ERM stands for East Riding Miniatures and I'm going to review their small range of 28mm scale zombies. These two sets come from their Golgo Island range. First up is set GG4 Zombies Pack 1, which comprises the five figures shown above. Look closely at their poses and apart from the chap at the far right they could all pass for living civilian NPCs. This view is further reinforced by the fact that not one of them appears to be wounded. Any blood you see on the figures has been painted on to make them appear more interesting! There are no tears or rips in their clothing. As zombies go these are very neat and tidy and clean. I'm not going to review each one individually like I normally do because they are all so bland and uninteresting.
Set GG5 Zombies Pack 2 features the same five figures from the first set but each one has been slightly converted by the sculptor. I've got nothing against this practice - just look at my review of the Crocodile Games' zombies to see what a fine example Chris Fitzpatrick did of converting. However, these five conversions are even more bland than the first set. The chap at the far right now looks like he could be hailing a taxi! If I hadn't painted them with pallid grey flesh and added blood stains they would pass as a group of civilians. I'm struggling to find anything good to say about them. They are cheap - both packs retail at £5.00 each. £1 per figure is about as much as anyone ought to pay for these uninteresting, undynamic and downright boring zombies. For anyone interested in bulking out their collection of zombies, which is why I bought them, ERM can be found here http://shop.eastridingminiatures.co.uk/golgo-island-171-c.asp Are these the worst sculpted zombies on the market? Some may think so but not me. I am not a big fan of the Mega Miniatures range of zombies - too small and far too many are anatomically inaccurate. For me, my least favourite range of zombies are the boxed set of 20 plastic Citadel 35mm scale zombies for Games Workshop's Warhammer game. I actually like nearly all of GW's plastics range but their Warhammer zombies really raise my hackles. Whoever sculpted them had no idea about basic anatomy. Just look at how huge the hands and heads are in comparison to the bodies!
Ouch. That was tough, but fair my friend. It's always difficult to write a truly negative review, but I think its part of the job if you're going to be a serious critic providing helpful information to your readers. People need to know about the epic failures just as much as the total successes. I was looking at the ERM guys myself at one point, and now I know not to bother.
ReplyDeleteI personally hate it when companies sell "different" packs of minis that are just slightly converted versions of previous products. It's a lazy way to get paid again for essentially the same sculpting work.
The worst zeds I've seen so far are actually a Mega Minis pack that I haven't reviewed yet. I bought 'em because I sort of like their 20 pack I reviewed a while ago, but these crude things are so bad I don't even want to paint them.
Of the zeds in the MZD so far the biggest losers are easily the Miss Minis guys, especially the strange "naked eunuch leper" models. Tough to believe a professional company released those. Still, as you say about ERM, they ARE cheap...
It would be nice if every review was full of praise but how boring would that be? I agree with you, John, you have to tell it like it is and if that means being harsh then so be it. If anyone is looking for a group of contemporary male civilians these minis will fit the bill. If, however, you want some quality zombies then avoid these like... well, like the zombie plague!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember seeing the Miss Minis' "naked eunuch leper" you mentioned. Now I'm curious, I want to check this out!
A little morbid curiosity, eh? Here's the link. Enjoy...
ReplyDeletehttp://thescreamingalpha.com/2009/03/08/review-zombies-by-mississinewa/
Eeeeeeeeeeeek! Those are not good, are they? I shall certainly steer well clear of them. Thanks for the warning!
ReplyDelete