Choosing January's Mini

After reviewing my New Year's resolutions, I realized I'd better pick a mini for January.  Then I encountered what I suppose I have encountered every time I've tried to pick a mini to paint; my overwhelming collection:

This doesn't include the Warhammer 40K Termagants or the handful of painted Reaper minis that are currently in use. Still, it's obvious that the majority of my collection remains unpainted. I find it easy to choose when the mini is for a particular character, but choosing one just to paint is rather daunting. I like them all. Most of them made me ooh and ahh when I bought them. I want to paint all of them, so how can I pick just one?

Finally, I decided January's mini should be something rather simple; a ninja. Specifically, 03081 Edo, mini and image by Reaper Minis, sculpted by Bobby Jackson:

You can see him waiting patiently in the fourth photo of this post, middle shelf, far left (your left). Now he's waiting patiently on the crafting table. You know how ninjas are: they'll wait patiently until it's time to strike. Or, you know, get painted.

RPG Painted Mini - Monk (Tsuko) - Pencil Shot

Oops: my younger sister reminded me I forgot the "pencil shot" for scale:

RPG Painted Mini - Monk (Tsuko)

This one is part of the "Learn to Paint" Kit series from Reaper Minis. Specifically, this is Tsuko, human male monk, sculpted by Sandra Garrity. I stuck fairly close to the suggested paint scheme, but after removing the paint twice I decided to quit trying to do the paint-by-number thing and just paint it. I think he came out okay:

Here is the original unpainted version, image from Reaper Minis:

RPG Painted Mini - Monk (Saille)

I used this mini for one of my favorite characters ever - Saille Siannodel, frequently referenced in my Hubby's blog under the preservational posts for the Valley of Obelisks campaign. The "epilogue" post for that campaign can be found here.

After over 2 years of playing in that campaign, Saille here probably needs a little touching up where the paint has worn/chipped off at the edges of her vest and staff, but I may just leave her alone since I'm retiring this mini. Here's the unpainted original, image and mini by Reaper Minis, sculpted by James van Schaik:

For scale, here's a pic of her next to a standard #2 pencil, on a standard 1-inch per square gaming mat:

As I recall, I actually fretted over her paint a great deal, as we had already begun the Valley of Obelisks campaign and I knew I was going to use her for that character. She was probably my first real attempt at shading, hair, faces, etc. so I had loads of trouble, but in the end she looks exactly like I envisioned for this character. For you gamers, she was a rogue-monk thanks to the Ascetic Rogue feat in the 3.5 rules.