Review: Bikers by em4
As I mentioned a while back in my review of West Wind’s biker gang, bikers are useful minis to have in one’s collection because they can play so many different roles in many different settings and game systems. From heroic outsiders to neo-barbarians, the rich cultural mythos behind bikers makes them great “stock” heroes or villains.
These bikers are part of a line originally sculpted by famed artist Marl Copplestone for the late, great Grenadier Models back in the early 90s (or so I’m told). Like a lot of old Grenadier products, they have been picked up and put back into production by another maker, in this case UK-based em4.
Nosh is a bit sensive about his weight problem...
Sold individually for a very reasonable price of ₤1.25 each, these minis represent quite a good value considering the sheer amount of metal in some of the chunkier ones. I also really like the ability to pick and choose exactly what mini one wants instead of being forced to buy them in packs.
Detail has always been a hallmark of Copplestone minis, and these are no exception. In keeping with their RL brethren, these bikers are impressively bearded and sport long, flowing hair. One even goes bare-chested under a vest, showing of an impressive thatch of chest hair. Even tiny elements like chain links boot laces are meticulously correct.
Hairy chest + grenades = muy macho
There’s a lot of individuality and character on display with these lads. One even sports the classic (if now wildly anachronistic) “Fritz” helmet made famous by countless cheesy bike films of the 60s and 70s. It’s only right given their reputation as independent spirits that these minis stand apart as individuals even as their common elements (beards, jeans) draw them together into a group.
There are a couple of odd things about these bikers. For one thing they’re very heavily armed with a variety of automatic weapons and even hand grenades. I guess maybe they’re meant to be riders of the post-apocalypse era, which is a defensible artistic choice even if it does make them a little odd for most present-day settings.
Hey look, it's Flamer!
However, one of them sports a FLAMETHROWER. More than that, it’s a GW-style sci-fi “flamer” rather than a conventional backpack-and-flamegun rig. It may just be my inner gunbunny coming to the fore, but that just seems like an over-the-top choice to me.
The odd choices continue with the biker’s equipment. Like several other Copplestone sculpts of this vintage, there are what appear to be either cash registers or enormous calculators hooked to the belts of a couple of minis. Maybe this made some sense in whatever context the figs were originally produced, but to my eye it just seems downright surreal. I must remember to e-mail Mr. Copplestone and ask if he remembers any backstory on this minor but baffling issue.
First we rumble, then we do our taxes!
Mmm, beefy!
Finally, these guys are beefy. I mean SERIOUS beefy in the “GW Orks” sense of the word. I realize that our motorcycle enthusiast friends tend towards the corpulent side, but these lads strain the borders of plausibility just a bit. They look almost monstrous next to more conventionally-sized Hasslefree minis.
The last four paragraphs make these sound like bad minis, but they’re really quite good overall. I’ve been quite impressed with the quality of Mr. Copplestone’s work, especially given the age of these sculpts. Given the impressive level of detail and the bargain price from em4 they’d make a fine addition to any gamer’s collection.
Pros: Customary Copplestone detailing, Inexpensive
Cons: Idiosyncratic weapons and equipment, Alarmingly orklike
Final Verdict: 4/5
MSRP: ₤1.25 each
Source: Em4
Popularity: 13% [?]
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A nice review. You might want to check out the revised bikers that are a part of Mark’s own Copplestone Castings line, as they fix some of the problems you mention in the review.
http://www.copplestonecastings.co.uk/images/fw5.jpg
Thanks, Mikko. Yeah, I’ve seen the ones on Copplestone’s site and they’re on my list. I’m not super enthusiastic about them, though, because I’m heavily into uniqueness. Reworked figs are just less interesting to me than totally original ones. YMMV, of course.
I like these guys a lot. The figure you’ve called Nosh was almost the spitting image of one of my gaming buddies way back then. Not surprising, he loved these figures as well, but especially that one! I don’t mind the chunkiness of them – I just think it’s part of their character. I agree with your comments about the weapons and their equipment. That flamer is just so out of place. Nice paint jobs, by the way, but if I could offer one tiny criticism – those bare arms are crying out for tattoos!
I think that’s hilarious that you knew a “real” Nosh. I’ve actually heard something similar about several of the bikers I’ve reviewed, which says to me that gamers have interestingly diverse circles of friends!
The chunkiness doesn’t bother me too much, either. Certainly not as much as the crazy weapons do, anyway. I kind of ended up nattering on about minor flaws more than I had intended simply because I used up a lot of my metagame material about bikers in the West Wind gang review. They really are pretty nifty figs, which is why they rated the coveted 4/5.
Oh, and the reason I didn’t try to give them any tattoos is that my freehand skills, even with a pen, are just terrible. It’s most likely related to my equally terrible handwriting, I’m afraid. Suffice it to say that unless I get a sudden talent infusion you shouldn’t expect to see too much along those lines from me any time soon!
Ah well, at least you’re honest about your lack of painting skills. I used a Rotring technical drawing pen with a very fine nib to draw on my tattoos, but even so, you need a steady hand and a good eye for detail. I don’t think I’d like to try such a feat with a paintbrush. I, too, know my limitations!
Another nice review.
“I must remember to e-mail Mr. Copplestone and ask if he remembers any backstory on this minor but baffling issue.”
I am curious if you have ever got around to finding out about this quirky issue. It is something that I have wondered about for a while.
Presumably it was an attempt to “near-future-ise” the figures in some way rather than an attempt to represent a specific piece of equipment. I would be amused to find out if it was intended to represent something specific though
Thanks for the kind words, and thanks for reminding me about emailing the redoubtable Mr. Copplestone about the odd equipment. If I find out anything I’ll post it here.