Dawn of the Lead

Every now and then you see a miniature that you just have to have. Most miniature enthusiasts know what I’m talking about, and those two that don’t…well, you’ve saved yourself a lot of money. For me this pack was a great example. I found myself returning to the Reaper website time and time again, before my vampire/werewolf project finally justified me buying them. What a happy coincidence!

There was a time when vampires were scary. When they were thirsty, they didn’t look angsty and talk about it, but ripped someone’s jugular vein open instead. When they walked out in the sunlight, they glittered for a few seconds maximum before bursting into flames. They were soulless, merciless, somewhat bestial and most of all plain scary. While not all hope is lost – there is still 30 Days of Night, see it now if you haven’t already – vampires are turning more and more into mopey emo kids instead of being at the top of the food chain. I’m happy to say that the Vampire Spawn (03383) pack by Reaper returns to the roots of the vampire.

The pack consists of two vampires, one male and one female. They both come on integral bases, which fit nicely on a standard 25mm round base. Some flash and mould lines were present, but they’re nothing exceptional and cleaned up easy.

The male is in one of the coolest poses I’ve seen in a while, and he’s the model that originally sold me on this pack. He’s springing through the air arms spread wide and his mouth open, with his hair and shirt flying behind him. From the snarl on his face you can tell that some hapless victim is going to be in a world of hurt in approximately one second. The hands are exaggerated and his long nails resemble claws, giving him a very bestial, demonic look. He is wearing a collared shirt and jeans, with the shirt open, sleeves rolled up and the jeans torn. He wears a necklace with three claws/teeth around his neck and has bandages around his wrists. While the clothing might sound modern, it is actually pretty timeless. You could probably use this vampire in pretty much any time period in the last two hundred years or so. Sure, the jeans have back pockets but it’s going to take only a few minutes to file them off should you want to. There are a few rocks attaching the model to his integral base, but the model still conveys the springing movement well.

The female is in a dynamic pose as well, but her stance is somewhat confounding. Is she springing to the side or is she just crouching there with one foot on a rock, or has she just landed there? I have no idea. Fortunately the weirdish pose manages again to convey the feeling of a vicious predator. She looks fast and threatening,  and her snarling visage and large hands enhance the look. She wears a corset, a torn skirt and fingerless opera gloves. She also has an anklet and a necklace. Even more than the male, this model can be used in many many different time periods. She’ll fit right in as a modern day goth, a Victorian harlot or a wild west saloon girl.

The miniatures are pictured below, and have been painted with black ink to bring out the detail. Larger versions open in a new tab.

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

Both models are sculpted by Derek Schubert and the pack retails for $8.99 at Reaper’s Online Store. I think the price is fine  for such quality minis, and the value is even better for us in the Euro zone.

Overall verdict: There really aren’t enough scary vampires around in miniature, so Reaper’s offering is a welcome addition. The clothing makes the miniatures suitable for a lot of settings and time periods, which makes them very useful indeed! I can’t really fault anything in these babies, which is probably why I bought them,  but if I have to come up with something critical to say, I think that some people might find the rocks on the integral bases inconvenient for rebasing and difficult to remove. Other than that, they’re excellent!