Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder. Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels. Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies. Elves are glamorous. They project glamour. Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment. Elves are terrific. They beget terror. The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind words that have changed their meaning. No one ever said elves are nice. Elves are bad.
Terry Pratchett, 'Lords and Ladies'
I first saw these figures last spring on the Eureka Miniatures' Facebook page (lurking under Sarah's profile) and knew I had to get a set. They immediately reminded me of Brian Frond and Alan Lee's illustrations in 'Faeries' published way back in the late 70s when I was just a kid.
These are about 20mm in height, but their very slight physiques make them look quite smaller. Even though they've been scaled to blend with the other 28mm figures from Eureka's fantasy range, I like to think of them at being 'true scale', 1:1. To reinforce this I have Tom leaping from a thimble (kindly sourced from Lynn, Peter's (infinitely) better half).
I love how dynamic the poses are. In my minds eye, their movement echos films like 'Peter Pan' and 'Princess Mononoke'.
The sculpts are very fine and intricate, with each figure's sword even having a unique basket/guard detail. Really lovely stuff.
So, how do you get these wonderful little gems? I'll be frank here: I absolutely love Eureka's stuff. It's creative, beautifully sculpted and masterfully cast. But don't ask me how to actually source these freakin' models (I finally had to send then a direct query as I was completely stumped). I find the Eureka website has been ingeniously designed to discourage people from actually purchasing their products. It's completely impenetrable and torturous - it's as if the site was designed by the Marquis de Sade and coded by Kafka. By the time you find something you've been looking for you feel like they should be paying you for the aggravation and waste of time.
Sigh... , but I digress.
Yes, I'll still be there, searching and clicking like a madman, when the next shiny thing emerges from Eureka...
I feel better now (rocks back and forth), no really, I do.
I feel better now (rocks back and forth), no really, I do.
Happy New Year to you and yours, everyone!
