The Brave
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Posts: 50
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Post by The Brave on Sept 7, 2013 15:30:28 GMT -5
I totally stole this idea from the Cheap fantasy minis blog, but with a twist. I have a lot of miniatures, and if I miss something I build it. Still, if I found something interesting I take a look at it. And because I'm a stingy old Genoese I buy it only if it's cheap. Here are some toys I found that maybe can be used as miniatures. Take note that I'm italian, so maybe you cannot found these toys or maybe you already know them. First of all check out this site minifigures.blogspot.it/And now a couple of toys I actually saw so I can tell you that the scale is compatible with d&d minis. GormitiOk, they are pretty old, but they are an Italian product, so let's start at home (for me ) They are the Monsters in my pocket of this generation, they are already painted, they cost about 2€ each and they have pretty static poses. The main theme of the franchise is element vs element, so basically they are all elementals and monsters, they are pretty bulky so they are good as large creatures. My favorites are the rock and the forest ones . Here a good review GormitiAnd some random images. Virus attackCheaper franchise, cheaper cartoon and cheaper sculpt quality. But they cost about the same of the Gormiti. Some monsters are lame but some other are really creative. The smallest toys can be used as small creatures, the biggest ones as large. If you found some more toys please add at the list
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The Brave
Tool Gatherer
Casual crafter
Posts: 50
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Post by The Brave on Sept 8, 2013 15:05:09 GMT -5
Keep going. DinofrozBasically they are cute little dire prehistoric animals. The insects are pretty good, the others a little too cute. The cartoon inspired line has some good dragons. They are about 5-7 cm high. Egyxos
The name says all. Article minifigures.blogspot.it/2012/03/egyxos.html
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arrakis
Cardboard Collector
Posts: 32
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Post by arrakis on Sept 8, 2013 21:23:58 GMT -5
Here's my two cents. I use these animal 'toobs' The animals are useful for normal creatures (horses, bears, crocodiles, sharks, etc.) and are scaled pretty good but they usually don't have the best paint jobs. I place the horses offset on a 2-inch base so that my PCs can place their minis on the same base when they are mounted. This particular horse set has 9 full size horses and 3 ponies which are perfect for dwarves/halflings. I also have a few specialty mounts because we all have those PCs that want an exotic mount. Safari Ltd ToobsI found these cobra beauties at a place called Party City. They are perfectly scaled and cost me like 15 cents each! Hope this helps! Cheers!
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Post by danielc on Sept 9, 2013 0:30:30 GMT -5
I would like to point out that toys also make great terrain features. I have an old McDonalds toy that made a great 6mm factory. I ended up doing like 10 of them and giving them to friends etc. I have also used toys to make large spce ships for terrain in 15mm SciFi games. Lastly, I have used some toys to make off features for a dungeon. For example, some cheap give away rings became wonderful power gems.
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Post by monkeywithtacos on Sept 9, 2013 0:40:14 GMT -5
Looks like I'll be hunting down a Party City on my next Cali trip....wonder if there are any in Vegas??
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The Brave
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Post by The Brave on Sept 9, 2013 3:04:00 GMT -5
The Safari Ltd toobs are a great resource. Some sculpts are really good. Unfortunately the bigger ones aren't so cheap. safariltd.com/group
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Post by skunkape on Sept 9, 2013 10:38:35 GMT -5
Yeah, I was in JoAnn's yesterday and was looking through the Safari Ltd products. There are some really nice looking figs, but can be fairly expensive. Got my eye on a griffin and a chimera figure at JoAnn's!
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Post by danielc on Sept 9, 2013 10:53:50 GMT -5
The Safari Ltd toobs are a great resource. Some sculpts are really good. Unfortunately the bigger ones aren't so cheap. safariltd.com/groupAren't cheap compaired to what? I paid $10 for a Dragon the size of a DDM Huge. That just does nto seem that high. Add in the fact you can pick them up at Micheals and they have a 40% off one item coupon about every other month and that Dragon cost way less than most DDMs do today.
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The Brave
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Post by The Brave on Sept 9, 2013 12:55:28 GMT -5
The Safari Ltd toobs are a great resource. Some sculpts are really good. Unfortunately the bigger ones aren't so cheap. safariltd.com/groupAren't cheap compaired to what? I'm still a stingy old Genoese, so everything over 2$ is expensive for me For who don't know very well Italy, genoa is a city in the north which habitants are known for their stinginess.
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Post by indigo777 on Sept 9, 2013 16:25:04 GMT -5
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Post by danielc on Sept 11, 2013 23:24:41 GMT -5
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Post by indigo777 on Sept 12, 2013 3:04:38 GMT -5
Speaking of cheap; Found this in the local hardware store halloween stuff. $295 for the card. $1.50 per spider. Are they rubbery or hard plastic? A lot of the halloween spiders this size I've found have been made of extremely floppy rubber. I've been looking for some cheap ones this size that were similar quality plastic to the DnD minis and could hold paint.
