Forge of Ice – Sleepy Sentries and Sleazy Merchant

[Alex Bates]

Jonathan Keepers has been after me to set up an account here for ages, so, here I am!

I run the Forge of Ice, a small miniatures company in Fairbanks, Alaska.

I’m currently running a small Kickstarter to release a set of my figures – a sleazy merchant and his sleepy guards!

Check it out at the link!

Thank you!

-Alex in Alaska

Eye of the Cyclops pre-orders now available, for a short time only:

https://eyeofthecyclops.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

[Rhoderic]

This is such a great little range that I’ve admired on LAF. Too bad the dollar is so damn strong these days. I may still pledge for the merchant and get a few other figures from the range at the same time, but it’ll be painful.

[PaintingLittleSoldiers]

Really like the lizard man !

[kyoteblue]

Huzzah !!! Welcome welcome Alex Bates !!!!! Finally got you here!!!!

[Alex Bates]

kyoteblue wrote:

Huzzah !!! Welcome welcome Alex Bates !!!!! Finally got you here!!!!

It’s about time, I know 🙂

Eye of the Cyclops pre-orders now available, for a short time only:

https://eyeofthecyclops.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

[kyoteblue]

It only took me a year and a half to get you here…….

[Rhoderic]

Now shut the door before he gets out again! 

I forgot to say: Welcome Alex. I’m always hoping for the fantasy part of the the TWW forum to become more lively. So far this place has amassed a stable crowd of sci-fi gamers (plus historicals and moderns gamers, of course) and it’s high time for the fantasy gamers to begin gathering.

[Alex Bates]

Heheh, well, I personally consider my stuff to be more “Pulp” than “Fantasy” – King Kong, Tarzan, and Maple White Land all fit more clearly into pulp territory than fantasy.

But, of course, one of the appeals of Lost World settings is that they can fit into almost any genre.  Superheroes (DC’s Dinosaur Island, Marvel’s Savage Land), sci-fi/space opera (Carson’s Venus), time travel, alternate historicals (there were almost certainly civilizations out there that we don’t know about, and my stuff is vaguely Minoan, it can mix with a lot of the Mediterranean civilizations if you really want it to), modern (dimensional gate!  Lost Island!  Time shift!), and, of course Fantasy.

It seems like every other mountain that Conan climbed had ancient ruins & some relict pre-human race living there.  Every island, remote valley, or oasis could be a promising spot to locate Azor.  I think that maybe I’ve been limiting my market by only advertising to pulp players – I think that a lot of fantasy gamers could get some use out of my stuff, too.

-Alex

Eye of the Cyclops pre-orders now available, for a short time only:

https://eyeofthecyclops.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

[kyoteblue]

Make sure Howard Whitehouse knows about them!!!!

[Rod Robertson]

Alex Bates:

The Sleepy Guard minis, the besotted merchant, the serpent motif epsilon shields, the peacocks and the lions are outstanding work. They are superb sculpts. Well done, indeed. I had a look at your FB page and your Kickstarter page for the merchant and guards. I loved the minis and also saw some armoured crocodiles and and a very cool lizard man. I am so excited. Will these figures be part of a regular future line of minis offered by Forge of Ice or are they only going to be offered for a limited time through the Kickstarter and stretch goals? I would love to buy them but alas now is not a good time for me. Will these be available in the future, say a year down the road?

Thank you for making these known too me, for planting the seeds of envy and material lust in my mind and for coming on board with TWW. I hope to see more of your work and eventually to buy what look to be excellent products from you.

Cheers and good gaming.

Rod Robertson.

[Mike]

Yay, you made it!!

eeeeek don’t do Conan stuff, I may crumble.

[Mike Headden]

Lovely figures, especially the lizard with the spear.

The female figures is a little too “pneumatic” for my tastes but I like the pose and style.

Is there a website somewhere for what you have already or is the kickstarter the start of commercial operations?

Best of luck with the kickstarter though, as said above, the pound to dollar exchange rate (coupled with postage costs and import duties) does dampen enthusiasm for the moment.

