Saturday, January 14, 2023

Concerning Hobbits

Every self respecting Tolkien gamer wants hobbits in their collection. I mean, Elves and Dwarves are cool and very well armed, but Hobbits know what's really important. 

But getting halfling figures that look like how I imagine the characters in the books is problematic. 

The Games Workshop hobbits are pretty good, but awfully dear. Although maybe that's my age. Is Cdn$5/ figure that bad anymore for metal? Yes, really it is. Conqueror Model dwarves are half that price even without the bundle discounts. Also the poses are terribly repetitive.

Mantic halfings are well, just odd. Plus you've got to buy them in sets with different units and I don't want dog riding hobbits, thank you.

Copplestone Castings are excellent, but pack assortment makes unit building problematic. They would mix well with the Games Workshop hobbits I think. Although there is a very nice option to buy unit packs through Northstar Games.

Wargames Atlantic plastic halfling militia are a good price, but suffer from Big Heads and are, in my opinion, very well equipped for how I imagine a Shire levy would look. I got a sample sprue through Wargames Soldiers & Strategy magazine a few years back.

Patrick remembered me musing about using 1/72 scale/ 20mm figures and gifted me a box of the Airfix Robin Hood figures as a late Christmas present. I was happy to notice that they are the same height as my Merry figure, and very similar builds too. Although getting more of this Out of Print set would frankly be impossible unless I wanted to pay stupidly high eBay Collector prices.

L-R: Wargames Atlantic halfling militia, Airfix Robin Hood figure, GW Merry. See what I mean about Big Heads?

A lot of figures have very exaggerated feet too. In 3d printing land there is the Halfling Modular Bundle from Minihoarder. The poses are kind of stiff and have rather ridiculous feet. Costuming is on point though.

For now I can get a couple of units of skirmishers and a unit of light infantry out of the Robin Hood set. Perhaps once I've finished painting Dwarves I'll splash out on some Copplestone figures. Perhaps this is all just an excuse to build some hobbitholes?


2 comments:

  1. I picked up a couple of sets of Airfix Robin Hood over the last 5 years. One was covered in a toy solder paint job and gloss varnish, the other unpainted. I paid about 0.12 per figure on average. It just takes a lot of patience to spot the bargains.
    Too much of eBay is clogged with commercial traders, making it hard to spot the individuals trying to sell their unwanted stuff instead of pitching it into the bin.

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    1. Nice! Youve got a great little Lion or Dragon Rampant force there.
      I envy my friends who have the patience to hunt for bargains on eBay. I however, do not.
      That takes too much long range planning. I try to keep my leadpile reduced by only buying what I want at the moment.

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