Does anyone collect Pro Painted minis?

[Neil H]

Apart from my own attempts to paint my own stuff.
I collect:
Limited edition GW & Rackham figures. Unreleased GW figures.
Citidal Spacefarer figures.

But I also collect really well painted figures.

Anyone else collect these?

It would be interesting to see what is out there.

Regards,

Neil

 

[finn17]

You might find this thread interesting...

http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/viewthread.php?tid=1996&page=1

Hope this helps

 

[Neil H]

Thanks Finn

By the looks of it my GW limiteds are virtually complete. Only a couple of Confrontation short apart from the mail order stuff.

Regarding painted figures I have in my collection about 30 figures painted by GD winners.

Pity I can\'t post pics here!

Regards,

Neil

 

[finn17]

Hmmm....

Originally posted by Neil H
Regarding painted figures I have in my collection about 30 figures painted by GD winners.

Pity I can\'t post pics here!

As far as I am aware you can post them as long as you give due credit and don\'t try to claim the work as your own. In fact, I would imagine most people would welcome such postings if they were images of minis not already on the site.

 

[supervike]

give credit where it is due....

Yup, speaking for myself, I\'d love to see any GW winning entries, as long as the artist is credited....

 

[Baltius]

I have just over 30 pieces by well know n artists, and a few demon winners. Also have a few on the way.

 

[Kelly Kim]

Very cool to see that people are seeing minipainting as a legit art form. In comparison to collecting canvas art works by well known painters, miniart collecting must be much much cheaper.

I have a friend who has models painted by various top notch Canadian painters (including luminaries like Jason Richards), and says he\'s invested about $2,000 Canadian (the Canuck Buck is only worth about 76 cents US) into his collection, and absolutely loves to show it off. His theme is having models from the GW Vampire Counts range painted for him, and it\'s a thrill to check out his collection.

As a professional mini painter myself, it\'s more flattering to know that someone likes your work on its artistic merit rather than just as a fancy gaming piece.

I also know of a few kickass painters who collect models from well known painters for their own collections. It won\'t make sense to some (Why pay money when I can paint a model almost as well myself?), but you can then \"reverse-engineer\" a painting technique if you\'ve got the model in your very own hands alot better than you could by looking at a digital pic on the Net. Also, who better to appreciate a nicely painted model than someone who knows firsthand just how much work goes into a paintjob?

Kelly Kim
Sorcerer Studios

 

[finn17]

I don\'t think it is uncommon..

Originally posted by Kelly Kim
I also know of a few kickass painters who collect models from well known painters for their own collections. It won\'t make sense to some (Why pay money when I can paint a model almost as well myself?),

I don\'t think this is as perverse as it might sound to some people. I am sure Paul McCartney has more than just Beatles records in his collection.
I am certainly not a kickass painter, but I would consider myself to be a relatively accomplished and experienced photographer, however, I love buying prints from other photographers as I feel I often have an affinity with what they are trying to achieve. Seems perfectly normal to me...

 

[Flashman14]

Originally posted by Neil H

Regarding painted figures I have in my collection about 30 figures painted by GD winners.

Just curious Neil - what\'s the most you\'ll pay for a fig? This came up on another thread and the question came up: What does one do with a mini one paid several hundred dollars for?

Well....?? (I think the obvious answer is: nothing- display)

Are they useful as a painting reference? Can you discern the \"how to\'s\" from a completed mini?

 

[Baltius]

Just curious Neil - what\'s the most you\'ll pay for a fig? This came up on another thread and the question came up: What does one do with a mini one paid several hundred dollars for?

Well....?? (I think the obvious answer is: nothing- display)

Are they useful as a painting reference? Can you discern the \"how to\'s\" from a completed mini?

I\'m not Neil, but here is my view from a similar perspective. The price on high quality pieces varies from artist to artist. Generally 100-300 for single non mounted models. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. For this price generally you are looking at a 8 + in terms of CMON ratings. In terms of what you do with them, display is pretty much all that you want to do with them. I don\'t want to use a GD winner as the general of my army. Too expensive to screw up. The real point here is that superbly painted minis are art. What does one do with a Picasso? You buy a masterpiece to have a piece of the artist. I know that I will never reach the painting heights of the pieces that I buy, but it is nice to be able to own great pieces. If you are just looking to play the games, it makes little sense to spend 100\'s of dollars on one piece when an entire army can be purchased for the same price. If you appreciate the skill and time involved in the art of the painting, then the price is worth it.

 

[Neil H]

Glad to have stimulated some discussion on this, as I was curious to know where all the really good painted figures that are sold on ebay go!

I will happily pay between £50 to £70 for a figure that is extremly well painted & based. I have paid out alot more for GD winning pieces.

Sometimes I will see something on the site that is being sold on ebay & I will go for it. Often these figures fetch more than I am prepared to pay, so I leave them alone.

Only the other day 2 figures arrived from Poland that I paid a very good price for. They are not GD winning standard but good quality & I only paid about $80 for the 2 including post.

