Tuesday 31 May 2011

4 Halflings (including a real mystery)

I forgot some more...


I'd already mentioned the female halfling in my hall of shame (her broom is missing!), but I missed 3 others out.






One of them is even more damaged that the rest, with no feet and a repaired sword. He is a different style and colour of metal from the others, and I suspect he is older, but I don't really know. As ever, any help in identification is gratefully received!





The other two are "watchmen". One of them is Pippin Panhead on the same page in the catalogue as Slackjaw (the female), but I can't identify the other.

Saturday 28 May 2011

The one that (nearly) got away

I was just about to set up some auctions, when I realised I'd forgotten this chap: a dwarf on stilts. Once again, I will clean him up before sale.




I believe he was a limited edition as shown in this image. I don't actually have the blister pack but found this image on Ebay.

There is a listing on SOL which identifies him as a Dwarf with Inferiority Complex, sold with a snotling (which I certainly don't have, though it does ring a bell).

Sunday 22 May 2011

Micellaneous dwarves - the end of the journey

These are the last 4 miniatures to be photographed and listed; my trip down memory lane is nearly at an end and - after a short battle with Dettol and Fairy power spray - I'll be ready list them for sale on Ebay.

The chap with the axe is number 10 on here. (Coincidentally, the Troll Slayer listed elsewhere as a Norse dwarf is on the same page).



Number 13 here is the adventurer with his palm up. There are a few others on this page that are listed elsewhere, like the wizards (no's 2 & 26) and the spearman/dwarf (no. 16)


Sword 5 here.







And finally... the Norse dwarf is "Axe 9" here.








If there's one thing I've realised whilst browsing the Citadel Catalogues of the 1980s and early 90s, miniatures were often recycled in different sets or with different names over the years. Whenever I've referenced a figure on Stuff of Legends there were usually other catalogues I could have used. Equally, I'm sure the sculpting and casting process led to miniatures sharing features and just having certain different features.

It's been fascinating - I now know a lot more than I did when I actually collected these as a teenager. Having said all that, I certainly harbour no desire to get the paint out and try again, so in the next few days I'll be preparing the whole lot for sale.

Henry the Hill Troll

This was one of the first miniatures I ever bought, before I decided to collect dwarves and build an army. I imagine I was attracted to the figure on its own merits, but also partly because I'd always enjoyed The Hobbit. At one point "Henry" was glued to a large base with one of my milk teeth glued to it, which just shows how young I must have been! I have begun cleaning him but there's some more work to do.


He is shown in this catalogue, then later in a different catalogue as a "Hill troll".

Several Norse Dwarfs

These must have all been bought as individual blister packs. There's some great weaponry and nice detailing though, which probably attracted me to them. I will give them a clean, but there is very little paint on them.

Looking at Stuff of Legends, this page identifies 3 of the Norse dwarves, including a champion.  The preceding one identifies 2 more Norse, a troll slayer and "Sven? Has????" (unreadable long name).

They are all in very good condition apart from the last pictured figure, whose weapon has snapped off (ouch).










Imperial Dwarf Bolt Thrower (1987)

I have 2 bolt throwers (one with the arrow head missing) and 3 crews. I think I must have had another bolt thrower at some point but it is gone, sadly. My recollection is that these relatively cheap units (in terms of cash and points) could wreak a fair bit of damage, which is probably why I decided to have 3.

Here's the catalogue page.



Dwarf Villagers

Here are a mixed bag of villagers from the 1980s. The guy with pincers is also shown in some catalogues as an engineer. I don't think I painted these. The friendly little one with his hands behind his back was purple and yellow but I've cleaned him up. It was enamel paint, so I think he was one of the first miniatures I ever bought. The others are either unpainted (militia) or painted so badly I think it was someone else who had a go. I've numbered them according to the Stuff of Legends catalogue page.


15 - Militia
18 - Ratcatcher


22 - Prospector

24 - Thinker

20 - Smith

Thorin and Gimli

I've already posted an old Legolas, Bill the Pony and a hatless Tom Bombadil but today it's the turn of Gimli and Thorin from Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit respectively. Neither have ever been painted.

Gimli was part of a boxed set (which I must have bought, given that I have Legolas and Bill the Pony), which is here on Stuff of Legends.













Thorin was part of a blister pack called The Hobbit Personality Pack from circa 1986.








I was (and remain) a huge fan of Tolkien and it amazes me that I never painted these two.

Saturday 21 May 2011

Fat dwarf engineer

This is an odd one. I have no idea why I have a single engineer. He doesn't seem to go with the Gob Lobber, Bolt Throwers, Flame Cannon or any other machine. I cannot for the life of me remember why I bought him. he appears as a miner here, along with a dwarf I have with a pickaxe (also shown elsewhere as a fighter) and a dwarf with pincers (shown elsewhere as a villager). Maybe I bought them as a pack, but I also have a few villagers so I'm not sure.


Dwarf Command Group

This page on SOL shows a command group of Imperial Dwarves. I have 3 of the 4 but the standard is broken. I really like the drummer and the officer but the champion is missing. I'm sure I would have bought all four in a blister pack.


Prince Ulther's Dragon Company

This came in a really nice box, with a whole backstory. It was one of the "Regiments of Renown". You can see a really nicely painted unit, read the story from the back of the box and see the stats for the characters at Stuff of Legends.

There are 15 troopers (which seem to be a variation on 2 or 3 themes) with Prince Ulther, a champion, musician and standard bearer. The latter is the only one I painted properly (and I'm quite proud of, sadly). All the others I seem to remember not painting properly at all but basically slapping a bit of red paint on the tunics, brown on the gloves and giving them a dark grey wash just so I could use them in a battle!

Along with Bugmans Rangers (which I gave away) this was my favourite unit, and at the time I bought it a serious  investment!



There are some more images below, starting with the troopers after they were cleaned up!