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Made in au
Fixture of Dakka





Melbourne

Howdy.

[Warning: slight nostalgic waffle ahead]
This weekend I acquired something of major hobby significance to me. I got my hands on the full #91 issue collection of the DeAgostini Battle Games in Middle-earth magazines. (And for a damn good price I might add!)
It was these part works magazines that plunged me deep in to a duel love of Lord of the Rings and painting miniatures that has now consumed me for more then half my life. However being a young man at the time with limited funds, I wasn't able to see myself through the entire run of BGIME and finished up my collection at issue 33. It's long been an a burr in my sock that I was never able to complete the series and I've always kept an eye out for people selling their collections off. Over the last year or two of serious searching, I've seen a number of people offering up the full thing, but never at a price I thought was particularly reasonable. Even most individual iissues re-sell for roughly $4-5 AUD on the likes of ebay or gumtree and the later, less common issues go for upwards of $10. Insanity.
But jump to the present day and I finally landed the full collection at a price I was more then happy to pay. I only had to drive a 3 hour round trip to get it! I'm not complaining though.

Now i'm only missing two of the special edition issues (Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the King) and the collection really will be complete. Those are quite hard to come by though. I'm not sure I've even seen the RoTK for sale anywhere before to be honest.


So, what is the point of this thread?
I thought we could talk about those miniature White Whales of ours. Our Hobby Holy Grails. That piece you'll never stop chasing until you lay hands on it.
Is it a single model that was never available in your country or something very limited edition that is now gone forever? Maybe a specific collection of minis such as the old Skullz techpriests. Are you looking for a rare version of a historical figure that a certain company only produced in limited numbers? Or could it be a specific issue of White Dwarf or some other wargaming magazine you're after.
Or maybe like me, you've recently acquired a hobby holy grail and just want to tell us about it!


So Dakka, what is your miniature White Whale?

My Blogs -
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Terrain 
   
Made in au
Regular Dakkanaut



Australia.

I'm re-living my teenagedom and trying to gather the metal Space Marine and other RT/2nd. Ed. minis I dreamed of having way back when. There's a bunch of obscure stuff in the list that I will probably never find but I got lucky and picked up a couple of Assassins that I always wanted the other day.

If there had to be one white whale amongst them it'd probably be one of the more obscure Assassins, like the one with power sword and bolt pistol. I haven't seen that come up for sale locally in the last 18 months of looking, and only once otherwise from the UK that I missed.

Depressing when some of them are $200 per mini on eBay, but I guess that's what happens when numerous people have disposable income and want to relive their youthful hobbies.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/10/25 03:07:59


 
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




Denver CO

For me it's Spartan Games era Dystopian Wars models, and in particular Kingdom of Britannia and Prussian Empire land models. I've got a pretty good collection going, including some of the more rare stuff from just before they went bust. I'm missing about 10 models to complete the set I've got in mind.

There's a great trading page on FB that runs hot and cold (cold at the moment). Everyone on there is fantastic and the prices are reasonable. I'm hoping to pick up the last few models I need sometime soon. I'm ok with being patient.

   
Made in au
Dakka Veteran





Sydney, Australia

I'm such an impulsive buyer that the things I'm chasing change a lot, but I manage to grab the big ones more often than not through hunting. Was meaning to get into Guild Ball for years because I loved the look of the Alchemists, but then the game went OOP and it looked like it wasn't going to happen until recently when I managed to find the entire set (plus all the Ratcatchers as well, another team I liked the look of) and for more than reasonable prices as well. The big things that I dream of are just that- big things that are too expensive new to even consider and almost certain to not be found 2nd hand. Liberty Prime to finish off my Brotherhood of Steel minis, a Warhound Titan, Imperial Knight army are all things that I can't really justify even though I'd love to

DC:90S++G+++MB+IPvsf17#++D++A+++/mWD409R+++T(Ot)DM+

I mainly play 30k, but am still fairly active with 40k. I play Warcry, Arena Rex, Middle-Earth, Blood Bowl, Batman, Star Wars Legion as well

My plog- https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/787134.page
My blog- https://fistfulofminiatures.blogspot.com/
My gaming Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/fistfulofminis/ 
   
Made in us
Nasty Nob




Cary, NC

Geez, I guess I have two.

