painted several years ago.  Some of them even a decade or more!

 First up is a Reaper Mini I converted years ago.  I added some hair, a tattered shirt and lengthened his pants.  Dab of green paint, and he's a pretty good Hulk!

Hulk still smash!

I've painted minis for a long time now, and it used to be, outside of Heroclix, there were really not too many miniatures directly based on my favorite Super Heros and Villians.  So, if I wanted to represent a character, converting was about the only way to get there.

Four Color Figs makes a ton of generic miniatures, and I decided to convert their 'Feral Warrior' into a Wolverine-proxy.  I actually made the claws from bobby pins, filed groves into the fists, and glued them down.  The paint isn't great, but it sure was fun to convert.

Need a bobby pin, bub?

Wolverine needs an enemy, otherwise he gets even more cranky.  This Reaper mini is called Sasquatch, but I thought he'd look better as Sabertooth, Wolvies long time rival.

And, while we're still on the topic of the short angry one, this was fun to paint.  It actually is just a cheap flat metal keychain.  I chopped off the ring, and put him to the brush.

Where's your keys, bub?

I found this little plastic gem in a toy store.  He's from a set called Handful of Heroes, made by Hasbro.  The other 'handful' I got were not very well sculpted, plus the scale was wacky, so I only painted the Thing.  I think you can find these figs easily enough on Ebay, and a few of them (especially the Hulks) look like they'd be great fun.

It's half-past clobberin' time

Captain America is probably my favorite of all heros (maybe tied with Batman), and I certainly wanted to add him to my collection.  I wanted a WW 2 inspired Cap, and found a perfect start, again from Reaper Miniatures, from their Chronoscope line.  I think they call this one Mack Torry, but I thought he'd be better as Steve Rodgers.  The veteran solider look just works so well for Cap.  I had an extra shield from another Cap mini, and it made the perfect addition.

GI Cap

That extra shield came from this mini.  This awesome WW2 cap came from a company called 'What The' Miniatures.

These are my work clothes

Eventually, I'll start on my Captain America and the Invaders project I've had tabled for quite some time.

Lastly, just another update on my most current miniatures, Batman, still a serious work in progress.  I just paint a little on him, between my Monster Hunter stuff.

Finally, DC represents.

Until next time!

Where to find them? Super minis on the web.

Superhero's have been in miniature form for as long as I've been into miniatures (that's quite a while).  It seems however, that only in recent years has there been plenty available of high quality.

In this post, I think I'll highlight some of the manufacturers of superhero minis.

In no real particular order...


Knight Models  Unbelievably well done miniatures.  They first started their comic book minis in the 70mm scale.  Not really ideal for gamers, but great for painters.  I have a few of these, and the quality is incredible.

However, the price of these isn't for the feint of heart.  They are certainly collectors items.

A few years ago, Knight Models was able to secure the license for a line of Batman miniatures.

Mostly based on the very popular Batman Arkham video game series, these 35mm miniatures have become increasingly well like by tabletop gamers and painters alike.  The line has expanded into more DC characters, A Batman Miniatures game,  scenery, and the newly announce Legends Line.

Somewhere along the lines, they've added a Marvel 35mm series to the mix, and now there is rumor of a Marvel game as well.  Both the DC and Marvel lines have a very good selection, especially of all the main characters I grew up with.



Pros:  High Quality, growing and supported line.  All your favorite comic hereos and villians

Cons:  Pricey.  Some models are fiddly to assemble. 35mm makes them tower over most other lines.


Reaper Miniatures

Reaper miniatures produce an insane amount of figures for mostly fantasy based miniatures, however, tucked away in their Chronoscope line, they have quite a few generic superheros and villians.



A speedster, a superdude, cyborg ape, and the list grows.  They make a great basis for either converting or creating your own comic book characters.

If cost is a concern, many of these miniatures also show up as Bones miniatures.  Bones are inexpensive plastic minis that Reaper is now producing. They work best for solid chunks figures, but if there are guns or small parts, they tend to bend and get out of shape.

Pros:  Inexpensive, fun to paint
Cons:  Inconsistant in both scale and sculpt quality


I'll continue this list in future blog posts!

In the meantime, thanks for reading, see you next time.

Welcome!

My other blog  is now more or less dedicated to my current mini project of Monster Hunter International, so I wanted to also have a blog where I can share my comic book inspired miniatures and ideas.

Since I was just a little kid, I've had an affinity for monsters, superheroes, and scale models.   It seems some things just stay with you, as I've never really lost interest in any of those things. 

So, to keep track of it, I bring you supervike's super stuff!  I plan to share my painting, works in progress and other things, mostly gaming miniature related, but all Comic related.

To kick things off, here's a couple of superhero minis I've recently worked on.  First is a Hasslefree miniature, called Harby, simply painted to be the Punisher.  Just a simple skull and black paint, and he really works as Frank Castle.

Man on a Mission

And a WiP of one of Knight Models amazing Batman miniatures:  Still pretty rough!

Nana nana nana nana Batman!

Knight Models are head and shoulders the best looking comic books minis, both DC and Marvel are well represented, and I hope to see many of them grace my painting table in the coming months.

I really hope you follow along.

Thanks for reading!