Reaper Miniatures
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reaper Miniatures is an American manufacturer of pewter figurines in the 25-35 mm scale, which include fantasy and science fiction figures. Reaper, based in Denton, Texas, has developed tabletop miniature game systems that may be played with their figures. The Reaper Miniatures mascot is a succubus named Sophie.
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[edit] History
Reaper Miniatures started in Fort Worth, Texas on 4 July 1992. Initially two lines of miniatures were produced: Distinguished Flying Collectibles (a line of WWII aircraft) and Renaissance Dreams (a line of fantasy jewelry).
Reaper moved to Lewisville, Texas in April 1993, and at this location several old miniature lines that the company owned were reactivated, and were combined into the Dungeon Dweller 25 mm fantasy line.
Reaper saw further growth and need for expansion in August 1994, and moved into a 2500-square-foot warehouse at 320 Smith Street in Lewisville. Late in 1995, they launched the Scrye Counter series of collectible card game accessories and to date over 500,000 have been sold worldwide. The Dark Heaven 25 mm fantasy line was launched in 1996, today the top-selling fantasy role-playing game (RPG) miniature line in the world. Reaper has also expanded into the European market through a partnership with a miniatures company in England.
In July 1998 Reaper moved to 817 S. Mill Street in Lewisville, and has now launched the Warlord 25 mm fantasy line, CAV N-scale sci-fi line (Combat Assault Vehicle), Reaper Box Sets, Reaper Pro Paints and Reaper Masters Series Paints. January 2004 saw Reaper move once again, to a new production facility located at 9062 Teasley Lane Denton, Texas.
Reaper also manufactures two premium acrylic water based paint lines designed especially for painting the miniatures they manufacture.
[edit] Community & web presence
Reaper has an active online community, from their online forum, to their Asylum online store.
Reaper products are very popular among tabletop RPG players. Their offering of figures suitable for use as PCs and monsters is broad, and the Reaper website offers a Figure Finder to help roleplayers to find the figure they require.
[edit] Miniature Lines
[edit] Current Miniature Lines
As of 2008, Reaper has four major lines of miniatures with a fifth on the way:
- Dark Heaven Legends: Primarily suited to fantasy role players. It contains many of the models helpful for running role playing campaigns; from models to represent characters and monsters to familiars, weapons and accessories. This line provides the bulk of miniatures, which has now passed 3000 serial numbers.
- Warlord (miniature game): Reaper's highly successful skirmish game. Set in Taltos, 10 factions fight in the provinces for control. Players battle across the world, and then log into warlordhq.reapergames.com to report wins and losses, thus allowing a dynamic, evolving world.
- Combat Assault Vehicle (CAV): A game similar to BattleTech. Much like Warlord, players battle across the world and post results at reapergames.com as 10 fighting companies battle for dominance over 6 planets. CAV 2 is currently being developed.
- Legendary Encounters is their new line of non-random pre-painted plastics. The lineup is drawn from existing sculpts in the Dark Heaven line, with some sculpts from the Warlord line expected to show up soon. It was introduced in 2007.
- Chronoscope a new line of non-fantasy pewter miniatures in the tradition of Dark Heaven Legends will be released in 2008. The initial launch will consist of 8 miniatures including some science fiction pieces and a cowgirl. There are plans to include other genres such as colonial and superheroes.
[edit] Previous Miniature Lines
- Legend of the Five Rings (L5R): Another miniature line directed at a specific role playing setting: the Rokugan setting. This has an oriental flair, with samurai and ninjas for characters and enemies. Reaper's license for L5R expired on October 31, 2005.
- Exalted: This line of miniatures was made specifically for White Wolf's Exalted RPG. Reaper's license to produce this line expired at the end of 2005, and it is no longer in production.
[edit] Paint Lines
- Master Series: This paint line was developed with all of the modern techniques for painting award winning miniatures in mind. Having ultra-smooth bases, heavy pigmentation and additives that enhance the paint’s performance, it is rapidly becoming the standard to be met in the industry. It is sold in dropper bottles for precision mixing. One of the unique features of the Master Series paints is that they come in triads which include a base coat, a shadow, and a highlight.
- ProPaints: Developed for the tabletop gamer. this high quality paint is great for painting armies of figurines. It is sold in an open, wide-mouthed bottle for easy access.
