Mithril Miniatures Lord of the Rings Newsletter December 2011

Christmas Stocking Filler Sale.

25% off Rare Stock until December 15th 2011.

Christmas 2011 Fellowship Figure.

“Easterling” was a general name given by the settled peoples of Gondor and Rohan to those nomadic tribes who inhabited the lands of eastern Rhovanion and those vast steppes beyond the sea of Rhun. Divided into many clans and tribes the Easterling peoples were pastoralists who lived in temporary tented encampments and who moved according to the pasturage available to their great herds of horses. Famed for their skill as horsemen and for their dexterity with the composite bow, the Easterlings were fearsome warriors, and on many occasions have raided and invaded the western lands. Two significant invasions into the western lands took place in the Third-age.

From 1851 to 1941 T.A. after repeated attacks and incursions, Gondorian forces were beaten back to the line of the Anduin only to snatch victory from defeat by routing the Easterlings at the field of Dagorlad. The second invasion of substance was that of the Balchoth in 2510 T.A. an Easterling people who were in the service of Sauron. They penetrated even beyond the Anduin and were beaten back with great difficulty. At various times the several tribes would unite under the leadership of a strong chieftain and at such times would be much more dangerous to their western foes. This figure represents such a chieftain.

GOOD & EVIL SUGGESTION MONTHS

Due to Mithril staff being unavailable for a week over Christmas we have combined December and January months together. Fellowship members can submit LOTR ideas for both months, ideally December is focused on a 'morally' good character and January is focused on a 'morally' bad character. This rule is not set in stone and we will accept neutrally moral characters for either month.

NEW LOTR FELLOWSHIP RELEASES:

MS567 'The Horn of Helm™'

MS569 'Hirgon™, bearer of the Red Arrow'

MS570 'Sam™ with cooking apparatus'

MS571 'Ent™ fighting a half-Orc Commander'

MS572 'Female Dorwinrim™ Wine Merchant'

These miniatures were selected by Gold Status Fellowship members, and only 150 are going to be produced. Mithril has been busy this year catching up on the ideas suggested in 2011, and is nearly back on track.

If you are interested in getting your hands on any of these limited edition miniatures then join the fellowship club today.

Upcoming Fellowship Releases Previews.

MS568 'Sauron™ at the Sammath Naur' will be released in January 2012

Approved by Middle-earth Enterprise.

"As you will probably have noticed, there has been a notable absentee in the recent Ms releases – namely Sauron at the Sammath Naur. This has been yet another instance of my perennial nervousness about making any representation of this character. For a long time I resisted any request to make the Dark-lord as I felt – and indeed still feel - that any depiction must fall short of anything that might do justice to this awful presence.

The horror of Sauron is described with such masterly language by Tolkien that any depiction must inevitably detract from the image that is built up in one’s mind. However having said that, I did of course make Sauron at Gorgoroth and Annatar, the latter of which I was reasonably pleased with. Sauron in Orodruin at the Sammath-Naur is the most difficult of all. He is no longer a malign spirit encased in black armour.

I have made three versions by now, the first in a kind of mask ( which made him look a bit like a Cylon or Dumas’ man in the iron-mask!)and the second with more elaborate headgear. which I rejected. The third version (which itself has been revised a couple of times) is a lot simpler but hopefully more effective for all that. It should be ready to ship to the factory within a couple of weeks and is almost complete. I think that this will be my last tussle with the Dark-lord, but then again, I have said that every time!" by Chris Tubb.