One is the FW Ork Fighta Traktor. FW's ork plane has no landing gear, so they used to make a silly little resin cart that evidently pulled it down the airfield for takeoff. It was pulled by the old Gorkamorka wartrakk. It's a totally useless model kit, but it's literally the only FW ork model I don't have. They seem to be insanely rare, probably because nobody bought them in the first place. I would love to get one.

The other would be the Armorcast Gargant. I saw one for sale like a decade ago for $400 or $500 and thought the price was ridiculous. What a moron. The damn things go for $1500+ now. I didn't realize until recently that Armorcast only made like 300 of the damn things. No use for it in a game either, but I'd love to have one of those too.

Of the two, I'd be happier getting the traktor, just because it would cost less and be a lot easier to store.

 
   
Made in nz
Rough Rider with Boomstick






Off the shoulder of Orion

Yeah, the Armorcast Gargant would be a real find at a good price.

My White Whale was a Leman Russ Destroyer, but I finally managed to pick up a second hand one on line that just needs a new coat of paint. Amazing how hard it was to find one.

My Collected Narrative Photo Battle Reports

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Gordy2000%27s_Battle_Reports

Thanks to Thor 665 for putting together the article
 
   
Made in de
Battlefield Tourist






Nuremberg

Battlefleet Gothic ships for Orks and Chaos. There's good alternatives for Imperials, and I've got proxies in mind for Eldar, but there's nothing really fitting the aesthetics of Orks and Chaos in the 3rd party market.

Aside from that, I am managing to pursue my "ideal" 40K from when I was a kid with some success, just getting small 2e/3e sized armies for each of the factions I'm interested in and not worrying too much about the current game status.

   
Made in au
Axis & Allies Player




 Snrub wrote:

This weekend I acquired something of major hobby significance to me. I got my hands on the full #91 issue collection of the DeAgostini Battle Games in Middle-earth magazines. (And for a damn good price I might add!)


Congrats on picking up the Battle-Games mags! I only got hold of mine a few years ago (wasn't into LotR when it first came out), and was astounded at how good they were, once you got past the first few issues. So many great scenarios for limited model counts, terrain ideas (Golden Hall!) and painting guides. I only have up to about #70, and like you am missing two of the specials.

(I have a vague memory that the Battle-Games mags weren't released in the United States, which may be why LotR SBG didn't really seem to take off there back in the day like it did elsewhere in the world. Or am I misremembering?)


I recently managed to harpoon my own White Whale: copies of the two expansions for the 1990s original Warhammer Quest. (Lair of the Orc Lord and Catacombs of Terror.) I didn't think I would *ever* own those--Catacombs in particular goes for silly money. But mine were missing the miniatures, so I got 'em at a very reasonable price. Unpunched no less, with the cards still in shrinkwrap.

Mind you, I've now spent several times that amount on proxy miniatures to actually play the adventures, and am now drowning in plastic skeletons.

Of course, all of 90s Warhammer Quest is a White Whale. I started with just the three rulebooks and nothing else about ten years ago, and have sloooowly pieced together a playable set. My next hopeless quest is to get hold of the ludicrously pricey character packs. And the elusive cards for those extra room tiles in White Dwarf. And...

Edit:
 Da Boss wrote:
Battlefleet Gothic ships for Orks


How about looted Imperial cruisers? I made my Terror ships that way.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/10/25 07:16:11


 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

For me it's the Dwarf Juggernaut (GW, WHFB 1e?, about 1984 or so).

I saw this thing in the Toy & Hobby Shop at the local mall when I was a kid & loved it. I didn't have enough $ in my pocket & Mom wouldn't forward me the difference. Said I'd just have to save some more & get it the next time we were at the mall.
Several weeks later I had enough $, we went to the store, & ...... It was gone.
The person working there was clueless as to what I was looking for & this wasn't the type of store that would special order you anything, just some mall store with a generic name. :(

In the decades since? I've seen this thing numerous times on EBay. For a ridiculous price, often shown clearly missing the same part, & having the soft blurred details of a recast.
Nope, not paying that price for an incomplete mediocre recast. I'll find a real one eventually.

And so, almost 40 years later my quest continues.

 Filename Dwarf Juggernaut.jpg__thumb [Disk] Download
 Description
 File size 43 Kbytes

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/10/25 07:16:19


 
   
Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User





Mine is every ship produced for Man O War. I'm nearly there, with the real white elephant being the Lord of Change. Absolute nightmare of a miniature to track down.
   
