EXPLANATION: While the post was supposed to be not-quite-serious and written with the tongue-in-a-cheek approach, some people took it pretty seriously. Still, some interesting discussion arose from it, so we thought it’s good to keep the post, but with the declaration of the original intention.
People often discuss which miniatures they like the most, which releases were the coolest, and what they would like to paint. Now we had a totally different idea!
Throughout the years many ugly miniatures have been made. Not only ugly, but also badly sculpted, or based on bad or ridiculous concepts. It’s time to find them, collect them and to find the worst one of all! 😀
When we started the discussion at our forum, it seemed obvious that everybody’s first candidate was Nagash. Some must have even wondered if there can be anything to beat this ugly model. But we have good news for you! We collected 25 miniatures which will compete for the title of the worst miniature ever made! And believe me – Nagash cannot be so sure of keeping his title!
We created a little poll for you to vote. Please review our candidates, and choose your favorites. The winner of this round will compete with a few next winners for the title of the ultimate Worst Miniature Ever Made!
Candidates
Candidate #1: Nagash [Games Workshop]
This used to be unrivalled favorite in the ‘worst miniatures’ category before some other candidates were found.
Taking a quick look at the original artwork and comparing it to the sculpt reveals all the horrbile truths about this model. What was supposed to be the most sinister lord of the undead, became a poorly sculpted clown. Unfortunately there are many others, who try hard to earn the title of the worst miniature ever made!
Candidate #2: Sunbathing Orc [Metal Magic]
If you don’t have a strong mind, better don’t check a full-sized photo of this miniature. It’s a challenge to your sanity! You will see an orc with all the anatomical details, and it’s not a pretty sight. Well, you’ve been warned… It’s great that sculpting quality isn’t too good on this one. 😉
Candidate #3: Ariel [Games Workshop]
Some people claim the model is not bad at all. But some can’t accept this huge butterfly lady as the queen of wood elves. Although Games Workshop’s sculptors often proved they see female beauty in their own special way, this is one of the times they outdid themselves! Just look at Ariel, the Queen of Athel Loren and behold the fullness of her beauty!
Candidate #4: Wet Nurse [Kingdom Death]
OK, this is a strong candidate. Maybe not bad as far as sculpting skills go, but the concept is controversial at least. Some say it’s offensive with all the private parts exposed here and there, some say it’s only ridiculous. If you want to see a penis-nosed snail in a shoe, check this miniature out. You will get a raping tail and lots of arms and boobs as a bonus 😉
Candidate #5: Infant Sunstalker [Kingdom Death]
Kingdom Death again! This time with a vomiting toad of many arms. Need to say more about how silly this concept is? Or is the photo enough for you?
Candidate #6: Mezoghoul/Ezoghoul [probably Target Games]
It wouldn’t be all that bad if it was a small miniature, but this beast is not small. Call it a classic if you want, but it’s difficult to defend such a sculpt. Here it goes – for your viewing pleasure 🙂
UPDATE: As we learned from the comments left by our readers, the model was labeled “Mezoghoul” by mistake. Probably the author didn’t want to give it a second look, which would be necessary to correct the typo. 😉
Candidate #7: Musician [Rackham]
Although Rackham was famous for their great sculpts (and poor business decisions), they had several memorable pitfalls, too. This musician os one of them. General concept and composition make it one of their classics for sure.
Candidate #8: Archaon on foot [Games Workshop]
Now we’re back to Games Workshop’s models. Although some people stand in defense of this model, we will not try to ruin its chances of claiming the title! While the mounted version of Archaon became a classic (especially for its monumental pose and excellent steed), this one is just an opposite. It looks like a quick and poor conversion of the mounted version. The legs look a bit awkward and the general proportions don’t help – huge and massive legs plus a tiny head are a killer combo!
Candidate #9: Great Space Ape [TinMan Miniatures]
Unless you’re much into retro sci-fi, you may find this concept disturbing or at least weird. Maybe it will be enough to make it a winner for you?
Candidate #10: Mind Eater [Reaper]
Reaper Miniatures presented many surprising sculpts in their catalogue. This one became a candidate for the title of the worst miniature ever made. Isn’t it cute in its way? So what is it? A brain on insect legs with leaf-shaped claws? If it isn’t enough for you, take a look at the amazing sculpting quality and behold the mind eater!
