Joulupukki

Last year, Finland inducted Joulupukki (aka Santa Claus) to their National Inventory of Living Heritage. The modern Joulupukki looks pretty much like the version of Santa Claus popularized by the advertising paintings produced for Coca Cola by Haddon Sundblom.

Joulupukki and his tontut.

However, there was a time when Joulupukki bore the literal appearance of his name—Yule Goat, and was said to have been an actual goat, or some kind of weregoat.

The concept of [were]goats bearing gifts is said to have come from the merging of Joulupukki with Nuuttipukki. Nuuttipukkit were Krampus-like figures who would make the rounds at the end of the Yuletide festivities. Some say they represent spirits to be appeased, while others say they drive off spirits who would otherwise overstay their welcome during the Yule.

Anyway, the Yule Goat is an appropriate subject for this time of year, but the post is really about weregoats (of which the Yule Goat is the closest thing in mythology that I could find).

There is only one weregoat figure that I am aware of. It comes from the Judges Guild City State Miniatures line. I'm not sure if there are any stats for this creature in any of the Judges Guild publications, but current homebrew D&D stats found on the internet seem to treat weregoats no differently from satyrs.

The Judges Guild weregoat happens to be one of my grail miniatures, but unfortunately Eisenwerk miniatures are near impossible to find. Thus I decided to make do with a proxy from the Ganesha Games Miniatures line produced by Alternative Armies.

This particular miniature is the mount from the Skeleton Undead Ram Rider (Hammer and Forge UDD007).

The creature is supposed to be a ram and not a goat, but the face is rather bovine, so it doesn't really look like either. I'll probably modify the horns to point backwards so that it is more goat-like, but I'm not sure there is too much else I can do about the head.

Walrus Giganticus

The giant walrus encountered by Sinbad in the far northern land of Hyperborea in the 1977 film Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger was another creature animated by Ray Harryhausen.

A model was sold by X-Plus as part of their Ray Harryhausen Film Library line of resin figures.

The model consists of the walrus and a separate base with two figures that are roughly 1/72 scale attached to it.

I like the model, but I'd be hesitant about using it for gaming because it is made of polystone resin. If you need something for gaming, plastic figures from Safari Ltd or Schleich would be a better choice.

These figures are probably larger than the X-Plus model, but there's always a bit of leeway with movie monsters, since their relative size to humans is not always consistent on film.

Cinderella

Clothes make the woman

The most iconic Disney Princess outfit is probably the one from Cinderella. The costume is ostensibly based on 18th century European gowns, but fashion mavens are able to dissect the features as surely as any Napoleonic enthusiast scrutinizing facings and bricole.

Surprisingly enough, there is a miniature that is very reminiscent of Cinderella in this ballgown that can pass as 1/72 scale.

The miniature is molded in pink plastic and the dress is not exactly the one worn by Cinderella, but the pose is so similar that I think it was modeled after a ceiling fan pull chain ornament for some sort of licensed Disney product (though I could be completely wrong).

I don't remember where I got it, but I've been trying to see if I could find some more to paint up in different colors. The Disney pull chain decorations seem to be fairly large, so they are of no use, while this little figure seems to be something that is so obscure I'll probably never find any more of them.