Option for supporting Mithril
MMP › Mithril in Middle-Earth › The Secret Vaults of Angrenost › Option for supporting Mithril
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November 18, 2010 at 8:25 pm #536
Hi guys (and gals),
I had already once mentioned this to our Master Elf. As some may have noticed, I am responsible for managing an online magazine related to Tolkien gaming and scholarly stuff (see my signature). Since minis (and Mithril in particular) always were a part of the Roleplaying experience, I would welcome contributions with this focus.
It may be almsot anything you can imagine. I have listed a few below, but these should be only examples – let your imagination run free!
– Description of Mithril in general
– Description of a specific range (perhaps with images)
– Description of painting a specific mini/diorama (perhaps with description of the scene)
– Making a small story, NPC description or scene and illustrating it with pictures of painted minis/dioramas
– Using the many excellent images (your own of course or using with permission) as the hook for a short description/story
– … whatever else you might think of!It may be in ny length you prefer, from a simple one-page description with minis/diorama to any length you’d like.
Just contact me for details if you might think you have something in store that could bring a favorable impression of Mithril to a greater audience
Cheers
TolwenP.S.: I miss the
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tag in BBCode here. Could that be activated?
November 18, 2010 at 8:25 pm #13277Hi guys (and gals),
I had already once mentioned this to our Master Elf. As some may have noticed, I am responsible for managing an online magazine related to Tolkien gaming and scholarly stuff (see my signature). Since minis (and Mithril in particular) always were a part of the Roleplaying experience, I would welcome contributions with this focus.
It may be almsot anything you can imagine. I have listed a few below, but these should be only examples – let your imagination run free!
– Description of Mithril in general
– Description of a specific range (perhaps with images)
– Description of painting a specific mini/diorama (perhaps with description of the scene)
– Making a small story, NPC description or scene and illustrating it with pictures of painted minis/dioramas
– Using the many excellent images (your own of course or using with permission) as the hook for a short description/story
– … whatever else you might think of!It may be in ny length you prefer, from a simple one-page description with minis/diorama to any length you’d like.
Just contact me for details if you might think you have something in store that could bring a favorable impression of Mithril to a greater audience
Cheers
TolwenP.S.: I miss the
-
tag in BBCode here. Could that be activated?
November 19, 2010 at 6:58 am #13288Hello Thomas, Thank you very much for encouraging us to contribute Mithril based articles to Other Minds. I think it would be great if the members of both of our communities helped support each other where ever common interests lay. As you know, many of us came to Mithril originally through role-playing (it was indeed a fortunate meeting over 20 years ago between Chriss Tubb and Pete Fenlon). Perhaps some here who came to Mithril by other means might find your publication/website of interest, or even take up role-playing as a result of exposure to your website. I believe some have even contributed to OM (or Other Hands) in the past.
I encourage the members here to check out Other Minds. There is usually a nugget or two in the publication that one might find very enjoyable, even if you don’t roleplay. And Tolwen, I encourage you to let your friends and web community know that Mithril is alive and Chris is still making the best figures in the genre.
November 19, 2010 at 7:07 am #13289…. I have seen Master Tolwnes magazine and I like it. I’m not RPG fun and I do not play games but there are lots of interesting facts and information’s from Tolkien world.
Also if there would be possible to exhibit or show pictures with short stories about authors and themes about “why we love Mithril miniatures” I will do this….
All those suggestions are fine… and could help…
November 19, 2010 at 3:29 pm #13304twrich wrote:Hello Thomas, Thank you very much for encouraging us to contribute Mithril based articles to Other Minds. I think it would be great if the members of both of our communities helped support each other where ever common interests lay. As you know, many of us came to Mithril originally through role-playing (it was indeed a fortunate meeting over 20 years ago between Chriss Tubb and Pete Fenlon). Perhaps some here who came to Mithril by other means might find your publication/website of interest, or even take up role-playing as a result of exposure to your website. I believe some have even contributed to OM (or Other Hands) in the past.Thanks for your kind words. Indeed I would be glad to broaden the spectrum of OM’s contributions. By now we are quite focused on Tolkien scholarly stuff with RPG-related stuff coming second. Since we are trying hard not to be system-, publisher- or manufacturer-focused everything related to Tolkien gaming (in the very broad sense – which includes miniature collecting for sure!) is welcome. Personally I was quite frustrated by fan-efforts that were very game system-focused rather than Tolkien-content-wise and that was among the reasons for me to have a magazine with Tolkien as the focus and not a game system or specific company (e.g. as a system-support magazine)
In our view, it is the Tolkien-content that counts and should bind us in a great community – regardless what game system or manufacturer we personally prefer
Therefore I plan to also have contributions from the Tabletop community from Germany (not GW itself – there are limits) as future contributions as well to show that aspect of current Tolkien gaming as well.