I realise that this is not to everyones taste or finances but I treat the top quality pieces as a three dimensional work of art. I display these in a cabinet with mirrors to achieve the best views of the piece. Ok, I do not game with them, but they are just too good to have some mutt knock them over on the game board!

Also there is the sense of pleasure that I own a really top quality piece of art. When I take a new piece into the local GW shop there is a great reaction & people are really pleased to be able to see the figure up close & in the hand!

Regarding learning points, yes! I have learnt alot more about painting & techniques by studying the painting styles of diffeerent painters & trying out on my own pieces.

Regards,

Neil

 

[Sturmhalo]

All I can say is: Thank heavens for people who have an appreciation of worth when it comes to painted minis.

Even the stuff shown on CMON for sale doesn\'t always get the sale prices that you\'d expect for such work. It\'s pitiful to see even a good quality gaming piece sell for less than $10, never mind the top notch big creatures and wot not that don\'t always meet their reserve prices.

Those that do buy painted stuff; keep on with it.

 

[kittykat23uk]

I\'ve sold but never bought painted minis. I prefer to paint my own. However, I do buy a lot of fantasy art books as well as other beautiful things (mineral specimens, fossils, iridescent glass, and prepainted dragons such as those produced by the Tudor Mint - this is the closest I\'ve come to buying painted models really).

Its great to see our hobby viewed as an artform these days.

Regards

Kat

 

[Zora]

I buy painted minis...

Can\'t say they\'re by \"pros\" (which is a loosely-defined term, anyway).

I\'ll buy things that look really good to my eye. Unfortunately, due to money constraints, I can\'t always pay huge amounts for minis. Shame as I missed one auction by Holger Schmidt that was breathtaking, but I couldn\'t up my bid as I had to take my son to the ER. Did contact him about a commission, but it\'s a little out of my range at the moment.

Interesting tip: (shooting myself in the foot about now) For those of you selling painted minis, be careful of the \"too up close and personal\" pics of your minis.

Some that I find seem a little \"eh\" in the pic, are actually quite beautiful tabletop quality or display pieces. It just seems like the pic may have taken away from the end price, which could\'ve been higher.

Now, I collect because I appreciate the artform. Yes, I either have the mini in question or am planning on getting it, but it doesn\'t stop me from wanting a piece of art.

Funny, as I do roleplay and COULD use these minis for that purpose, you always want to use your own.

I\'ve been wanting to run my Sisters of Battle army for the longest time, but know that I\'ll never have them all painted. At one point I thought of asking someone to do it for me, while saving money to pay for it, but the whole \"wanting to use your own paintjob\" syndrome kicked in.

Ah, well...try not to raise the prices too much on me, okay?

 

[Neil H]

Thought I would give you all an idea of what I have in my collection:

Be interesting to swop lists with Baltius as to what we have.

I have:

5 GD winning pieces (inc. 2 Silver)
6 pieces published in WD, army books & rule book
12 pieces painted by \'eavy metal staff
at least 30 pieces painted by GD winners (3 are Slayer Sword winners)
Plus quite a few other pieces

I am reluctant to post pics as they are not my own work & I do not own the Intellectual Property, even though I own the piece. I of course would never claim these as my own work as some are just too well known!!

Regards,

Neil

 

[ZaPhOd]

Originally posted by Sturmhalo
All I can say is: Thank heavens for people who have an appreciation of worth when it comes to painted minis.

Even the stuff shown on CMON for sale doesn\'t always get the sale prices that you\'d expect for such work. It\'s pitiful to see even a good quality gaming piece sell for less than $10, never mind the top notch big creatures and wot not that don\'t always meet their reserve prices.

Those that do buy painted stuff; keep on with it.

Yeah I hear you! I have just really started with EBAY for instance... Some go for good prices, some for very low. Hard to judge, but being new at selling, I can\'t expect anything different I suppose

 

[Baltius]

[

Be interesting to swop lists with Baltius as to what we have.

Neil, I have:

4 demon winners (Will pick up 5th end of the month)
4 additional pieces from White Dwarf
6 pieces by \'eavy metal artists
also 30+ pieces from GD winning artists.
3 pieces were in GW\'s miniature gallery book from last year.

 

[Baltius]

Originally posted by kittykat23uk
However, I do buy a lot of fantasy art books as well as other beautiful things (mineral specimens, fossils, iridescent glass, and prepainted dragons such as those produced by the Tudor Mint - this is the closest I\'ve come to buying painted models really).

Kat, I own a Mineral/Fossil shop here in Colorado, maybe we can swap rocks for minis.:idea:

 

[Baltius]

Originally posted by Baltius

Neil, I have:

4 demon winners (Will pick up 5th end of the month)

Forgot to mention places
3 gold
2 silver

 

[Kelly Kim]

Damn, you guys are really making me green with envy!!!!!

Keep it up though... I\'m sure art appreciation is definately appreciated by the artists!

Kelly Kim
Sorcerer Studios