(KICKSTARTER) Raging Heroes KS is already on fire, I see

[Bergil]

If you've read my previous comments you can see that I'm awake.

Yeah sure. Just stating the obvious really. Wasn't critiqueing one of my favourite supplier of minis.

You yourself (Khurasan) must have about 20-30 individual vehicles and figures I actually want to buy, but the money just isn't there for me to spend at the moment.

[styx]

cool looking models, but I am going to pass...already locked up in a few other Kickstarters and my wife will divorce me if I pledge any more this month! If it looks like it will pick up and be popular, I may get in on it later...at this point I fear it is a fad.

[Jonas]

True, everyone has to make money.

But I think many people, like me, buy lot of different models from a longe range of small companies. So even though I personally won't make every small company out there rich, I hope there is people enough, like me, interested in all sorts of different niche ranges to make it worth it making these ranges.

I didn't mean that I just like miniatures to be available and then never buy them anyway.

I generally buy my miniatures at smaller companies and second hand. At the moment stuff like this Kickstarter doesn't attract me enough to buy into it in big scale.

So far I have supported Kickstarter campaigns from Ramshackle Games and Comfy Chair Games. That is the like of stuff I want to support.

Also I just recently bought my first 15mm miniatures and might very well buy some more at Khurasan at some point and already have the page bookmarked for a long time. But then again it all is a matter of money, I can't buy everything I want all the time, unfortunately.

[von der Tann]

I popped over to have a look at the concept sketches; aside from a tank top or two, most of the girls, especially the militaristic ones (kurganovas?) seem to be covered nearly neck to foot in some sort of uniform/combat gear.

I second that!

There I was in one of my more immature moments, clicking on the link to see drawn/sculpted/whatever boobies ... and?!?!?! ... They are all covered!!!!
As far as the scuplting by RagingHeroes goes ... I have seen far worse ... and personally I like the sculpts. Some are a bit on the "overloaded" side of sculpting but still.
Speaking of proportions I think they do far better than GW. Hell, take a look at Catachans ... need I say more?

[mcfonz]

These Raging Heroes models attact a lot of scorn from the internet peanut gallery, but as has just been proven, they sell like mad.  There are the things people say, and the things people like knowing exist, and then there are the things they actually collect.

I kind of resent that. I scorned them slightly. But then in the same way that I scorn some of the CMON ranges.

First off I am a wargamer, or at least like to think I am, I build forces of my own devising (currently a force of resistance fighters and a force of Neo Sovs) using miniatures from different sources, sometimes kitbashing them to make them a little more unique and a little more personal.

I like relatively realistic proportions anatomy wise. I prefer gritty-realism to the likes of soda pop. Infinity rips me down the middle, some really nice miniatures and some that lean a lot more down the 'graphic novel' style that just don't do it for me.

Miniatures of this style, coupled with their pricing appear to appealing to two sets of people. As you have said, GW fans and CMON fans. I say fans because the reality is that if you are a hardened GW gamer who plays in stores and official tournaments these miniatures are useless to you.

So in my mind the primary appeal of these miniatures is display cases and painting competition/sites. To me the style, level of detail and warping of the anatomy support of this. And it leads me to be unsurprised that on a forum with a heavier focus on wargaming, these are not getting the most positive response.

Another thing I wouldn't mind seeing is what the sales of some of the kickstarter miniatures have been like after the completion of the kickstarter. I get the impression that some of them are going to be a bit like the toy crazes and a year down the line be pretty low on sales, where as the likes of the TAG miniatures will be a longer term investment that will probably provided steady sales over a longer period.

To me, the popularity of a kickstarter has nothing to do with the actual quality and popularity of the miniatures at the end of it.

[Elbows]

I love ladies as much as the next guy, but in my fantasy/sci-fi experiences I still want a small hint of reality.  I don't see that in full armies of (a bit too slender) females.  Perhaps, as someone mentioned, they'd work for an Escher gang in Necromunda, but the idea of a solely female army is just silly to me.

This is a shame as it would be fine with me to see a couple of female models in many ranges...but normal looking females would be far more appealing.  Judging by how popular Japanese anime super heroines are, I'm not surprised at the success of this kickstarter already.

[Cypher226]

Not read through all of this but I'll weigh in with this; If they can give me Iron Empire weapons crews with heavy weapons my Steel Legion need, I'll be happy. I'm a little uncomfortable with the 'all female' schtick, it's kind of the antithesis of GeeDub, and just as bad as the 'all male space marines' tripe.   

More importantly, the instant overwhelming success makes Rick Priestly's comments about 'not enough demand for female miniatures' during the aborted Gates of Antares kickstarter look completely stupid and makes him look like he has no idea of the wider industry beyond the GW/Historical 'all male armies (except one)' mould.
Much as I respect the man for his contributions to gaming, I think he's clearly very out of touch.