Candidate #11: Dark Elf Witch Elf [Games Workshop]
Games Workshop must have mastered the art of making excellent female models! Here they are again with dark elf witch elves. Fantastic and well sculpted haircuts and beautiful faces are what these models… surely don’t have. And anybody who thinks weapons should be at least usable will be surprised with the funny objects they carry…
Candidate #12: Barbarian [Assassin Miniaturen]
If you’ve never been to a body building contest, you will reconsider any chance of seeing one after taking a closer look at this barbarian. His muscles must be the example of beautifully built masculine beauty. The question is only: Is he human, or some other species? No human I’ve ever seen looked like this. But maybe barbarians have different muscles than us, modern humans?
Candidate #13: Tiki the Wood Golem [Reaper]
Now, focus for a few seconds: It’s not a toy, it’s not a cheap toy. It’s a miniature from Reaper. Just take a look at those wonderful proportions, great texture of wood and excellent facial expression. Add to this its great body shape, stance and you have another candidate for our title!
Candidate #14: Minotaurs [Games Workshop]
If you know what smoked ham looks like, you don’t have to look at those minotaurs. Or maybe take a minotaur and put it on your sandwich instead of ham? The official paintjob didn’t help those guys, but if you take a look at the way their muscles are sculpted, you will be amazed how creative the sculptor good. Or maybe they live on the same planet as candidate #12?
Candidate #15: Dimitri [Taban Miniatures/Eden – rejected]
Taban Miniatures and their Eden line of miniatures are most likely known for nice miniatures in post-apocalyptic theme. They ooze character, and generally look cool. But sometimes you want to ooze too much and look too cool. That’s what you get for trying too hard:
UPDATE: Thanks to information from Mohand we know that the sculpt was rejected and wasn’t released. Good decision, guys. But we can’t allow this little gem to be unknown by people 😉
Candidate #16: Etoile Mortant [HeartBreaker/Target Games]
We can’t recall the name of this model, but it’s a good miniature from the Warzone game. The face is another interesting approach to sculpting female faces, but this time the sculptor was pretty successful… at making her look like Whoopi Goldberg. Is this enough to make it a good miniature? Don’t think so…
If you can tell us the name of the model, it will be very helpful!
UPDATE: Thanks to Thomas Schadle we know the name of this model now.
Candidate #17: Imperial Rams Air Cavalry [Target Games/Heartbreaker]
Fortunately this time Warzone gave us another chance to show something remarkable! Take a look at this soldier and compare it to the original artwork. Don’t you see real combat stress and exhaustion on his face. Boy, it’s a real war face! Or should he be given a latrine instead of the rocket? 😀
Candidate #18: Dusk Realm Demon [Target Games/Heartbreaker]
Are we done with Warzone? Are we done with Target Games and Heartbreaker yet? No! Without this dusk realm demon this list wouldn’t be complete! And to give you some explanation of how horrifying this thing is, let me quote this description:
…the Dusk Realm Demon is a brute in every sense of the word. It exists only to kill and maim and while it is given to fits of blinding rage, it commands a keen intellect. These Demons seem at home in the utter dark of the Under Realms and the sweltering twilight of the deep jungles. So hideous is the presence of a Dusk Realm Demon that it causes abject fear in all who encounter it and like its smaller cousin, is capable of devastating attacks with its horned head. A charging Dusk Realm Demon has been known to be able to withstand the charge of a Bull Myrmadon…..
Candidate #19: Stygian Venom Spawn [Target Games/Heartbreaker]
Shouldn’t this miniature be called “Stygian venom spider spawn” – it will remain a mystery. But even without the mystery you can see that it’s a really uncommon sculpt. A model which will have its place in the history of miniature painting hobby.
Candidate #20: Bad Girls [Fenryll]
Fenryll must be one of the masters of creating mediocre sculpts and presenting them with mediocre paintjobs. But sometimes they do something that really shines. Something that will change your concepts of ugly and nice. Just see what their bad girls look like. Most likely they won’t need any further comments…
Candidate #21: Kaos Monster [Acheson Creations]
Why would one sculpt such a thing? Why would one buy such a thing?
And no, it’s not a small mini. Can’t justify it with size. It’s big and it’s memorable. It’s even unforgettable. Solid candidate to the throne!