I think there should – and is – enough room for all of us, especially as we have different foci within the Tolkien gaming/scholarly/collectors community.Cheers
Tolwen/ThomasNovember 19, 2010 at 3:41 pm #13305I totally understand you Tolwen as I do not game.
I just use finest LOTR minis, namely mithril, to create my own vision of middle earth.
But having news about other JRRT fans is always very inspirational.November 19, 2010 at 5:53 pm #13313I will see if I can write you some ‘how I did it’ articles on some of the dioramas and scenes that I have made. i will see if I have anything that survived my C Drive delete mistake :o. If not, I’ll start from ‘scratch’
David
November 21, 2010 at 2:45 pm #13347ddaines wrote:I will see if I can write you some ‘how I did it’ articles on some of the dioramas and scenes that I have made. i will see if I have anything that survived my C Drive delete mistake :o. If not, I’ll start from ‘scratch’That sounds really good. Hopefully this will spark more contributions about Mithril. Perhaps there are a few gamers here, who might have their PC’s (or other characters) as Mithril minis and could give a short character description with a photo of the mini as the icing on the cake. That would be the perfect symbiosis of the RPG and miniature world
Let’s see with which ideas people come up I haven’t thought of!
Cheers
ThomasNovember 21, 2010 at 5:24 pm #13352A good one to start with may be the Unexpected Party which nears completion at last
November 21, 2010 at 8:02 pm #13356ddaines wrote:A good one to start with may be the Unexpected Party which nears completion at lastIndeed. If you have any questions concerning formats, length or anything else editorial – you know whom to ask
November 23, 2010 at 12:51 pm #13393I’ve always had a problem with Mithril when it comes to be true to Tolkien. Mainly issues are:
– Full ‘medieval’ plate mail
– Tiny Hobbits (they are supposed to be half the height of a Númenóren, that is 1 meter… Mithril’s have not even half the height of an average Man!).
– Werewolves are Giant Wolves inhabited by evil spirits (the ‘were’ part is the intelligence and cunning). They have no hybrid half Human half Wolf form.
– Mithril Vampires are not Tolkien’s, they’re close to Stoker’s. Tolkien’s are not shapeshifters. I want to see a proper winged menacing monster with talons!
-Those little bearded gentlemen that they produce by the name of Dwarves… they are supposed to be ugly (they were called Naugrim and hunted by Elves at first!!). Unlike Hobbits, they should not have perfect Human proportions.
-For Eru’s sake, Woses had beards!!So, they’re official but in my opinion they are far from accurate. It’s like the vignette of Théoden’s death… his shield had a golden sun, not a white horse! Is it that difficult to make some research? Why can’t we have Gondorians shields with Tolkien’s own design of the White Tree?
Maybe it’s just me being picky, but there are many references I will never buy because they are not accurate.
So, I propose an article comparing Tolkien’s own description of some iconic troop types (i.e. half-orcs, riders of Rohan, Gondorians…) and see if the miniatures match them or not.
November 23, 2010 at 5:10 pm #13400you should have read some of Tengwar magazines Arthadan, you have to remember Mithril was linked to ICE MERP lines of products which created many things which were not, at that time, revealed from Tolkien works
some heraldry for example…. besides, some of Tolkien Heraldry fall under NO licence because they are not from LoTR…
Tolkien’s OWN special designs CAN’T be reproduced in ANY form, they are not among the licence provided by TE and could result in a trial by Tolkien ESTATE… Only those that were revealed with the LoTR could… besides I seem to remember that Theoden had a “star” shield in one version… don’t remember which one…as for werewolves and vampires, these are from MERP extrapolation…. Many designs and pictures used by Mithril and Chris Tubb back in time come from artwork by Angus McBride…
having miniatures match precisely the books is sometimes not possible technically… besides the freedom of the artist is something that can be respected…
I honestly think that Peter Jackson and Games Workshop took FAR MORE liberties to adapt and change material than Mithril has ever done…
November 23, 2010 at 6:28 pm #13404Tolwen wrote:ddaines wrote:A good one to start with may be the Unexpected Party which nears completion at lastIndeed. If you have any questions concerning formats, length or anything else editorial – you know whom to ask
As the ‘An Unexpected Party’ is now complete please let me know what guidelines are in place Tolwen and I will see what I can do
November 23, 2010 at 7:36 pm #13407ddaines wrote:As the ‘An Unexpected Party’ is now complete please let me know what guidelines are in place Tolwen and I will see what I can doWell, the guidelines are fairly easy. The text must be originally yours (or you have to have permission from the author) which holds true for any artwork (or photographs) as well. Usually we publish under the CC license (attribution_non-commercial_share-alike), so that it both gives us freedom of distribution and you as author still have control over it concerning commercial use.
