@lkendall - thanks for the link!

@pjz99 - Aaaahhhh! So I guess that would be the trick for me, huh? When I get the base mesh into Mudbox, it might be around 1,000 polys - subdividing it a few times so I can sculpt with finesse, and it easily hits 200k! In no time flat I could hit 600k! I'll try to keep them from 100k-200k I suppose. These would be specialty things - intricate aliens, bizarre sci-fi and fantasy-type creatures (and I'm not ruling out more mechanical things) you would see in the likes of Unreal Tournament and Gears of War.

@Miss Nancy - at this point I'm not necessarily thinking of real-world creatures (there's no "right or wrong" with stuff I make up), but as I get better I DO plan on doing real-world based organic modeling, and fish sounds like a great place to start!

@David.J.Harmon - it's as you see it - the head is separate (as well as the horns) which made it a bugger to bone in C4D. This alone (rigging) is something I need to get good at - or hire someone to do it for profit sharing. It's currently untextured. I figured I'd do it all over again, but with the head as part of the mesh, that way you don't have "seams" to deal with.
-Lew ;-)