There are 100 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who can work from incomplete data

[Alex Bates]

Rod Robertson wrote:

Alex Bates: The Sleepy Guard minis, the besotted merchant, the serpent motif epsilon shields, the peacocks and the lions are outstanding work. They are superb sculpts. Well done, indeed. I had a look at your FB page and your Kickstarter page for the merchant and guards. I loved the minis and also saw some armoured crocodiles and and a very cool lizard man. I am so excited. Will these figures be part of a regular future line of minis offered by Forge of Ice or are they only going to be offered for a limited time through the Kickstarter and stretch goals? I would love to buy them but alas now is not a good time for me. Will these be available in the future, say a year down the road? Thank you for making these known too me, for planting the seeds of envy and material lust in my mind and for coming on board with TWW. I hope to see more of your work and eventually to buy what look to be excellent products from you. Cheers and good gaming. Rod Robertson.

I have one pet figure (a fat little lizard) who is going to be a Kickstarter exclusive, but everything else will be (or already is) available from me.

Barring disaster or catastrophe, I plan to continue operating for the foreseeable future.

I do not have a website, I take orders via email.

My main web presence is on facebook  – http://www.facebook.com/forgeofice

I’ve begun registering a store through Storeenvy, but I’m incredibly technophobic, it’s a slow process.  I hope to have the online store up and running by the time the castings from the KS arrive at my house – I want to have everything from the KS for sale immediately after I mail the rewards out.

That’s the plan, at least…

Eye of the Cyclops pre-orders now available, for a short time only:

https://eyeofthecyclops.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

[Alex Bates]

Mike wrote:

Yay, you made it!! eeeeek don’t do Conan stuff, I may crumble.

Conan stuff, you say…?

Eye of the Cyclops pre-orders now available, for a short time only:

https://eyeofthecyclops.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

[Patrice]

Excellent!

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[kyoteblue]

Told you it is a nice place Alex…..

[Rhoderic]

Alex Bates wrote:

Heheh, well, I personally consider my stuff to be more “Pulp” than “Fantasy” – King Kong, Tarzan, and Maple White Land all fit more clearly into pulp territory than fantasy. But, of course, one of the appeals of Lost World settings is that they can fit into almost any genre. Superheroes (DC’s Dinosaur Island, Marvel’s Savage Land), sci-fi/space opera (Carson’s Venus), time travel, alternate historicals (there were almost certainly civilizations out there that we don’t know about, and my stuff is vaguely Minoan, it can mix with a lot of the Mediterranean civilizations if you really want it to), modern (dimensional gate! Lost Island! Time shift!), and, of course Fantasy. It seems like every other mountain that Conan climbed had ancient ruins & some relict pre-human race living there. Every island, remote valley, or oasis could be a promising spot to locate Azor. I think that maybe I’ve been limiting my market by only advertising to pulp players – I think that a lot of fantasy gamers could get some use out of my stuff, too. -Alex

I certainly believe that something can be pulp and fantasy at the same time, whether it’s Conan or Tarzan who’s discovered a long-lost civilisation in some remote jungle valley. I have a big interest in gaming pulp fantasy, so literally every product you sell is perfect. I may have said this before on LAF, but I admire the way you’ve started commissioning and manufacturing your own figures for the sake of enriching the hobby – I recall you were selling them in a rather unofficial way at first, just sort of “hawking” your wares on the forums. That’s the same kind of enthusiasm I have for giving back to the hobby (the difference is I just can’t afford it, but I want to get there some day).

And the quality of the figures! Like those Sandra Garrity-sculpted peafowl. Garrity is precisely the sculptor I would have turned to for peafowl. Always liked her sculpts.

[Rod Robertson]

Alex:

Minoan Serpent Dancers! Be still my racing heart! It’s like I’ve blundered into the sacred caves of Malia on Crete! For a guy who is captivated by the Bronze Age this is pure eye-candy. Stop tempting me, please! When will Theseus and the Minotaur appear in labyrinthine Knossos or labyr wielding priestesses preside over bull-jumping ceremonies? Lovely stuff! And I’m so glad that you plan to offer these further down the road as I’m most interested for RPG purposes. I wish you the best of luck in this venture and when the time is right for me I hope to become a devoted patron of your craft and creativity. Bravo Sir!

Cheers and good gaming.

Rod Robertson.

