[Custom CMF] Ladies of Historica

[Aurore]

After the Heroes of Mitgardia, here is a new GoH custom minifigure serie!
This time all the Guilds are featured, seen through the eyes of little Solveig, 8 years-old - the niece of my Mitgardian sigfig Sigrid. So be warned : the depictions of the characters may be biased! 

Italic text indicates in-character descriptions. Hidden sections contain back views of the minifigs.

 

Custom Collectable Minifigures : Ladies of Historica

Avalonia

1 - Forest Kid
If I were from Avalonia, I would live in the forest and my best friend would be a Spriggan.
 

Spoiler

2 - Beastmaster
Snorri the Skald says that Avalonian Druids are able to tame all living creatures - even dragons and direwolves!
 

Spoiler

3 - Mermaid
A fisherman once told me that the mermaids from the Mystic Isles lure sailors to shipwreck with their enchanting bagpipes. I have already heard bagpipes and did not find it enchanting - I think the fisherman lied to me. 
 

Spoiler

Kaliphlin

4. Fire Dancer
I went to the Erikson fair once, and there was a Kaliphlini fire dancer!
 

Spoiler

5. Efrit
We have ice sprites in Mitgardia. Do Kaliphlini have fire sprites?
 

Spoiler

6. Illusionist
Snorri the Skald says that Kaliphlin is more than just a desert, and that there are beautiful temples in the mountains where mages practice a very fine and elegant kind of magic.
 

Spoiler

Mitgardia

7. Shieldmaiden
We Mitgardians are the most fearsome warriors of all the Guilds!
 

Spoiler

8.Shaman
We also have some of the most powerful sorceresses.
 

Spoiler

9. Huntress
There are centaurs in the Clan lands. I have never met one, but I'm sure they're awesome!
 

Spoiler

 

Varlyrio

10. Messenger
I don't know Varlyrio very well. Do Centaurs live there too?
 

Spoiler

11. Swashbuckler
Snorri the Skald has never been to Varlyrio, but he has heard that Varlyrian ladies can be fearsome too!
 

Spoiler

12. Harpy
Snorri has also heard that a group of winged warrior women lived in the Varlyrian mountains. It should be so great to be able to fly!  
 

Spoiler

 

Nocturnus

13. Necromancer
The men who went to war against Nocturnus said that even the greatest, the fairest of all people could fall into evil.
 

Spoiler

14. Strix
My dad never came back from the war. He was killed by a stone creature called a Strix.
 

Spoiler

15. Mermaid
The men also said that in Nocturnus, merpeople hunt fishermen.
 

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And last but (definitely) not least...

16. Queen Ylspeth
I have never really seen our Queen, only on silver coins. Auntie Sigrid says she's a very clever lady!
 

Spoiler

 

Edited August 9, 2020 by Aurore

[Henjin_Quilones]

Those are some awesome fig combinations! I love them all, but the fire dancer and clan centaur might be my favorites. So many elements I wish I had, especially the Chima torsos. Where is the fire spirit torso from? 
 

And clearly Solveig has never heard bagpipes played by a Mystic Isles mermaid. Those Mitgardian highlanders might toot their pipes, but not like a mystical mermaid; enchanting is hardly a descriptive enough term for it.

[The Stad]

Another wonderful series of figs to further flesh out the guilds!  You have a truly enviable collection of minifigure components, and a great eye for combinations.  I'm also a big fan of the fire dancer, and I love your take on Ylspeth. Keep up the good work!

[Aurore]

@Henjin_Quilones Thank you very much! The fire sprite's torso is from a villain from last year's Ninjago, called Aspheera.

@The Stad Thank you so much!

[Robert8]

I dont know how you do it, but your combinations always work so well!

I was going to list my favs, but I don't think it would fair to leave out any of these. They are all so spectacular 

 

Illusionist and Chaman are particularly clever. 

Edited August 10, 2020 by Robert8

[Kai NRG]

Really enjoy the thought you put into these minifigures.  Great take on Queen Ylspeth especially. 