Made in it
Waaagh! Ork Warboss




Italy

I currently don't have a real white whale but there were only two models that I always wanted to have despite I didn't play their factions: one was Morathi on pegasus and the other one was the Chaos lord with plasma pistol and axe, which I first saw on a WD as the subject of a painting challenge and fell in love with it.

We're not talking about very expensive and very rare models but to me buying stuff I wasn't gonna play has been a big deal for at least 15 years, and being OOP they weren't really cheap either.

I got both of them at some point, and after some time I've also got a full dark elves army so poor Morathi is not all alone anymore and can lead a full force .

So the chaos lord is the only model I currently own that doesn't have a full army of his faction around him.

Now the Morathi I own is in finecast and I've never really been 100% satisfied with that, so maybe my white whale is to find the same model in metal. Complete and with an accessible price though.

 
   
Made in gb
Lord of the Fleet






London

I've had a few over the years including:

- The original Emperor's Champion, the limited one where he's holding his sword in a two-handed pose. Managed to get it on eBay for £15, no idea how. I guess I was just lucky.

- One of the old Lucius Warhounds. I'd so love to get another to have a proper hunting pair but the Lucius was discontinued years ago. While there are a few still floating about they're far too expensive to justify it.

- In the world of Airfix I've always wanted to get a copy of the TSR-2. It was a unique UK bomber built in the 50's, essentially Concorde carrying nukes instead of passengers. Airfix produced a limited run back in 2006 and that was it. I've often seen them go for close to £200 online but managed to snag one for £80. In addition to that I was looking for a set of brass upgrade parts for the cockpit. Every single shop around didn't have any, even the original company that produced it. I eventually found one in a tiny French model shop, but if there's another one available anywhere in Europe, I'll genuinely be surprised.
   
Made in au
[MOD]
Making Stuff






Under the couch

I have an Armourcast Revenant, and would love a Warhound to go with it... but I stopped trying too hard to get a hold of one since I'll likely never get around to building them anyway.

Likewise on the Dreamforge Leviathans. I've always really wanted one of the skull face ones, but the few times I've had the opportunity to pick one up I ended up passing on the assumption that it'll just gather dust.


I have been having fun slowly collecting RT-era 40K models, though.

And I'd kind of like to one day pick up the original Nagash, just for the sake of having him. He's a piece of Warhammer history for several reasons...

 
   
Made in us
Keeper of the Flame





Monticello, IN

That's easy: 20 more Warhammer Quest Minotaurs, and several Talisman/Warhammer Quest plastic characters.

www.classichammer.com

For 4-6th WFB, 2-5th 40k, and similar timeframe gaming

Looking for dice from the new AOS boxed set and Dark Imperium on the cheap. Let me know if you can help.
 CthuluIsSpy wrote:
Its AoS, it doesn't have to make sense.
 
   
Made in si
Foxy Wildborne







Nothing I obsess over.

But I'd get the whole original Dystopian Wars range if I could, and late era Uncharted Seas.

My friend is forever looking for the Necromunda Farseer

Posters on ignore list: 36

40k Potica Edition - 40k patch with reactions, suppression and all that good stuff. Feedback thread here.

Gangs of Nu Ork - Necromunda / Gorkamorka expansion supporting all faction. Feedback thread here
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






I’ve got most of the rules for 2nd Ed Epic, with a set of Titan Legions proving prohibitively expensive.

Think I need to eBay camp to snaffle up models when they show up for a more reasonable price. See, I’m something of a jinx. Typically just as I get a nostalgia collection going, the prices start to rise.

   
Made in au
Axis & Allies Player




 Just Tony wrote:
That's easy: 20 more Warhammer Quest Minotaurs, and several Talisman/Warhammer Quest plastic characters.


Oh yeah, that reminds me of another white whale: the fabled FT03 box of plastic 90s wizards.

So much HeroQuest / Warhammer Quest / WFB / etc. potential in that box.

And just mentioning it here has probably given it a price hike due to increasing awareness and demand. Whoops.
   
Made in au
Voracious Kroothound





I probably have loads of these as well, but in the last few years I've gotten these 4 I'm quite happy with:

- The limited edition Anghkor Prok Kroot Model. As a someone who loves Kroot and the mercenaries list back in 3rd Edition, this was a coup. (Still haven't taken it out of the blister!)
Also means I now own every non-Forge World Kroot model that was available.

