Skullcrafts™

SKULLCRAFTS - Founded in 2004, Skullcrafts was created for a number of selfish reasons. Helping other hobbyists, interacting with them throughout the globe, and gaining inspiration just to name a few. I say "selfish" because I honestly believe that I get more out of other people's satisfaction than making "gobs of money". I've actually been laughed at for making claims that I am not in this business to make a ton of money. That's fine, I take it on the chin. But the truth remains that I don't necessarily consider high sales a success. Don't get me wrong, I understand this is still a business and I have no intentions of losing money. But I also strongly believe that profits shouldn't be the only aspect of owning a business.

CUSTOMERS - With help from friends and family, I've created a company that's foundation is built upon creativity, inspiration, imagination and support; not quick sales, greed, dirty tactics or backstabbing. I have had numerous failures both in ideas and products, but many more successes. Through it all, my goals have remained unchanged; one of the most important being able to offer quality hobby products at affordable prices and another is to offer customer satisfaction that has been sorely lacking in this day and age (in my opinion). I treat each customer as if they were my first and last I'll ever have. As customers, my goal is to make each and every one of you happy with your purchase, experiences, use of my products and ultimately the results you achieve.

THE HOBBY - Even if you're not a customer, I still want you to consider Skullcrafts as a valuable source of hobby information. I have well over 20 years under my belt of painting miniatures (and of course, basing them), creating terrain, constructing dioramas and vignettes, scultping, modelling, casting and using miniature tools and equipment. We're going to be updating our TUTORIAL section of the website with painting, basing, diorama and vignette construction tutorials, guides and walk throughs. Not to mention the fact that most of our Skullcrafts FORUM members have a really high knowledge base of miniatures and crafts in general. If you have questions, ideas, suggestions or just want to troll the boards, please be my guest.

THE COMPANY - I am located in Hillsboro, Oregon. I run everything about Skullcrafts from a small-ish two bedroom apartment with my wife and son. It's comfortable, it's convenient and it's centrally located near all the fun places in and around the Portland area. Even though generating and packaging the products is labour-intensive, I always have time for filling orders. Creating my wares is a very rewarding (almost meditative) experience and never seems dull or boring in the least. Icing on the cake, so-to-speak, is when my customers give me positive feedback. That really does make me feel like I'm doing some good for the hobby community. Afterall, that's one of the biggest reasons I started this venture in the first place. Skullcrafts is a constant work in progress (like my life) and hopefully will evolve into a mainstay in hobbyists minds and hearts.

BIOGRAPHY - Hello and welcome to Skullcrafts.com, my name is James O'Brien and I am the owner/creator of this company. Let me tell you a little about myself. I was born in 1972 in the state of Washington. I am the youngest of 3 children (brother born in 1968 and sister born in 1970). My father (already a Vietnam veteran) was stationed at McChord Air Force Base (about 10 miles south of Tacoma) during the first three years of my life before he was sent back to Texas where he and my mother had first met and got married seven years before. He was sent to Sheppard Air Force Base about 3 miles north of Wichita Falls Texas, that's where we lived for four years before he was stationed overseas in Europe. More specifically, Germany.

GERMANY - Of all the things I remember of Germany, the country's beauty really stands out for me. Not to mention that it also allowed me to visit Paris, France and various non-tourist parts of Germany itself. We lived in several locations there, but Landstuhl (about 3 miles southwest of Ramstein Air Force Base) was where we spent most of the three years we were in Germany. When my father was stationed back in the States, I was 10 years old. We went back to Texas, but this time we lived in San Antonio. We lived in a bunch of different places in and around San Antonio until 1985 (this also happens to be the year I discovered Dungeons & Dragons...as well as hearing Metallica for the first time.). My father was, once again, stationed to a base in another state. This time around, Holloman Air Force Base in Alamagordo, New Mexico.

FIRST MINIS - We lived in Alamagordo for a little over a year and then moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1986. I bought my first metal miniature during this time and played my first real game of Dungeons & Dragons with some schoolmates and cousins. It just so happens that I saw Metallica live in concert (with Cliff Burton!) in the same month...weird how that correlates into my early experiences with the hobby. 1986 to 1988 were years I will remember for the rest of my life. Not only for the metal music movement, amazing films, political highs and lows, world news and several other aspects of life, these were the beginning years of my love for crafts. I developed an enormous respect for all things miniature. During these early stages of my experience with small scale things, I mostly collected lead and pewter figures to play Dungeons & Dragons with my friends and relatives. Sometimes I would "borrow" my brother's Testors enamel paints and make sad attempts at making them look more animated.

OREGON - Off we go to the latter part of 1988, where my father retired from the United States Air Force after 20 years of service. He decided that we'd call Oregon "home"...and so we moved there. We ended up choosing Hillsboro, Oregon to settle down in even though I seemed to be the only one at all interested in the small suburb of Portland. After I graduated in 1990 from good old Hillsboro High School, my parents decided to buy a house in the McMinnville area...and so they did. I moved out there with them for a short time, but I could not resist the pull of Hillsboro nor could I deny my "loneliness" for my friends I made there. So at 18, I got a decent job, got a place to stay and even met my future wife. Not a bad life so far, no complaints on this end. As I said, I met my wife in 1990 and we got married in 1992. Yes, I was married at 20.

GOOD TIMES - My wife and I waited 8 years to have our first child but I have to tell you, it was worth it. I was blessed with a healthy baby boy in 2000. I couldn't have asked for a better life and to be perfectly honest, sometimes I feel guilty for having it so good...but not that guilty. From 1986 until around 1995, I remained very active pursuing my hobby interests and had some very rewarding experiences with friends, relatives and even a few complete strangers. From 1996 until about the tail end of 1999, I didn't do very much in the way of crafts or gaming. I worked a lot and that was about it. In 2000, I picked back up right where I left off and continued on my journey to improve my skills in crafts. I am still on that journey. Skullcrafts came about from it, but it's certainly not the only outlet for my varied creative interests and passions. I guess you could say I'm a die-hard fan of pretty much anything relating to crafts...and I'm a sucker for anything hand made.

ABAROTH (overall HADD7 winner, 2006) - “Skullcrafts supplies excellent basing products at very reasonable prices. The kits offer excellent value for money and contain a great variety of useful materials. The website and products have encouraged me to experiment and improve my techniques for adding scenic elements to models and bases. This company is a joy to deal with.”