Twisted Minis - Painted Minis Subscription Service from Blue Table Painting?

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**DarkTraveler777**

Saw this ad on Facebook for an upcoming Kickstarter which aims to create what looks like a painted miniature subscription service where you receive painted minis, use them for games, then mail them back and receive a new batch.

Seems interesting, but there isn't much information on the company's page.

However, it appears that the Blue Table Painting is involved in some capacity as the minis shown on the company's website are credited to them (look waaaaaaaaay at the bottom of the page near the fine print).

http://www.twisted-mango.com/

Would a "Netflix" of painted minis be something you or your gaming circle would be interested in? With BTP involved is this a soap opera waiting to happen?

Personally, I think this idea could be useful for RPG groups who run varied campaigns on the regular and don't have the time or interest to paint up new batches of minis for each game. But that seems like a limited market to me. Commenters on Facebook noted that the minis appear to be Reaper Bones figures which would make them durable, but not necessarily the highest quality. I just don't know if this is a viable business, but it is interesting. I just don't like the association of BTP with the service so I won't be participating.

What about you, Dakka? Thoughts?

**TheAuldGrump**

If Blue Table is involved in the painting, then I would stay far, far away from the service.

Way, way too many well documented horror stories.

The Auld Grump

**Nostromodamus**

Subscribe to receive Bones miniatures with a (likely) mediocre paint job? Then have to return them?

Might be one of the most idiotic ideas I've heard of.

Sad to see the name too, because "Twisted" is the name of a very nice steampunk skirmish game with some of the best miniatures in the industry.

**Desubot**

Im sorry but i think im missing the point of this.

EDIT wow need to stop watching zero punctuation brain went off somewhere

**spiralingcadaver**

The material is the right choice for anything like that, but the whole thing seems like a horrible hassle. I can't imagine a way for them to keep a decent paint job, without, as a consumer, needing to worry about breaking things or high shipping prices.

With all the prepainted junk minis out there and a pretty decent secondary market filling basically the same niche (cheap, painted models that you don't paint), I don't really see the need for a service between those and actually nice models you own.

**Lockark**

Nostromodamus wrote:
Subscribe to receive Bones miniatures with a (likely) mediocre paint job? Then have to return them?

Might be one of the most idiotic ideas I've heard of.

Sad to see the name too, because "Twisted" is the name of a very nice steampunk skirmish game with some of the best miniatures in the industry.

TheAuldGrump wrote:
If Blue Table is involved in the painting, then I would stay far, far away from the service.

Way, way too many well documented horror stories.

The Auld Grump

In order these two comments sum up why this sounds awful. "Renting" mini's by mail that are going to chip and break. And that fact BTP is involved is a huge red flag. Not sure if they were just hired to paint the mini's with grinder studio, but even then this seems like kinda a gakky idea.

**Monkeysloth**

Ya, I can't really think of anyone that would want this unless it's dirt cheap (like $5 a box) which would never happen due to shipping costs alone.

love how the website isn't even it's brand, but twisted-mango.

**Grot 6**

It's a sales gimmick.

I'm all for someone trying something new, and if it works, and the project is as advertised, Continue, because there is nowhere to go but up.

HOWEVER, these guys have been know to be, and have a solid reputation as ... er... Not very good, to average at best.

Half assed paint jobs, subpar communication, drama, drama, drama, shady practices with the painters, missing product, dropped deadlines.... etc etc etc. the masses of satisfied customers will fill in the blanks without hesitation.

I've seen their channel, and for what it is worth, they have a solid raw material for a serious company, but they do not honestly know how to run said company.

If it were me, I would worry more about the basics, if they in fact want to be " The most prolific and notable miniature wargaming painting studio in the world." then they should worry about business 101 and deal with their internal issues and negative public persona by dealing with those myriad of issues that come with having an ego.

Public persona is only half of the issue. It comes to across the board public and product satisfaction.

http://bluetablepainting.com/

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Monkeysloth wrote:
Ya, I can't really think of anyone that would want this unless it's dirt cheap (like $5 a box) which would never happen due to shipping costs alone.

love how the website isn't even it's brand, but twisted-mango.

