Game Envy Hobby Holder painting handle

Back in 2017 Game Envy started a Kickstarter for a new paint handle and collected almost 90.000 USD with their crowdfunding campaign. The 3d printed prototypes are replaced by a final injection moulded product and I'm testing one today.

I got the Hobby Holder along with a handle mod. This sets you back 20 USD for the holder, 6 for the handle mod and additional shipping (~10 USD to Europe). My kit came with a button, a strip of blu tack and 5 bottle caps.

The miniatures are put on bottle caps using Blu Tack (Depending on where you live you can use Tesa Tack), a reusable adhesive. That the handle uses bottle cops comes in handy, as I have quite a load of them around.

The Hobby Holder is a two piece painting handle, consisting out of the base (available in 10 colours) and the handle (available in 9 colours). Both parts are injection moulded.

The bottle cap is twisted on the base. The miniatures / objective to be painted are stuck on to the bottle cop with Blu Tack. There are a couple different ways to hold the handle, between thumb and index finger or like a mug.

In case you do not like the handle, you can buy a handle mod at Hobby Handle as well. They have a bulb shaped handle, which the base is screwed into. The handle mod is 3D printed in either 9 different PLAs, in wood or grey resin. This is one of three designs, the other ones are cylinder and slightly bevelled shaped. The print is clean and sturdy.

You can combine the two handles if you want to.

There are a couple of different ways to hold your miniature during painting. I prefer a holder over holding the miniature just at the base. If you have a good grip, or something of an appropriate size to hold on to, it makes the painting more comfortable / your hand cramps less. So a holder should at least be the size of a paint pot or in case of the handle open your hand to a certain degree.

Game Envy gathered 90.000 USD and sold more than 2.600 Hobby Holders with their Kickstarter. But that is not the first successful crowdfunding campaign for a paint handle, Rathcore collected almost triple that amount (227.00 EUR / ca. 265.000 USD) with the Miniature Holder V3 in 2016. In the second picture below you see the V2 by Rathcore / PK-Pro. The handle / bar that goes over the miniature is a feature they both share. And it is a really helpful addition, and you'll be glad to have it once you come around to properly use it. Because it is not just for placing your index finger on there, but brings your brush closer to the miniature as you can rest the brush on there while painting and minimize your hands tremble by quite a noticeable amount. Especially if you're painting a lot of details this is something you do not want to miss.

Conclusion
Most paint handles are priced around 20-30 EUR, if you compare this one for example with the Miniature Holder by Rathcore or the Hobbyzone handle, they are more or less one the same price level. Citadels Paint Handle is way below that, I've introduced the Citadel Paint Handle on this blog as well, with only 6,50 EUR and that's a hard to beat price.

The Hobby Holder is well made and the injection moulded pieces are high grade casted and well designed. It feels engineered and works great with its own range of optional parts and different methods. With the handle mod it has a good grip and is comfortable to use for my taste. The handle itself is used in a similar way as the Miniature Holder, but has only one size instead of the three that the Miniature Holder covers (50, 70 and 90mm). That limits the use to a certain size of miniatures and as the painted object is only hold in place by blu-tack on the surface of a bottle cap to a certain weight as well.

If you are a well experienced painter and paint more of large miniatures, resin busts and characters I suggest the use of the Miniature Holder by Rathcore. With the cork it provides a more reliable hold of the miniature (for example by pinning or tucking in the "slab"). If you are painting larger amounts of miniatures / batch painting, especially light weight plastic, the fast release and swap of the bottle cap of the Hobby Holder is a great way to go. The best value for money on the market still offers the Citadel Paint handle at 6,50 and it would be even better if it had the curved bar / handle to stabilise the brush. It is hard to compete with that "mass" produced item at that price.

The Hobby holder is product by Game Envy.

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.