Of Witches, Wizards, and Saints

Here is a post covering the latest arrivals from Dark Alliance.

The first set is of Witches, consisting of 44 figures in 11 poses.

About half of the figures wear the stereotypical witches hat that later became part of pop culture through the design of Adrian for the MGM film The Wizard of Oz.

Some media outlets entertain the dubious theory that these hats were derived from headgear worn by alewives, but this is sensationalist tripe propagated by the likes of the "History" Channel, VICE, and BBC, where lazy writers who don't do proper research, churn out authoritative sounding slop that would make AI cringe in embarrassment.

Christina Wade does not mention it in her braciatrix post, but the alewife theory was postulated by Alan Eames, self-styled anthropologist and historian who might be better described as bar owner, beer retailer/importer, marketing consultant, and all-around beer evangelist.

Anyway, back to the miniatures. These six figures are all doing stereotypical witch things, like carrying a familiar, examining a potion, stirring a cauldron, or holding/riding a broomstick.

In the second image, the first three figures follow the traditional archetype of witch as old crone popularized by Shakespeare in Macbeth. I'm not sure if the poses are based on existing artwork. The next two figures however, are obvious Disney characters — Queen Grimhilde in crone form, and Maleficent in her escoffion à cornes.

Crone Grimhilde was cast with a huge block of plastic obscuring the right side of her face, and will probably require a bit of reconstructive surgery skill to correct the issue.

I wonder if Dark Alliance will put out a set of modern witches like they have done for Krampus and Amazon figures. In any event, witches in an older post can be found here.

The second set is of Wizards, consisting of 48 figures 12 in poses.

The first image is of wizards with staves. I can't say that I really recognize these sculpts as representing anything other than generic wizards.

The second image is of more wizards with staves. The first figure is an obvious Saruman. The second figure holding a book is reminescent of John Dee, but that's just my impression.

The final image is of a wizard girded with sword, a wizard searching for reagents in his bag, a wizard holding a potion, and a gesticulating wizard.

This set is probably the most useful of the lot as candidates for player characters. More wizards from an older post can be found here.

The last box is Modern Krampus Set 1, consisting of 44 figures 11 in poses. I go over the background of the Krampus in a previous post.

In the first image, the first figure is St. Nicholas, based on the 4th century saint, Nicholas the Wonderworker. The next two figures are of Krampusse with bags of coal, followed by a Krampus with a basket on its back, and ending with two Krampusse with ruten.

The second image consists of three Krampusse being menacing, and two Krampusse carrying some sort of Krampus Staff.

I can't find much information on these staves other than they seem to be set ablaze in Austria. For the more tame North American Krampuslauf, they seem to use the Krampus Light Up Staff (illuminated with LEDs).

The final image is the reverse of some of the Krampus figures showing bag and basket. All of them have what I assume are two round bells on their belts. The kneeling Krampus distributing coal has a cowbell on his belt as well.

I prefer Set 1 over Set 2 because the figures are more in line with traditional Krampusse.

Krampus

The Krampus is a dark companion figure who accompanies Saint Nicholas during his midwinter rounds in Alpine regions and countries that were part of the former Habsburg Empire.

Krampus, 2015

There are a number of alternative names for Krampus, including Klaubauf, Bartl, Pelzebock, Gumphinckel, Schmutzli, Tuifl, and Ganggerl among numerous local variations. The feminine form of Krampus is said to be Krampa.

On Krampusnacht (December 5), Krampus visits each household to punish bad children by lashing them with a whip or rute, while for the Feast of St. Nicholas (December 6), Saint Nicholas rewards good children with treats.

Krampus also carries a sack or basket to carry off disobedient children to administer more serious consequences.

Greetings from Krampus!

Various theories on the roots of the Krampus myth propose a pagan origin. Some stories claim he is the son of Hel (a modern confabulation?), while others hypothesize he is derived from Cernunnos, Vidadus, or Silvanus.

Stephen Winick in a post at the Library of Congress Blog, dismisses these claims of pagan origin, and suggests Krampus legends come from medieval morality or miracle plays.

British Library Add MS 47682

Rituals involving the Krampus are said to have developed from pagan winter rites like Klaubaufgehen or Rauhnächten which centered around masked figures dressed in furs boisterously making a clammor with bells and chains to disperse evil spirits or usher out winter and the previous year.

These evolved into celebrations where figures costumed as St. Nicholas and one or more Krampusse parade through town to visit homes and businesses. A good article on this tradition can be found at earthstoriez.

In modern days, people engage in Krampuslauf and Krampus Balls. The former involves a procession of Krampusse running through the streets in Krampus costumes while the later appears to be some sort of modern Krampusnacht celebration.

From what I understand,these celebrations can get quite rowdy in Europe, with onlookers being swatted with whips and ruten. I imagine that the Krampuslauf in the U.S. is commercialized and much more tame, but I couldn't say for sure.

Regardless, Dark Alliance has released Modern Krampus sets in 1/72 scale, and I was able to order Set 2.

The set consists of four sprues of figures in ten poses. They appear as the type of Krampus one might find at a Krampuslauf, but are armed with ill-kept medieval-style weapons.

