I do not have a decent way to take photos. My cell phone is not up to the task.
There are photos of our club on Fred's site: Warplay

I host weekly Flames of War games. (Group play 4 feet by 24 feet)
Photos Here:

http://www.warplay.com/Warplay01-ASWA%2 ... 20Club.htm

The ASWA is an HMGS chapter We mostly play Historical games.
I am the only one who plays LOTR.
I will work on some kind of Gallery now that I have retired. I will need to borrow a camera so this may take some time.

I am Charlie

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Nod. Exactly what I am doing now - as well as playing catch-up on the figures and sets from the past decade of SBG that I couldn't afford when I was in my 20's/when I wasn't buying figures at all for several years.

Happily, I've got most of the key ones. Just need to track down a Shelob set, Witch-King on Fell Beast, and would probably pick up some other discontinued ones like the metal Orcs, etc.

_________________
scipio.au AKA Azazelx.

http://azazelx.wordpress.com/
My miniatures painting blog.

How were there LOTR figures in the 80s when the films hadn't even come out yet?

_________________
"War does not determine who is right, only who is left."
- Bertrand Russel

There were books before the films you know.

_________________
"Woe to the Vanquished!"
-Brennus-

Don't forget the cartoons.

If you want to see photos of some cool LOTR figures start here.

This one is from 1986.

http://www.solegends.com/citlotr/bme2nazgul.htm

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

/facepalm

_________________
scipio.au AKA Azazelx.

http://azazelx.wordpress.com/
My miniatures painting blog.

I looked it up

The cartoon movie was out in 1978

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Well, someone had the license to make figures in the 1970s.

Then Grenadier models had the license to make figures based on the 1978 cartoon. There were several boxed sets.

Then Games Workshop acquired the license to make miniatures based on Iron Crown Enterprise's Middle Earth Roleplaying line. These figures were essentially Warhammer figures in all but name. Before GW became this uber minis company, it was the top British RPG company, putting out licensed versions of the big American RPGs such as Runequest, MERP, Call of Cthulhu and so forth. These were all supported via White Dwarf.

By 1988 GW had abandoned or lost the MERP license, which went to Mithril miniatures.

Then Heritage/Black Tree Designs acquired the license to make wargame figures.

And finally, with the new movies, GW bid for the license to make figures based on the movies.

Et voila.

As for the game and so forth, I'd put good money on there being someone making a nice range of LOTR miniatures in 2020. I'd like it to be Mithril, but that's just me. Whether there'll still be a GW range is another question. I suspect not. I'd say GW would probably look for a five year, rather than ten year, license renewal for the Hobbit (there's less figures to be made from the Hobbit, for example) with an option for another five. By 2020, however, they'll have either utterly exhausted the range, or be deep in re-releasing various characters and profiles with new special rules or something. That's still a pretty epic run!

Gavin

_________________
Dreaming of getting back to painting...any month now.

I think that even if the next few years are a little low on LotR sales GW will hold out for the Hobbit releases, which are sure to generate a lot of interest and bring old players back. I agree with the above poster that SBG would be better for most of the Hobbit. I just hope that they keep the WotR, SBG duo going instead of either cutting off SBG or making another system. . .

I can't say I disagree. I just can not seem to find a dependable source for Mithril.



Wolfs and goblins and bears OH MY .

I am afraid I have to disagree about some need for fewer figures based on anything in the Hobbit book or movie.

I would like to know why you think so.

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

GW have invested far too much time and money in the LotR range to give it up. The range is quite large, and even though you can't get every model in store you can get most from the online store. Its the same with the other game systems, when they update or release new figures the old ones end up being online only. It simply comes down to a matter of space in the stores.

All this talk about LotR going away is US, the gamers and collectors, heaps of people bought up large when it first started and have given it away or drasticly reduced the amount we spent on new models. I think that some of that is of GW's doing with their constant price increases making it more dificult to spend that money???

Anyway IMO the games not going away, its just the gamers are slowly dissapearing.

_________________
Live to share, share to live.

So in order to let LotR live again, we have to get some people enthousiastic for LotR.

I am afraid that all of the new taxes and slow economic growth are not going to help. All the worry and GW bashing is fruitless So lets get on with something constructive.

What do you think we should do to boaster enthusiasm.

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

you mean bolster?

Get good painters to offer free tutorials. Maybe at GW stores, or clubs or something.

