At the end of last year (literally, on December 31st), Reaper Miniatures unveiled a new line of plastic figures designed to improve upon their successful plastic Bones line: Reaper Bones Black. While the Bones line has been a great expansive and inexpensive alternative to their metal minis, the white plastic has sometimes proven to be overly flexible and lossy in detail in comparison. Black Bones promises to be the next step in the evolution of plastic miniatures, with a more rigid polymer plastic (made from 100% recycled materials, even), capacity for a higher level of detail, and reduced seam and shift lines, without needing primer.

I met with some folks from Reaper at PAX South last month, and they were kind enough to give me a sample pack with two new Black Bones sculpts. As I already had January’s exclusive Owlbear, I thought I’d take a close look at the line to date, not only comparing the material to other figures on the market, but also putting Xacto blade and brush to them to see if they live up to the claims of being ready to paint right out of the package. Check out the video above.

Mike Dunn is the old man of Gaming Trend, having cut his teeth on Atari consoles and First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons back in the day. His involvement with Gaming Trend dates back to 2003, and he’s done everything from design and code to writing and managing. Now he has come full circle, with a rekindled passion for tabletop gaming and a recent debut as Dungeon Master (nearly forty years after he purchased the original DMG).