[mcfonz]

Not read through all of this but I'll weigh in with this; If they can give me Iron Empire weapons crews with heavy weapons my Steel Legion need, I'll be happy. I'm a little uncomfortable with the 'all female' schtick, it's kind of the antithesis of GeeDub, and just as bad as the 'all male space marines' tripe.   

More importantly, the instant overwhelming success makes Rick Priestly's comments about 'not enough demand for female miniatures' during the aborted Gates of Antares kickstarter look completely stupid and makes him look like he has no idea of the wider industry beyond the GW/Historical 'all male armies (except one)' mould.
Much as I respect the man for his contributions to gaming, I think he's clearly very out of touch.

I think you just contradicted yourself.

I don't think many people will be buying these to make entire armies of lady soldiers. As I have said before, I don't think they have even designed them for such use. But they have aimed them at people like you who may want to fill out parts of their armies with some female versions. That way they can at least rely on a couple of hundred people pledging a half decent amount.

Priestly is probably right, and has the facts in the form of the Sisters of Battle, to back it up.

If you are a wargames designer, looking to design armies and concepts for a wargame based in a fictional universe, I would be inclined to agree with what he has said. Selling entire armies of 40-60 models of that type would probably be a lot tougher than more typical army types.

These will sell - but because they are not consigned to an army book and have multiple applications and appeal.

[palaeomerus]

Big guns can be fun, but if a gun gets too big you really out to put some wheels or treads on it and put a little chair on it and ride it around or have it towed or something. Some of those ladies are hip-firing guns the size of an old Xerox copier. Also a couple of them appear to be possibly twerking on the battlefield.

[workerBee]

Well, that wasn't really my point -- my point was that these types of models in this scale are fetching that price.  People do not get into 15mm with those same expectations.

Fair enough, apologies if I came off badly.   

Now you have me wondering if there are "expectation differences" between 3/6/15/25/+ war gamers but tha needs to be another thread.   

I started [military miniatures/not plastic Toy Soldiers in a bag] back in the later 1960's when there were only two scales (well, perceived to be only two) - 1/72nd Plastic and 25 mm Metal.  And, no, it really wasn't that restricted but when I asked my rather large and diverse war gaming circle about "other sizes" I got the blankest stares...       

Gracias,

Glenn

[Centaur_Seducer]

Bloody boring miniatures, aren't they?

[Sangennaru]

Fair enough, apologies if I came off badly.   

Now you have me wondering if there are "expectation differences" between 3/6/15/25/+ war gamers but tha needs to be another thread.   

Just before ending my OT: i think that this kind of "high level 28mm miniatures" deserve that price for the use they have: the price is not strictly related to the cost of producion, but also to the market: this kind of pieces are single pieces meant to be sold to a limited number of people, and are used as single character. When you sell one, you also fill a "market hole" (dunno how to say), which will not allow another purchase.

if you are looking for mass miniatures for big games (so: miniatures with more similar looks, meant for bigger forces) they will have cheaper prices for the same quality. But they are actually another kind of product.

To simplify: The cost of production of a 50$ bottle of wine is not 50 times more than the cost of a 1$ bottle of wine (yes, in italy we have this kind of wine... and that's not that bad as you can imagine--- still bad, though).

[mcfonz]

I wouldn't call these high level.

They are nice, not horrible miniatures. But I find it hard to see how these are better than Hasslefree and Statuesque which are both more anatomically accurate and more accomplished sculpts for less money.

I did do a comparison between this kickstarter and the Statuesque range.

4 miniatures on this kickstarter are $40 plus shipping, which to the UK is $20 (which seems a lot when it's from France). So $60. That is around £39.

Go shop around and see what you can get for that kind of money, including postage of course, and I'd argue that you will get more miniatures and in many cases better miniatures for your money.

For starters whilst you can still get them, the GW Escher gangs are available for £20.50 +p&p which is 8 models. You can throw in the booster set of five more models for £8.70 and still have more than £10 left to cover postage.

[Sangennaru]

Hum, even though i really LOVE the style of Kev White, i think that this level of sculpture is quite much superior.
another consideration: 39£ for four "heroes" is not that crazy, it is the same than the price of four characters from Avatars of War or from Tales of War. If you are looking for troops, of course, you should look at the various addons, 15$ for three troops is quite reasonable.

And apparently the customers response to that kickstarter agrees with me. Again, i wouldn't buy them because i love more cartoonish  and cheaper styles, like Hasslefree (which i LOVE), but they have a reason to be there, IMHO.

[Vermis]

Hum, even though i really LOVE the style of Kev White, i think that this level of sculpture is quite much superior.
i love more cartoonish  and cheaper styles, like Hasslefree

I honestly don't know how to respond to this! Eyebrows, through the roof.