The Unexpected Party

[Alatar]

A few have heard me talk about Mithril Miniatures before. These are made in Ireland and they have held the LotR license for years, long before the movies, or Games Workshops range.

Anyway, they have just announced this new series based on the Unexpected party. Rather than snapshot a single moment they have decided to create a single scene comprising several iconic moments from the party, so we have a few Dwarves washing dishes, some playing instruments, while Gandalf and Thorin examine Thror's Map.

From what I can understand, the figures will either be available individually, or in packs of two or three. The base will be available seperately to allow for the full vignette to be assembled as shown below. No word on pricing yet!

Here is the latest image of the Designer MX release. This is the complete set. We are still awaiting the figures from Chris, and until we get them we cannot work out the price, but we will do our best to give you the information this month.
However it looks like we will have to release the set in January as time is passing too quick for us to make moulds for this complex set in time for Christmas. Its a pity but unless a miracle occurs it will be 2010 before you can get your hands on this masterpiece.

[Alatar]

27 views and no replies! Wow.

Did everyone just not like it and were to polite to say so?

[Aravar]

No, I tihnk it's a great little tableau.

I've alway liked the Mithril Miniatures, and regret missing the trip to the factory on the first Ireland moot.

I have a few myself, but, like virtually all my figures, they remain stubbornly unpainted.

[Primula Baggins]

I think it's a really appealing collection, but I would never be able to paint them properly!

[Teremia]

I think I was 2 of those views! I really like this tableau -- and somehow it never occurred to me that a person might want to paint the figures.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I think it's a really appealing collection, but I would never be able to paint them properly!

Me too. The only reason my Túrin figurine looks so good is that a really cool person 5000+ miles away painted it for me.

I do like the Unexpected Party tableau, but I'm not much of a collector. I should have responded earlier, however.

[Primula Baggins]

When my brother was a boy, he collected and painted figures like this, though his interest was armies of the Napoleonic era. I remember him sitting at the kitchen table, patiently working away with brushes consisting of a single hair to get all the gold braid and brass buttons and plumes perfect. It would have made me scream then, it would make me scream now. But the results were gorgeous.

[MithLuin]

My brothers paint the figurines from Games Workshop, with some very nice results. They have quite a few of them by now, though I don't have any pictures handy to share.

It takes patience, but it's worth the time/effort for the results!

[Alatar]

Hmm. Pricey enough! Hope the pic isn't too big...

UPDATE: Price Options: now that we have all the pieces we can arrange a price and we have multiple payment plans. This release will be made available early in January.

1. Buy the entire 15 figures + accessories + base for just 180 Euro.
2. Buy set but pay in 40 Euro per month for 5 months (credit card).
3. Buy set but pay 20 Euro per month for 11 months (credit card).

[Voronwë the Faithful]

It's bigger than we usually like to have, but in this case I think we should make an exception so that the detail can be seen.

It's pricey, but worth it for what it is. Very impressive detail.

[axordil]

I always liked Mithril's dwarves.

[Griffon64]

Wow, such detail! Worth the price, for sure. But quite a sum!

[Alatar]

Well, I decided some of my redundancy should be put to a frivolous use! I've pre-ordered the full set! Here's some painted examples, and a description by the designer.

Chris Tubb's thoughts on his vignette

I was delighted when the suggestion was first made that we produce an Mx series depicting the "Un-expected party". This is personally my favourite kind of theme, harking back in many ways to the far off days of the "Prancing pony" which I think has always been my favourite release. I love pieces that contain some whimsy and humour, other examples of this being Lobelia and Lotho, Gandalf and the Hobbit children and the series with Beorn's dogs.

The Unexpected party has provided me with plenty of scope to indulge these preferences. This piece is probably the most ambitious that I have undertaken as the designer of Mithril.

It depicts the scene from the first chapter of "The Hobbit" where Bilbo first meets Thorin's band of Dwarves and agrees to go with them to the Lonely mountain as "burglar". There are four distinct phases in the chapter; the feast, the clearing-up, the music-playing and the planning of the venture. Rather than selecting just one of these, I decided to conflate the various phases together in order to produce a visually more interesting piece. I have grouped the Dwarves together in distinct sub-vignettes each of two or three figures.

So starting from the left we see Nori and Ori , one practicing on the flute while the other still has his in a little pouch at his side.

Next is the central group of three figures comprising Balin, Gandalf and Thorin. Gandalf and Thorin are both seated and smoking their pipes while the map lies upon the latter's lap. I decided to place Balin (always the most important of the group after Thorin himself) next to them as if also taking part in this the only serious conversation that is happening in the vignette.

The next group of three, namely Bifur, Bombur and Bofur were the obvious choice for a group of feasting Dwarves, with Bombur in the centre enjoying the biggest plate of food in the room.

Fili and Kili are next , the latter tuning up his fiddle while Fili sits ready to play.

The next group of three is the furthest spread out and provides the focus of action in the scene. Dwalin and Dori carry precariously balanced piles of plates through the room while Bilbo, as the real centre of the piece looks on with great anxiety.

Finally Oin and Gloin can be seen at the far right the one enjoying the Hobbits feast and the other ( Gloin) taking a second helping from the table.

I have also tried to keep some identity between the various sets of Dwarves reflecting their kinship. So each pair or triplet has some common hair, beard and clothing styles. The Bombur group all have their long hair tied at the back, while Balin and Dwalin show a similar receding hairline and have their long beards tucked into their belts.
Dori , Ori and Nori all have similar clothing styles, and Fili and Kili, being the youngest have more lustrous hair growth than their companions.
Oin and Gloin wear hooded surcoats while Thorin has a plaited beard and edged tunic.

[Frelga]

Of all such things I've seen, I think this is my favorite. I don't collect, myself, and even I am tempted.

Lufu's school is offering an after-school class in painting miniatures. He's not interested, though.

[Alatar]

Another Hobbit related release, sorta!

The White Council.



This one is much more reasonably priced, at €65

[Elentári]

Now that is fab!

I might even be tempeted myself....


...but surely there should be more characters present? There are 3 empty chairs, anyway!

[Alatar]

I believe its Gandalf, Saruman, Galadriel, Elrond and either Glorfindel or Círdan.

[Alatar]

Its Círdan actually:

There are 5 characters, Gandalf the Grey, Saruman the White, Elrond, Galadriel and Círdan, as well as 8 chairs, a large inscribed base and a matching table with 4 legs. It will be packed in a beautiful blue box. All for just 64.95 Euro.

[Elentári]

That's fine, but I would have expected to see some 'other lords of the Eldar' such as Glorfindel and Celeborn, and possibly Erestor...

ETA: other possibilities discussed here

[Alatar]

Personally I'm glad they only went with five. You add at least €10 per figure for a diorama like this. Hence the very hig price of Unexpected Party!