future MS releases (for members eyes only)

On the nickname issue:
Long ago I thought it was a silly thing calling him “the man” because somewhat reminds me of a “Voldemort” or “Sauron” thing, and it was a little “obscure” way for me to call him like that, but then on the long term I understood that it was a respectful or an affective way of speaking of him. Now that Barli has perfectly explained the issue I can now see that my second though was correct. In Spanish the equivalence would be “jefe” or “maestro” or even in some particular cases “sensei” like the Japanese do. So there is no real problem for me in calling him whichever respectful way.

On the input issue:
Maybe a group of people could drive him mad, because every individual has his own personal taste, and that in the end, can drive into problems.
I am a graphic designer (out of middle earth) and although I like to hear people thoughts, hearing too much can sometimes be very disappointing, so filtering the informations given and trying to make good decisions on lots of input can completely disrupt “the creative process” and stall it forever. I can feel the point of Chris doing that.

So to speak, the important part filtering the info can be very frustrating, or completely “game changing”, but it is a really difficult thing to do, because an artist has to be in the mood for it. Wanting to explain myself a little further, given an equation like: “put more red in this page” sharing your project with lots of people can lead to “put more orange in the page” witch in reality is similar but not the equation problem at all.
(You can exchange “red” and “orange” in the equation above for a “walking orc” and a “running orc” and maybe you will understand it better)

I asked Luthien4Tinuvielle about your statement. She transmitted me an e-mail with all the conversation history and I must strongly disagree with you Master Gildor.

I agree to a sizeable extent regarding the lack of consistency with JRRT’s vision – Mithril figures’ ‘accuracy’ was compromised from the outset by its adherence to MERP/ICE’s dubious interpretation of many things. But another complication must always be that how any one individual ‘sees’ Tolkien’s characters after reading his books is unlikely to agree with everyone or anyone else’s. As the old adage says, it’s hard to please all of the people all of the time.

Yes, interpretation is one thing. But there are also several instances where we have a very clear and unmistakeable statement in the books about a topic, but this is simply ignored in the miniature(s). I could more or less live comfortably with differing interpretations where the evidence is ambiguous, but expect it to stick closely to the description if there is one. And the lack of the latter is what bothers me – not the former.

Cheers
Thomas

We have discussed this indeed and know each other POV well. Personally I don’t care at all for continuity in this case, if it compromises an improvement in the range concerning careful consideration of the sources.

We don’t have to get into that any deeper as it has been discussed more than enough. For me, I am by now seriously considering of leaving the GF, as it doesn’t develop in those aspects that are most important for me. The characters that I favour win in any case (seldomly) or not at all (mostly). Thus my participation doesn’t make a difference and I can still decide on a case by case base whether I buy anything or not.
I don’t defend the GW (or PJ) design per se, as there were lots of less well done things as well, but for some things they are IMO indeed better than Mithril’s versions (for various reasons). The standstill (=continuity) by Mithril in – IMHO – important areas is indeed frustrating for me and the reason for this and the previous post.

And as I see only minimal or no development in the Mithril design as alluded above, it’s one more reason to get a bit more detached from Mithril (not totally, but with a bit more distance) and look more to other companies for (IMO) better fitting Middle-earth miniatures – even if they don’t have that label sticking on them.

Cheers
Tolwen

I’ve “lost sight of the ball” over the past few months, but do I get the impression that Chris has stopped working on everything?

This is good news.2 holes to be filled then.