Ral Partha Imperial Dragon - Tom Meier 1982

My only ever visit to the US of A was back in 1982. I was almost 21 at the time and the lure of the lead was already deep. I shared rooms with my mum and dad ( both long gone now, God bless them) so would often leave them to enjoy their own company. We stayed overnight on arrival in Flagstaff at the Best Western where I met a young waitress named Shirley Wangle... we wrote for a few years but then it fizzled off. Often wonder what happened to her. Anyway, I digress. I had been asked by Lyndsey Le Doux Patton (now of course married to Rick Priestley) to pick up a copy of the Ral Partha limied edition Imperial dragon. I don't think I was working for the Manchester shop at the time but I certainly spent a lot of time in there. I managed to pick up two from a hobby shop and ordered a bunch of other stuff for forwarding over that never arrived of course... grrrr etc. I half painted mine (see below) and did buy another UK one... again, see below. 

In 2015 I did a small interview with the wonderful Tony Ackland. He mentioned different versions of the Imperial Dragon being released... 

 There is however the 'how many versions of Citadel castings of Tom Meier's Imperial Dragon were there episode'.

DW     There were different versions of the Imperial Dragon?

TA       Tom invited the Perrys and myself to add items to the treasure mound on the master castings. As items were added at different times during tje making of the production moulds there were has I remember three versions. I remember one of the things I added was a MP40 machine pistol. Tom had included an umbrella and a toaster.

DW     I would guess they would only be on the English castings? I'll have a look as I have a couple of the US ones.....both were in sealed boxed from new....when I opened them a couple of years ago one was missing the tail...... I always loved the sense of humour in the early Citadel miniatures; something I believe has gone now with the 'corporate' image.

TA       Those were the English castings although the anachronisms that Tom put in are in the American castings. They do need a close look to find.

Full interview here; http://www.deartonyblair.co.uk/2015/05/the-lure-of-lead-interview-with-tony.html

This is one of the UK castings... so much rot when I opened it a few years back and also missing its tail.

I picked up a cheap one off eBay about 8 years ago for a tail and the (hidden) tail end was like this.

My half painted one... held together by epoxy resin of course.

Below you can see the (cracking with lead rot) UK bowler hat and umbrella...

Comparison with the US version;

You can almost make out the Uzi although rot has taken its toll.

A second version of the leaflet with an illustration by Tony I believe... a friend sent me this pic, not sure where its from so all qdos to the owner and I'll remove if it's a problem of course.

Rick (Priestley) often says that they never used any poor quality / cheap alloys but I reckon some crept in somehow. I've so many pieces that I've now binned as they are not saveable. A great hobby friend (Mike Broadbent) collected many of the miniatures from the late Joe Dever's collection and loads were cracking. A damned shame. I did pick up a 15mm Manticore (about £35 if I remember rightly) that sits somewhere nicely.

The Little Soldier Company (that's me of course) has a wonderful tribute to the dragon by Tom Pickford. It's a resin peice with not may castings left as the mold guy did a runner wih everything (hopefully he'll get his just reward at some point). I got some moulds back but the master now has a new head sculpted by John. Don't know if it'll ever be released though as sales were poor and I've never recouped my costs. Don't go into the miniature business folks!

https://thelittlesoldiercompany.co.uk/product/the-treasure-dragon/

The second version... John removed the head andresculpted to an open mouthed one.

The only pics I have from the 1982 holiday. My mum and I sitting by the hotel pool and one with my dad from around the Grand Canyon. A lot of great memories and I do so miss them both.

Whilst uploading the dragon pics into my RP folder I saw these that I painted for Jacob at Ral Partha Legacy. He wanted to base them himself so they were left black. Wonderful old Empire of the Petal Throne miniatures by Tom Meier from the later 70's along with a couple of his much later slugs from Thunderbolt Mountain (Jacob produces them all under license).

https://ralparthalegacy.com/collections/insect-men

That's all for now folks. I'm looking out at the rain pouring down as I type this... we don't get good wether for long in the UK. More soon.

enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Game of Thrones - failed Testors licence minis by Tom Meier

 

Back in the late noughties I picked up a bunch of these wonderful sculpts by the legendary Tom Meier, one of my favourite sculptors. I came across them again last week and asked if anyone knew anything... Jacob Fathruckner of Ral Partha Legacy gave me this;

As I recall, Testors had a license to produce the Song of Ice and Fire properties, before Darksword got involved.  They released a 54mm set or two, and then had Tom sculpt this range.  I think there was some kind of management change at Testors, or at least change of direction on this kind of project, and this line was shelved.  When Darksword picked up the license from Martin, he suggested that they use Tom as their sculptor.

There is more on Google of course, I suppose I should have gone there first but I always prefer to use the hive mind.

The Testors Game of Thrones project was an officially licensed line of miniatures, dioramas, and wargaming rules announced in 2005 based on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. However, the ambitious line was largely canceled in 2007, resulting in only a single rare release.

The Planned CollectionThe Testor Corporation originally partnered with Martin to release several highly detailed figure lines designed by master sculptor Tom Meier. 

The comprehensive roadmap included:

Pre-painted figures: 1/18 scale resin figures.

Metal Signature Pieces: 54mm metal figures and finished dioramas.

Miniature Wargame: A skirmish game featuring 28-32mm pewter figures, with rules focused on conflicts like the Night's Watch and the Wildlings.

The "Ruby Ford" Release;

Only one product actually made it to the market: the limited-edition "Ruby Ford" pewter diorama. This highly sought-after 54mm scale collectible depicts the final battle between Robert Baratheon and Rhaegar Targaryen at the Battle of the Trident. It was released in two formats—an unassembled kit and an unpainted pewter display piece, with a total production run limited to 1,500 pieces worldwide.

Despite strong initial interest and quality sculpting, packaging, shipping, and breakage issues plagued the release of the Ruby Ford diorama. Combined with changing priorities and personnel within the Testor Corporation, George R.R. Martin ultimately pulled the license in April 2007, and the remainder of the miniature line was scrapped. Today, the "Ruby Ford" piece is a highly prized artifact for collectors of A Song of Ice and Fire memorabilia.

George R.R.Martin's own website shows these snippets;

https://georgerrmartin.com/testor-corporation-releases-ruby-ford-limited-edition/

https://georgerrmartin.com/for-fans/knights/the-knights-of-the-seven-kingdoms/

Most information of course from the man who knew;

https://georgerrmartin.com/miniatures-miniatures-and-more-miniatures/

Below are the images of mine. They are simply beautiful sculpts, as to be expected from the hands of Tom.

A set did sell on eBay at some point although I don't have a membership so couldn't tell you when or how much etc.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/game-thrones-miniatures-x8-tom-meier-428028497

Below are the various images picked up at the time and are all for informative purposes only. Copywrite belongs with the respective owners and I will, of course, remove anything if it is problematic.

I did collect the Darksword miniatures and the range is still going strong although I don't think there have been any new releases since a Kickstarter a few years back? Annoyingly the Kickstarter minis didn't come blistered with individual figures as they normally do. I might have waited to get them from retail if I'd know... grrrr etc.

Their full range is at the link below. I really must sort out what I'm missing.

https://www.darkswordminiatures.com/product-category/miniature-lines/george-r-r-martin-masterworks/

As always, leave a comment or shoot me an email on;

enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk