Shiny, Shiny, Bad Times Behind Me...

 So, sang the coquettish Kayte Garner of 80s 'Urban Vagabond' group, Haysi Fantayzee - I am a lifelong fan.

In a week that has seen the fan base of ex-Marillion frontman 'Fish' go at it with each other over his farewell, tour, and the mardy, Hibernian himself go on a rant through the press because some of his fans (your correspondent included) are not happy with how it's all gone down.

Mullets are being pulled out by the roots, white Hi-Tec boots are being scuffed and frankly it's all very grubby. I have become so disgusted by it all that I have given away my collection of autographs and tour shirts, because as I said, it's all grubby and sordid and not at all what I expected from someone who had a great influence on my as a teenager and beyond.

Well, I have been putting some time into my gaming projects rather than wading in the grubby streams of Progressive Rock.

Yesterday, I grabbed a random unit from the massive hoard of vintage Minifigs and Hinchcliffe I bagged at Hammerhead last weekend, stuck them on new bases and gave the a shot of hi-gloss varnish. And they look rather splendid already:

These take me back to the stuff I saw as a 12 year old and are the kind of bright, and aesthetically not to mention tactile figures which started me on my way. 

As you may recall, I had walked away from the ECW last year for reasons I won't revisit, but this chance find when I wasn't looking for it, has whetted the jaded appetite again.

Mick Rothenburg and I were both remembering with damp eyes and whistful hearts the days when these were 'the' figures to have, as we both pawed and cooed over the boxes full of these beauties on Wednesday afternoon, here at Fackham Hall.

Now I'm looking for more figures, neatly block painted like this, so if you have any in your attic, let me know...

I have also started to develop an unhealthy interest in the Belgian army of 1815, because, well, it's quirky and I like quirky. We will have to see where that leads...

And finally, I bagged 50 original Chronicle Orcs on Wednesday which will swell the ranks of my collection. I honestly don't know how many Nick Lund sculpts I own now... I know there are well over 600 in the games rooms and I would estimate another 400+ out with my painter. But hey, you can never have too many Nick Lund models...

This little group set me back a very, very reasonable £75, equating to £1.50 each.

They're destined to be one massive block, serving as a buffer for my main Orc assault companies.

Well, I see that time is passing and I have a long day ahead of me yet, so I will say farewell for the present.

TTFN