Dwarf Quest Pack - Unreleased Sculpts

This is the last post about the models from the unreleased North American HeroQuest expansion.
Since none of the figures below were sketched by Donald L. Kueker who confirmed he worked on the unreleased Wizard Quest Pack, we can guess the remaining figures were part of the Dwarf Quest Pack but nothing is officially confirmed (edit: they are now confirmed to be part of the unreleased Dwarf Quest Pack - "The Hammer of Hadrakka").
Some of them are probably (according to my tastes) the worst models of the four questpacks.
There are both male and female dwarf, some kind of chinese dragon (it's a Carnivorous Caveworm), some kind of stone golem and a strange rhino looking creature (the Rock Mole).
The male Dwarf could be a boss or a replacement figure for the classic Dwarf as well as the female Dwarf.
Please note the male Dwarf was originally sketched by Rick Grayson, so it is also possible it was a leftout from the Barbarian Quest Pack (since both Dwarfs are wearing fur clothes) or Rick could have been involved to sketch the figures for the Dwarf Quest Pack instead. That golem is also wearing fur clothes, so another possibility, it could be an ICE golem or even an early version for the Yeti or the Frozen Horror himself (edit: it is now confirmed the male dwarf warrior was supposed to be an enemy for this questpack).
Some of the figures are really strange; although it is unconrfimed, I can recognize the hand of the sculptor is the same from the Frozen Horror figures. Some details really match the style in my opinion.
Also many of them do not have a base (as the giant spider) and are coming from a different mythologic world, like the chinese dragon or the rhino (can it be a statue?). Someone suspects they were not satisfying the required quality standards and so they didn't reach the final production process.
As for the previous posts, I asked Skyknight permission to use his photos.

Check the links below for more information about these rare figures:
- Barbarian Quest Pack - Original Sculpts
- Elf Quest Pack - Original Sculpts
- Wizard Quest Pack - Unreleased Sculpts
- Dwarf Quest Pack - Unreleased Sculpts

 

Wizard Quest Pack - Unreleased Sculpts

This is the first part of my posts regarding unreleased models and prototypes inspired by Rod Phelps (aka Skyknight) photos. In the previous posts I've shown you the 4ups sculpts for the Barbarian and Elf Quest Packs which are basically the prototypes of the models used to create the final miniatures.
Years ago on Boardgamegeek and the Old Scratch Heroquest Forum there were rumors of unreleased questpacks for the Wizard and for the Dwarf. But first I would suggest to have a look at Toco's website at http://tocoking.be where he reported his searches for proof of existence of the unreleased questpacks.
While he was in search of an illustrator to paint a cover for a custom questpack, he get in touch with Rick Graysons, who painted the Frozen Horror artworks:

"With patience he found out that The Frozen Horror was painted by Rick Grayson. Now Rick Grayson has shared with me a concept sketch of the Dwarf wearing a fur cape and wielding a hammer. He clearly stated that he did not work on "Quest for the Dwarf", but nevertheless claimed the 3 characters were concept sketches for the small plastic movers. Following the publication of the picture, SkyKnight confesses he has seen that Dwarf before. A clear hint to Quest for the Dwarf!"

Then he get in touch with Don (or Donald) L. Kueker who confirmed being the one who draw the Mage of the Mirror artworks and... even more:

"Then I started browsing the internet and after a while I got in touch with a studio where Don Kueker worked. What happended next was one of the biggest surprises in my life. (True!) Don confirmed he had been the artist of the box cover for the "Mage of the Mirror" expansion set, and more! He made concept sketches for what appears to be a "Quest for the Wizard" expansion set!"

Toco continues his searches and talking with a lot of artists and he was able to receive some of Don Kueker sketches for the unreleased Wizard Quest Pack but also permission to post them. They are all posted on his blog I linked above. So it seems Don Kueker's sketches featured a female wizard hero, a giant spider, a skaven warrior, a saber-toothed tiger, and a centaur.
So after many years of rumors and unfullfilled requests, Skyknight finally shared pictures of the unreleased models. Seems there is no model for the Centaur while the female Wizard exists but is currently in the hands of another person. Rod Phelps sayd:

"This is the rumored Wizard quest set... or part of it. The saber tooth!!! I know who has the hero for this set and I’m trying to get a pic of her model for ya."

And few days later he continued: 

Back from fishing so day two reveal. Showed you the Sabre tooth and the sketch of the female wizard (borrowed from Toco, just confirming). So now that we went down the Wizard path, any other guesses on what may have been in that pack? Here’s a hint. Was always surprising with games worskshop involved that this was not included in the mix. Update; ladies and Gentlemen. The Skaven!!!

Please note, I asked him permission to post the photos.
Edit: it is confirmed both questpacks exist! the Wizard Quest Pack is titled "The Sinister Sorcerers".

 Check the links below for more information about these rare figures:
- Barbarian Quest Pack - Original Sculpts
- Elf Quest Pack - Original Sculpts
- Wizard Quest Pack - Unreleased Sculpts
- Dwarf Quest Pack - Unreleased Sculpts

Barbarian Quest Pack - Original Sculpts

Following the previous post with the Elf Quest Pack prototype figures, here are the 4ups sculpt from the Barbarian Quest Pack, one of the two rare HeroQuest expansions released in North America and Canada only. The photos are taken by Rod Phelps (aka Skyknight) who also owns the figures.
You can notice from the images they are yellow and bigger than the original blue miniatures we get used to see. Rod posted some of these figures for the first time in 2010 on Boardgamegeek and explained as follows:

"When companies make minis they used to make 3Ups or 4Ups. These were one of a kind oversized models that would then be sent down to the sculptors so they could have a larger specimen to work the detail into the mini."

