A couple of lucky finds

Most hobbyists, I think, have one or two models they regret not buying when they had the chance, things that we were going to get some day but then went out of production on us. In our modern age, of course, this is a major motivating factor in why many of us have eBay accounts.

In my case, the other day, the chance came up to get two such models at pretty reasonable price and they're two of my favourite models ever.

Eltharion: The Elf Without Fear by Frank Miller

The first is Eltharion the Blind, one of the earliest dynamically posed character sculpts and a relic of GW's first attempt at rolling storyline (the one that didn't end with the world being destroyed). I love the motion of the model, the way the pose captures a moment in personal combat that is very rarely used in miniature design: blocking an incoming attack. It actually conveys the skill of the character more than having him in a static or attacking pose would. Yes, the model has certainly aged but it has a real place in my heart as one of the miniatures that inspired me to start collecting.

The other model I just bought is, I admit, rather less spectacular. In fact, the reason he went out of production is that he isn't as spectacular as the competition.

"Come along, Dobby!"

This is one of four Spellsingers released for the sixth edition Wood Elves book and the first to go out of production. The other free all have these floating poses, held aloft by sculpted magic effects. Next to them, a dude standing there with a staff just doesn't cut it, especially given that at the time characters floating in mid air was this amazing thing we astonished to see achieved in miniatire.

He also, I think, was designed to represent the darker, more capricious side of the Wood Elves. He has a more sinister aspect than the surviving Spellsingers, an impression not helped by the sight of whatever the hell he is doing to that spite. Funnily enough, he fits better with the sort of character the Wood Elves had in the 8^th edition and I'll probably use him as a Dark Magic Spellweaver.

"I walk in eternity (also swamps), Sarah Jane."

He also rather reminds me of Puddleglum as played by Tom Baker in the Chronicles Of Narnia TV series. Not a terribly villainous figure, I admit, but a central character in one of the most mentally scarring viewing experiences of my childhood so you understand the association.