Demonstrations of the game in more public places other than GW stores.

Um...

Giveaways! models I mean.

_________________
Backlog reduction Oath Participant

Spelling
I thought I checked it. I guess I should wear my glasses too.

"Get good painters to offer free tutorials. Maybe at GW stores, or clubs or something."

There is no GW store in my state. Very poor business model could not stay open?

No I do not think we should wait for someone else to promote LOR. I think it is time for each of us to do something.
I was fishing .
I hope that I can get more One Ring members excited about promoting LOR

It is better to come up with an idea your self than for some old guy to lecture you.

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Simple:

From Hobbit, you'd have the following units (off the top of my head)
Bilbo
Thorin's Dwarves
Three Trolls
Elrond
Any other Elves we see onscreen in Rivendell.
Goblins/Mountain Orcs
Gollum
Wargs and Wolves
Beorn (Man and Bear)
Spiders
Wood Elves
Men of Laketown
Dwarves of the Iron Hills
and for completeness sake,
More Goblins/Mountain Orcs

It sounds like an awful lot. But that's really about two or three years worth of releases, tops. Three or four plastic boxed sets. About a dozen blisters. A couple of single heroes. Maybe an all-metal boxed set of Thorin's Company. Indeed, if the Fellowship of the Ring release schedule was any indicator, most of these will be released in the month before the movie is released.

So even if there's a whole bunch of new creatures (maybe) and the second movie has some incredible new things (also a possibility) you are not looking at anything close to the range we saw in the first three years of the Lord of the Rings movie based releases. So hence, maybe a five year license renewal, not a ten year one.

_________________
Dreaming of getting back to painting...any month now.

he didn't really day that, did he? LOL. I had LOTR models from the 1970's made by Miniature Figurines - sold them on to by decent modern mini's

And yeah, LOTR IS dying. Participants were way down at the UK GT this year and TLA is having trouble drumming up support for an event at Bromley where before we had to many wanting to play!

For me I've lost a lot of interested when GW started to release all their stat creep models and priced me out of the game

Wow. It looks like it was worth the wait for the post
I see you put some thought in the list. I think I detect some experience in product research and development. I do not see anything wrong with your reasoning. GW may see it that way.

I am going to look at it from the point of view of a game master/wargamer.
The battle of 5 armies I need:
Lakemen:
Hero Heroes, command,rank and file, and bows.
Wood elves,Heroes, command,rank and file, and bows.
Dwarfs,Heroes, command,rank and file, and bows.
Beorn (Man and Bear)
Army standards for all.

For the bad guys:
Bats ,Wargs and Wolves
wolf riders,Heroes, command,rank and file, and bows.
Goblin/mountain orcs,Heroes, command,rank and file, and bows.
The Goblin King and body guard +army standard

I know I left some stuff out. This is a large range of figures when you add in your list and role playing figures.

"maybe a five year license renewal, not a ten year one."

Maybe you are right.
I hope not.

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Very true, but if GW follows the pattern set down by their Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King releases, they will primary try to hit the "high points" of the new range in the first year, and then build on the range, filling in the blanks with supplementary releases in the following years.

This is natural; from experience if you are using a license or piggybacking a release off a big event, you try to get as much out as possible as soon as possible, because the window of sales opportunity is short. GW faced this in 2004. Sales went from huge (they paid off their Tolkien Enterprises license within the first year) to a mere trickle. They called it "the bursting of the LOTR bubble." This experience was mirrored with other LOTR licensees. Between 2001 and early 2004, LOTR licensed products were a big deal. By the end of 04, you start seeing these products in bargain bins.

GW's window of opportunity is the 18-24 month period in the lead up to the first Hobbit movie to the six months following the release of the second. They will try to maximise sales and product in the three month period around both movies. They will release supplemental products in the months following. Thus we'll see the plastic army sets, metal hero sets and whatever, then metal releases, then secondary metal releases.

Understand that I am not being negative here - GW making models based on WETA designs is a match made in heaven. I want to see new Dwarves, new Mirkwood Elves, more Wargs and Wolves.

Just that considering that certain things sell more than other things and that there's a finite amount of models to be released means that eventually they'll hit that limit. And that limit will probably be in 2015.

_________________
Dreaming of getting back to painting...any month now.

Gavin, you don't think GW will attempt Smaug? Or did I just skim your list too fast?