Show Me the Mini!

At this year’s Lock & Load GameFest, we announced a new program during the keynote presentation: Mini-Crate.com. This has been a pet project of mine for some time, and getting to reveal it live at Lock & Load was a true treat. I don’t often get the opportunity to design miniatures for Privateer Press anymore, but MiniCrate was something I could produce designs on the side for until we were ready to launch, and I enjoyed the rare break to indulge in some creative artwork again.

For anyone who might have missed it, MiniCrate is a monthly subscription service where we deliver an exclusive miniature right to your mailbox every month. The minis are available only through MiniCrate for MiniCrate subscribers, and each mini will only be produced once. After we have completed the production run, we will literally destroy the molds, and we’re planning to do that in the most spectacular way possible, which we’ll be recording and posting to our YouTube channel, Privateer Press Prime, for some added entertainment value. If, at the end of the production run, we have any overages, we will offer them to MiniCrate subscribers through special sales along with some other great offers we’re cooking up.

MiniCrate is both inspired by things we’ve done in the past as well as a departure from our everyday business. For years, we’ve done convention-exclusive miniatures that reinterpreted models in the WARMACHINE and HORDES ranges. From the Kiltlifter to the Bombshell Bombardier to the upcoming Voltaic Vixen (alternate Squire) releasing during Gen Con next week, we enjoy poking a little fun at our more serious side. MiniCrate is planned to follow in this fashion, though perhaps with a little more freedom of license in the interpretations. Turning the hideous swamp horror into a tentacled sea witch-inspired femme fatale, for instance, is one of the more extreme reinventions we’ve undertaken. The end goal for MiniCrate, though, is to create something unique, artistic, and fun with every mini we produce. It’s a celebration of miniatures artistry and the setting that inspires our daily work and an opportunity to create new visions that wouldn’t otherwise have a place in our games.

But what you’ve seen so far is only the tip of the iceberg. While the main subscription offers new character designs for models in the WARMACHINE and HORDES lines and each mini is intended for use on the tabletop, we will soon be charting new territory with offerings that don’t necessarily have an analog in the Iron Kingdoms. The main subscription will always consist of miniatures inspired by WARMACHINE and HORDES, but from time to time, we will offer limited one-offs and series that will be minis for the sake of minis. Our hope is to wow and inspire you with other visions, both familiar and original, that can’t be found anywhere else.

Hobby miniatures are our passion, and we are bursting at the seams with ideas for them. And we have some great takes on favorite characters coming up, like a re-imagining of the famous Harlan Versh as a more classical hunter of monsters and Bloody Bradigan Pitt, which melds the most popular bare knuckles brawler in the IK with one of the most famous pugilists of pop culture. You never know what you’re going to get with MiniCrate, but you can count on it pushing the limits of where we can take the characters in the most fun way possible.

As much as we like creating things, we have a passion for destruction as well. One of my favorite aspects of MiniCrate is that we’re going to destroy the molds after each production run. Some would say that this is a terrible plan as, traditionally, we keep our miniatures in circulation as long as anyone wants to obtain them. But given the exclusive nature of MiniCrate minis, it seemed appropriate to retire the molds immediately after use. (Okay, really, we just want an excuse to use chain saws and set things on fire.) And to be honest, destroying a silicone mold is no easy feat, so we’re going to be looking for creative suggestions from you for how we can accomplish this task, all in the name of gratuitous entertainment. I know Dallas already has a few ideas planned, and as long as we can keep everyone’s limbs and eyeballs intact, there’s nothing we won’t try.

We want to thank our international community for your patience while we’ve worked out the best shipping prices around the world. Subscriptions have been posted for Canada and Non-EU International shipping zones at Mini-Crate.com, so we’re happy to let you know that your wait is over.

The first MiniCrate ships out in October, so lock in your subscription by September 19th to make sure you don’t miss a single mini! And don’t miss the opportunity to get di Wulfe in Sheep’s Clothing—a free bonus mini to anyone who orders a six-month VIP subscription.
Check it all out at Mini-Crate.com!

Thanks!
Matt Wilson
Chief Creative Officer