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Finally, after a seemingly endless wait, it has been released! From its fantastically sneaky-looking 'crew', to those vast teeth, grinning at the hapless victim dangling in front, tempting it to charge toward the enemy, this supreme example of squigdom would make a fantastic centrepiece for any goblin army. |
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Veteran sculptor Bob Olley's sizable (eleven variants) range of samurai-themed wolf riders has a high average level of detailing, and all the riders have good, characterful faces. On the other hand, the wolves appear much too small when compared to their riders. They're not cheap, either. Painted figures by Witchunter. |
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"The gobbos look great, but the wolves look too small." - Steders
"I quite like the size of the wolves, reminds me of how I imagined Wargs to look when I first read the Hobbit." - Duff
"Don't like the wolves too much, they are comedically small and all seem to have the same head so lack variety and detracting from the character of the gobbos. Goblins are great though, sinister and nasty." - Doc
"I didn't want to build the wolves so that they gave the same impression as a man riding a horse, because a horse is huge by comparison to its rider. Also the incongruity of rider in proportion to wolf was deliberate. If any of you have an average or large sized dog stand over its back like you're about to sit on it, without putting your weight on it, you might see what I'm getting at." - Bob Olley
"Uh, sure they shouldn't be as large as a horse, but if we are talking about realism (in fantasy) then even much larger wargy-type wolves wouldn't be able to move with those armoured goblins on their backs." - Doc
"The wolves' size is very good and the goblins look wiry tough, not steroid juiced. They look consistent with the mount size, like they belong on them. I've been looking at them and handling them throughout the week and I like them more and more. These are really gobbo! By the way, the casting quality is excellent. They'll require very little surface prep and mold line removal. He's good, your casting man."- Santa Barbarian in CA
"Very impressed. Like the ad-hoc and variety of armour and weapons, cool character in the rider faces, proper stirrups, collars and little saddles on the wolves. Good price, too. Smaller wolves look good to me. There is too much stereotypical fantasy out there already. I'm glad Bob has stepped out of the box with these and gone for something a little different." - Cyano
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Real bargain-bucket stuff this. Warrior's goblins have, sadly, dated rather less impressively than the Grenadier and Ral Partha lines, but they're still presentable enough, and given their hilariously low prices, should be useful for filling up the back ranks of those big blocks of gobbos.
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The quality of the sculpting on Alionas' goblin line may not be quite up to the level of many of the other manufacturers listed here, but they more than make up for that with their sheer exuberance and charm. With their ludicrously oversized weapons poised above manically grinning faces from which huge, mad eyes bulge out, the Alionas skirmishers scamper around a full phalanx of scutum-bearing, spear-wielding heavies. Great stuff, though, especially given the less than awe-inspiring sculpting quality, the prices seem very steep indeed. |
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"Do not like the gobbos at all. Some ... are awful, while... [others] seem to have orc heads on gobbo bodies."- Ghost
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Brigade Models' Celtos range, formerly produced by I-Kore (latterly known as Urban Mammoth) has a style all of its own. Its small range of goblins, all of which are archers, is no exception. However, while they probably won't mix too well with many of the other ranges out there, and although they aren't the cheapest figures around, they do have plenty of character, with genuinely nasty, sneaky-looking faces. Definitely worth a look, if only for the wondrously silly helmets, which appear to come complete with topknot holes!
"Once the silly crests are removed the goblins archers are probably the best gobs I-Kore has put out yet." - The Imp
"Well... the goblin archers are semi-interesting." - White Knight
"The helmeted goblins look cool." - Lfant
"These have the same problem that 80% of their stuff has - It's ok. That's it, they're just ok." - Artemis Black
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Denizen's small range of goblins is getting on a bit, and it shows. They're nearly as cheap as Warrior, and should mix pretty well with both Warrior and Grenadier, and wouldn't look too out of place next to Black Tree's Harlequin Fantasy line. They've got a couple of figures that show genuine character, but to be honest, this range is only really for those gamers who are on a very tight budget.
