Visiting Reaper

My journey to Lewisville, Texas (home of Reaper Miniatures) began as a spur-of-the-moment idea. I was reading one of the rec.games.miniatures newsgroups, when I saw a notice from Reaper Miniatures advertising their catalog free to anyone who would send them email. When the catalog arrived, I noticed to my surprise that Reaper was located only a few hours' drive from where I live.

So I asked them by email if they would mind if I dropped by to visit them in order to write an article for . They didn't mind at all :)

Reaper Miniatures is found in Lewisville, Texas -- a small city just to the north of Dallas. If you arrive from the south on the highway, as I did, Lewisville seems to be a parade of restaurants and shopping malls (including one of the largest conglomerations of malls, I'm told, in the U.S.).

Following my directions, however, I soon found myself down an off-ramp, along a few curving curving streets, and then on a gravel road in an area that seemed strictly rural. At the end of the road, situated next to a graveyard, in an industrial structure bearing the markings of the fiberglass shop which they share a roof with, was Reaper Miniatures.

In the world of miniatures manufacturers, there are a very few Large Corporate Enterprises and a wide variety of small, part-time or home-garage businesses. Reaper falls right in the middle -- a medium-size manufacturer -- not a corporate giant (yet), but definitely a full-time, year-round concern. Reaper employs about a dozen people, with another dozen or so workers available on demand.

Next