-Both the Truthsayer and Dark Emissary from the WHFB 6th Albion campaign. Again, limited edition, still in blister. Got them so cheap on ebay I had to pinch myself.

-A very sizable (Over 3000pts) Dwarf 6th edition army, with the awesome metal Dwarf rangers, miners, thunderers and slayers. Only had a small dwarf force back in the day,
but always wanted an army like this. Now I just have to paint up the whole bloody lot!

- At least 2000pts of WHFB 6th Ed Chaos Dwarfs (from the Ravening Hordes Book). Another thing I started back in the day but have finally gotten around to. About half
painted too!
   
Made in us
Keeper of the Flame





Monticello, IN

Zenithfleet wrote:
 Just Tony wrote:
That's easy: 20 more Warhammer Quest Minotaurs, and several Talisman/Warhammer Quest plastic characters.


Oh yeah, that reminds me of another white whale: the fabled FT03 box of plastic 90s wizards.

So much HeroQuest / Warhammer Quest / WFB / etc. potential in that box.

And just mentioning it here has probably given it a price hike due to increasing awareness and demand. Whoops.


From the "toy box" campaign they did? Yeah, that box, the Adventurers box, and the Dungeon Denizens box were what I looked up a bit ago. NONE less than $40 US on ebay. NONE. I wouldn't have thought they were THAT sought after.

www.classichammer.com

For 4-6th WFB, 2-5th 40k, and similar timeframe gaming

Looking for dice from the new AOS boxed set and Dark Imperium on the cheap. Let me know if you can help.
 CthuluIsSpy wrote:
Its AoS, it doesn't have to make sense.
 
   
Made in gb
Using Inks and Washes





Nothing super old or rare, but I would like to get some of the final Guild Ball releases (particularly the Shepard's Guild, some of the 3rd wave Captains and some of the resin resculpts they did).
There's tons of the old 1st edition stuff still floating about out there, but very little of their newer, resin releases seem to have escaped into the wild.
   
Made in au
Fixture of Dakka





Melbourne

Wowee! Went to work for a few hours and this thread took off like I wouldn't have guessed.

It's great too see peoples thoughts on this and interesting to see what people really want. I was expecting to see a bit more of the obscure BFG ship or Inquisitor 54mm genestealer style white whales. Or the occasional Warlord/Manta type thing. But it's refreshing to see some more "mundane" white whales.






Zenithfleet wrote:
Congrats on picking up the Battle-Games mags! I only got hold of mine a few years ago (wasn't into LotR when it first came out), and was astounded at how good they were, once you got past the first few issues. So many great scenarios for limited model counts, terrain ideas (Golden Hall!) and painting guides. I only have up to about #70, and like you am missing two of the specials.
Thanks! They really are excellent resources. The painting guides are good for beginners. Basic, but not patronizingly so, and still yield respectable results. Some of the special scenarios and chapter approved-esque rules like the wizard duel for example are really fantastic. It shows some thought and cares was given to what is essentially a newbies guide to wargaming. Far more then what has been given to the recent conquest/mortal realms partworks. The terrain guides for me though are the truly stand out thing about them. As you say, the things like Meduseld or the border fortress in a later issue are magnificent guides.
(I have a vague memory that the Battle-Games mags weren't released in the United States, which may be why LotR SBG didn't really seem to take off there back in the day like it did elsewhere in the world. Or am I misremembering?)
It was never realeased in the US according to my knowledge. It would certainly lend credence to why the game isn't/wasn't as popular over there. I'm really hoping they do another partworks for Middle-earth after the apparent success of Conquest/Mortal Realms.

 Maskirovka_Man wrote:
- The limited edition Anghkor Prok Kroot Model.
I had the chance to snag that mini about 3 years back from a 2nd hand bin at a Mindgames for $10. I mistook it for a regular shaper though and it wasn't until I got home and checked that I realised my mistake. It was gone by the time I went back there though the next day. I was pretty livid with myself over that. Someone got a hell of a bargain though.

