L is for Lord of the Jadas

I can't remember where I found this now, I have a feeling it was discounted, so probably TKMaxx, but I can't swear to it, it was in the last few weeks though (July shots), so may still be out there, if like me, you do regularly irregular sweeps of all the likely sources!

Having waxed lyrical about these Jada die-cast figures in the past, and specifically their decoration/paint-finish, I have to say I don't think these Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) figures, are quite as nice as some we've seen, but the green cloak guy has the lustre I liked so much on my first figure, while the silver chap could march straight into any 28mm biblical force, although at 40-odd-mm he'd have to be a specific Philistine!

R is for Ravensburger - Board Games III

Our third visit to board games today, brings Ravensburger into the tag list for the first time - I think? We're looking at two games, but I suspect some of you will raise an eyebrow at the second, but hey, figurals are figurals!

Picked this up the other day for three-quid I think, the fact that this is the fifth (?) game from charity shops in the last four or five weeks is a sign that the post-Christmas clear-out is now in full flow!

The board has 16 fixed sections of dungeon and then there are a number of others that get slid through the gaps, building the dungeon and constantly changing the pathways, while the icons on 12 of the moveable sections and all the fixed-elements affect the players as the battle-through.

The all-important bit as far as Small Scale World is concerned - the figures! Basically four practisers of magic, be they; wizards, warlocks, witches, necromancers or mages! From the left; there's a Gandalf-a-like, an eleven Queen, a Dwarven mage and a hagged witch!

Comparison shot with one of the Bilbo's Graham Apperley donated to the Blog a couple of years ago (far left), and a few other figures that were kicking around, close-to-hand; two chinatroops and two game-playing pieces - Wizard's clone trooper from Star Wars and TSR's larger Buck Roger's Battle for the 25th Century counter.

Each month, at the start of the month (or when I first need to scan something!) I reset the title-bar on the scanner to that month and zero, thus; Feb18Toys-001, and as the month progresses all sorts of stuff is scanned-in, mostly for the archive, but as you know, some stuff is cropped and included in posts.

Now the other day; scanning the instruction sheet in (for the archive) of this game, my scanner - struggling to provide a preview of a small black&white illustration on a high-resolution colour setting -invented some colour! And not just any colour, but the sort of gradated, neon-rainbow colours designed by the gods to appeal to an Aspergic mind!

So I took a screen-capcha, blew it up, took another and here it is! Pretty huh?! This existed, while not really existing, only for a moment, ephemerally, in some non-existent, side-room of cyber space . . . it makes you think . . . well; it makes me think!

What it looks like when it's not indulging in a spot of psychedelic self-weirding!

It also helps explain one of the main game mechanisms, not that I ever really dwell on them, it's about the figures!

Speaking of figures, this is also Ravensburger, it's actually been in Picasa for a while, waiting for a suitable post, as I don't try to subject the Blog's readers to ephemeral juvenilia for the hell of it, or to deliberately annoy them, but it's all got a place in the whole; it's all 'grist to the mill'!

See - It's all figural! They're snails! Flats! From Ravensburger! There's another wood flat in the queue . . . a cow . . . fresh-in . . . coming-soon!

T is for Toy Fair '18 Reports - GaleForce Nine - D&D

One of the few stands to really peak my attention at the Toy Fair this year was GaleForce Nine, who in addition to their own Dr. Who game, are carriers of games by other companies from outside the UK, or under license - one of which was is Dungeons and Dragons (D&D).

Tyrants of the Underdark is a new spin-off from the franchise, being less about Riverdeep and its environs (the only bit of the D&D universe with which I am familiar as my goodly knight [Damocles - I think I pretentiously dubbed him!] is stuck in an waterside-inn there with a sack of treasure and two bastard-swords, awaiting a rematch from 1989!) which veers away from role-playing, being a more traditional tactical board-game.

While it does have a few diminutive figures, most of the tokens are actually shield-like 'stands', so overall - a bit disappointing?

Collectable 'Spellbook' card sets were also on display, along with various guide-books and other paper-based ephemera - I like the idea of a cheat-sheet which also doubles as a screen behind which you do nefarious stuff your opponent can only worry about; although presumably he's muttering to himself and equally worrying you!

The real reason for D&D, 30mm (alright! 28-mil!) figurines, these limited to 1500 units - worldwide! I'd love a Chultan the dino-rider, but the last thing I need is to be spending my dosh on more heavy-metal!