The Taproom

Rhuoommm … while I was trying to pass on my latest entry dear Master Barliman once again was quicker in responding … huoommm … I thought of him as being asleep … huoomm … but he seems to be much faster than Ents … huoommm …

huoomm… yes, I saw that, Master Barliman … huommmrhuoomm … oh, of course I didn’t take any harm from your absence at the bar … rhuoomm … Nob’s doing a good job over there, meseems …. rhuom … yes, he does … as for you, Master Barliman, I would like to wish you all the best for the rest, so to say … gruoommm … see you again, once you are awake … huomm…
I hope you don’t mind that in the meanwhile I dumped all them bar-tabs you keep hidden behind the bar … huomm … it’s a mess … rhuoomm … not only to keep them wargskins clean … huom…. anyway, I can cope with that …. gruuoohuommmhommmhomrhuom

I am glad that they have the undercoat problems worked out before they released the next M-series.

If they release four or five sets, I think that they will have covered the topic pretty thoroughly and included something to please everyone.

Why does it take sooooo looooonnnnngggg to see the next M-series release?

I know about waiting to get approved, but come on, I will be an old man before they release all of these Helm’s Deep sets!

Sorry, got carried away.

I wrote a “bomb-post” on the official board, in my own 5th anniversary topic… I hope it won’t have negative repercutions, but with such a post, I think Michael will be forced to give a clear answer…

(I know some people at Mithril may not like me a lot…. with all my “strikes” at their communication/marketing policies. Of that I do not care… I just hope that the person I quote in my post won’t be mad at me for quoting him from a personal mail he sent me…)

Something striked me today… in the first months/years of the GF program, people were submitting original ideas, things that would be “out of the ordinary”… now many suggestions…winning suggestions become more and more “ordinary” not very exotic… and that seems to be linked to the fact there are less and less regular releases and so people suggest whatever they’d like in mthril no matter if it is “special or not” considering that anyway…GF figurines are the only ones to be released….
that’s … dangerous.. in the long term… people will cease to ask for regulars or only armies…armies..armies… and mithril will definitly cease to care

There are still plenty of named charicters that have not been made yet. Between all of us we could probably come up with 100.

I could direct you to the “encyclopedia of Arda” to give you dozens of names still unused from the LotR but I was not especially talking about “names” , for a change… indeed Pippin looking through the palantir is what I consider “original” even if there are several Pippin already, this one would be original…
now when the suggestion do not bear anything of original in their description like “elven bard/travelling elf” “troll/orc standard bearer/war drummer” these are not so “original” and would be perfect for “regulars”. Don’t take me wrong, I like the ideas, I just find it odd/sad/afraid to see such suggestion having to be suggested for the Gold Fellowship instead of regulars … so that people tend to believe regulars are only for armies…

there has not been any regular release that is NOT army related since the “MERP characters” and if you look at them, well any of the MERP characters could have been GF suggestions if you look at the current suggestions… that’s the same kind of thing you find…

The problem here is not from Mithril directly but indirectly… Due to the lack of regular releases and announces on WHAT will be released (even if it takes months to be released) GF members suggest “every kind of thing” special or not… sometimes they win sometimes they don’t but if you look at the list of suggestions, the quantity of “not-so-special” suggestions is striking… and that’s… dangerous…
People should address mithril their concerns with more conviction about what they want to see released in stores… that’s what the wishlist is for…

One must not forget that the GF membership is only open to persons who are aware of the Mithril site and have direct access to it (which means speaking english at least) … there are currently more than 50 releases of Mithril that have never reached the ears of the “non-collectors” and for the casual customer, the fact is : “Mithril has not released anything for a year, and it was only 10 figurines…. and before that, nothing in a year or so either… which tends to make people think it is “dead or almost”… while it is the total opposite, considering that having the opportunity to have suggestions realised EACH month is a proof of good healthcare!

“Welcome to the dark corner lads” a voice says from behind a long pipe.

I have been concerned about this state of affairs at Mithril for some time. It seems that we are the “hard-core” fans who keep Mithril alive. I agree with Gildor that the certain knowledge that they can sell most (and sometimes all) of the MS releases has given Mithril a comfort that it doesn’t have with regular M releases. And like many, I wish that we would have more regular releases so that the GF ideas could focus more on the “special” figures.

But one important point is being overlooked: Chris doesn’t just produce for Mithril, he has many PA projects which are profitable and released in high numbers because they are promoted by PA–just go to their web-site. And Chris does contract work for other companies, and that is also very profitable for him, and time consuming. Combined with the troubles in dealing with MEE, it is not surprising that he finds little time for M series, especially when Mithril isn’t that interested and they take so long to be approved. Believe me, he has many ideas and would like to create them. But he also has kids at university and other responsibilities.

So in the end, we take what we can get from MEE, Mithril and Chris. There is no question in my mind that he is the premier small-scale figure sculptor in the world, and I feel glad to own his pieces. As for “ordinary” suggestions for the GF, well, it is a democracy of sorts, and I wouldn’t give up even one member, no matter what they suggest. Believe me when I say that there IS a danger that Mithril stops producing these figures, and that is much more “dangerous” than having another standard bearer or generic figure!

Even now the planning of the Hobbit movie is going forward with Peter Jackson taking a supervisory/advisory role and the hiring of a new director. These are “dangerous” times for the small companies like Mithril who do have licenses and MEE drags their feet partly because the have so many more profitable business arrangements to focus on now. They don’t care that we eagerly anticipate The Helms Deep releases, and Mithril won’t push them for fear of hurting their relationship, which is felt to be good by them at this point.