dispatches from terra incognita

Category: Reaper Bones

Oz, Two Ways

When my lads were young, my wife read them all of L. Frank Baum’s original Oz stories. For many years, though fadingly now, Oz enjoyed a mythical status in the family.

A particular favorite character of mine was Tik-Tok, absolutely due to his steam-punky vibe. Awhile back, Old Glory Miniatures and Chris Abbey from Sally 4th ran a Kickstarter for a new line of miniatures, loosely-based on Oz lore. I got swept up a bit; through my own willful myopia, I mistakenly believed that Colonel Tik-Tok’s Infantry Regiment  was to be led by my old friend. Alas, that colonel is just a run-of-the-mill Munchkin. At any rate, I now have a bunch of Oz-inspired, Napoleonic/steampunk minis, including their take on Dorothy and her crew.

We have here Zoraster the Wizard and the five Adventurers of Ozz — lion, scarecrow, tin woodsman, Dorothy, and Toto. They are all completely whackadoodle, but interesting, I suppose.

Next up are (apparently) four of Admiral Jinjur’s Female Pirates. They are sold on the website in a pack of 20 — I shall have to look back in the box to see if I have 16 more.

 

For another take on Oz, still, sadly, sans Tik-Tok, we got to my hoard of Reaper Bones. These were characterized as “Steampunk” versions of the Oz crew.

Dorothy with a gun is pretty cool, I guess; the scarecrow looks mean. I thunk someone somewhere converted the “lion” into Hellboy. Anyhoo, I can add all of them to the “Completed” column. In a 2 second search, I did find an STL for a 3D print version Tik-Tok — maybe there is a miniature of him out there somewhere.

Welcome, 2022

More time has passed than I would have wished. It seems I was more affected by my return to in-person teaching than I had anticipated. And, alas, my wife and I rang in this new year harboring an unwelcome omicronian infestation. We are both solidly on the mend and looking forward to better times in the New Year.

It seems my miniature collection has few two-faced denizens — please accept this Reaper ettin as a proxy Janus.

Despite my radio silence, I have been keeping up a steady pace of painting, 3D printing, and mdf construction (though I have been slower to finish painting my buildings). There remains little rhyme or reason to my regimen — one possible theme would be “try to paint a bunch of stuff that has been hanging around forever.”

To that end, I present a second dual-headed miniature, a blast from my past I have dubbed “Onward with Arne and Gax.”

I’ve had these chaps, unprimed and unloved, sitting in a box for 20 years. They were gifted to me during my brief stint as a voting member of GAMA (The Game Manufacturers Association), hoping to inveigle my vote for the Origins award, I believe. I’m still endeavoring to determine who made them. (Thus far, Googling and image searches have been for naught.) I’ve completed a couple of other minis from the same haul, along with three of my first-ever adulthood miniature purchases, all to be shared anon.

Anyhoo, my best wishes to one and all that 2022 will be a year of wonders.

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