Candidate #22: Wild Dunger [Ramshackle Games]
This one will be haunting you in your dreams. And prepare for some worse news: There are more of them. And a huge version of a dunger, with lots of crew on platforms, nicknamed a “fork lift with idiots on top”. Are you brave enough to see it, follow the link to the thread on our forum. Yes, you need to see all the pages! 🙂
Candidate #23: Wight Lord [Heresy Miniatures]
Mr. I-believe-I-can-fly, or maybe a gymnast? Or maybe he’s dancing zbójnicki – a Polish regional dance? Aside from the pose, sculpting quality alone would be enough to impress us! Just take a look at the armor he’s wearing. It’s some plate armor and… no, it can’t be chainmail. Chainmail doesn’t look like a cloth with holes. Or does it?
Candidate #24: Drakon Riders [Mantic Games]
If Mantic Games were supposed to release a wargame with 10mm miniatures, these would be decent dragon riders for the scale. Unfortunately they’re not 10mm and they’re not cool. Enjoy or watch out..
Candidate #25: Lurking Danger [Assassin Miniaturen]
Nameless already described this model so well, that adding anything would be ruining this description which already reveals all the assets of this model! But read it by yourselves:
Please note the pretty face, cool anatomy, street lamp with height suitable for a dwarven city and clever use of that lamp to create the flight effect… guys, stop it, she IS FLYING…
I’ve just noticed two… spherical objects (no, I will NOT use word “balls” here) in a very unfortunate place, right under her left palm…
Vote for your favorites
This poll will run for a month, which means it will be open until the end of November. Until then you can vote for your favorite three miniatures from the list. This will allow us to find out which miniatures are the worst of them all. So…
UPDATE: We removed the poll, because it is closed now. The results were posted in a separate announcement.
That’s (not) all, folks!
The subject is so wide and there are so many gems to be found, that we decided to allow more candidates to be entered. When we have 50 candidates, we will allow to vote on the next 25 (candidates #26-50). And after a few such polls, we will make grand finals, to find out the ultimate winner of the title of the Worst Miniature Ever Made.
If you would like to add your own candidates to the list, feel free to add them in comments here, in the respective thread on our forum, or respond to one of the Worst Miniature announcements on our facebook page. Thanks a lot!
And in the meantime, please vote for your favorite candidates. Support the worst miniature of your choice! 😀
PS – most photos were found on the internet and used without permission of their respective authors. If you are one of them and want your photo removed – let us know and we will remove it at your request.
Ezoghoul, not mezoghoul. That version is horroble, the other one was slightly better.
The “nameless” miniature from Warzone is from Imperial corporation, can’t remember its name though. Tim Prow sculpted it though I think, ugly as hell as most of his sculpts.
Are you sure? I saw those names used alternatively sometimes, but the “Mezoghoul” name is printed on the box.
Looks to me like you’ve got the Mezoghoul. It was a limited run using the Ezoghoul 3-up sculpt. Unfortunately, a lot of detail was lost due to the size difference.
The OTHER Ezoghoul figure was more detailed, but still hideous.
The actual metal Ezoghoul was way worse. Ugly, ugly model.
Man, those Dungers look awesome 🙂 Sorry, I like’em.
You’d think GW would have a higher quality of sculpt… it’s like they’ve never actually seen a real woman’s face before… or they spent too long crafting other parts of the model that they spent all their skill too soon…
Right? I actually like them a lot and want them all. Not so much as game miniatures, just to put on a shelf. They look like something that would be part of some culture. Oh yeah, my dunger, it chases away evil malaria spirits.
Yep, I’m pretty sure as I was involved in Warzone professionally. Ezoghoul. This sculpt was done after my involvement I think, sculptor mispelled it name and it got carried to the box I think. Art is definitely ezoghoul too.
Brian, above, has got it right. While this sculpt was used to create the Ezoghoul for Siege of the Citadel, this was during the time when 3-up original sculptures were used to create plastic figures. Excelsior Games, which had the Warzone license at the very end, released this 3-up sculpt in metal form and called it the Mezoghoul. So, it’s the exact same sculpt as the Ezoghoul, just three times larger.
