My Top Ten Miniatures Ever

The above image has been floating around lately, as people have been listing their top ten miniatures of all time. My top ten is below. I found it hard separating out the figures from favourite paintjobs and got tangled up in all sorts of shapes. In the end I ignored the dispute in my brain and just chose stuff I like. I've thought about this over several days, farming images and all that. I could have chosen a top 50, so ten was rock. Here they are:

Sir Monne de la Monte. Great name. Paladin niceness.  Got him.

Moon Face. What?! A classic. Want him.

Wizards with chainsaws - unstoppable. Want him.

Always tickled me this one. The best of the Thruds. A bitch to paint though apparently. Want him. 

Bit of a cheat here: all the Heroquest figures. Seminal. Great memories. Got them.

A bonafide legend. Had him. Sold him. Stoopid.

Another bonafide legend: Slambo.  Got him.

Reprazenting all Ork Nobz. Got this one. Would like several more please.

Goblin wolf riders for the win. Want them, never free and easy enough to pay for them.

Humour, silliness, Snotlings. Want them.

Here's a list showing what went through my head. Throw in a liberal browse through the Combat Cards, 'Eavy Metal and saved favourites in coolminiornot, it's been exhausting:

Marauder Dark Elf
Sir Monne
Ogre Hryythog
Ork Nob
Dwarf smoking pipe
Marauder Warrior Colombari
Snotling Barrel
Kev Adams Gobbo
Snakey Chaos
Double-end Weapon Minotaur Slannesh
Amazonian
Astropath
Slambo
Thrud scratching head
Heroquest - all of
Gandalf - ME version
Banquo
Jesus Fish thing
Chaos with scythe and devil sign hand
Pointy-beard Inquisitor Terminator
Orc Champion, front of Combat Cards
Redemptionists
Dwarf stilts
Dwarf on toilet
See side of AHQ box for figures
Beakie tech marine, RT-era
Nurgle fly head
Original Leman Russ
Talisman Elf, both variations
Ork Goff Rockers

I think it's time for a rest. Doing this on a mobile phone has ruined me. 

RT-era Marine "progress" and wishlist

For a man as busy as me, actually daubing some paint onto a mini is a great achievement. Hardly much to write home about, but some paint found its way onto a figure lately. See the image below. Most recently, and as a means to inspire, I've been fantasising about doing one thing in particular, something I've been meaning to do for the last couple of years: get in touch with Martyn Dorey so as to visit his home and his unfeasibly glorious collection of Citadel miniatures. Furthermore, I shall be looking to get together with him and the Tman, aka freakinacage, aka Tim Manning, for a painting session at Firestorm. That'd be about ideal I'd say.

The North

Work has seen fit to pack me off to The North later. Not 'The North' of English fame, but rather the north of Wales. The north-west actually, and particularly Caernarfon. I'll be wending my way along the A470, through the heartland of Wales and Mabinogion country. It's an epic place, full of myth and mystery. I may be chased by giants or find myself transported to the otherworldly Annwn. If I make it back I'll almost certainly be a changed person. If I don't, I'll be found with King Arthur and Owain Glyndwr having a pint of mead and planning an incredible return. Safe journey...

Oldhammer on Google+

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/110279641043726842173

Great times.

Flying Ants Pt.2

After my efforts of last week, I was devastated to see three more queens make their way out of another section of skirting board. I ended up sealing the entire length of wall, between wooden floor and skirt, with clear silicone sealant. The exterior on the pavement side needs re-filleting before the house turns into Insect World. It's becoming a mania. These ants are haunting my dreams. My fear now is that it'll happen in the living room. Twitchy.

eBay Citadel Silliness Pt.2

Performing a u-turn, I decided to carry on with my eBay adventures via the Best Offer route, and I've actually achieved something near a satisfactory settlement for x2 pieces. The key to reaching a heightened state of eBay bliss in this instance was to make both purchases through the same seller, so as to receive a decent postage reduction. It takes comms and haggling, but the seller I was dealing with played his hand perfectly. It was the opposite of the Monty Python beard purchase scene in Life Of Brian. Very smooth. I think the Best Offer set-up is a seller's means of achieving a sensible price without the risk of a decent piece selling for 99p by accident, but without the blind stupidity of a high BIN price. A decent seller will listen to bids and haggle, but if someone feels the need to pay a bit more to secure the win then I suppose everyone is happy. Except for one bellend who had Best Offer set up on his auction but with a reserve as well as a BIN price. What a massive twat.  People like that need a good, physical drubbing, etc. 

