Thursday 17 October 2013

Unreleased Rogue Trader era adventurers and a mystery solved (Bryan Ansell collection)

There's a mystery that's been bugging me and fellow Citadel collectors and Rogue Trader enthusiasts for some time: who and what is the figure on the top left of the image on p. 11 of the Rogue Trader rulebook? Is it even a Citadel figure?




Well, mystery solved! It is indeed a Citadel figure and was found in a castings box of Rogue Trader adventurers in Bryan Ansell's collection:


Unfortunately there are no markings on the front or rear of the tab so I don't know what this figure actually is. Any guesses? An inquisitor type perhaps? I'm not aware of any images that portray this figure but some of you may have sharper memories that me.

Another mystery can be found on page 190 of the Rogue Trader rulebook. A strange figure lurks in the top left, and is highlighted in the image below. He looks like one of the Realm of Chaos thugs from the late 80's, but what is he doing in this picture?


Again, the figure has been found in Bryan's collection:


It is indeed that chaos thug and it looks as if he has been converted to carry a weapon of some sorts. Perhaps he's some sort of rogue trader or Imperial augmented humanoid. Any guesses? Any idea who painted and converted this figure?

***UPDATE FROM A PREVIOUS POST***

Someone (thanks Alan) helpfully left a comment on my unreleased Adeptus Arbites post highlighting the similarity between the crouching Adeptus Arbites figure and one of the old Citadel SJS Judges. Here is a comparison pic (SJS Judge pic obtained from the Collecting Citadel Miniatures wiki):


Alan went on to comment:

The other one looks like an SJS Judge from the JD8 blister. My betting is they're either test scuplts for a range that never was, possibly due to the IP issues (not that that stopped them recycling the original LOTR range using the simple expedient of scratching the names and copyrights off the slotta tab...), or perhaps just cast up for an 'in house' game, never intended for a proper release.

They do look a little rough; the shoulder pads were obviously hacked from some unsuspecting Marine, and the heads (eyes especially) are very basic. Reminds me of Trish Morrison's resulpted 1987 Villagers; the text on the tab is identical to her output around that time.

Bryan Ansell also left the following comment on the Adeptus Arbites:

I think that they look too scratchy for release. Probably someone knocking up a few models for there own use.

So, that's it as far as "new" unreleased Rogue Trader figures go in Bryan's collection?

Actually, there's more to come...

7 comments:

  1. Never seen that mistery model before but it looks good and would make a perfect rogue trader seeing he is amongst space marines and an inquisitor.

    The converted thug too, I have to say I had never spotted him in about 1000 reads of the book...
    Very good work and thanks for keeping us hooked :)

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  2. The sculpting style of the mystery mini at the top is clearly Bob Naismith's. Probably couldn't tell you exactly what it was meant to be, but you never know.

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  3. Great to see the mystery miniature for real. I always assumed it was a conversion.
    He looks a little like a Cylon from the original 1970's Battlestar Galatica series/films. Perhaps it is a never released test model like the Stormtrooper was?

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  4. Hi enjoying the blog.

    If you are keen on more detective work maybe you could try these unreleased halflings, I'm planning to write an article about them on my blog. My hunch is the first two are perhaps an unreleased Mordhiem gang and I know the second two were a resin miniature distributed internally in GW and Victoria Lamb has a copy.

    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gYpjqe7u6PY/T3JVEAi-zbI/AAAAAAAAAos/mO4Lh8LnQ_w/s1600/$(KGrHqVHJDME8f8ym5WRBPI65BmY3w~~60_12.jpg

    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sx9jSmfmGF4/T6spLw2DrCI/AAAAAAAAAx0/70IDyfOdf28/s1600/$(KGrHqNHJF!E91+6nU8hBPku3nleyw~~60_12.jpg

    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hJ76tK1hk5Q/T3JVFyGAIFI/AAAAAAAAAo0/NQDOysxRUB4/s1600/444px-Unreleased_-_Empire_Halfling.jpg

    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lZ54eAm0zww/T3JVIB_LZHI/AAAAAAAAAo8/FwR3_pqWc3Q/s1600/525px-Unreleased_-_Empire_Halfling_2.jpg

    cheers

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  5. Pretty sure he's JD14 Johnny Alpha in disguise: look at the legs and the position of the left hand. Pretty sure he also fits in with the other Arbites / Dredd conversions already discussed; probably their leader?

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  6. I'm somewhat late (very) but I would guess John Blanche converted and painted the chaos thug. The painting style is his right down to the dot point stubble/5 o'clock shadow. He used that a lot in his figures in the 80s...

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