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The Brave
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Post by The Brave on Sept 12, 2013 12:30:46 GMT -5
I have the same problem, I cannot found some critters made of plastic, only rubber. Today I raided the local toy shop and I found some nice, and cheap, stuff. In the next days I'll post some images. I found one of these Gormiti, 2 Dinofroz, 2 bags of little animals and a thing called Kronox (this one, big enough to be a giant wereboar, boar). Let's see how they stand the paint.
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The Brave
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Post by The Brave on Sept 15, 2013 8:12:05 GMT -5
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Post by danielc on Sept 18, 2013 21:56:59 GMT -5
Are they rubbery or hard plastic? They are a harder plastic. Not the floppy rubber most Halloween Spiders come in. But as to holding paint, I don't plan to repaint these. They are good enough as is for the table.
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Post by bloodchoke on Sept 19, 2013 23:13:13 GMT -5
I picked up two of these guys today to use as dire wolves. They're not very ferocious,but I couldn't find any others. And the paint job is quite good. Actually learned to use gloss paint for pupils from them.
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The Brave
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Post by The Brave on Oct 8, 2013 6:36:27 GMT -5
I found some nice glow in the dark spiders, now I'm working on it. By the way those bags of animals are excellent as fodder bin parts, with some green stuff I made this rust monster.
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sgtslag
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 102
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Post by sgtslag on Oct 9, 2013 10:12:19 GMT -5
Thought I would share my blog page comparing toy Dragons with proper gaming miniatures Dragons. Here is the link, with plenty of photo's, and a scale graduated in 5mm increments. Cheers!
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Post by BlueWizrobe on Oct 10, 2013 12:05:50 GMT -5
Has anyone found a Fire Beetle anywhere that they're particularly pleased with? I've browsed a few of the dollar store bags-o-bugs but didn't really like the sculpts on anything I've seen so far, and the ones from Paizo are laughably overpriced (though fine quality, to be sure.)
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Post by agsupernaturalfe on Oct 12, 2013 17:39:17 GMT -5
I've noticed almost everyone has discovered the dollar store Hulk & Thor. So I just have a quick kit-bashing tip for a weapon for those who haven't thought of it already. They're about giant sized and work well as various well .... Giants and I've found with a little finagling plastic Hors d'oeuvre sword toothpicks are size appropriate for the job. ;p
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Post by agsupernaturalfe on Oct 12, 2013 17:53:27 GMT -5
Has anyone found a Fire Beetle anywhere that they're particularly pleased with? I've browsed a few of the dollar store bags-o-bugs but didn't really like the sculpts on anything I've seen so far, and the ones from Paizo are laughably overpriced (though fine quality, to be sure.) I don't know for certain, but a lot of party stores have small insect, & animal single party favors try out a party store you may get lucky. Also try www.trollandtoad.com they have a bunch of decently priced D&D & other minis like Monsterpocalypse which has has a cool razor beetle, dream blade mini's foul beetle, & D&D's own celestial giant stag beetle & blood scarab. Good luck ;p
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Post by thefiend on Oct 12, 2013 21:36:40 GMT -5
Has anyone found a Fire Beetle anywhere that they're particularly pleased with? I've browsed a few of the dollar store bags-o-bugs but didn't really like the sculpts on anything I've seen so far, and the ones from Paizo are laughably overpriced (though fine quality, to be sure.) I actually thought about trying to find some too when I realized it would be much cheaper to actually make them out of those dollar store rings. alchemy beetles, including fire beetles
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Post by BlueWizrobe on Oct 13, 2013 11:54:45 GMT -5
I love it! Those look great, thanks!
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The Brave
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Post by The Brave on Oct 21, 2013 12:41:13 GMT -5
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Post by skunkape on Oct 21, 2013 13:32:31 GMT -5
I'd make them large spiders and not worry about the fact that they are a little small on the base! You did do a really good job painting them!
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tauster
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Post by tauster on Oct 21, 2013 14:33:15 GMT -5
..what skunkape said: Great paint job!
I love the 'just before jumbing' posture of the blue one - I wouldn't dream of placing my miniature right in front of it!
My opinion: They work both as medium and large creatures. After all, this is a game of imagination - I don't think being a teensy weensy bit too small or too large will matter. Posture and base decoration are more important than size anyways.
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farfade
Cardboard Collector
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Post by farfade on Oct 29, 2013 16:17:09 GMT -5
Plastic dragons. (I play in 1/72 scale) only 7€ for 3 dragons
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tauster
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Post by tauster on Oct 29, 2013 17:28:40 GMT -5
Great find - you can hardly beat 7$ for three dragons!
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farfade
Cardboard Collector
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Post by farfade on Oct 30, 2013 4:09:27 GMT -5
Indeed ! I haven't painted them. Colors you ca see on the photos are colors out of the box... And look at this : It look like they use the DnD monster manual as a model. Raph - happy dragons owner
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sgtslag
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 102
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Post by sgtslag on Oct 30, 2013 7:26:52 GMT -5
Nice find! They would go well, size-wise, with the 1/72 plastic fantasy figures from Dark Alliance, Caesar, and others. If you want to build your figure inventory on the cheap, without sacrificing quality, the 1/72 fantasy figures are the way to go. Cheers!
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