I was going to correct the name of the Ezoghoul, but then I saw it had been done already! I was also quite involved with Warzone in the beginning, as I worked for Target Games at the main office in Stockholm as an editor up until 1993 – just at the beginning of the whole Mutant Chronicles period. I still have my plastic Ezoghoul from the Siege game and didn’t know it had been turned into a metal model – it sure is ugly, though! The plastic model was somewhat ok, though, considering the comparable stuff GW put out at that time – just think of the original Space Hulk Terminators! 🙂
And this is metal scaled up version of plastic ezoghul from boardgame Siege of Citadel. It is possible that it was intentionally dubbed Mezoghoul but personally I think it was just human typo. Art is definitely Ezoghoul (and original plastic model was Ezoghoul too).
Chronopia Stygian Venom Spawn is specific, but not bad – had 4 of them, and I love them for those tiny legs with fat back 😉 Dungers are also not that bad – again, specific, but not bad…
How about this one? Oxymoronic in the fact that, for one, there are no classic Necron figures…. but I digress…. look for yourselves.
Actually, I really like Ramshackle miniatures, most of the dungers, too. The one carrying the goblin shaman is a pretty neat piece, imho.
Thanks for the corrections and submissions, guys! You can see them in our forum thread now.
And we hope it’s obvious enough that the choice of miniatures is absolutely subjective, they’re listed in the order in which they were submitted, and the whole idea is not completely serious. It’s just a different approach to our hobby, just for fun.
Hi folks.
If I may, I’d like to add 2 more references to your list :
-Maître Lupus (Fenryll)
–Gary Morley’s Possessed Marines
I guess I assumed that this list was going to be a little more objective and based primarily on bad sculpting, not people’s notions of which themes are offensive and which aren’t. Sort of makes the whole thing more like a “miniatures we personally dislike” list rather than “worst miniatures of all time.”
Well, the collection of entries is a result of what candidates were entered to the discussion on the forum. We didn’t judge or verify them at the moment -that’s what the poll is for.
That is how we want to go from subjective (all candidates entered) to more objective (we have well over 100 votes now and they keep coming still) – I think it is pretty obvious that some entries are more “solid” than others and will most likely be leading in the voting.
If you feel something important is missing from the list – feel free to submit your own candidate. If there are enough of them we will make another poll, and then choose the overall winner from winners of all previous polls.
Don’t treat it too seriously though, as you can see the entries here are very varied, and some people actually like what others consider a bad mini.
So to put it in a different way: It’s a collection of miniatures that people considered bad for any reasons, with a poll to decide which ones are really considered bad by majority of readers.
In analyzing these minis, I think we should consider whether the mini fails at what it is attempting, rather than judge the goal of the sculptor. A good example of this is the “Wet Nurse” vs. the clear winner “Nagash.” Its pretty clear that the designer and the sculptor of the “Wet Nurse” wanted to create a hentai-inspired sick&twisted horror-torture-porn monster, and in this I don’t think anyone can dispute that he succeeded. While many of us would question why anyone would want to own such a thing, you can’t dispute that the creators of this mini got what they wanted.
“Nagash” on the other hand is the poster boy for “epic fail” on all levels. He is supposed to be a super-lich, the greatest undead lord of the entire setting of Warhammer, and the GW sculptor made something that looks like a hand puppet.
I dont’t agree with you, because I poll isn’t about ‘how bad the idea was executed, but how bad is a miniature’.
and what makes a miniature?
– idea
– sculpting technique
– …
– whatever you want and makes you like it or not
Wet Nurse is there because of plain stupid (IMHO) idea.
BTW I nominated it 😀
Or as we called Nagash during my Warhammer heyday… “The Evil Lord of Coat Hangers”!
From Bastion for Ex-Illis
This should be an absolute winner.
I am glad many of you got the idea that the list is not 100% serious approach to our hobby and how subjective the choices are.
Bear in mind that the choices were not made by one person, but were submitted by various people at our forum, facebook page, etc. And while some sculpts are just technically bad, some are poor translations of concept art into miniatures, some are bad at the very concept stage. And don’t forget they weren’t judged yet – the voting is going on all the time 🙂 Remember that the definition of “worst miniatures” may differ for different people. Even if one doesn’t consider the Wet Nun a bad mini, somebody else could… Voting will reveal what most people think about it, won’t it?
But if you have your own candidates – you can always add them. 😀
Thanks for the information, Mohand! I appreciate it. In fact I was looking at the Eden range to find the name and couldn’t find the miniature there at all. I am glad to know you like the concept of this list and that you can make some fun of our common hobby.
