"Miniatures of YOU, at Cold Wars!" Topic

Hi guys!

First off, SO sorry that we didn't get these to everyone as quickly as planned. To be totally frank, we had NO idea it would be so successful… we were hoping for *fingers crosssed!* maybe fifteen sales? We ended up with 400 or so! We REALLY wanted everyone to walk away with their figure, but just got clobbered.

We did end up doing two things that slowed us down a bit after Cold Wars.

First, we ended up having to really create an inventory, manufacturing, and invoicing system. Honestly, we expected to be able to print everything on site, because we didn't expect more than a few dozen figures for the weekend! And that has taken some time, in terms of pure data entry… Robert, I actually typed your name and information two different places today! And I am sure a number of people got texts and emails over the last day or two checking on handwriting of email addresses and shipping addresses… I know I checked at least 30:). So that has REALLY slowed us down, but it's been necessary (if for no other reason than taxes!)

Secondly, we did take a little time to make some final tweaks to our models. For the 28-32mm figures in particular, we had our sculptor do some subtle yet important changes to dimensions, to ensure that the Minuteman figures REALLY blend in with some of the other modern manufacturers (Warlord, Foundry, etc) whose figures are a bit… well… thicker around the middle;). That also tacked on a few days.

But good news… I actually finished just about the last bit of the invoicing and shipping stuff today, and the last batch of the Miniature Yous are coming off the printer I think tomorrow, and we should have them out to everyone this weekend!

We will be including a little information with each figure, including news on the first expansion that is already at the sculptor, as well as information about a contest: whoever can paint themself to look most like… well, themselves… will win a whole line of figures of themselves… for free!

SO sorry for the delays… I know the satisfaction of grabbing something at the con and enjoying it, and we SO wanted to deliver that! But the figures are still great (I mean that… it's SO crazy to see a table full of figures, and be able to pick out all the faces!) and I trust you'll all still really love having them, and we will do whatever it takes to make sure everyone comes away MORE than satisfied… and yes, that includes a free foot rub station at Historicon!

Thanks for your patience and your patronage guys!:)
GP

(Btw, full disclosure… there won't be a foot rub stand at Historicon. I was trying to curry favor.)

Awesome , Lord Ashram. Looking forward to getting them. Am psyched for you guys and the reception you've gotten.

That is clear and to the point. It is exactly what you should have posted ten days ago.

Still looking forward to the figures.

R

Thanks for the update

Thanks for the update. Can't wait to see the figure. Now I have to start painting.

Hello everyone! Mike from Minuteman Miniatures here. I just got back from the post office with a mountain of packages, and can finally say that over 80% of our orders have shipped- so you'll hopefully have your "you" within a few days. The remaining orders are mostly the guys who ordered dozens of tanks, or 28mm vehicles for Bolt Action.

First off, I'd like to thank you all for visiting our booth and ordering with us. Cold Wars was our first time actually open as a business and to be blunt- we weren't ready for what happened! We came to Cold Wars expecting 15 scans and 30 or so prints. Our booth was swarmed the entire convention and we ended up with 135 scans, and 400+ prints. With each scan requiring time-consuming resculpting, along with several hours to print each model, we ended up with hundreds upon hundreds of hours of printing and modelling to get your orders completed.

We also ran into several unexpected production issues along the way. In our zeal to capture the highest quality scans of all your beautiful faces, we ended up creating files 20x larger than we needed, which ended up causing days of work resizing and adjustments so that these monstrous files wouldn't crash our system. We also found that our models needed to be resculpted to match the exaggerated proportions of 28mm Warlord and Perry miniatures, which pushed us back days as we resculpted and printed tests – each of which took hours per print and would lock down production. This has definitely been a learning experience, and we have been able to improve our process dramatically. Our latest method has cut production time by 75%.

We are a very new company and we want to deliver the best possible product to our customers. Your feedback is extremely important for us so that we can improve our product, as is our desire to be as transparent and open with our customers as possible. If anyone has any questions about their order, any comments or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly- I will post my full contact information below.

Thanks,

Michael Elices
Minuteman Miniatures
1-973-980-2339
mike@minutemanminiatures.com

I received mine yesterday. The figure looks like someone I know but I can't quite place it.

Seriously, great work! Now to paint me…

Glad it got to you… and listen, we will be emailing and posting about a contest shortly (already gave a preview on the Facebook page) where, for the price of two photos, you can win the entire next wave of figures… for free! So get yourself painted up… can't wait to see a few done!:)

I found mine waiting for me on my return from the Seven Years War Association Convention, and have already posted praise. Nice work! Further orders will follow as the line expands.

Got mine today. I'm very happy, there is no question its me. Well worth the wait. Now to paint it! Ill be ordering more as the new lines become available.

Got mine. Crazy good. Proves 3D printing will change miniatures in general . Period

Just wanted to mention… we are extending the deadline for the "Paint You, Win You!" contest by a week, since we ran into such troubles getting all of the orders out… so do please stop on by our Facebook page and post your entries from Cold Wars!

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