Within the fortnight, I fully expect to have the "Mother of Dragons" safely ensconced in the dis- play cabinet. With that in mind, I thought I would share some thoughts with you re: this Andrea offering. . .
First of all, let me just state up front that this figure is not licensed. So what, you say?! And to a point, I would have to agree since the only licensed, unpainted model kits that I know of are those marketed by Dark Sword Miniatures. Frankly, I think the "gorilla in the room" was/is not the creator and author, George R.R. Martin (who is a huge fan of what we do!), but rather HBO: all of DSM's offerings are based on the literary characters, not the televised ones.
This figure was lambasted based on images of a relatively mediocre rendering of the subject the minute it was announced! This is an aspect of the Internet that I'd just as soon do without. In a world driven by so-called social media, it is acceptable to start and/or join the hue & cry--espe- cially when sheltered by anonymity and under no obligation, moral or otherwise, to act respon- sibly and offer at the very least a retraction.
I am all for critical evaluation of any piece for sale. However, to do so sight unseen and under a pseudonym is pusillanimous and contemptible! And to stone a figure with rocks of ignorance and pettiness simply because it does not meet ones expectations, whatever those might have been, is beneath contempt!!
And what does it say about the state of the hobby today when a figure's merits--or lack thereof-- are largely determined by the finished end-product in all its PS'd glory?! I have NEVER been a fan of using the painted figure as a promotional hook, if only because we are denied our right as con- sumers to see the product we are buying!
This is the state of the hobby today. A figure is judged by a mob mentality--a largely blind one, I might add. The Academic mindset, so consciously and assiduously suppressed in the 80s and 90s, has now reached unfettered--and unimaginable!--heights. It promotes what it likes, or what is considered "the standard" (by whom?), and represses what it doesn't. And this is Art? Little did an old colleague of mine realize how prescient and discerning his indictment of the hobby was some 15 years ago! And that was before the "age of computers"!!
But I digress. . . as I mentioned in the original posting, this figure has "taken me back to the hal- cyon days of the 80s and 90s: 54mm, quality white-metal castings with minimal breakdown of parts, and average (or above!) fit. . ." Would I feel the same way about this figure if I had not been already an avid miniaturist in the last quarter of the 20th c.? I'd like to think so. . .
This is by no means a perfect figure, but I stand by my original statement: This is the best ren- dition of [Emilia Clarke in the role of] Daenerys 'Stormborn' of House Targaryen, First of Her Name at her defining moment that I have seen to date! And if you like the subject, or at all curi- ous/interested, and you can still work your way around a 54mm figure, I highly recommend it! Kudos to whomever sculpted it!!
AMF
First of all, let me just state up front that this figure is not licensed. So what, you say?! And to a point, I would have to agree since the only licensed, unpainted model kits that I know of are those marketed by Dark Sword Miniatures. Frankly, I think the "gorilla in the room" was/is not the creator and author, George R.R. Martin (who is a huge fan of what we do!), but rather HBO: all of DSM's offerings are based on the literary characters, not the televised ones.
This figure was lambasted based on images of a relatively mediocre rendering of the subject the minute it was announced! This is an aspect of the Internet that I'd just as soon do without. In a world driven by so-called social media, it is acceptable to start and/or join the hue & cry--espe- cially when sheltered by anonymity and under no obligation, moral or otherwise, to act respon- sibly and offer at the very least a retraction.
I am all for critical evaluation of any piece for sale. However, to do so sight unseen and under a pseudonym is pusillanimous and contemptible! And to stone a figure with rocks of ignorance and pettiness simply because it does not meet ones expectations, whatever those might have been, is beneath contempt!!
And what does it say about the state of the hobby today when a figure's merits--or lack thereof-- are largely determined by the finished end-product in all its PS'd glory?! I have NEVER been a fan of using the painted figure as a promotional hook, if only because we are denied our right as con- sumers to see the product we are buying!
This is the state of the hobby today. A figure is judged by a mob mentality--a largely blind one, I might add. The Academic mindset, so consciously and assiduously suppressed in the 80s and 90s, has now reached unfettered--and unimaginable!--heights. It promotes what it likes, or what is considered "the standard" (by whom?), and represses what it doesn't. And this is Art? Little did an old colleague of mine realize how prescient and discerning his indictment of the hobby was some 15 years ago! And that was before the "age of computers"!!
But I digress. . . as I mentioned in the original posting, this figure has "taken me back to the hal- cyon days of the 80s and 90s: 54mm, quality white-metal castings with minimal breakdown of parts, and average (or above!) fit. . ." Would I feel the same way about this figure if I had not been already an avid miniaturist in the last quarter of the 20th c.? I'd like to think so. . .
This is by no means a perfect figure, but I stand by my original statement: This is the best ren- dition of [Emilia Clarke in the role of] Daenerys 'Stormborn' of House Targaryen, First of Her Name at her defining moment that I have seen to date! And if you like the subject, or at all curi- ous/interested, and you can still work your way around a 54mm figure, I highly recommend it! Kudos to whomever sculpted it!!
AMF
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