[Lantz's Corner] Bits Bag Reviews and Comparison

Never Did I Think I'd See The Day I Could Tie In LOST And 40k In The Same Post

Welcome back for the second installment of Lantz's Corner. This time around I'll be doing a review/comparison of two different companies with a similar product. If you've read my intro, you'll remember that I've only been in the 40k scene for a little over two years. This means my bits stock is a bit lacking. To solve this problem I decided to buy a couple of bits bags from two different websites. The first being thewarstore.com's Mega Bits Grab Bag and the second being spikeybits.com's Fat Sack O' Bits. Both items list they fill their bags to the brim with bits from their stores chosen at random, and while I needed to buy a couple of items from their stores in the first place I thought this would be a great time to make a leap forward in my bits collection. More after the break.

Before Purchase

Looking at both items online, there seems to be a huge gap in bang-for-buck. The War Store gives you a 6" x 9" bag for $24.95 where Spikey Bits gives you a smaller 5" x 7" bag for a higher price of $29.99. So why bother even going after Spikey Bits' bag in the first place? Well, the bits are random. It's a lottery, you don't know if you're going to hit the motherload of bits or not. One store might be stingy and the other might be gracious.

Gracious As He Is, Let's Hope Those Kids Are In A Hospital Cafeteria If She's Going To Eat That GK

You'll also notice that The War Store mentions their bits bag contains 40k and WHF bits only. Spikey Bits doesn't mention anything other than the fact that these are bits. With a higher price, smaller bag and less certainty about what the bag would contain, I was skeptical of what Spikey Bits had to offer. But I gave them each a shot, so let's see what came from this decision.

After Delivery

After getting both in the mail, my chances for regret began to fade. Yes, The War Store's bits bag is larger and much cheaper. The problem with their bits bag is everything is on a sprue where-as Spikey Bits' bits bag contains very little sprue.

(Spikey Bits On The Left - The War Store On The Right)

Before even opening the bags, the elephant in the room is that The War Store's bag is at least 1/3rd sprue and extra space required for them. Where Spikey Bits' bag is equally as full, but contains very little sprue and thus more tiny bits fill the nooks and crannies of the bag. So what's inside, exactly? The War Store's bits contained 100% 40k bits. I'm not a fan of WHF and have no desire to play, so this wasn't necessarily a bad thing for me, but this point will be subjective. The other thing I gotta hand to The War Store is they are in no way stingy on what they give you. In this package I got a lot of Blood Angels and Dark Eldar bits (new ones, not old ones.) And one Grey Knights Dreadnaught arm/shoulder. When you think of a grab bag, you assume you're going to get crap bits that they couldn't make money off of; this is not the case with The War Store.

As for Spikey Bits' bag, it was mostly 40k. If I had to play numbers on this bag I'd say 70% is 40k bits, 20% is WHF and 10% is "what the hell is this from". If you're going for pure variety of all manner of bits, Spikey Bits' bits bag wins out. However, they look to be a bit stingy with what they give you. In this bag I received one Blood Angels Jump Pack and no Dark Eldar/Grey Knights bits to speak of. It's also important to note I got a few random bases out of this and also the top of a Chimera Chasis. I would love to list out every bit I got from both bags, unfortunately I've only built SM, Eldar, IG and Necron models; so I'm not entirely sure where all of these bits are originally from.

Bang For Your Buck: Overview

So where do we lie on both. At this point I'd have to say you'll get more bits for your cash from Spikey Bits, but the bits are quite unpredictable. The War Store will give you less bits, but you can bet you're going to see mostly, if not all, 40k bits and newer bits to boot!

(Spikey Bits On The Left - The War Store On The Right)

In the end, it's what you're going after. If you're trying to broaden your bits-horizon, go with Spikey Bits. If you want to make sure you see mostly, if not all, 40k bits along with some of the newer bits out there; go with The War Store. I'd say both are reasonably priced, but again, it all depends on what you're expecting (getting a bag from Spikey Bits with ~70% 40k bits in it means you're going to be losing money if you never end up using the ~30% WHF and other bits.) It's a lottery in any case, but I'm pleased with both purchases and hopefully I'll save some of you some curse words from having to make this decision.

TLDR Version: Both are worth their dollar price. Spikey Bits' bag will give you more variety across 40k, WHF and other miniature bases, but lacks newer pieces. The War Store's bag has much less variety and bits as a whole, but has newer bits and mostly (if not all) 40k in its contents on-top of being the cheaper buy.

Happy hunting!

~Lantz aka Sinaura

(www.themagnetpro.blogspot.com)