Opening the box - Mierce Miniatures Kickstarter

When I got home yesterday, to my joy, was a big box from Mierce Miniatures. I've always been a fan of their models - I think they are some of the best in the business - so it immediately became a battle of wills for me to not open the box.

It sat there. I played with my kids. I put my daughter to bed. I looked over at the Vampire Counts models that I really should be painting. I looked at the box again.

Oh, look! Somehow it got opened! I guess now there's nothing left to do but begin to go through it.

Unfortunately, time did not permit me to do anything more than lay the contents out and do a quick inventory. That "anything more" consisted of looking at certain models over and over again, chuckle to myself in a way that alarmed my wife, and think of color schemes.

Each model is individually wrapped in a ziplock bag. For the kickstarter faction army deals, the individual models are also grouped into a larger bag, to keep everything together. The bases are in the bag with the individual models, if they fit (Magnir's didn't), or in the larger bag if part of the factions. The contents of the box were wrapped in bubble wrap, but the box was so full that there wasn't a lot of room for movement. Mierce has chosen to ship the kickstarter stuff without the normal commercial packaging (boxes and blisters). I think it's a great move for a couple of reasons: it deters people from trying to flip the deals on eBay, it makes it much easier to ship (less wasted space than you'd have with blisters or boxes), and it encourages people to put stuff together! I have a ton of Mierce stuff still sitting in the boxes, but the Kickstarter items will probably be unpacked and assembled before I start diving into those boxes, because the models are right in front of me.

I'll do detailed model reviews as I start building them, but the quality on these guys is amazing. The sculpts look fantastic. At least one model looked like it had a ton of resin flashing, but it looked like the paper-thin kind that just wipes off. I saw no broken pieces or warping on the initial inspection, which reassured me as well - resin models don't always hold up well sitting in a metal mailbox in the Texas summer!

Here's a final shot of the contents of this box all spread out and labeled.

I can't wait to start gluing!