Old goblins are new again

I came across a pleasant surprise on Tabletop Gaming News, which was a new release by a company which I was hearing about for the very first time -- Northumbrian Tin Soldier.  What was awesome about this news item was seeing new designs for goblins and similar folk, which may be inspired by the great Brian Froud, concept artist for Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, and who first captured my imagination as a kid with his book, Faeries, a collaboration with Alan Lee, one of the two concept artists for the Lord of the Rings movies (John Howe being the other).

Whether inspired by Brian Froud or not, I just had to have these characterful models.

But not only are the models charming (and single-cast! What a rare pleasure these days....), but the company owner is as well.  There was a snafu with the order, which he cleared up right away, and he threw in an extra magazine for the trouble.  And as you can see here, he took the extra trouble to individually wrap each magazine in tissue and seal it with a company sticker.  And inside the tissue, each magazine is in a thick plastic protector, with a backboard.  Much appreciated, especially for back issues of Scale Model Handbook!

So not only did the goblins journey me back to a yesteryear of the hobby, the customer service did, too! 

By the way, stay tuned.  I have a big backlog of hobby events to report on the blog.  Unfortunately, I may not have a chance to report on them in detail until next week.  But in short, I need to report on Warhammer gaming, Malifaux, and the Jumpmaster Challenge painting competition!