Monday, 21 October 2013

Hasslefree Miniatures Newsletter

Seriously tempted to buy that 'Jade' miniature as a fourth Ronin for Malifaux.....

Texas Baby!
Ok, first things first, apologies for the speed succession of newsletters but you'll see why below.
We have 5 new releases we've rushed out, plus a bunch of pseudo pre-order things will be happening that will get explained down the bottom.
So, as time is of the essence, no dribble from me this week, on with the news..
No Post from 23rd October-2nd week November
Right, the entire HF team are off to the States for a while, we leave on the 22nd so that's our very last date for post and while the Whites get back on the 2nd November the Blacks don't get back until a week later (We're taking the opportunity to visit my beautiful American wife's family while we're already Stateside). This means until we get back there's no mail.
We 'are' open for business, and anyone ordering during our away time will get a freebie in their order for the inconvenience (Freebie determined by my whim and capriciousness and possibly the size of your order or whether I like the cut of your jib!). So please don't email me asking why you order placed on the 24th isn't there yet.
We've rushed out the new releases below and while there's no mail we will still be working so emails will get answered, the Facebook Pageand Forum of Doom will be updated and there should even be new items added to the webstore, we just won't physically be able to ship them to you.
Talking of new releases, feast your peepers on this lot!
Lazarus, Spec Ops Intel
Completing Deano's core Spec Ops squad we have Lazarus.
Lazarus is the Intel man for Deano and the gang and technically isn't even military. He earned a Spec Ops style nickname by constantly proving impossible to kill and showing back up when thoguht to be dead.
General Sinclair, The Man in Charge
General Sinclair is 'Da Boss', overlord of Spec Ops, Black Ops, Green Ops, Blue Ops, pretty much any Ops you can imagine.
A  non-nonsense Southern straight-talker, General Sinclair  is known for being very hands-on and has also been seen on the ground and in the action from time to time.
Clint, Veteran Survivor
Clint is a seasoned survivor of the Zombocalypse. Armed with a machete and large caliber revolver he's also never seen without his trusty backpack. Recently he has started travelling with a new group that includes the teenage girl Beth who has latched on to him somewhat.
Talking of whom...
Beth, Teenage Survivor
Having lost her family in the Zombocalypse, Beth had to grow up hard and fast. Finding herself in a group of survvors but still feeling alone she has recently grown attached to a newcomer to the group, Clint, who in turn has started to teach her a few survival techniques and has been instructing her on the use of the old hunting rifle she carries around.
Jade, Mysterious Sword-Wielding Survivor
Jade is another survivor of the HF world's Zombocalypse. Armed with an incredibly sharp Katana and dressed for incredibly warm weather, Jade survived the horror of Las Vegas during the outbreak and now finds herself on the road.
She never talks about her life prior to the Zombocalypse nor has explained how she's so proficient with the japanese style sword she never lets out of her sight.
Deano's Spec Ops Squad
A full Spec Ops Squad consisting of...

General Sinclair, The man in Charge of both Spec Ops & Black Ops
Deano, Operations Commander on the Ground
Widow, Techie extraordinaire
Giant, Heavy Support Muscle
Lazarus, Intel Specialist and all-around Nerd
Releases While We're Away
Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, the website (or me) won't be idle while we're away. We will still be releasing things and adding things to the site, the only difference will be that we won't be able to post them to you until our return.
A lil preview of these additions are below...
Syr Olwyn, Patriarch of the Castlemeres
Syr Olwyn is the father of Gwendolyne and the family resemblance, especially in choice of armaments is quite striking.
Fully bedecked in the armour of the Castlemeres and carrying a, frankly, huge sword.
(We've included some extra angles and lighting as it's been said it's difficult to see what's going on with his face/hand/beard area, in point of fact he has his eyes closed and is kissing a paladin symbol, it just doesn't photograph well)
Luna, Princess of the Violet Wood
A daring and beautiful young elf from the ruling house of the Violet Wood. It is said her family hails from the colder climates of the Northern Woods and migrated south when a King of the clan joined one of the great Elven hosts for a battle.
Armed with a peculiar, and possibly magical, sword and wrapped in a cloak over her leathers.
(The sculpt  is based somewhat on my wife Jenn, who is pretty directly responsible for what candy you get in your orders so be very careful what you say about it ;) )
Hasslefree <-> Artemis Black's
As Hasslefree and Artemis Black's get closer to merging into one monstrous entity and ravaging Tokyo we'll be adding some more lines directly to the HF website as a prelude for such happenings.
We'll start uploading these during our trip which means that they will act as sort of a tester to see what you guys think about us selling more items than just HF minis and accessories. You can happily let us know what you think via email, private message on FB or FoD or just posting directly on either of those two in public. All input is welcome:)
The image above should give you an idea of the kind of lines we'll be adding.
What Should Kev Finish?
Kev has a bunch of stuff half to mostly finished knocking around his desk thanks to both being interrupted by his move of office and because he just works that way, regularly getting distracted by something else or simply lacking inspiration for a weapon or face etc. on a mini so putting it to one side and working on other things until inspiration strikes once more.
Now as Kev will be back home a week before the office opens he has some time to work on something while we're gone and I've come up with a list which you can comment on and beg, cajole, shout, threaten, bribe etc. to see if yours wins out.
You can find the thread HERE but there's also a short list below and a taster photo above...
Cobra (b) - Half-finished more than 5 years ago and left in a drawer  this is a variant of our very popular one-eyed survivor figure.
Woody & Alien - The final 2 multi-part modern troopers based on US soldiers.
Chaos Lord - Halted because Kev could neither decide on a weapon or some good symbol/scrollwork for the armour.
Barbarian Chick - Recently started duel-wielding female warrior.
Barbarian Dude - Based on our existing 'Wolf' a new ubermuscled barbarian type.
Male Elf  - The counterpart to Luna above.
Male Sci-Fi Trooper - The counterpart to the female we have only released in resin so far. They are testers for a new squad.
Female Sci-Fi Trooper variant - Everyone seemed to love the look of the female trooper and about the only grumble we had was the helmet. Some people just like to see a face,so I asked Kev tomake a variant and totally cheesecake it up i.e. some awesome female hair that could never possibly have come  out from under a helmet *beam*
Deth & Taxxis 2.0 - Needed a new mould so Kev has decided to rework them, which he does from time to time. This will completely replace the current Deth and Taxxis.
Axenarf 2.0 - Kev was very upset when a moulding accident pretty much destroyed the green for a metal version of Birthday Axenarf. He has recently started on a new version of Axenarf using similar parts.
A Brand New Ogre - The Ogre that will be the result of our newest armature.
An old Ogre - This one was halted a while ago because... Ok I have no idea why :)
And Finally...
Right, so this is your 24hr ish countdown until we close up for a couple weeks.
Last post is around 5pm Monday 21st (We have a small window for emergencies/last minute things on Tuesday the 22nd).
Don't forget, we 'will' be around on FB and we 'will' be answering emails and the like. The only thing affected is the post.
Right that's it, if you're lucky we may even manage a newsletter while we're gone to introdce the new stuff going up on the site during that time and as this one was a bit punchy I'll make sure to include double the waffle and bad jokes to make up for it ;)
'Til Next Time,
Texas Arty!

2 comments:

  1. Whenever I forget to visit Hasselfree from time to time, I also forget that Kev is my all time favourite miniature sculptor (even more than Mr Copplestone). Those half finished projects are absolutely amazing. The finished stuff is pretty darn neato to.

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