There are so many Citadel miniatures up for grabs at any one time on eBay that I know in my very bones it should be a buyer's market, but we're not seeing the benefit. I'm definitely going to have to progress with the approach I used this time, and hopefully the experience will be as positive. The seller is a magicusermodels, which I'm more than happy to share after my positive experience.  The figs:

And have you seen the price of Skaven these days? You couldn't give them away before. Robbing bastards. 

eBay Citadel Silliness

Genuinely miffed at my recent forays on eBay. Trying to buy Citadel miniatures for a decent price is becoming nigh-on impossible due to the biggest sellers (or a majority of them at least) upping the ante with high-end Buy It Now prices or else auctions with daft starting prices and over-priced postage costs. My hope is that we're looking at a buyers' market that's going through a blip, and a bit of sense from the buyers (and by that I mean not forking out daft amounts) might see a bit of normality restored. There are still some big sellers who will start at £0.99 and use a sensible postage policy, but it's not the norm any more. And as they're so well regarded in citadel collecting circles, they're pieces sell for high prices. Can't grumble about that, as it's what eBay is about. Flat, over-priced BIN prices do my head in though: put it out there on auction, list it in comprehensive fashion/format, and see where it all ends up. I've seen my own auctions go for just about (personally) acceptable amounts, purchased by some big sellers, only to see them re-auctioned with incredibly optimistic BIN prices. And I see them automatically relist due to the high prices, sometimes multiple times. But here's the crux: a big seller can play the waiting game, and when some dickwad finally pays the OTT price, the seller wins. They inflate the market by using this policy. And that's economics I suppose, but it is a manipulated economy. Does my head in. 

Flying Ant Invasion

I'm used to seeing flying ants at this time of year, but it's a different story when the blighters are using the house as a den of iniquity.  I found them squeezing out of a hole in the skirting board in the dining/kitchen area, before attempting to engage in sexual congress.  I reckon I hoovered up about 20 queens and roughly the same amount of feller ants.  Some male remnants near the french doors suggested there had already been some funny stuff.  I had to liberally employ PVA glue to seal up the skirting board.  I'm now waiting for the inevitable secondary invasion when they find their way out of another part of the skirting board, and I'm getting well twitchy the more I think about it.  They have massive underground systems don't they, and when the fliers really come out properly, it's a proper swarm.  I'm bricking it frankly.  I love nature outdoors, not indoors.  Since spring we've had to deal with a fruit fly invasion and a sustained assault from woodlice, as well as having to watch out for snails.  Now the ants.  It's like Jumanji in here.

Cadbury's Sinister Agenda?

Talk about hiding in plain site:

I think it's quite clear what the real agenda is here. I normally see this look in town when people have over-indulged on the old disco biscuits. Cadbury are brazenly acknowledging the effect their products have on nippers. Child stimulants.

TNF

Thursday night is 5-a-side night. Thursday Night Football (TNF) has been running for years through work, though it's been played on Wednesdays and Tuesdays at various times. I need it like I need food and drink. It's a quality skit. It's also currently my only real exercise in the week, as I've eased off of jogging. My bike is gathering dust too.  Terrible times for my weight-loss initiative (i've got a graph and all sorts). Actually, I'm possibly a pound or two lighter than this time a fortnight ago, and I'd like to be able to say the same two weeks from now. For tea I had croque monsieur, so I'll need to run for two. Grim. 

Long live the dream.

Edit: it finished 99-98. We had 12 players. It was beyond incredible. TNF forever. 

Greenskinz and Eldar ebay purchases

I poichased two pieces recently, stripping one down in dettol. Here are the pieces, with an additional greenskin just for the love of it all:

With the Eldar piece, I want to go either Dire Avenger style with the blue/yellow and the classic white/black plume, or else a bit more old-skool with the green/yellow look of the 80's, the type where there are reddish accents here and there and the suit looks organic. Saying that, I found a nice look in a compilation of 'Eavy Metal. Not sure how it'd come off on the Eldar piece I have, but I do have a Scout it'd suit:

 

The greenskin I bought is the WFB piece, just because I need to paint some skin. His face is class. The other I got very cheap for RT-era Freebooterz. Here's a nice example of it painted. Inspiring stuff: