Many Mithril Pages @ Faerylands

... so I just  ended up watching all 3 extended The lord of the rings movies.... I was almost 13 hours spent of the big screen TV with magnificent amplifier with strong speakers ... and this was my special LOTR day....

... so now is time to drink something before long and deep sleep... If I find someone here.... please Master innkeeper one large mug of black beer... and for all guys that bump here or are passing through, also give them a drink of your choice....

..... I'm going now..... back.... to the fantasy...

Rhhuuooommmm ... our dear Elf seems to have become a bit sentimental ... huom ... so please, Master Barliman, serve him a well-filled mug with that always-sparkeling-liquid you keep for special occasions ... hoomm .. please ... yes, and then remind him again that in the ent our Elf is an Elf, isn't he? I'm sure ... rhuomtidommm ... err, mind please, that the drinks were ordered by Master Thingol .... huoommm ... that bowl of clear-clean-non-sparkeling-honey-coloured liquid for me could be topped up a bit meseems ... rhuoomm ... hom

I think this balrog would be fitting for a diorama depicting the scene when Durin and his dwarves accidentaly carved the moria too deep and breached a mithril  vein into... the balrog's resting place / lair
just before the balrog would be awaken... and become.... the bane of Durin...

Huuoommm ... as for me I do have all figures on display in so-called glass-cabinets in different sizes ... rhuoomm ... some of them I had to build myself, as those available "at the market" didn't please me or simply were insufficient for that purpose .... rhuoommm ... I do not like beautiful things hidden, so I don't keep the figueres in blisters, as I like to see them assembled to enjoy .... huom ... not all of my collections has been sprayed or primed, some will never be, as the two lost warbands of Dwarves, Saruman and some figures I received from Chris ... of course I would never dare to do so .... rhuoommm ....
painting ... that's a hard matter, as I'm not very much skilled ... huom ... years ago I decided to start painting the figures from nr 1 to whatever MS-release came to my place ... hom ... about three years ago I gave up this project, as I became aware that I have to keep some hobby when I've retired ... rrhuom ... no, honestly, I didn't have the time and patience ... ok ...
As for them glass cabintes I mentioned I have to say thet here in my study there are 6 of very different sizes. You might imagine that as the largest being 1,80 (50x50) m.
Many years ago I found another glass cabinet of the same size. That one I placed in our living-room. The my dear wife a year later gave me another one for Christmas. ..... rhuuoommm ... that collection is somehow extending, meseems .... huomm ... having so many of them variants ... alas, that means more space being needed ... rhuoommm ....
then one day in the past I decided to organize all that .... huommm ... I started to display all miniatures in glass cabinetes in the right order ... so I can see now which ones are painted and which need to be painted .... rhuuoommm .... but that also means that whenever someone refers to a certain figure here or in a thread elsewhere I just have to look at the glass cabinets in my study or in the living-room ... huuoommm ... that saves time, as you don't have to unpack boxes, it's nice, as the figures are present, you see what you'll have to do the next years .... huoommm ... and a wife smilingly telling you "You're crazy." .... so she is.

well I have to say in terms of display... I only display what I have painted... or what I will never paint... AND which is assembled

this brings to something very odd... I haf 4 glasscases, three are mural, one is a standalone in its full height (but it carries other things that mithril)

all mithril dioramas, andrea figurines, mithril 54mm, mithril prototypes, and mithril boxes sets go in this standalone big glasscase (a mix of wood and glass) I have there all the Christmas figurines (unpainted as I don't paint them), and also the prototypes I have (except the unreleased warbands... which, as they are not assembled, cannot be displayed at the time...)

all other series that are mithril, 32mm and not boxed sets or dioramas, AND which are painted, go in my other three mural glasscases. they are organised in series. I try to paint figurines by series and try to complete a full series so that it can have it small allocated space in the glasscase for the full series. this way it is easier to "point out" where a figurine is if you retrieve its fellow from the same series in the glasscase...

all others.... are either in big boxes of blisters, for those I have in blisters.. waiting to be painted... and those few I have unblistered and unpainted (rare ones usually I got from ebay back in time) are in a small metal-bound "attaché-case" each of them in small zip-lock bags with the ref number written on it, except for the M16 and M10 which are both in a separate little jewelbox instead of ziplock, inside this case waiting to be painted and displayed too
as for the unreleased warbands (orcs, and half the dwarfs ) they are all , for the time being... in another full aluminium metal bound attachécase with a digicode lock... those twoo attaché cases being quite hidden in my appartment...
and my collection being insured...

indeed it is stupid to have the M16 or M10 in ziplock > jewelcase > attaché case ... or the MW bands in digicode locked metal case.... when you have the Chr1988 or the three 54 white-primed prototypes displayed for all to see in a big standalone glasscase without any lock for it....

but such is my madness...

oh.. and also, I have two box in which I store all the blister cards for all figurines for which I have a blister... this serves as remainder/certificate of authenticity/proof of purchase... for those which I don't have a blister for, I have scanned a neutral old red blister card without ref sticker, and I can then print such cards in the proper dimension with the name written on computer where the sticker should be... this thus makes artificial blisters for those I am assured are genuine....

the most upsetting thing to do is... since mithril has begun to release those new plastic locked blisters....I have to glue the "information sheet" for the MS release folded precisely so that it opens right. and I have to unstick the reference sticker from the plastic package and stick it back on the little red blister card as to be able to Keep the blister card WITH its reference.... and information sheet if any....

who said I am a maniac...

Never fear, gentlemen, the first person to call either of you "maniacs" will be barred from the Taproom for life!

No, Master Tree, I said (if I may paraphrase) "the first person to call you a maniac". You're perfectly at liberty to call yourself names. By all means, please do.

My collection is spreaded everywhere in my house.
10 years ago, I found nice little mural glasscases but had no money enough so I bought only one.
Since I restarted to collect vintage mithirls, I have put 1st 35 references in it. Only 2 holes remaining (M16 & M25 which are still in Australia today )

Then, I found a good way for my minis to wait for a proper collection display in years to come.
I have put every unblistered mini in 2 wooden boxes from Grand' ma she used for sewing:
Like this one: http://cgi.ebay.fr/BOITE-A-COUTURE-TRAV … 0751737644

For dioramas, depending on their size, small ones are in a big Glass cabinet above the bar, big ones are on top of furnitures. Carrock is in the garage...
I open a blister when I paint it. Doing so, the mini is kept in new conditions before it is used.
Not opened Blisters (around 400 not opened yet) are everywhere in bedrooms closets

As Miss Milo is not very found off "little lead soldiers", I plan to make a full glasscabinet where every sinlge assembled minis would be sorted by ref. This will be in my garage once I have settled a real workbench in it.
Then as Gildor, I have kept every blister & cards, even 1st one (M14) bought in 1988 !

Yes, I remember him. Always struck me as being a bit wild. And he always had a lot of lads with him, who could sink a fair number of points between them; used to keep the kitchen supplied with venison at a good price. But they never stayed very long, then they were off again, chasing about here and there through the wild country.

.... and about Balrog... I'm sure that it is magnificent figure... I have not yet ordered this figure, and I will do it next week when company publish Guthlaf and Thorin III Stonehelm. Because of cheaper postage and easier procedure for customs clearance....

Hmmmm. I shall now have to consider whether or not to ban Master Thingol for using the word "maniac"....though I may let him off if he pays his bar tab, which currently stands just a little higher than the national debt of Iceland....

I always open the pack to examine the sculpted details then they either go back in the pack or may get grouped into conceptual dioramas/scenes. Some actually get painted , the majority reside in an old drawer ready to be plucked out and painted or in a cupboard. Some including finished painted pieces reside in a cabinet with frosted glass which is about as much use as a chocolate teapot for viewing them.

My real long term aim is to make boxed doiramas of key scenes from the book which would also act as self contained display cases, and i have many sketches outlining each scene, but the chances of realising this are probably minimal especially as i then use allocated figures for other projects. But who knows, maybe one day