Supporting My FLGS

Saturday was my oldest son's 8th birthday, so he and I paid a visit to our FLGS, otherwise known as Ernie's Games. My boy was flush with some gift certificates and cash, and it was more or less burning a hole in his pocket.

Mr. Frodo (his nickname, natch) decided he was lacking undead, so in the spirit of the season, he picked up some skeletons AND some zombies, as well as the Angel of Death. He was also looking for a dragon, but Reaper's Lavarath was $50, so he's holding out for something a bit less pricey.

I can only imagine what it's like to be 8 and making a trip a shrine like Ernie's. Walls of miniatures, display cases with painted armies, tables with terrain, minis being painted, and of course all the books and games, too. I should mention at this point that Mr. Frodo also picked up a can of Silly String, and ran around with his older sister decorating our backyard.

It took me back to when I was a lad of 12 or so, and a magical place called USS Enterprise, my first FLGS that used to inhabit the upper mall of Totem Lake Mall. The monochrome modules, AD&D hardbacks, and good old-fashioned LEAD miniatures. There was even a room in back where diehard gamers could huddle around a table and play! Turns out some of my future friends gamed in the back of Enterprise. Now they just keep me around because I'm the only sucker who paints minis for the group ;) Later, I would discover other haunts such as American Eagles (back when they were on Greenwood) and Triple Alliance in downtown Bellevue.

But back to Ernie's and the present. It's gotta be hard to own a brick-and-mortar store these days. Case in point: the Reaper Lavarath dragon miniature. Ernie's price is $50 + tax. Direct from Reaper, the price is $44.49 and you get free shipping. And over on eBay, the lowest price today was $28.92 + 3.49 for shipping. Since I am a frugal bastard by nature, I would opt for the $33 mini off of eBay. So on big-ticket items, it's hard to compete. Now when I need a mini or a couple of paints in a hurry, it's huge to be able to drive a couple of minutes into town, grab what I need, and head back to the workbench. Same goes for my kids, when they want to spend birthday money - it's more fun to go somewhere and browse the shelves and walk away with a purchase in your bag than point and click and wait for the postal carrier to show up next week.

I hope that my little bit of business helps keep Ernie's around, you know? Because I want my kids to have fond memories of toy & game nirvana, just like their old man.

The Tragedy of McDeath

"Something wicked this way comes."

Something wicked like a pair of minis that would set you back for over $300 USD if you happen to collect rare Citadel minis!

Check out this auction for King McDeath and this one too for Lady McDeath from the Citadel set The Tragedy of McDeath.

I track a lot of auctions just out of curiosity, usually to see where they end at. When I saw this pair approaching $100 each, I had to start poking around the various lead sites and wikis to find out more about them. The end result is that each time I learn a little bit more about various minis and manufacturers, I feel a little less like I'm just stumbling around in this hobby.

Back to painting. There's a drow warband that MUST be finished by Friday!

Pro Painted, The Sequel

A couple of months ago, I ranted about painters who describe their work as "Pro Painted" or "Master Painted" when in fact (in my opinion) they are not.

Since then, I have been paying more attention to the various individuals and organizations who sell their painted product, mostly on eBay. For the most part, there are quite a few sellers who produce some really nice minis, and most of those are accurately labeled (tabletop/pro painted/display quality, etc). And then there are a small number of artists who truly can describe their work as professional or master quality. More about that in a minute.

Finally, there are a fair number of sellers who don't live up to their own self-described hype. I see a LOT of paint jobs in and around the solid tabletop level that are touted as pro or master works. Come on, really? One prolific South American outfit has a large selection of minis for sale on a regular basis, but when I see mistakes like clearly visible brush marks, it makes me cringe. And don't get me started on weapons that don't have the ends of the barrels drilled out so they actually look like a lethal projectile weapon, and not a storm bolter that does not appear to have a functioning method for spitting out lead death upon their foes.

I mean, come on, you can't take a minute or two to carefully drill out the end of a firearm? Or file off the rather obvious mold lines? Tell me again why I should pay a premium for your models?

Having said that, I can't blame these guys for doing what they do. They churn out a LOT of painted models and plenty of people pay good money for them. The one seller I single out above has almost 9,000 transactions and a rating of over 99%, so they must be doing something right!

And then there are auctions like this one. Here is a painter who can truly and honestly claim to be a Pro Painter. If my work can keep improving and one day even be a fraction as good as Alexi-Z, I would be thrilled. Take a look at her CMON gallery because there are some totally sick pieces to look at.

Oh, and the icing on the cake? The proceeds are earmarked for charity, so it's not always about just gettin' paid. Another example of a member of the minis/painting community stepping up and being a good egg.

Well, enough of that. I need to take some pics so I can complete my upcoming post where I discuss the great 25mm vs 28mm debate.

I'm a pinball wizard...

Well OK, not really. But I still think pinball games are a good way to kill some time and quarters. We were vacationing in Seaside, OR last month and my boys wanted to play some games in the Funland Arcade so of course I said yes.

They played a racing game, a motorcycle sim (the tilting bike was a bit too much for them I think), and a couple others. And then they saw the row of shiny, happy pinball machines! My eldest son (8) glued himself to The Lord of the Rings, and my younger son (6) took a liking to Pirates of the Caribbean. I was pleased that they thought it was fun - you know, a game with a moving ball, buttons that you must press at just the right time to hit the aforementioned ball - because it is such a departure from Nintendo DS, console games, and computer games.

Seeing their faces conjured up memories of my own time spent playing various pinball and arcade games as a kid. Granted, I was never a pinball expert, but when the mood struck me, I was always up for a game.

I'm pretty sure I would have earned better grades in college (UW - go Huskies!) had I spent less time gaming in the Space Port arcade on The Ave. But that would have meant less time spent playing Donkey King, Afterburner, Star Wars, Zaxxon, and Crossbow. But come on, did anyone really expect me to actually study when I had an hour or so to kill during the day? Good times, indeed.

So I hope my kids continue the family tradition of playing games, if only to keep them young at heart.

WIP

Last post I mentioned I would try to add some WIP shots. I think I need to snap some pics this week of my various unfinished projects, if only to serve as reminders of stuff that needs to be finished! Here's a pic of my drow warband I'm working on:



Since this shot, they have been primed and I am working on their skin. I'm going for a more traditional black skin tone, as opposed to some of the really nice dark brown schemes some painters use.

And it looks like the end is near for at least one of my Giant of the Month Club giants! It's a miracle...

My DA scout squad has grown from seven to ten members with the recent additions of two scouts with bolt guns and Sgt. Namaan. If I can keep hammering away here and there, I might actually get a bunch of minis completed in September.

Back In The Saddle Again

Right after my last post, I picked up my Dark Angels scouts (5 scouts + 2 snipers) and started painting. Huzzah! It feels good to be painting again.

In addition to working on various units of my DA army, I'm still working on assembling the 20 Dark Eldar warriors so my son and I can play some 40K.

For D&D, I'm trying to hammer out my Giant of The Month Club backlog. That would be one each of fire, frost, stone, and undead/skeletal.

I'll attempt to snap some WIP shots as time permits. We have an abbreviated session coming up next week, so I need to get cracking if I want to bring something new to the table.

Mental Roadblock

Sugar honey ice tea! It's been over a month since my last post, so thanks to some gentle prodding from my DM, I'm attempting to re-engage the creative side of my brain. And that would be a good thing, because it's really the only part of my brain that works.

I pretty much went off the painting grid before we took off for our annual family trip to Lake Chelan. And once we got back, I have continued to ignore the many projects sitting on my desk. Having said that, I will note that I helped my apprentice (aka my almost 8-year-old son) assemble the first unit in his 40K Space Marine army: a 10-man Tactical squad of Ultramarines and a Land Speeder. I also put together a couple of ruins, and started building some Dark Eldar warriors so we can play an intro scenario.

Taking a backseat to 40K are a trio of Reaper skeletal warriors (Barrow Wardens), seven Drow raiders (also by Reaper), and my Giant of the Month Club, which is soon to be four unfinished members strong. That, unfortunately, is just the tip of my unfinished projects iceberg.

I've also been totally idle on peddling my extra minis via eBay, to add a little salt to my other wounds.

To help inspire me, I've been cruising the Reaper forums and CMON. What I really need to do is just sit down and paint. Inspiration helps, but it doesn't get any paint on the lead. Must...focus! Wish me luck.