My Blogs -
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Made in de
Boom! Leman Russ Commander






I didn't have to wait decades for it, but when I started into the hobby some 2 and a half years ago, I found some pretty cool terror bird cavalry models from Blight Wheel that I wanted. They offered 4 different poses but two were out of stock. I wrote them if the other two would come back, and they asked me to be patient. Some time later all 4 were out of stock. I kept writing and asking them again and again when they will be back and the answer basically was "might be never again, sorry". But this year, suddenly all 4 were back in stock and I immediatly got them.

~6550 build and painted
819 build and painted
830 
   
Made in ca
Veteran Wolf Guard Squad Leader






 lord_blackfang wrote:
Nothing I obsess over.

But I'd get the whole original Dystopian Wars range if I could, and late era Uncharted Seas.

My friend is forever looking for the Necromunda Farseer


This one? https://www.ebay.ca/itm/165139375993?hash=item267312e779:g:73EAAOSw2N5hcGvV

Wolfspear's 2k
Harlequins 2k
Chaos Knights 2k
Spiderfangs 2k
Ossiarch Bonereapers 1k 
   
Made in de
Ladies Love the Vibro-Cannon Operator






Hamburg

White whale is Angron, Primarch of Khorne Eaters.
Have the model but not primed or painted yet.
 Filename 99560102114_Angron01.webp [Disk] Download
 Description
 File size 84 Kbytes

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/10/26 16:31:41


Former moderator 40kOnline

Lanchester's square law - please obey in list building!

Illumini: "And thank you for not finishing your post with a "" I'm sorry, but after 7200 's that has to be the most annoying sign-off ever."

Armies: Eldar, Necrons, Blood Angels, Grey Knights; World Eaters (30k); Bloodbound; Cryx, Circle, Cyriss 
   
Made in us
Shadowy Grot Kommittee Memba




The Great State of New Jersey

Dunno if I have one. Theres definitely been in the past (I have three Marienburg Landships ), but currently I don't think I have anything other than some odds and ends to round out my Dust 1947 collection. I have an almost white whale in the form of an army of Praetorian guardsmen, but I don't love the minis enough to ever pull the trigger, frankly I think I could convert a better looking army myself (or sculpt and 3d print one as the case may be).

CoALabaer wrote:
Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
 
   
Made in gb
Malicious Mandrake




Caught the WHFB Dogs of War bug long after that ship had sailed. Gradually picked up a hodge podge force which doesn't see battle often, but is still fun to have. Out of my price range now though....
   
Made in in
[MOD]
Otiose in a Niche






Hyderabad, India

I find I've been prone to manias. I track down some old model I like and fall in love and decide I need the whole line of them. And then more. And more.

A few years ago it was Space Fleet, I painted like 5 of the old dagger shaped ships, and wanted more and well...



That's a few years old, the collection has at least doubled.

Then it was Arbites. I always liked the lil Judge Dredd rip offs (the first models were literally JD models with green stuff) so got a small kill team.

And well...





Those are from last year, more has been added since.

As anyone who's seen my blog knows I am not a great or even good painted but I do make up for it in quantity.

Then there's the boxes of RT metal and fantasy from around the same time...

 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut






Death Korps of Krieg. A lot of money, and I don't actually play 28mm 40K, so I would need them for something else. But they are stunning. Apparently, some of the main kits may have gone, like the infantry firing kit, so it is probably permanently a dream it seems. All this is probably also true of a Cadian Hostile Environment army, though I have 30 of them stashed away.

Two white product I actually got were the two dark elf dreadlord which were holding the baby dragons. They came back as a made to order and I picked up both. Was annoyed I missed them first time around.


 Coenus Scaldingus wrote:
In my day, you didn't recognize the greatest heroes of humanity because they had to ride the biggest creatures or be massive in size themselves. No, they had the most magnificent facial hair! If it was good enough for Kurt Helborg and Ludwig Schwarzhelm, it should be good enough for anyone!
 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut






Mine was a classic Slaanesh Champion (the one with a two handed sword and bladed tail)

I have painted this at least three times previously to various degrees of bad. But that was 20 years ago. I wanted to get it again and finally do a good job.

And I learnt something. Metal is a &(%#^ to paint! I guess I’ve gone soft, but I found it really annoying and didn’t get that nostalgia buzz I wanted.

It was better in my memory.

Still, useful lesson learned!
   
Made in us
[SWAP SHOP MOD]
Robot Cat






OH-I Wanna get out of here

FW Reaver Titan pilot on foot that was a show exclusive model.
   
 
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