Vintage Ral Partha Giant Goblins C1979

[Hobbit]

The Tom Meier Ral Partha "Giant Goblin" range from 1979 are my all time favorite goblin/orc sculpts and amongst the first figures I ever bought back in the days when Citadel produced them under license. My originals are long vanished but I have a batch that I bought about 20 years ago that have finally made there way tot the top of the lead mountain (yes, it can take that long). Unfortunately I don't have all of the poses, I don't have the one with the mace or the one with the whip. I'm sure someone was still making them in the UK but I can't find them. Any bright ideas? (and no I don't want to pay the £10+ for the ones currently on ebay in their original packaging).

http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/?title=Fantasy_Collector_Series#Giant_Goblins

Interestingly though I DO however have an additional, different, spear wielder pose and an additional sword wielder to those shown...

[manic _miner]

 Do Ral Partha Europe not have these in thier range?

 They look as if they might have been used to do the Rabbit men conversions.Doom bunnies or some such name.

 I think i may have a few of the wolf riders someplace.Always liked them.

[LeadAsbestos]

My first War Machine was crewed by those orcs! Great sculpts, but true 25mm! The bigger stuff has ruined me...

[Hobbit]

And upon going to browse them I noticed I also have a pose with an axe. As to scale...yes I recalled that when I first had them they would have towered over equivalent humans whereas they now definitely fit into the diminutive category. They do fit quite nicely with GW's LotR character sculpts though.

I'll try photoing them when they're done; not sure how they'll look though as they're in a very muted grey/green.

I'll try ploughing through the RPE website again - I had tried it and couldn't find them.

[manic _miner]

 Have a look on the link below Mr Hobbit Sir .

http://www.ralparthaeurope.co.uk/shop/ral-partha-fantasy-c-37/fantasy-armies-c-37_39/orcs-c-37_39_96/

[Hobbit]

I'd just found that and was about to post the very same link. That lot basically looks like the original command set plus a couple of other figures. The other half of the figures there are nothing to do with the original range though I do have a couple of the "02-073b Korg's killer with sword" which, IIRC, were packaged in with some of the giant goblins when I replaced my originals in the early '90s.

I'm sure I'd found someone else selling them but I just can't recall who...

[robh]

I think Iron Wind Metals still have some of the old RP Fantasy Orcs/Goblin types amongst their ranges.

http://ironwindmetals.com/store/index.php?cPath=265_298

[The Dozing Dragon]

Nice to see them being re-released. Wonderful old Tom Meier sculpts that stand the test of time.

[Conquistador]

Those are great.

I went the http://www.classicminiatures.net/page3.html route for my old school smiley faced Goblin addiction but these were/are the other big sculpts that drove Fantasy Orc/Goblin armies in Sacramento (besides pig faced ones if they were around that early) during the 1970s/early 1980s IIRC.

Tom Meier - awesome from then until today.

I love this quote from the Thunderbolt Mountians web page - "... Thought by some to be mythological, Tom Meier has been a professional miniatures sculptor for 40 years..."

Gracias,

Glenn

[Hobbit]

Thanks for the suggestion but I don't see the ones I'm looking for in there (sorry, realise that must sound really, really, ungrateful).

For the avoidance of doubt it it the figures in this very specific range/style that I'm looking for and (in the nicest possible way) I'm not interested in other ranges:

[Conquistador]

I think Iron Wind Metals still have some of the old RP Fantasy Orcs/Goblin types amongst their ranges.

http://ironwindmetals.com/store/index.php?cPath=265_298

Those have a slightly different "feel" to the images.

Gracias,

Glenn

[Conquistador]

Thanks for the suggestion but I don't see the ones I'm looking for in there (sorry, realise that must sound really, really, ungrateful).

For the avoidance of doubt it it the figures in this very specific range/style that I'm looking for and (in the nicest possible way) I'm not interested in other ranges:

I remember walking into the Library meeting room and seeing literally waves of those facing the allied forces of Good...

Those would be what I would go for today if I was  still into "big size" miniatures (I am not) and they were available in numbers because they define Orcs to me.  Good stuff even today.

Gracias,

Glenn

[Hobbit]

Not quite sure about the "big size" reference Glenn. They were relatively big for old style 25mm but are positively diminutive compared to today's miniatures. The figure in the last photo (the one with the blue background) is 22mm from foot to hunch of the back. They're distinctly scrawny compared to any modern miniatures that I have including the GW movie inspired LotR range; they'd definitely be goblins rather than orcs.

Of course if you're into 10mm or 15mm they're still quite big! 

[Conquistador]

<snip>

Of course if you're into 10mm or 15mm they're still quite big! 

Prior to retirement I am moving from "Big" (25+ mm) to small (3/6/15/18 mm) sized figures for all my war games  (I am calling 20 mm "Medium" just for my own thinking.)  Old School thinking because 25 mm was (seen, there were other scales/sizes such as 1/87th,) the only game in town besides 1/72nd plastic when I started in the 1970s. 

Gracias,

Glenn

[Conquistador]

Not quite sure about the "big size" reference Glenn. They were relatively big for old style 25mm but are positively diminutive compared to today's miniatures.<snip>

Yes, well, despite the wonderful sculpting the larger figures have "lost the glow"in my view. But that is just my view.  Iw as speaking as referenced to seeing them from a 1970s perspective.

And several hundred of them painted up (even basic table level) made for a "big" army back in "the day."

Gracias,

Glenn