Advice on Miniatures for Con Pre-Gens

[DAT]

Hey Folks,
I am finalizing my preparations for two con games I'm running in late February. One of the things I've been thinking about is whether or not to have miniatures for the pre-gen characters. I know I won't have time to paint (or develop the skills to paint them decently) before the con, and don't care to spend a small fortune.

The perfectionist in me would love to have miniatures that are reflective of the pre-gens (correct sex, race, profession, weapon, and armor), but the realist in me knows the chances of that are slim (I'm guessing 2 or 3 items out of 5 items will be the norm). So I probably can't expect good matches.

The Pregens for the first game (a DF game) are:
1) female, half-elf, wizard, with a rune covered staff, wearing robes and a buff coat
2) male, human, barbarian (7'6"), wielding a two-handed sword/longbow, wearing leather armor
3) male, human, cleric, mace and shield, wearing mail with a pot helm
4) male, human, paladin, broadsword and shield / crossbow, wearing mail with a chain coiff
5) male, halfling, thief, shortsword / crossbow, wearing leather armor
6) male, human, swashbuckler, two sabers / throwing knifes, wearing leather armor
7) male, human, martial artist/monk, quarter staff, leather armor
8) male, dwarf, knight/fighter, pick-axe and shield / crossbow, wearing mail and a barrel helm
9) female, wood elf, scout/ranger, composite bow / staff, wearing leather armor

For the Pre-gens for the second game (a futuristic game):
9 various humans, males and females, dressed in jump suits/flight suits, carrying firearms and tools

So the options I have are: unpainted pewter, resin, paper (Cardboard Heros ...), extra dice or other random small items, or skip miniatures all together.

Thoughts and advice?

-Dan

[DAT]

Originally Posted by KevinR

You might be surprised how many specific character minis are out there. Just to pick one company, Reaper has a figure finder that lets you specify gender, race, weapon, armor, and attack type. "Male dwarf axe chain melee" got 22 options, for example.

You are right. They are closer than I thought. Here are my picks:
1) female, half-elf, wizard, with a rune covered staff, wearing robes and a buff coat - #02552
2) male, human, barbarian (7'6"), wielding a two-handed sword/longbow, wearing leather armor - #03018
3) male, human, cleric, mace and shield, wearing mail with a pot helm - #02277
4) male, human, paladin, broadsword and shield / crossbow, wearing mail with a chain coif - #02370
5) male, halfling, thief, shortsword / crossbow, wearing leather armor - #14047
6) male, human, swashbuckler, two sabers / throwing knifes, wearing leather armor - #03378
7) male, human, martial artist/monk, quarter staff, leather armor - #02829
8) male, dwarf, knight/fighter, pick-axe and shield / crossbow, wearing mail and a barrel helm - #14554
9) female, wood elf, scout/ranger, composite bow / staff, wearing leather armor - #60099

The only problem is that they run ~$52.

I could pick up a set of 8 (#10027) for ~$30, and there would be a few mismatches. :-(