[kyoteblue]

Alex has cool stuff you need, Rod……

[Rod Robertson]

Kyoteblue:

Yes, I see that and I thank you for convincing Alex to show his wears here. But due to an expensive garage reconstruction and health concerns, a more ruthless procurement regime is going to be in place for awhile. Fair enough as I estimate I have about ten years of painting to do to eliminate my unpainted lead mountain! But for these, l might just make an exception next year. Those and Panhard M3 APC’s from good Ole Irishserb when he feels up to it! Crap, I have no self control!

Alex:

You might as well be waving crack cocaine before an addict’s nose! I’m jonesing badly for your minis and my fiscal resolve is crumbling! Argh! I’ll never be able to retire!

Cheers and good gaming.

Rod Robertson.

[kyoteblue]

Come on Rod, all the cool kids are doing it…..

[Rod Robertson]

Lord, give me strength! Satan the tempter has appeared before me in the guise of a blue coyote. Deliver me from temptation! I abjure your seductions! You are a cruel man, KB!

Cheers and pending insolvency.

Rod Robertson.

[Rhoderic]

kyoteblue wrote:

all the cool kids are doing it…..

…and some of us other people, too! 

[Alex Bates]

I can post more pics of my cool stuff if that’ll help 🙂

Also, I *PROMISE* that any profits I make off this Kickstarter will go towards buying me one steak dinner, and a bunch of new concept art and miniatures.

Eye of the Cyclops pre-orders now available, for a short time only:

https://eyeofthecyclops.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

[Rod Robertson]

Alex:

Don’t forget some beer! You Gotta buy beer! Beer and onions, it’s the Egyptian way, or at least it was before Koranic law made an appearance there some years later. So it’s the old Egyptian way!

Cheers and enjoy your steak dinner! Alberta beef, I hpoe!

Rod Robertson.

[kyoteblue]

If you buy from Alex, you are a cool kid……

[Etranger]

Nice figures! Pledged.

[Alex Bates]

Now that the campaign is over 200% funded, I’ve unlocked a free bonus figure for everyone who pledges at the $21 level and up – a little lizard pet for the merchant!

Sculpted by Dave Cauley (the photo is of the sculpt in progress, it’s not quite finished), this little fellow is overfed & lazy, but he’s spiteful, too – don’t try to pet him or he might take your finger off!  The figure is 20mm tall to the top of his head.

Eye of the Cyclops pre-orders now available, for a short time only:

https://eyeofthecyclops.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

[Rhoderic]

So, about international shipping from Alaska. You mention in the KS that it’s expensive. Does that mean it’s more expensive than from the contiguous United States?

Assuming you’ve had European customers in the past, do you have any estimate for how much 5-10 figures would cost to ship?

That lizard looks brilliant, by the way.

[Alex Bates]

Nearly half of my sales are to the UK, or they were before the pound crashed, and I still ship internationally quite often (just sent a package to Spain last week!)

At the time the KS began, I went to the local post office & weighed everything out – shipping on one figure from Alaska to the UK, Germany, and Australia runs just under $14 USD.  Shipping on 7 figures runs about $22USD.  Off the top of my head I estimate that shipping ten figures would cost $25 or thereabouts.

It’s brutal 🙁

As for prices from the Lower 48, I have no frame of reference to compare them against – I’ve never shipped anything overseas from the Continental US.

Eye of the Cyclops pre-orders now available, for a short time only:

https://eyeofthecyclops.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

[Rhoderic]

OK, yeah, that’s pretty tough. I’m not in the UK but the USD has become hideously strong in objective terms as well, not just relative to the GBP.

I’ll have to really think about this. The figures are extremely desirable to me and I’ve ordered miniatures from farther afield (New Zealand, twice) in the past. But I’d have to think of them as a luxury, and a fairly significant one at that. Maybe if I live off white rice and furikake for a month… 

[Alex Bates]

Rhoderic wrote:

OK, yeah, that’s pretty tough. I’m not in the UK but the USD has become hideously strong in objective terms as well, not just relative to the GBP. I’ll have to really think about this. The figures are extremely desirable to me and I’ve ordered miniatures from farther afield (New Zealand, twice) in the past. But I’d have to think of them as a luxury, and a fairly significant one at that. Maybe if I live off white rice and furikake for a month…

Yeah, shipping to Sweden should be approximately the same as shipping to the other places – I only checked rates for the UK, Germany and Australia, but the prices were all very similar (rarely a variance of more than .50c), so I imagine shipping to you would be the same.