[Grover]

Brilliant work  as usual!  You have such an amazing sense of color.  It really brings each creation to life!  I love them all!  The fire dancer, shaman, mermaid, and queen area really amazing.  The colors on the mermaid are really eye catching.  The fire dancer is exactly what I would have imagined.  I love the use of the tattooed face and aquaman's printed hair for the shaman.  The queen looks very regal in a formal, but not ornate garb.  The elf hair looks great on the necromancer.  I would have never thought to use the wonderwoman torso, but it looks great on the swashbuckler.  Great us of the patronus on the illusionist, and tying it all together with the trans light blue.  The groot doll is hysterical and perfect, too!

I have a few questions for you:

1. Where are the harpy's legs from?  I don't remember the goat legs in that color.

2. How do you manage to take the arms out and put them on again without getting them loose?  Mine are always sloppy after I swap them.

3. How do you design the minis?  Do you get inspired by a part, or do you have an idea of what you want before starting?  Or do you simply go in and randomly grab pieces until you are happy with something?  It's always very good, and I don't think I'll ever get that inspired, but it would be interesting to know your process.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Grover

[socalbricks]

This is a wonderful lineup you have here! So much creativity on display, from the Roadhog hook for the Nocturnus mermaid, the Wonder Woman torso on the swashbuckler, and the Storm torso on the Fire Dancer, among many others! I'm also happy to see the centaur "lower bodies" being used. With so many great figures, it's hard to pick favorites. If I had to pick a few, though, it would have to be the Illusionist (I love that color combo), Forest Kid, the Efrit, the Messenger, the Necromancer, and Ylspeth. Keep up the great work!

[Henjin_Quilones]

11 hours ago, Grover said:

1. Where are the harpy's legs from?  I don't remember the goat legs in that color.

Flying Monkeys from a LEGO Batman Movie set, I think. 

[Louis of Nutwood]

Oooh, this brought a smile to my face. 
Such a lovely new series, Aurore. To read from the eyes of a Mitgardian 8 year-old was just so special! Amazing work, here, milady. An incredible sense for minifigure creativity, sparkled with a neat knowledge of the Fauna and Flaura spread across the land. 
Truly, an awesome contribution to behold. 

But of course, the Mitgardian part was the best. 

Skol!

[Grover]

1 hour ago, Henjin_Quilones said:

Flying Monkeys from a LEGO Batman Movie set, I think. 

OMG those are expensive!  Well, no flying monkeys for me!

[Aurore]

@Robert8 Thank you so much! I have to admit that the Shaman is my personal favourite. I may build a MOC around her…

@Kai NRG Thank you very much!

@Grover Thank you so much! 

Concerning the arms : I have the impression that the newer arms have a better grip when put on different torsoes. Maybe TLG has reduced the part size tolerance? I often have issues with the older parts (loose arms when put on an other torso, but also unremoveable arms!)

Concerning the design process : usually, I try to build a specific character and have an idea of the global feeling I want to obtain for them (e.g. rough for the Shaman, classy but not lavish for the Queen, …). Then I spread out parts on my desk, pick the ones I find suitable and try to find matching parts to complete the fig. I have sorted my minifig parts accordingly : one bag for fantasy torsoes suitable for a Norse-like village setting, one bag for showy fantasy armors, one bag for fancy attire, one bag for skirt parts, …Those bags are now quite full as every time I make a BL order, I check all the minifig parts (and animals, and plants) the sellers has and order the ones I find interesting and are not overly pricy. I have also hunted all the existing printed skirt parts and most special hairstyles. 
But sometimes it's the contrary : one specific part gives me a character idea. For example, when the Stranger Things set was released, the Demogorgon's legs immediately made me think of a Harpy. But as of now I have not found a torso/wings/head combination that I appreciate with those legs, so I tried to build a similar character with a different seed part. I happened to have the Flying Monkey's legs in my collection, and the PoTC sand blue mermaid torso and Wonder Woman's golden wings immediately came to my mind. 
Also, I find it easier to build female characters as there are less obiously female parts (and even less as I chose fleshies). Now I have quite a clear mind map of what exists for female fantasy characters, but not yet for male fantasy characters.
 

