Reaper Old West Figures 01

One of my favourite companies for 32mm scale Old West figures is Reaper, specifically their Chronoscope range. Whilst the Chronoscope range is huge, the amount of Old West figures in it is rather small. However, what they lack in quantity, they more than make up in quality. Yes, their figures are expensive but I still think they are worth it as there are some real gems amongst them. In this post I'm going to showcase ten characters (five female and five male), most of whom are named. They feature an assortment of character types - cowboys, gunfighters, outlaws and civilians. So let's get started.

At the far left is 50282 Cowgirl Janey Blenkinship. I have big plans for Janey for my Six Gun Sound campaign. She'll be a main character, riding with her husband, gunfighter Johnny West (I'll show him in another post) in a series of adventures. She is armed with a .44 Winchester Rifle and a pair of Colt .45 Peacemaker Pistols and more than likely I'll make her a gunfighter as well.
Next up is 50003 Cowgirl Ellen Stone. I love this figure but not her name. I can see that Reaper have based her on the character of Ellen, as played by Sharon Stone in the film, The Quick and the Dead, and whilst it is a close match, Ellen never used a Double-Barrelled Scattergun in the film. So, I gave her black hair instead of blonde, and renamed her Helen Hunter. Helen is close to Ellen and I chose Hunter for her surname because I'll be using her a bounty hunter. Regarding Ellen Stone, I have chosen a Black Scorpion figure to represent her and best of all, I have foot and mounted versions of her. Ellen is far too good a character not to appear in my campaign.

In the centre of this group is 50244 Cowgirl Victoria Jacobs. I see nothing wrong with her name so I'm keeping it but she sure won't be a cowgirl. At the moment I'm undecided whether to make her a bounty hunter, a gunfighter or an outlaw. I'm favouring a gunfighter most of all, but I might change that in time. She is armed with a pair of Colt .45 Peacemaker Pistols.
The lady in the long red dress is 50057 Madame Scarlet. I gave her the Christian name of Cynthia. I'll most likely be using her as the owner of a brothel in my campaign. This feisty woman is armed with a Winchester .44 Rifle.
Last up is the female half of set 50334 Old West Kids. I haven't decided on a name for her yet - that will depend on who her parents are. The fact that she is carrying a revolver in her right hand shows she knows how to take care of herself. Whether she's any good with it remains to be seen.

Moving on to the male characters, at the far left is 50050 Mexican Bandido Lobo Sanchez. I said there were some gems amongst this lot and Lobo is certainly one of them. With a pistol in one hand and a whisky bottle in the other, he'd be a good figure, but what elevates him to greatness is that the sculptor has added a chameleon resting on his back and left shoulder. That is just genius and is something I never expected to see. I chose this colour scheme for the chameleon from Google Images, but blimey, there sure is a lot of variety of colour schemes.
Next to Lobo is 50251 Gunslinger Hank Callahan. A good solid sculpt who'd work just as well as an outlaw, although I fancy using him as a Pinkerton Detective. He is armed with a pair of Colt .45 Peacemaker Pistols (one in his left hand and the other in a holster on his right hip). In his right hand is a severely cut-down Scattergun, which could be mistaken for a pistol at first glance.

I'll skip over the next figure in line for the time being and move on to the chap second from the right - 50119 Prospector "Crazy Pete" whom I gave the surname of Kaufman to. This is another outstanding sculpt, so full of life and animation as he jumps for joy having found a nugget of gold which he holds aloft. They may have thought he was crazy but who's laughing now? Yep, old Pete! Most of these figures are one-piece metal castings but Pete came in two parts with his left hand and pick being a separate component.
Finally, is the brother of the young girl from set 50334 Old West Kids. Again, for the same reason, I haven't named him yet. Like his sister, he is also armed, but this time with a Double-Barrelled Scattergun. Now with a Scattergun, you don't have to be too accurate to hit, especially at close range. A kid with a scattergun is a dangerous combination. I was delighted to see that the sculptor had decided to give both kids firearms.

Returning to the guy in the centre of the group of males, he is sold as 50076 Outlaw Jeb Lawson - yeah, right! He is quite clearly the Outlaw Josey Wales as played by Clint Eastwood in the film, The Outlaw Josey Wales. Compare his pose and sculpt to this picture to the left and you can see the sculptor must have copied it. Josey is armed with four Colt .44 Navy Pistols to save time on having to reload one. This was a common tactic in the American Civil War, where Josey took part as a Confederate rebel. Now I mentioned last time that The Outlaw Josey Wales is my favourite Western film of all time and in the comments of that post, John reminded me that the film is chock full of memorable quotes. Here's just a few of my favourites.
Josey - "Are you gonna pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?"

Josey - "When I get to likin' someone, they ain't around long."
Lone Watie - "I notice when you get to dislikin' someone, they ain't around for long neither."

Fletcher - "Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining."

Josey - "Dying ain't much of a living, boy."

Terrill - "Not a hard man to track. Leaves dead men wherever he goes."

Jamie - "Ain't we gonna bury 'em?"
Josey - "To hell with those fellas. Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms."

Josey - "I reckon so." 

If you'd like to buy any of these figures and you live in the UK, I'd recommend ordering from the Miniature Heroes webstore, see here - http://miniature-heroes.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=487_501 
You'll save a fortune on post and packing over ordering direct from the USA, plus, you don't have to worry about the dreaded customs charges. If any figure isn't in stock, it will be ordered for you. You may have to wait a while but you will get it. So, lets take a look at prices. All of the figures shown above cost £5.22 each except for the kids who are £5.38 for the pair.