Eye of the Cyclops pre-orders now available, for a short time only:

https://eyeofthecyclops.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

[Alex Bates]

And to further tempt you all, here’s a menu of all the items that are currently available as purchasable add-ons:

Eye of the Cyclops pre-orders now available, for a short time only:

https://eyeofthecyclops.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

[Rhoderic]

There’s armoured crocodiles now as well?? This is torture! 

Regarding the entelodonts, are they really sculpted to have only one hoof each touching the ground? They’re brilliant sculpts of a cool subject matter but I’d worry about durability and the risk that the supporting legs will bend due to sheer gravity.

[Rod Robertson]

Alex:

I’m weakening in my resolve to impose fiscal discipline upon my lead addiction and I have already tallied up $ 136.00 US of minis I want/need!!! I can’t believe I’m asking this but what is the price of the four-piece Lion Women of Azor set? Crap, I have no self control! I am morally bankrupt and will soon be financially so!

Cheers and good gaming.

Rod the bankrupt Robertson.

[Alex Bates]

Rod Robertson wrote:

Alex: I’m weakening in my resolve to impose fiscal discipline upon my lead addiction and I have already tallied up $ 136.00 US of minis I want/need!!! I can’t believe I’m asking this but what is the price of the four-piece Lion Women of Azor set? Crap, I have no self control! I am morally bankrupt and will soon be financially so! Cheers and good gaming. Rod the bankrupt Robertson.

The set of lion women is $34  – their regular price will be $38, but I’m offering them at a discount because of the Kickstarter.

Good catch, by the way – I hadn’t noticed that their price wasn’t in the image!  D’oh!  I’ll have that fixed right away.

Eye of the Cyclops pre-orders now available, for a short time only:

https://eyeofthecyclops.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

[Alex Bates]

Rhoderic wrote:

There’s armoured crocodiles now as well?? This is torture! Regarding the entelodonts, are they really sculpted to have only one hoof each touching the ground? They’re brilliant sculpts of a cool subject matter but I’d worry about durability and the risk that the supporting legs will bend due to sheer gravity.

I haven’t had an issue with them bending yet – they’re a little bigger than they look in this image, those are 50mm bases they’re on.  That’s a pretty substantial ankle they’re standing on.

That said, yeah, I agree – it’s definitely a potential weak spot.  I’d be more concerned with them coming up and out of the base than bending or breaking, but it’s not impossible it could happen.

And the armored crocs were a real animal – South American Armadillosuchus Arrudai!

As soon as I saw pictures of the skeleton, I knew I had to add it to my setting!

-Alex

Eye of the Cyclops pre-orders now available, for a short time only:

https://eyeofthecyclops.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

[Rod Robertson]

Alex:

I can”t believe I’m asking this as I’m now in mortal danger of dropping $ 170.00 US already, but given the entelodonts, are there any plans for some Andrewsarchus? Also going back to the Permian, what about predatory therapsids like Gorgonopsia?

Cheers and why the hell am I doing this?

Rod the pending pauper Robertson.

[Alex Bates]

Probably not on the Andrewsarchus – my setting (Azor) has very few native mammals.  The Entelodonts survive through sheer belligerence.  There will be giant apes and ape-men, and *maybe* in the long term a tribe of White Apes (Yetis), along with some cold weather creatures (Dire Bear etc).  I might even stretch that to include some “mammal-like reptiles”, gorgonopsids, that sort of thing, but they won’t be recognizable as we normally picture them – they’ll be furred like snow leopards.  I absolutely want to include some sort of Musk Ox analogue…

But all that is like three expansions away – a minimum of five years off, maybe further out that that, even.

My next big releases will be some dinosaurs and dinosaur analogues, large creatures and monsters.

And more priestesses, a throne, a princess, a  king, some terrain pieces…

Eye of the Cyclops pre-orders now available, for a short time only:

https://eyeofthecyclops.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

[kyoteblue]

Woohoo !!!!

[Author]

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