As for content, there are no specific guidelines. You may write what you like as long as it is decent (OK, that normally goes without saying) and of sufficient “quality”. I do not doubt the least that all this will be no real challenge for youI guess a few photos of high quality and size would be good to illustrate your points.
This is all I can think of, so please ask me if you had something special in mind that I have not thought of.
Cheers
ThomasP.S.: And of course every contribution should be finished yesterday
November 23, 2010 at 8:02 pm #13409Arthadan wrote:I’ve always had a problem with Mithril when it comes to be true to Tolkien. Mainly issues are:
[snip]I agree that Mithril (as every miniature producing company) has taken liberties with with the original work. In some cases more so, in some less. Some issues are more irritating than others, but in the end we’re of course not forced to buy anything we personally do not like.
For a contribution such as an essay detailing the issues with Mithril *might* be correct from an objective POV, but will certainly fail to provide a positive impression of Mithril among those who still don’t know it – and will continue to buy GW (which is worse – overall, but not always [see below]).*If* you want to do a critic of Tolkien/Middle-earth minis, a better approach would be to take both a GW and Mithril version of a given character (or several characters) and compare them to the source and highlight both versions’s strengths and weaknesses. Personally, I’d see such an approach as being better rather than just one bashing a company or praise it beyond a doubt. The latter way, you are quickly seen either as being opposed on principle or an uncompromising fan unable to see flaws in his favorite company/design strategy.
Personally I see some long-standing weaknesses (again – for me!) in Mithril’s designs, but as already said, the ones in GW are more numerous and annoying for me personally. That does not mean I prefer one company by default – there are some GW designs (which is basically movie design) which I deem better in capturing the spirit of the books than its Mithril counterparts. This is only for a few though – for the majority it’s the other way round. And sometimes it’s the question whose issues are less severe, both being not wholly satisfactory for me
Tolwen
November 24, 2010 at 12:25 am #13414Gildor Inglorion wrote:you should have read some of Tengwar magazines Arthadan, you have to remember Mithril was linked to ICE MERP lines of products which created many things which were not, at that time, revealed from Tolkien worksI do, Master Gildor. I was a member of the old Fellowship with my Celebrimbor miniature. I understand that they were backing the role-play system, but what I cannot understand is why they still produce flawed designs.
Quote:some heraldry for example…. besides, some of Tolkien Heraldry fall under NO licence because they are not from LoTR…
Tolkien’s OWN special designs CAN’T be reproduced in ANY form, they are not among the licence provided by TE and could result in a trial by Tolkien ESTATE… Only those that were revealed with the LoTR could… besides I seem to remember that Theoden had a “star” shield in one version… don’t remember which one…It’s the LT6 – Theoden, King of the Mark. And in my opinion that’s the way to go, more accurate designs! I didn’t knew about the heraldry copyright, but since Peter Jackson used Gil Galad’s I guess the Tolkien State is not so overprotective about them.
Quote:as for werewolves and vampires, these are from MERP extrapolation…. Many designs and pictures used by Mithril and Chris Tubb back in time come from artwork by Angus McBride…The only Mithril vampire figure was produced some years after the MERP died. And that’s my point, why continue with all the inaccuracies now?
Quote:having miniatures match precisely the books is sometimes not possible technically… besides the freedom of the artist is something that can be respected…In my humble opinion, artistic creativity should be limited by Tolkien’s descriptions. The sculptor cannot know better than Tolkien himself how Tolkien’s characters should look like. It’s like John Howe and his paintings. The man is an artist, but he likes to paint heavy armours everywhere and they are as out of place as machine guns.
