[Miniatures archeology] what was the first brand to portray LOTR troops/heroes

[Hobgoblin]

Yes - and there's even a degree to which gaming has commoditised and categorised things in a way that doesn't reflect the books. There's a nerdy, systematising impulse at work that leads to confusion when the same things are called by different names (the powerful fannish impulse to separate "orcs" from "goblins" by size is the best example - even though JRRT calls the very biggest orcs - the Isengard Uruk-hai - "goblins" on more than one occasion). Part of it is probably simply that gamers want bigger bestiaries than Middle Earth allows!

Actually, "fell beasts" is a good example; Tolkien only describes one of the Nazgul's winged steeds as "fell" on a couple of occasions, and he doesn't use "fell beast" as an exclusive name for them (other evil creatures are called "fell beasts" at different points in his works; the archaic adjective fell was one of his favourites). Yet it's been taken up by gamers as a name for the species, which it patently isn't in the books - whereas "hell-hawks", which a character actually calls the things - hasn't been (it's clearly not a formal species name either, of course).

I suspect David Day's famously poorly researched (but wonderfully illustrated!) Tolkien Bestiary played a big part in distorting and "packaging" some of Tolkien's concepts. He isn't responsible for "fell beasts", as he has an entry for "Winged Beasts", but he does introduce the persistent idea that the Uruk-hai are as tall as Men - something that's flatly contradicted by the books themselves. The Bestiary has been in print for a very long time before people started pointing out its many inaccuracies and inventions.

So true.  I suspect the Jackson films have put their indelible stamp on modern LotR/Hobbit imaginings, for better or worse.  Mostly worse, IMO.  Bakshi was far from perfect but felt more faithful to the books than any of the six recent-ish films.

Yes - the idea of those two-decades-old films being the "official" look of Middle Earth is a bit dismaying. I was disappointed to learn that the Amazon series would tell other stories in the film version of Middle Earth rather than telling the story afresh - as a long TV series could do really well.

The Radio 4 adaptation is still the best in my book! 

[Sunjester]

I agree with much of what Hobgoblin has said there.

It must be a sign of getting old, I still think of Jackson's films as being a "recent" take on ME (at least compared with the 80 year-old books.

[Chief Lackey Rich]

...he does introduce the persistent idea that the Uruk-hai are as tall as Men - something that's flatly contradicted by the books themselves.

Too right.  The books make it quite clear that uruk-hai are noteworthy for being almost as tall as Men, with the norm being quite  a bit smaller, probably closer to a Dwarf than a full-grown human.  Regular orcs are runts unless you're a halfling or Dwarf, and even Dwarves never seem to be concerned about facing them in a fair fight where the numbers aren't against them (which never happens, of course).

Uruk-hai are also cockier, at least the ones who have speaking roles - although they don't seem to be much better at actually winning fights when it comes down to it.  In game terms maybe better morale (at least when other orcs are watching) and better equipped but not much more skilled.

Yes - the idea of those two-decades-old films being the "official" look of Middle Earth is a bit dismaying

I probably shouldn't mention that the LotR set I'm currently re-reading (think this makes the fourth time now) has covers that consist of images from the movies, eh?  Never wanted to punch Orlando Bloom in the face so much, but at least I don't have to look at him while revisiting Treebeard and company.

Must admit I'm terrified that I'll start imagining all the battle scenes in crappy Jackson quick-cut shaky-cam mode. 

[AzSteven]

The figures in the Heritage range (linked in the first response by Hobgoblin) were made to go with the Ralph Bakshi LotR film, which was released in 1978.  So '78 or '79 sounds right for them.

-Michael

Heritage was also seeling Der Kriegspielers and Fantastiques before the movie figures, but I think that was a distribution deal more than manufacturing?

[Wilgut Spleens]

I bought the Minifigs characters, one a month, when I was about 13-14 years old. I remember playing the game where as the evil sorcerer, you first spell had to be to “darken the skies” in order to deploy the orcs. If it failed , you were in big trouble! I still have the Gandalf and Treebeard figures.

 I think the simple truth is that to the majority of LotR fans, the films ARE Middle Earth.  The GW game and figures initially had a good reception but very quickly faded in popularity, the plastic population of GW Uruk Hai out-numbered the human population of New Zealand for a while! This was followed in a sharp decline in sales of the range until the teenagers who had seen the films had grown to an age where they had a disposable income and bam! the franchise took off!

If your first exposure to the world of Tolkien is a visual one, and let’s face it with all the inaccuracies they are incredible films in their own right, visually stunning, then you will always visualise Aragorn as Viggo Mortensen, no matter how many times you read the books.

I love the BBC Radio adaption and listen to it regularly, everything about it is better than the films, in my opinion, but then I am very old

[dadlamassu]

I remember playing the game where as the evil sorcerer, you first spell had to be to “darken the skies” in order to deploy the orcs. If it failed , you were in big trouble! I still have the Gandalf and Treebeard figures.

I also remember buying the figures as a student at University and the home brew rules we used opened with a contest between the "Good" and "Evil" sorcerers in "Cloud Rolling" with bonuses and penalties for both sides dependant upon the outcome. 

I still have and use quite a number of the figures, mainly the orcs, goblins, ents, eagles, wizards, nazgul etc. as the "good" side were mainly repurposed historical figures. I could not afford to create both sides!