Vampifan's Views 26 - Monthly Musings 12

Vampirella by Frank Frazetta for her 25th Anniversary

A couple of weeks ago, my friend, Simon/Brummie got in touch with me to let me know that there was a Vampirella statue up for auction on e-Bay. Naturally, I was interested. With five days to go before the auction closed I decided to wait until the last minute before placing a bid. I set myself a limit of £50, as I didn't think it was worth more than that. As the deadline approached the bidding had gone from an initial £20.00 to £46.00. With just one minute to go I put in my bid of £48.00... and got pipped to the post with a bid of £51.00 with seconds to go. That is what I hate about e-Bay. I was gutted.
So, the following day I decided to see if anyone else had this particular statue for sale, or, failing that, any other Vampirella statues. A search on Google revealed that no one else was selling the aforementioned statue. However, I did find a much better Vampirella statue for sale on e-Bay. It was a statue that was commissioned for Vampirella's 25th Anniversary (that was in 1994) and was based on a painting by Frank Frazetta, which I show here.

And here to the left is the statue. It is 1/8th scale, meaning that if Vampirella was standing up she'd be 9" tall or 225mm. When it originally went on sale it retailed for $195.00 (roughly £125.00). Incredibly, the seller was asking £25.00 for it. What I most like about e-Bay was that this item had the Buy Now option. So that is what I did. Two days later, I received a huge parcel in the post. I wasn't expecting the box she was in to be so big. Vampirella herself has been beautifully sculpted by Shawn Nagle and the lizard-type creature is an impressive looking beastie. The statue is a perfect representation of the Frank Frazetta artwork. I am overjoyed at my purchase. To get it at such an incredibly low price was an amazing bargain. I very rarely use e-Bay and my experience over those two days showed the highs and lows of being a buyer.

More good news and another story about the kindness of others. Early in June I received this message from Ernie Huff, a long time follower - "Hello, I have been a follower of your blog for sometime now and recently posted on your site.  I have some models that I would like to send to you that I think you might enjoy for your battle reports.  I would like to game more but have limited time with family, work, and school, but I definitely enjoy the adventures of Team Vampifan! Everything is free with no strings attached.  You can use or not as you see fit." Wow! That came right out of the blue and was most unexpected. I was both delighted at the offer and mystified to see what Ernie would send me.

At the beginning of this month the parcel arrived. In it were these seven Burago 1/43 scale die-cast metal cars. Even though my ATZ campaign is set in America, the car I like most out of this collection is the Mini Cooper - a classic English car. If you don't know which one I'm talking about, it's the one with the red cross on the white roof. My collection of die-cast cars is growing very nicely.

Now, if that was all that was in the parcel I'd have been more than happy with it. But there was more. Ernie very kindly added this set of 28mm scale Victory Force Miniatures armed office workers with gear. This is a set I have been eyeing for quite some time as they make for a fantastic group of survivors to use in ATZ. They are armed with an assortment of assault rifles and all are equipped with backpacks and/or pouches on belts. These guys (and gal) are a well prepared group for dealing with zombies. I certainly want them to become part of Team Vampifan, if Vampifan can recruit them. They'd be an asset to anyone's group.

There was one more surprise in the parcel and that was this figure you see to the right. She is Glimmer, a contestant in The Hunger Games film. This 28mm scale figure is from the Wizkids collectible set of plastic The Hunger Games figures. She's going to need repainting as pre-painted figures tend to be very basic. Plus, I will remove her from the large plinth she stands on. Once I finish with her, I'll have a mighty fine Survivor with bow and arrows. Sorry about the picture quality, but I downloaded the image from the Interweb and it was the best I could find. I'll post much better photos of her once I repaint and rebase her.
So, all in all, a very nice haul. Ernie, I thank you for your kindness and generosity. You are a star! Rest assured, the figures and the cars will see use in my ATZ campaign.
I have managed to get through July without buying a single figure. Yes, result! I'm talking about 28mm scale figures, so my Vampirella statue does not count. I have finished painting 8 Studio Minis zombies, 9 Red Box zombies, a Red Box Chaos demoness and 3 Reaper college students. I'm not saying what I'm painting now. It's a secret but I can't wait to show you them once I finish them! I finished making my Stoelzel's Structures Cottage. I was so impressed with it that I have begun work on a second Stoelzel's Structure model - the Warehouse. I must admit that I have become a huge fan of Carl Stoelzel's work this year; to such an extent, that I now rate his company higher than that of WWG. Since WWG introduced their TLX system, their crown has been slipping, in my opinion. The fact that I haven't made a single TLX building speaks volumes.
A big thank you to everyone who left a comment on my ATZ batrep, "Assault on Precinct 13". It was certainly the most popular batrep I have posted and for me, the most fun to play. The fate of SWAT Sergeant Wayne Connors has been decided. He will survive, and no, he's not going to lose his leg. I have decided that his suit prevented the zombie bite from breaking the skin and it was shock that caused him to go Out Of the Fight.

I'm sure that many of you will now know that THW are working on a new set of rules for All Things Zombie. Final Fade Out will replace the Better Dead Than Zed rulebook. For the most part I think this is a good thing. The BDTZ rules have been in need of an overhaul for quite some time now. Plus, many of the rules in BDTZ have been updated. If you compare them with the likes of After The Horsemen or 5150: New Beginnings, you'll see what I mean. Although FFO will share rules in common with ATH, Ed stresses that FFO is not ATH with zombies. FFO is set now in the modern era, whilst ATH is set many years in the future. I'm looking forward to seeing what changes have been made and hopefully, FFO will become the definitive set of zombie skirmish rules.
The one thing that is causing me some concern is how will this new rulebook affect my ongoing ATZ campaign? Should I carry on as normal or should I start afresh? I can see merit in both options. At the moment I'm 60/40 in favour of starting a new campaign. I'd love to go back to Day One with the knowledge I have now. If I do start a new campaign, how should I end my current campaign? Given what Team Vampifan have gone through so far, there needs to be some sort of closure for them. Maybe they ride off to find a new sanctuary away from Mayhem City. Or on a more downbeat note, they get attacked by a large horde of zombies and are all wiped out. Or perhaps Sunny and the Killer Klowns gain their revenge. I'm not making any firm decision one way or another until I have read FFO. Ed's announcement, earlier this month, about FFO has given me lots of food for thought. I have no idea when FFO will be released, so until then I'll just carry on as normal