A little while back there was a conversation in a thread on Facebook about different types of holders for miniatures. Actually, I think it was specifically directed toward the offering from another company and Kit, the creator of the Hobby Holder reached out to show why his was better.
Now, Game Envy has just wrapped up their Kickstarter for some additions to their original Hobby Holder, but if you like what you see here you can still pre-order the accessories as a late pledge.
I'd love to hear in the comments about what you think of the product if you have any experience with it or are looking forward to receiving your own!
Disclaimer: I was sent this for free in order to review it.
UnpackingStarting out, the holder comes in pretty straight forward packaging.
Contents:
- Hobby Holder with reversible brace.
- 3 lids.
- Blue-Tac
- A pin! (which ended up on my skirmish pack.)
The bottle caps are a unique way of holding miniatures, that's for sure. You just smoosh up some blue-tac and stick your object to the cap. This way, you can have a number of caps with figures and not have to worry about touching the paint as your screw them on and remove them from the Hobby Holder.
I'll be honest, my main worry with this method of holding miniatures while painting was that they would fall off. In the past, I've used corks and actually super glued the figures to them.
Gotta say that I was pleasantly surprised at how firmly the blue tac held. There was zero wiggle whatsoever.
I'll be honest, my main worry with this method of holding miniatures while painting was that they would fall off. In the past, I've used corks and actually super glued the figures to them.
Gotta say that I was pleasantly surprised at how firmly the blue tac held. There was zero wiggle whatsoever.
What I found interesting was the versatility of the holder, just by having that extra support on the side. It came naturally. I have a bad habit of bracing a finger on top of or on the side of a miniature while I paint. It's not uncommon that I'm using gesso to touch up bare metal and repainting tops of heads or sides of arms. The support arm organically gave me somewhere else to brace while I painted.
Since it clamps on, you can also use it as a holder (pictured below in the top-left) but I wasn't much a fan of that. It's too thin to use like that. BUT, in their recent Kickstarter / Pre-order, a full handle is available.
I made a point of taking pictures while painting as I was noticing I was holding it in a new position.
Conclusion
The Hobby Holder is a straight forward tool that fits into anyone's hobby area. It provides a versatile stand while painting any miniature with a rotatable arm to support yourself while painting.
While I'm a fan of the Citadel holders, they require a base for the miniature to be mounted to. I used one of the cars I've been working on for Gaslands in this review to demonstrate it works for anything.
If I had some criticisms for it, it's that the very smooth plastic makes the tool comfortable but causes some problems with fingers slipping when holding and propping on it. My thumb never slid off the bottom of it, but it felt a little unstable. As a fix I might even try gluing a circle of leather or other anti-slip substance to the bottom. An improvement I'd also recommend would be a small dimple in the arm, around where I've circled in the photo. This would give a lower area to rest a finger as well.
Overall, the Hobby Holder definitely stands out as a useful tool to add to your collection. If you've been using an alternative like the Citadel Holder or gluing / sticking to an object like a cork, you may find you appreciate having an additional arm. It was nice to have the added support and not worry about rubbing on the paint.
Take a look at the Hobby Holder on their website or if you're interested, consider pre-ordering the new one that includes things like the additional handle.
