Manufacturer: Citadel Miniatures

Year: 1982
Range/set: Fantasy Tribe Trolls
Model number: FTF6
Sculptor: Tom Meier

This ugly dude showed up at Mindtaker Miniatures (where I currently work) and I immediately loved him. Make of that what you will, but I appreciated the absurdity and found the miniature very comical yet simultaneously hideous and horrible. Despite loving it, I decided not to purchase it, so out to the floor it went. And it stayed. And stayed. Probably six months (or more) went by and no one had rid me of the temptation, so I caved. I paid my coin and took him home. Four or so days later and I had already stripped the old paint and given him a fresh splash of color.

The Fantasy Tribe ranges are, in my opinion, criminally underrated. They are very small figures by today’s standards (this “big” boy is on a 40mm round base), and finding Fantasy Tribe miniatures in decent condition is becoming more difficult by the day. Tom Meier, the Perry Twins, Bryan Ansell, and possibly even Tony Ackland (you’d have to check me on that last one) were among the range’s sculptors, and although the figures are often crudely sculpted (by some standards), they are all so full of character.

The more I’ve explored miniatures produced by companies like Archive, Heritage, Grenadier, Superior Models, and so on, I’ve become fascinated by the wide range in detail and quality that existed from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The space between “crude” and “exquisite” was enormous. Nothing like today! The quality of today’s popular miniature figures generally remains consistently high (WizKids pre-paints excluded). But were it not for the early trailblazers and innovators like Tom Meier, Max Carr, and so many others, we wouldn’t have reached this point.

In closing, here’s a view of this insane troll’s backside. You’re welcome?