"Thunderbolt Mountain Elves and Goblins..." Topic

I remember in the 1970s and 1980s when I was knocked out by Tom Meier's elves and goblins from Ral Partha.

I stumbled across his catalog tonight.
Wow. It is great to see that he is still around.
There is some great stuff on there.

Sean in California

The wood elves are absolutely fantastic. Not to say that the other stuff isn't amazing too, it is, but the wood elves blow me away every time I see them. The intricate details is just unbelievable. And they are easy to paint as well, it is a case of detail making the figure easier to paint rather than more complicated.

I agree… they have a lot of personality.

I just received my teacher credential and am looking for work. As soon as I pull down a decent job, I am going to drop on a couple hundred on his site.

I haven't seen so many great pieces together on one site.

Are the miniatures one piece solid? Or are they sloted in bases or on posts in bases? Just curious. Can't tell from the photos on the site.

I have a preference for the solid one piece figures, because they seem to hold up better.
Take Care,
Sean in California

I can't wait to finish painting his Goblins:

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CC

Always liked his work. Beautiful (well not literally in case of the goblins themselves…) miniatures but because of Cost/Scale creep I never consider them since most of my army is Der Kriegspielers dwaves.

Gracias,

Glenn

I bought the entire Arthurian package for a game idea I have in mind…

Don't have my T-bolt figures handy at the moment, but I want to say they're on integral bases. Some are, obviously, 2 part figures simply to get the detail. The spearmen, for example, have open hands you can fit the spears into, if memory serves.

Beautiful figures – and very reasonably priced.

The newer elves are taller than the older Arthuruan figures and figs he did for Ral Partha.

The Arthurian figures have posts and separate metal bases. The wood elf infantry and stands are one piece, with weapons separate. With the elf cavalry, the rider is separate from the mount.

A great deal of thought and calculations go into every one of his sculpts:

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I can't wait for the Goblin wolf riders and the unarmored Goblins with mixed weapons.

CC

Look at the detail in his greens:

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CC

I can't wait to finish painting his Goblins:
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Yeah, he has great goblins and orcs.

I have many Tom Meier goblins and elves from his Ral Partha days when I was 13 years old.
Along with some miniatures From Jullie Guthrie and Sandra Garity, they are my favorite.

I wonder if Ral Partha/Iron Wind still sells his sets???

Great Stuff!!! No Doubt.
Sean in California

Hello mweaver,

Thanks for the info!!!
I am leaning towards buying one piece figures from now on. I don't mind if the weapons are separate from the figures or riders seperate from their mounts.

The pieces are much more sturdier if they are one piece. I don't really like the posts and slotted figures much. I like much of the art work on them from Reaper, etc., but the slotted or post stuff I don't want to hassle with.

Over the years, I have had epoxy and solder de-stabilize or break and figures fall apart. Pieces get lost, my kids crunched them (when they were little) when I wasn't around, etc.

The one piece figures survive/d really well. I have many, many that I bought when I was 12 or so in 1977 and afterwards, and they are still around and some of my favorite.

I am really glad that Tom Meier is still around. I will definitely be buying some of his one piece wood elves and cavalry in the future.

I am starting to get my 10 year old into painting, so they would be a good start…
Sean Surlow in California

I can't wait for the Goblin wolf riders and the unarmored Goblins with mixed weapons.

CC
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My favorite Goblin Wolf/Warg Riders so far were made by Jullie Guthrie and Grenadier Models back in the 1970s or 1980s…

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The picture in the link doesn't really do them justice.
I can find these anymore…even on Ebay.

I look forward to seeing what Meier does with the idea.
Sean in California

I meant that I can't find those goblin wolf riders anymore.

My favorite all-time Ents were made by Mithril in the early 1990s

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I would like to see Tom Meier do some Ents someday.
Sean in California

Ral Partha and Tom Meier.

I usually don't get slobbery over people, but here goes…

When I was 12 or so in 1977/78, a friend of mine brought out a little white box of 3 paper booklets called Dungeons and Dragons. From there, the whole deal exploded into what it became in front of our eyes.

We had previously been reading the works of J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and had fell in love with that world. At the time, there was not that much art available based on those worlds. It was all in our heads.

A little after that, I stumbled into a little hobby shop on a corner called Brookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove. They had racks of blister packs of goblins, elves, hobbits, wizards and all kinds of cool stuff. When I could get the money together, I ended up buying these really cool boxed sets of dwarves, dungeon explorers and the like made by Grenadier Models.

Among the rows and rows of blister packs hanging on rotating carousels, I stumbled across some really cool elves made by Ral Partha. When I saw them, they matched perfectly my impressions of what elves should look like from reading all those great Tolkien Books. I sent away immediately for a Ral Partha catalog and found that they also made great goblins and Halflings also that matched my imagination of what Tolkien was writing about.

In time, I realized the majority of these wonderful figures were made by Tom Meier. I still have these figures today in a display case, and I like to look at them now and again to refresh my mind.

I discovered girls after that, went to college, and got married, but I could never let go of my miniatures.

I did a great amount of collecting and painting ten years back or so, but slowed down and had to focus on other things. In the last couple years, my son discovered my miniatures and went nuts over them. I had to wait until recently, until his abilities to paint ripened.

Now, I am collecting and painting again. I recently stumbled across Tom Meier's Website called Thunderbolt Mountain at thunderboltmountain.com

I could not believe my eyes when I entered it. He had more and more elves that matched and even improved his past designs, which to me are still quite wonderful.

When Christmas comes, my hard-earned extra dough is going to him.

Long Live Tom, and Keep on Creating…
Sean Surlow in California

I was figuring out which elves to buy tonight.
Wow!!! This is just one out of many
#8010 Wood Elf Archer in Chainmail $3.00 USD 30mm

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Click on the enlarge to see the detail.
Sean in California

Great News!!!
Many of Thunderbolt Mountain's ranges are currently being reproduced by Ral Partha Legacy at
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I also have some albums of their ranges at

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Sean in Oregon, eastofthesun@mail.com

Thanks Sean in Oregon,

Ive been waiting for Thunder Mountain become available again!!