I added some more corrections and information from your comments to the article. Thanks a lot!
The candidate #15 is NOT AN OFFICIAL Eden Miniatures 😉
I know because I REFUSE THE SCULPT for release 😀 !
I really like the idea of this listing 😉
take care !
mohand
you guys put the wet nurse up here? subject matter aside that is one of the best sculpts to be released in years, take a look at ironwinds metals sometime.
Good list so far, clearly there are thousands more that could be on here. Some of the minis on this list though are sort of out of place from a quality standpoint, yet from the subject matter I understand “worst” takes on a different meaning (Kingdom Death, the quality of the sculpts are extremely good and they are basically works of art … yet … umm … ya they are pretty bad .. hehe) and you hit some ranges that easily could have any of their figs on the list like Ramshackle Games. One mini I think should have made the first list was more from Acheson Creations … they have a living ear of corn … its poorly sculpted no less (seriously they didn’t just cast an actual ear of corn but they had to sculpt it .. lol). Good stuff though … not surprised to see the clown o’ doom on the top of the list with A) everyone hating GW so much and B) … that is just an epic level of craptastic 🙂
Many of these are bad but not nearly on par with some of the sculpts that came out of the 70’s and 80’s, particularly the figures that TSR put out in 1983 (http://www.dndlead.com/ ). I’d like to see a little more scope and diversity on the roster, rather than half the list being what new releases people didn’t like in the past three months.
I strongly disagree with the nominations for #4 and #5. If Nagash is a top contender for worst on account of the sculptor failing to capture the elan of the concept art then, judged by the same standard, the Kingdom Death sculpts don’t belong on the same list. The exceptional sculpts convey everything laid down by the concept artist. Not everyone wants H.R. Geigers cock-faced alien mounted over the mantle, but that he incorporates naughty bits into his work doesn’t disqualify him as a capable artist. That said, the Wet Nurse model sells out in less than 24 hours every time the guy releases a run of them, which shows a market for it.
I want to nominate Uxia Mc Neal from Infinity range. Infinity is one of my favorite miniatures ranges, but this is very ugly and should be resculpted as soon as possible!
Awesome article!
This was really funny with some absolute gems.
In defence of Ramshackle Games, Curtis makes some really great models that are incredibly affordable. He’s also a very small operation that consistently offers great value and outstanding service. Inclusion on this list probably isn’t going to help him any.
I would say to anybody reading this that the dunger is not representative of his full product range.
May I disagree with you here about one tiny point?
You say inclusion on this list isn’t going to help Ramshackle Games, but I say it can be helpful. Just think how many people will learn about this company! How many will check Curtis’ website out of pure curiosity! Free publicity 🙂
Let me just mention that our own Demi_morgana painted some stuff from Ramshackle Games, so we’re not negative about the company and the miniatures.
Werner Klocke’s Fiona the Black sculpt from the Privateer Press should be on here. It has his trademark cherub face, chopstick legs, and a head welded to a shoulder pad. Trying to understand why her skull is wider than her hips will summon Cthullu, so avoid thinking about it.
I consider Curtis at Ramshackle a friend, so I’ve got to defend the Dungers. Go look at Games Workshops’ Squigs. The Goblin squigs. Really look at them. Then go back and look at the dungers. Notice something? Dungers are furry squigs! They’re also ridden by orks. Field an army of orks on dungers and goblins on squids and you’ll have a very unified looking army, a heck of lot more unified than one with GW’s squigs and Forgeworld’s squiggoths (which entirely lack the humor of GW’s squigs).
And the mega-dunger (“forklift with idiots on top”) is an awesomely hilarious model.
“Go look at Games Workshops’ Squigs. The Goblin squigs. Really look at them. Then go back and look at the dungers. Notice something? Dungers are furry squigs! ”
Go log yourself at forum and nominate those GW squigs! None of the nominees were excluded from the list that you see up 😉
My objection isn’t with these miniatures, any of which would be a worthy claimant to the title of “Worst Miniature Ever”, but rather your writing which is pretty terrible. I don’t know if this was a group effort or solely your work but dear God you should be ashamed of yourself. I mean, wow.
i would have to disagree with at least half of these choices, i think the wet nurse could be one of the best models ever made, not the worst. i am also a fan (one of the few) of the nagash model. you need to put it into context with what else was being released around the same time….