Quote:I honestly think that Peter Jackson and Games Workshop took FAR MORE liberties to adapt and change material than Mithril has ever done…Yes, they did. Don’t take me wrong, I don’t support GW/PJ vision. The Elven oriental blades, the uruk crossbows, the Gondorian heavy armour… but Sauron looks kind of cool
Tolwen wrote:*If* you want to do a critic of Tolkien/Middle-earth minis, a better approach would be to take both a GW and Mithril version of a given character (or several characters) and compare them to the source and highlight both versions’s strengths and weaknesses. Personally, I’d see such an approach as being better rather than just one bashing a company or praise it beyond a doubt. The latter way, you are quickly seen either as being opposed on principle or an uncompromising fan unable to see flaws in his favorite company/design strategy.I’d go further. Why should we limit to the ‘official’ options? There is a full Haradrim army build of historical miniatures which is one of the finest I ever seen. What about Tom Meier (Thunderbolt Mountain) Elves?
The list is endless and sometimes is easier to find a Tolkien accurate miniature if you search outside Mithril and GW. As little example, here you can see my personal favourites Great Eagles (ok, the one in the middle as a strange pose, but the other two are great) and the finest Elves I’ve ever seen.
November 24, 2010 at 6:42 am #13418I would comment only on last claim Master Arthadan… those eagles have great sculpting design, and true is that those elves are much better than last one made by Cris Tubb… specially figure MS551 Haldir Guardian of Lorien who’s great disaster for my taste….
I do not count here
MS557 Sindarin Bard
MS530 Celebrian Elven Wife of Elrond
which are great figures… but looks like they are part of the Renaissance period 😆November 24, 2010 at 10:31 am #13433True, Master Thingol. I have a soft spot or Mithril’s Elves but some of them are below the standard quality ( [mith]M398[/mith] comes to my mind).
I think is Mr. Tubb’s sensibility for capturing scenes like Gandalf and the Hobbit children with the Wizard’s hat what I like the most. But then, we have Beornings in furs… Beorn himself respected animals and killed only Wargs (and not to use their fur for clothes for sure!)… anyone can seriously imagine them killing bears to dress with their furs? (oh, to bad we have killed Grimbeorn. We need to pick another boss). Besides, furs are not a strong point of Mr. Tubb sculpting… we only need to take a look at his Wargs or at the two versions of Beorn in bear form and compare the fur work with this or this or even this (last one has a ridiculous oversized sword, but that’s easily fixable, just look the detail in her hair, chain mail and fur).
So, we have a company producing some innacurate oficial miniatures, which are not up to today standard (critic it’s not only mine, I’ve hear it in many miniatures forums). To be more precise (and with a constructive spirit, of course), most frequent critics regarding Mithril are:
– Miniature are static (the Renaissance thing pointed out by Master Thingol). It can be an stylistic choice, but nowadays more peolple are in for a more realistic approach (i.e. clothes/cloak movement and so).
– Faces are ‘minimalistic’ to say the least. Refer to the Elves in my previous post and compare with Mithril’s to see what I mean. That’s specially true in Hobbits, which seems to wear a rubber mask (only eyes, nose and mounth, not a single expression wrinkle or something). There some noce exceptions, but sadly they are exceptions.
– Mr. Tubb style has not advanced over the years, it was fine back in the day when Mithril started but nowadays seems ‘dated’. Just compare the recent Mirkwood M serie with the first Beornings and Elves and think honestly if you see any improvements (better texturing, anatomy, more natural poses…).
– They are pricey (not related with sculpture, but if you add this to the previous points it becomes a decessive reason for not buying).
As I’ve said at the start, I’m just voicing the opinions of people who are into Fantasy miniatures for years and have a wide knowledge of the different companies available (that is, not GW fanboys). And I offer this critics in a constructive way for reflexion. As I feel I’ve gone too far out of topic in this thread, if Master Gildor wants to move my post, be my guest.
November 24, 2010 at 11:35 am #13442…. This post can be considered as constructive criticism
in some points I’m agree with Master Arthadan…. in some not…
November 24, 2010 at 12:34 pm #13447Amazing!
But just going back to the samples cited in Master Arthadan’s post, did you notice that Reaper have called their wolf a “Warg”? Tolkien Enterprises obviously haven’t noticed (yet….).
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