Unlike the traditional Krampus that serves as a deterrent to bad behavior, these Krampusse appear to be on a crusade to eliminate anyone who commits apostasy against the spirit of Christmas.

The figures are actually rather reminescent of the old Heritage Lord of the Rings orcs, or maybe could be used as bugbears for those who don't have a use for an army of Krampusse.

A Modern Krampus Set 1 that includes a figure of Saint Nicholas is also supposed to exist, but I have yet to see it being sold anywhere.

It would have been nice if there was a figure that looked like the Krampus from the 2015 film.

Wolf Man vs. Dracula

The specious enmity between vampires and werewolves has been explained in various places (e.g., Maverick-Werewolf), so I won't go into it other than to say that it seems like another instance of stan culture spreading into mainstream belief.

Many people say that the rivalry was popularized by the film Underworld, but it has been present in film since the days of the classic Universal Pictures monster movies. A Wolf Man vs. Dracula film was even proposed, but never came to fruition (though elements seem to have been incorporated in the House of Dracula).

Creepy #7 Feb 1966
Cover by Frank Frazetta

To go along with this theme, there are two new sets from Dark Alliance that bring us figures of vampires and werewolves.

The Vampires set consists of 48 figures in 12 poses.

The figures include Vlad Tepes, three classic Dracula-style vampires, and a very elusive Orlok-style nosferatu.

I am particularly fond of the nosferatu, but I felt some of the other face sculpts were a bit lacking. It would have been nice if they could have made more variation by perhaps replacing one of the caped Dracula vampires with the version from the Francis Ford Coppola Dracula film.

Bram Stoker's Dracula, 1992

The next group of figures are of three vampire brides, and a prospective vampire bride (I think).

The third vampire bride figure from the left looks like she may have been modeled after Marishka from the Van Helsing movie.

Marishka

The final group of figures are what I assume are lesser vampires, though the first figure from the left may be a human servant of some sort, while the third may be another nosferatu.

The figures can also double as zombies, given their poses and the torn clothing(?) on the two figures to the right.

The WereWolfes [sic] set consists of 40 figures in 10 poses.

The first two figures are Gabriel Van Helsing and Anna Valerious from the 2004 film Van Helsing. The third figure looks like a classic Lon Chaney-style Wolf Man.

The sculpts are good representations of the characters, though I don't think Kate Beckinsale really has legs that long.

Kate Beckinsale in Hollywood with Dolls Kill
Extreme Appetite for Destruction Platform Boots

The next group of figures are human sized werewolves.

The bases on these figures (and many of the others) were all warped for some reason. For expediency, I just shaved the bases to allow the figures to stand, but I'll have to fix them to be more level later on.

The final set of figures include a couple of giant werewolves, and two crouching werewolves.

Overall, both sets are quite nice, though I have to admit that I now have more vampires and werewolves than I know what to do with. However, if you still are looking for other vampire and werewolf figures, see my post from 2009.

Middle-earth Cavalry

Last week I received the latest sets from Dark/Light Alliance, consisting of two sets of Mounted Light Eastern Tribes, Southern Kingdom Warriors Heavy Cavalry, and Windy Bay Warriors Heavy Cavalry.

The figures were released a while back, but I was too slow to order them from my usual source, so had to wait for a restock since they sold out very quickly.

The first two sets are meant to represent Easterling cavalry. I've seen some mention that the "tribe" they're supposed to represent are known as the "Wasaki", but I'm not sure if this is a Peter Jackson term or if it came from somewhere else. The only reference I could find to the word was for a company that sells halal Wagyu.

The figures seem to be modeled after the Easterling Kataphrakts from GWs MESBG (though when I hear the word cataphract, I think of heavy cavalry rather than light cavalry).

Set 1 consists of two javalin men, and four archers.

Set 2 consists of a commander with a "glaive" (a GW appellation), a banner carrier, and four swordsmen.

The horses from both sets are identical, and come in six poses.

The next set of cavalry is meant to represent the Knights of Gondor. I don't think the term came from Tolkien, but rather originated from the video game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II.

Special Extended Edition: Director's Cut mod
for The Battle for Middle-earth II

The box art depicts knights reminescent of the Peter Jackson films, but the actual figures bear somewhat less of a resemblance in my opinion.

The figure are made with ring hands to accomodate the weapons supplied with the set (two styles of lance, three different types of sword, and an axe).

The horses come in six poses.

The final set is meant to represent the Swan-knights of Dol Amroth. The "Windy Bay" refers to "the windy Bay of Bel" mentioned in the poem The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon, which is an allusion to the Bay of Belfalas.

Swan-knights from Middle Earth mod
for Total War Kingdoms

The Knights of Dol Amroth are typically depicted wearing winged helms, but only one pose has such a helmet. Instead, they are distinguished by a winged badge on their right pauldron.

The figure are made with ring hands to accomodate the weapons supplied with the set (two styles of lance, three different types of sword, and a flail).

The horses are identical to the ones from the Southern Kingdoms set, but in a different colored plastic.

All in all, another nice effort by Alliance from their line of Middle-earth figures. I also think the mounts are much better than the undersized horses used in the previous set of Black Riders.