WTF... I didn't even see that part of it. When someone does that- Caveat Emptor.

**DarkTraveler777**

I signed up for their e-mail updates to see where this goes.

Upon signing up you get this message:

Hi friend,

So you want to add professionally painted miniatures to all of your games? Twisted Minis can help you do that! We will be bringing Twisted Minis to Kickstarter in early Fall.

Here’s how it works. We will have a variety of painted miniatures to choose from:

HEROES * ADVENTURERS * BANDITS
ZOMBIES * WRAITHS * DEMONS
SKELETONS * DARK ELVES * MUMMIES
GOBLINS * ORCS * DARK DWARVES

You will choose which boxes you want, and we will send them right to your door. Play with them for as long as you like, and when you are ready to try a new box, you can just trade yours out!

You can impress your friends at the gaming table with your epic minis and with different ones each time you play!!

We will have a drawing when the Kickstarter launches to give away a free box of miniatures, and you have already been entered to win. We will be sure to let you know when the Kickstarter goes live!

All the best here at Twisted Mango,
Rachel & Seth
www.twisted-mango.com

**Elbows**

Jesus, no...if Blue Table Painting is involved, don't walk...RUN away from anything vaguely related to them.

NO.

**DarkTraveler777**

As stated above I signed up for the mailing list to see where this idea is going.

A new e-mail was sent out earlier this week showing some of the painted miniatures this service will offer, focusing on mummies:

Hello again!

As we continue to prepare for the Twisted Minis kickstarter coming up in a few weeks, we would like to share a couple pictures of miniatures we just received this week. They are looking great, and we are excited to be able to offer such a wide variety of miniatures for you all to choose from! Here is a sneak peek of the Twisted Minis box of Mummy minions that will be offered!

We would like to structure Twisted Minis based on your preferences, so we have put together a quick, 2-minute survey to gather feedback. We’ll use this to set the final pricing and shipping structure of Twisted Minis, as well as which miniatures we will include in our collection!

Click Here for Twisted Minis Survey

We are so glad you are interested in Twisted Minis, and we look forward to launching our kickstarter and having you on board with us! We will be rolling out more pictures of the miniature boxes on our Facebook page, so be sure to stop by and check them out!

As a reminder, Twisted Minis will be a subscription rental service, where you check out boxes of professionally painted miniatures to game with. There will be a large selection to choose from, including orcs, demons, mummies, skeletons, adventurers, and many more!

All the best,
Rachel & Seth
www.twisted-mango.com

The quality doesn't look too bad for tabletop standard. The bright colors pop, and would look good on most dungeon crawling game table set-ups that I have seen (grids, minimal terrain, etc.) so I can see what they are going for, but I still don't know if the market is there for a miniature rental service.

**Breotan**

TheAuldGrump wrote:
If Blue Table is involved in the painting, then I would stay far, far away from the service.

This is solid advice.

Hmm... that figure in the blue cloak looks like BTP is still drybrushing over black and calling it good.

**kestral**

Figures in the mail I have to return - I'd say nah, but there might be market among RPGs if there is a huge selection and you can literally get what you want in time for this weeks game, and they come with their own box to send it back without hassle. That could actually work. But the hassle factor would have to be very low and the selection very good.

"Lets see - this week I need a dragon, an umberhulk, and a huge piles of kobolds." Click-click-click it is on the way. That could work.

On the other hand, I'd do terrain, maybe, if they offered it. Spice things up with a one off table. But that is probably way to clunky.

**DarkTraveler777**

Good points, kestral.

The only service that I have used that is comparable to this is Netflix, and they provide a pre-labeled envelope to ship their discs back. If this service had an included return label you could slap on the box and leave on the doorstep for your mail carrier to retrieve the parcel, I could see the hassle factor being reduced on the customer's end.

If the customer has to drag the box to the post office, or weigh it and print shipping their own shipping label, then I could see that being a deal breaker for a lot of people.