Black Hat - Tales of the Dragon Kings review

What with my work on Lo Chan Fu's gang I thought I would keep the Chinese theme going with some Chinese mythology figures for 7th Voyage. So, when George suggested taking a look at Black Hat miniatures' Monkey figures, I was instantly enamored with their 'Tales of the Dragon Kings' range. The pictures on their site are sumptuously painted and I just had to get a sample to see them in the flesh. The pack that I couldn't resist was the 'Vampire Hunter', complete with hopping vampire! Man! I love the film Mr. Vampire, so this was an absolute no-brainer!

Now, I'd ordered a couple of books from Black Hat before (Morituri Te Salutant and Strange Aeons) and had been satisfied with their service, but...good grief! They were lightning fast this time! I impulse ordered the minis on Wed night and they arrived in the post today, Friday! So many kudos to Black Hat for their service. But what of the miniatures? 

Vampire Hunters plus hopping vampire!

Ok, I also couldn't resist Chinese zombies!

As soon as I pulled them out their bags I was very pleased with the figures. There isn't a lot of flash and the mould lines weren't too bad either. Overall, they are pretty clean and well cast. So plus points there. Looking at the sculpts, they are crammed with lots of detail and plenty of character. The Hunters have garlic buds around their necks and are nicely posed. The figure second from the right has very well sculpted robes (and he's a pretty hefty chunk of metal, too), while the vampire has plenty of detail in his funeral robes, and his face is absolutely perfect! The zombies, likewise, have characterful faces and really look the part. 

So, is there anything bad about them? Well, the only thing I can say is I found them to be a shade smaller than current 28mm. They're definitely bigger than 25mm, but not quite as big as current 28mm ranges. Of course, most '28mm' are actually bigger than that, so these might actually be a more 'true' 28! On the whole, though, I don't think a millimetre or two makes a huge amount of difference and height wise they will probably just about fit with other ranges like North Star's In Her Majesty's Name figures:

A zombie next to a North Star Tong. This shot is a bit deceptive as the Tong is leaning forward.

Vampire Hunter next to Westwind's Dragon Lady.

For me the size difference probably doesn't matter, as I have some slightly smaller Tongs that I can mix in, plus the Tales of the Dragon King range has enough that you could easily put together a skirmish game from them alone.

A Hunter carrying a lamp. Very atmospheric!

Overall, I'm happy with the figures and will be investing in more of them. They are full of character and there is very little that I would say against them. My rating is a very solid 8 out of 10 (who can resist a hopping vampire?)! 

You can find the full range with the pictures of the lovely painted figures here - Tales of the Dragon King