The context changes in time – true. But why not make such a pool after 10 years, when we will have a laugh i.e. about Confrontation Wolfen?
There are many aspects that make a miniature look good or bad, one of those aspects is an idea.
I fully agree that ‘Wet nurse’ is really well executed! But the pool isn’t about how well idea was executed, but how bad is a miniature. A miniature expresses an idea, this idea is the strongest point to put ‘wet nurse’ o the list!
I would like to start a poll called: “The 25 Worst Humans Of All Time”
I nominate the idiots who conflate bad sculpting with their moral offence.
Don’t worry, you were only nominated.
“Wet Nurse” again?
Well if you want to know it wasn’t nominated for moral offense, but for stupid idea.
BTW
On you personal list “The 25 Worst Humans Of All Time” is there a place there for Hitler, Stalin or only miniature painters?
I can’t believe the old GW Blood Slaughterer didn’t make the list!
You can nominee it yourself at forum if you don’t like it 🙂
Although Nagash takes some beating, where would this list be without the Poombah-gor?
You can nominee it yourself at forum 🙂
Mmh … I too find this topic strange. I am not sure but in my oppinion there is no bad miniature. Sure there are maybe some where the creator has not yet enough experience to make a perfect miniature at all, but he is collecting experience and that is something good. This is the only way it works.
Imagine where our hobby would be without figures like Nagash (I don’t like him too, but i have already painted one to pay tribute to history). Without the way of learning things and motivating others the passion of our hobby is senseless. This post is in my eyes pretty senseless. This is just my point of view – I am not interested in choosing the worst miniature ever, there are better things to do with the time we have here on this planet – Just my 50 Cent to the topic and totally my personal view – no offence.
Happy painting is about Motivation and joy – I still feel like a rookie to the figure scene when I look at all the history of it and communication between painters and sculpters should always be with respect, no matter what level of experience they have at the moment. And it is not only about painters or sculptors – it is a thought that should be everywhere to every person you will meet in your life …
Ough! Ough!
Roman, no offense taken. I just think you didn’t quite get the idea of this list. To give you a wider picture, let me tell that I am known for liking odd and old minis that many people find ugly or even worthless. Just take a look at my latest paintjobs – the models I chose are far form what most people consider cool. Yet some people still think I was all serious in my criticism.
Man, you are known for the ability to have fun with the hobby and treat it in a light-hearted manner, with humor. Can’t you see that somebody with my approach to “odd” minis would only make the list for people to take with a pinch of salt?
And just like people make light hearted discussions about how bad the last movie they’ve seen was, we started a funny discussion about “bad minis”. And just like one person would consider a movie bad for poor acting, another one for boring story and another because of low budget and cheap special effects, people chose their favorite “worst minis” based on various criteria.
Now think – is Nagash commonly considered a poor sculpt? Yeah, but I would still like to have it in my collection! Did I make fun of dungers? Sure. Would I be happy to have or paint them? Hell yeah!
Let’s not pretend, we all like to make fun or joke sometimes. And I am sure this article will do much good to listed manufacturers, whose websites will be visited by people who will be curious to see more. Let’s just not be deadly serious about our hobby.
Would you really feel offended if I joked that your mini looks like ham? I would not. But maybe it’s because I treat it as a hobby, fun that is not life-and-death thing to me.
You say you see no sense in choosing the worst minis? But you surely know about Golden Raspberry awards for worst movies, don’t you? And artists don’t take offense from them…
I hope you get the idea and if you feel like discussing with me – I am always happy to talk with you and enjoy it!
Thanks for your explaining words – honestly I did not say my oppinion because it depends of life and death or something important like this. It is ok with me if you have this view on funny things and see it like in the movie business – really I don’t have any problem after your explanation – I am just thinking different and people are different that is what makes life and our hobby interesting and made me post my oppinion 🙂
I really appreciate your words of explanation.
Thanks, Roman!
And I appreciate your comment. Don’t you think that often most valuable things are said in comments? I do think so…
Yes, you’re right – it’s great that we’re different, like different things, and have different opinions. How boring it would be if we were all the same? 🙂
The very fact this article caused so many comments and discussion is a great thing. It only shows that one man’s meat is another one’s poison. What one considered one of the worst minis (and he is ready to defend his point of view) is a great model for another one (and he can also stand for his opinion).