@Henjin_Quilones & @Grover Yes, those are the Flying Monkey's legs! But oh my, the price has skyrocketed since I got them...

@socalbricks Thank you very for  much!

@Louis of Nutwood Thank you so much! 

Edited August 12, 2020 by Aurore

[LettuceBrick]

These are all really nice and stylish. And such a variety! I particularly like the Shieldmaiden. Is that Thor's helmet I spy on her head? And where are her legs from?

[Aurore]

@LettuceBrick Thank you very much! The Shieldmaiden's helmet indeed comes from Thor, and her legs are from the SW Imperial Gunner minifig from set 75217.

[Grover]

On 8/12/2020 at 7:41 AM, Aurore said:

Concerning the arms : I have the impression that the newer arms have a better grip when put on different torsoes. Maybe TLG has reduced the part size tolerance? I often have issues with the older parts (loose arms when put on an other torso, but also unremoveable arms!)

Concerning the design process : usually, I try to build a specific character and have an idea of the global feeling I want to obtain for them (e.g. rough for the Shaman, classy but not lavish for the Queen, …). Then I spread out parts on my desk, pick the ones I find suitable and try to find matching parts to complete the fig. I have sorted my minifig parts accordingly : one bag for fantasy torsoes suitable for a Norse-like village setting, one bag for showy fantasy armors, one bag for fancy attire, one bag for skirt parts, …Those bags are now quite full as every time I make a BL order, I check all the minifig parts (and animals, and plants) the sellers has and order the ones I find interesting and are not overly pricy. I have also hunted all the existing printed skirt parts and most special hairstyles. 
But sometimes it's the contrary : one specific part gives me a character idea. For example, when the Stranger Things set was released, the Demogorgon's legs immediately made me think of a Harpy. But as of now I have not found a torso/wings/head combination that I appreciate with those legs, so I tried to build a similar character with a different seed part. I happened to have the Flying Monkey's legs in my collection, and the PoTC sand blue mermaid torso and Wonder Woman's golden wings immediately came to my mind. 
Also, I find it easier to build female characters as there are less obiously female parts (and even less as I chose fleshies). Now I have quite a clear mind map of what exists for female fantasy characters, but not yet for male fantasy characters.

Thank you for your detailed reply!  I think that I have had a lot of problems with older torsos, so that may be my problem.  I'm working on a solution but haven't found anything satisfactory yet.  I'll post it if I do.

Your design process sounds great.  I think I'll have to dump all of my parts out on a table and mix and match for my next batch of figures.  I usually have them in a drawer and can't really see everything at once, so feel limited in my design space.  I don't think I'll ever have your sense of color, but this should help!  Thanks for letting us in on the process!

Edited August 14, 2020 by Grover

[LettuceBrick]

@Aurore Ah, I thought those legs looked Star Wars-ish. Thanks for the info!

[socalbricks]

@Aurore @Grover You're not alone as far as "old minifigure torso issues" are concerned. I've lost count of how many older torsos/arms (specifically those which are dark red, dark brown, or reddish brown) have snapped on me as I was trying to switch out the arms. I've also had old torsos that don't snap but lose a lot of friction in the arm sockets if you try switching arms out. Thankfully, LEGO seems to have mostly corrected both of these issues in recent years.

[williejm]

Well done , again! I really love how you put these together x

[JintaiZ]

Wow! These looks great!

[(Luc)ky Luke]

Well done! They all look so complete and detailed!

[Count Vroskri]

Beautiful collection. 

[Aurore]

@socalbricks My biggest disappointment in this case is the (dark brown) torso from the Fantasy Era Troll Queen : I own four of them and would love to switch the arms for printed ones, but it never worked. I cracked two torsos and never managed to remove the arms from the two others. 

@williejm, @JintaiZ, @(Luc)ky Luke, @Count Vroskri Thank you very much, guys!