Review: Scibor 28mm Minotaurs Warriors Set

I want to start off by saying I like these. A lot can be said and has been said about Scibor in various forums on his press molding, but that is a different discussion all together. I am looking at these figures as someone who likes fantasy and monsters and greek mythology. Thanks to Hollywood most people are familiar with the mythos that originated from the bullheaded man-thing that lurked in the labyrinth that was built for King Minos of Crete. Hence the name Minotaur. Minotaurs are simply awesome in my book. As a fan of the mythological creature I am always looking for nice representation of it in miniature form or as a figure kit. And I dare say that this is it. 


Hit "las mer/read more" to get the full review.


The full name of the set is "28mm/30mm Minotaurs Warriors Set 28FM0045" and consist of 3 individual Minotaur figures and their respective bases. They are quite large and range from 80mm to 90mm to the head including the base, ensuring a demanding presence both on the tabletop and in the display cabinet for the painters out there. They are quite fairly priced at €50 for the set while the individual Minotaur Warriors cost €19.25 each and the Chieftain €23.10.

The individual blisters

Contents

Scibor Monstruos Miniatures

Scibor is a polish sculpter as far as I can tell... There is absolutely no info available on him on the main site, not even his full name. It's a shame really as I do like to learn more about a sculpter and his work. There is not much to say other than he offers a choice to people that play Warhammer and 40K as most of his figures cater to those games. He does however also offer some more original stuff like the 54mm range of dwarves that I absolutely love. I have all of them and some of his busts and overall the quality of casts has been pretty good. He also does some more humourous stuff like holiday themed figures. I do like his style, but looking at the quite large range it's a tad repetative as I am pretty sure he "recycles" a lot of parts. A lot of his figures seem to have the same face with varying amount of beard, which makes me wonder if that is what Scibor looks like... Anyway, there is a lot of cool stuff so check it out here. And as per usual I have no affiliation with the company nor do I get any compensation for the reviews.

Minotaur comparison

I had some old "Heartbreaker" minotaur that was fantastic, but I gave that one away half a lifetime ago (yes to a girl). I have bought a few others along the years, among them the plastic GW minotaur set. I bought that in hope of being able to make something decent of them despite the horrible stuffed meatbag paintjob on the package, but nah. The sculpts are as awful as the picture suggests so I left them in another country...

beefcake owned by GW.

So yes, finding a nice representation of the Minotaur is not that easy even if it's a popular and often sculpted mini. Scibor has done a splendid job with these. I think the best part is the face/head that just looks spot on, not that there is a definitive image of what a minotaur looks like of course - but this Minotaurs simply look convincing in their role. They are the very anthropomorphic kind mostly devoid of fur, not unlike the GW plastic ones, but these actually look like muscly beast men and not some baloon animal. I think it works well with the hairy hooves tying the creature together with the menacing bull head. I do think the furry kind of minotaur looks alright too, but then it's too much like either a werewolf or a faun or some other such creature. Besides, if you look at actual bulls, the not so hairy variety is the most common and even looking at ancient statues from Greece depicting the creature - it's simply a bullheaded man.

tjurig?

Another thing worth mentioning if you haven't picked up on it yet is the size. They are huge. I suppose size is of personal taste, but I quite enjoy a larger figure to paint or arrange in a diorama seeing as I am not really a gamer.

Sculpting

Like I mentioned earlier I think the Minotaurs look really good and what's even better is that none of them look "copy-pasted". They are clearly "individuals" ;) with different poses and faces and weapons. If I had to pick one thing I love about the figures it's the posing. All 3 of them have very dynamic poses and that is no small feat. Moving on to the actual sculpting it's a bit mixed really. While some parts are excellently sculpted, some parts are quite bland and rough. It's like he didn't bother refining some of the blocked out areas as they don't hold any key interest. This is something that I find is common with all of his sculpts: none of them are uniform in their level of detail. It's not a big issue with these particular models as they still look great overall with plenty of detail where it counts.
Another thing that is a big bonus in my opinion are the scenic bases that come with the figures. All Scibor miniatures I own have come with scenic bases that are specific for the figure. It's something I truly appreciate and it enhances the piece greatly. The bases that come with the minotaurs depict some ruined statue faces and some ruined rune block with a few skulls strewn in there for good measure. I am not really a fanboy of the skull fetish, but it fits in with the Minotaur theme so it's fine. Either way if you don't like the skulls a little dremmling will quickly take care of them.

The Chieftain

The Chieftain

The Chieftain with all the parts

Minotaur Warrior #1

Minotaur Warrior #1

Minotaur Warrior #2

Minotaur Warrior #2

Casting quality

Another thing that is a bit mixed with Scibor is the casting. Some of it is excellent, while some is not quite as excellent. So far in 40+ figures I have only had one that is rubbish, and maybe 2-3 that have had some pinholes and other small, but annoying issues. I have yet to try their customer service so I can't say anything about that. In general I'd say that the casting holds an adequate level of quality with good alignment and very crisp details. A lot of the smaller pieces have some flashing, but that is not really an issue other than most figures needing some cleanup. The resin is of a nice quality and the figures fit together well with few parts. I have more than one casting of each Minotaur and they have all been of good quality.

Verdict

If you want a "classic" minotaur or three - this is the set to get. The set is fairly priced at €50 considering the hulking chunks of minotaur resin you are getting including scenic bases.