It may just be because I’m a reaper fangirl, but both the reapers in the list are not even close to the level of terrible as a lot of the others. I wouldn’t even call them bad at all. Niche, maybe, but not bad.
The Brain thing is based off one of the lesser known DnD monsters, something Reaper does quite a bit. It’s the kind of thing that there’s someone out there who lives that monster and wishes that they could find a mini of it.
The Tiki monster, while I’m not entirely certain of where they got the idea, has a lot of possibilities for use in a tabletop rpg. Perhaps it’s an animated homunculus to some tiki witch doctor type? Maybe it’s a totem statue built to defend an island village? I think it’s quite flavorful, especially with the notches between the limbs that give it a ‘constructed’ look.
What about this one – Slishy?
Not even the people who make it know what it is…
Ezoghoul is the original name. I did the sculpt for the original plastic miniature that was included in the boxed game. That was the last job I did for them, so I don’t know if they had changed it deliberately by the time the metal miniature was released, or whether it was a typo. Having spent 30 years in the business I@m stunned that none of the abominations I occasionally produced, have made an appearance.
Yeah lay off the Tiki. its actually a pretty cool mini and even has a nesting creature in the back…
This list isn’t even good.
You kind of have to go worst and dumbest miniature ever.
Worst has to have some components to it.
Dumb motivation for a miniature
Lousy production values
poor sculpt.
Most of your list wouldn’t appear on the top ten of those.
Ok now dumbest miniature.
You could base on lousy pose
limited playability
sales
and just all around goofiness..
Big difference.
Thank you for all the comments. I think we all agree that what one considered a bad miniature is a good one for somebody else. I posted some additional comments from my point of view in the poll results announcement. I am also addressing some of the comments received here, so feel free to read on if you’re interested.
Since I’ve got a filthy mind, the guy ‘blowing’ into his snake trumpet just cracked me up. The ho-hum expression on his face is just absolutely priceless.
There are some miniatures here that shouldn’t be on the list; the Wet Nurse and Sun Stalker are both superbly well sculpted, yes they are weird and creepy and disturbed but that’s the whole idea! And why are the Fenryll “Bad Girls” in for criticism? I don’t like the first one because it looks like the hand on the gun barrel is in the wrong position but the other two look like pretty good sculpts; well proportioned faces and interesting poses – just a shame the paint job was a bit weak.
Minotaurs are awesome miniatures, from the waist up. Waist down.. lol.
But honestly, you ought to give credit where it’s due- they are pretty sick mini’s above the belt. For sure.
What a great post.
Kinda surprised me that folks would get personally offended on behalf of the Wet Nurse and toss out a lil’ nerd rage, but then again that model has had people riffin’ since the day it released.
No love fer the Sunstalker though, huh?
😀
I’ll just go ahead and nominate Kingdom Death’s Nightmare Ram right naow:
http://shop.kingdomdeath.com/products/nightmare-ram
I don’t care how nice the resin is, how high the production value, how detailed the sculpt- some of KD’s figs are deliberately hideous. They took a shot at gross disgusting and disturbing…and nailed it. They’ve earned a few spots on this list.
Definitely, this is worst:
Pretty much any of the Orcnar from the Tor Gaming Relics game. Such terrible sculpts that even the best paint jobs fail to hide.
Warhammer ogre/ gnoblar scraplauncher. A nightmare to assemble and paint
Old school – Asgard minis Mountain Troll from the 1970s, chappie on the far right. Just… awful:
Oh come on, most of these are not that ugly. And can’T believe, you didn’t put these on to the list 😀
So old tyranids bring the laughter to all. 😀
Ok people, this is an entire line of “particular” miniatures:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1222617343/modelling-miniatures-orcs-and-goblins-source-book
i’ll vote for Tiki the Wood Golem
Right? I actually like them a lot and want them all. Not so much as game miniatures, just to put on a shelf. They look like something that would be part of some culture. Oh yeah, my dunger, it chases away evil malaria spirits.
So many years have passed since the list was created. And so many models don’t seem so bad, even in an ironic manner, after all the time. Just funny, goofy, amusing or… classic.
It would be so good to have them in the collection, Greg.
But wait, maybe they’re like some high, sophisticated art, that only earns appreciation and value after years of being underappreciated and ridiculed? 😀