Another smallish range, this. The sculpts are pretty decent, with plenty of character, as one would expect from Werner Klocke. The pictures allegedly don't really do justice to the miniatures - but they're still not cheap, even so. |
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Great fun! Certainly the finest Napoleonic Goblins on the market. From police and line infantry to elite heavy cavalry, this range has the lot. Sadly, the brilliance of the concepts often outstrips the quality of the sculpting, but they're pretty cheap, and even the cruder sculpts have personality and charm aplenty. If you want Napoloeonic Goblins, go and buy 'em. If not, you're a boring fool. They also do a small but growing line of more traditional medieval-type goblins, the quality of which is inconsistent, to say the least, and the Erin (Celtic Myth) Fomorians might be worth a look too. "Flintloque figs have only one purpose and thats to throw at passing trains." - Gwartisan |
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Some of Essex's older sculpts have been cruelly described as 'terrible lumps of misshapen lead masquerading as saleable miniatures.' Sadly, it appears that a goodly number of their goblins fit into this category. Even at 90p/figure they're grotesquely overpriced. They're that bad. Not even worth the briefest of glances.
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Hasslefree's fledgling goblin range currently includes a pair of offerings from Kev White, and another seven from the Goblinmaster himself, Kev Adams. They are all both well sculpted and characterful, but they are also all rather expensive, and a few don't really seem quite exceptional enough to warrant the pricetags. "Sparr" figure painted by Zaphod.
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Excelsior's 'Chronopia Blackblood' goblins are another small range with a style all of their own. Very middle-eastern in appearance, faintly reminiscent of the medieval Turks, they won't mix too well with anyone else's figures except, well, the Chronopia orcs. Of course there's nothing stopping you from fielding a vast multicultural horde, and they will sit nicely alongside any 'Easterling' or 'Southron' figures - or historical Moors, for that matter. Unfortunately, the prices are rather steep, and they do suffer rather heavily from 'giant weapon syndrome,' especially in the case of the infantry. However, the detail does look pretty decent, and the Ripper-beasts are ace! They also do an even weirder range of 'swamp goblins.'
"I'm hooked on the arabic looking Chronopia Goblins." - Goldwyrm
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Grendel's goblins are pretty cheap (£1/figure), and fairly old-scool sculpts are pretty decent, although there are a couple of duds. The photos on Grendel's site are appallingly painted, and somewhat misleading at times - so pop over to Discount Hobby if you're interested in taking a closer look. Grendel do a smallish range of infantry, but the main attraction is their array of 'Carnodons,' which should be of interest to anyone looking for a novel set of mounts for their goblin cavalry. The 'lesser goblin rabble' is also a fantastic idea! However, be warned that most packs contain a couple of duplicates.
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Freebooter only sell a trio of goblins, but, like all of Freebooter's multi-part miniatures, in addition to being rather expensive, they are extremely well-sculpted with oodles of detail and masses of personality, complete with a fully detailed metal base. Great for those collectors looking for that special character figure or display piece.
"Yeah, nice figs. Not startling, but ok. Bit steep though for what they are." - UnclEvl
"Outstanding! Wow! these are excellent" - Frotherbaz
"Those greenskins are nice too, best I've seen for a while." - Doc
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Oh dear. The figures are certainly nothing special, and they only sell them in packs of ten identical figures. While they may be cheap as dirt, and although they're not as bad as Essex or Irregular, I can't see any compelling reason why anyone would want these, especially given how many great ranges there are around at the moment.
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Well, Foundry don't actually sell any goblins per-se, but they do have a wonderful range of 'orclings' - these oh-so-cute critters, sculpted by Kev Adams, absolutely ooze character, and should be a must-buy for all gobbo fans… if only they weren't so ludicrously overpriced. 'nuff said, really. Oh - and they should mix well with Black Tree lesser goblins and EE snotlings.
"These will probably fit in quite nicely with the GW snotlings (especially with the 5th edition ones). I only have one of them at the moment so that makes it kind of hard to compare sizes. The orclings look good, but what's with the goofy lizard-thingies?" - White Knight
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