On another post, Rod also explained why the Yeti figure is missing from the set:

"Glaringly obvious is the fact that the yeti is missing. Just before I got my hands on this, one of the wives of the employees got him because it reminded her of the bumble on Rudolph. Is what it is."

And also answered to people asking him to paint them:

"these things are the original heroquest molds, to alter them in any way would be sort of like dying King Tuts bandages to make him more colorful....while it may look cool it does affect the overall historic value of the thing. No, these will be left just as they are and well taken care of, I loved Heorquest as a young lad and an adult and to own a piece of that history is very cool in my book....

I have others but they were never released so I have decided not to post pics of them until I make some more inquiries into it."

With the last sentence he was referring to the unreleased expansions for the Dwarf and the Wizard!
Please note: I obtained from Rod his permission to publish this photos.

 Check the links below for more information about these rare figures:
- Barbarian Quest Pack - Original Sculpts
- Elf Quest Pack - Original Sculpts
- Wizard Quest Pack - Unreleased Sculpts
- Dwarf Quest Pack - Unreleased Sculpts

Elf Quest Pack - Original Sculpts

 

With this post and in the following ones I will try to group some interesting information shared by Rod Phelps (aka Skyknight). For those of you who missed his posts on Boardgamegeek or Facebook, you must know he did some side-works for Hasbro back in 1990 when HeroQuest was still in production; through his work on Heroscape he became friends with some of those who worked on HeroQuest and eventually came upon these models. He also mentioned unreleased expansions like the Wizard and the Dwarf Quest Packs were not just rumors. When Hasbro (sadly) decided to discontinue the HeroQuest line, they destroyed almost all the copies of the game stored in their warehouse, leaving only one copy of each product for archive purpose. Employers were allowed to take some of the stuff for their own and Rod was the lucky one to bring home some of the pre-production stuff as well as some of the unreleased stuff.

Please note: I asked Rod explicit permission to post his photos.

"These are the original molds where the mini is doubled in size four different times. Many times companies use three ups from what I understand. These are then viewed to make sure that when the minis go into mass production there will not be a problem, things like too sharp of angles and such can be detected at this point. Once these are a go and everyone from the production guys, artists, and sulptors say they are good they then get reduced down to the size we know and put out to public.
So what happened is you had the original mold sulpt, these were then cast from that mold in resin for handling purposes, handed to the production teams, ok'd, and then miniaturized for production."

 Check the links below for more information about these rare figures:
- Barbarian Quest Pack - Original Sculpts
- Elf Quest Pack - Original Sculpts
- Wizard Quest Pack - Unreleased Sculpts
- Dwarf Quest Pack - Unreleased Sculpts

HeroQuest box cover: remake by Mauro Pane

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Italian artist Mauro Pane did an amazing digital rework of the original Les Edwards art for the HeroQuest box.

Watch the complete step by step process in the following time-lapse video on YouTube:

Bard and Music Spells

Custom set of spells for a Bard character (or Music Spells if you prefer). This cards are inspired by the new HeroQuest release of the game but made in the classic style. I will use them while waiting for my Mythic Tier to be delivered. This set can be useful not just for a Bard but for any other spellcaster character too.
They still don't have a rear artwork but I would like to make something that is very generic (and music related, of course) and usable with any kind of musician character, not  a specific one.
EDIT: thanks to Dario Annuncio aka ZioDario who painted a rear artwork for this set.

- Healing Song unlike other healing spells, this one can recover up to two body points only but to ALL the Heroes the spellcaster can see, not just one. So you can recover up to eight Body points in total (two for each of the four Heroes).

- Inspiring Tale is a power up spell usable on another Hero but not on yourself and grant one extra die when attacking, only for one turn. Not so much powerful but this spell can be regained everytime another hero standin' in your line of sight rolls two white shields while defending. Not sure this one is very helpful as you should decide not attacking a monster with your two Attack dice and waste your action using this spell to allow someone else to roll one extra die.

- Lullaby is an exact copy of the classic Sleep spell, nothing different. That's a bit sad. It would probably need some modification in order to make it different and more interesting as there are alreday three similar spells in the game (a Water spell, a Chaos spell and Deep Sleep from the Elf spell set).

Artwork painted by Luis Octavio NB, the original sketches you can check below.

Nature Spells - preliminary sketches

In this post I'll show you the preliminary sketches for the Nature Spells, drawn by Luis Octavio NB.
The Bear Strength spell was originally featuring the barbarian. I was considering to use this set as a II level spells for the elf, so asked him to change the barbarian for the elf. Also, this spell can be used only on yourself and the barbarian can't cast spells.

Nature Spells

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Custom set of Nature Spells, inspired by the new release of the game but in the classic style. I will use them while waiting the new release to be delivered. The concept of this spell set is by Nikki Dawes.
The set can be useful for a Druid or any spellcaster character.
- Forces of Life is just a standard healing spell, recovering four lost Body points, like Healing Body or Water of Healing.
- Pixie can be a healing spell or also useful to reveal traps when there are monsters, so no searches are allowed and the Heroes may trigger some trap while fighting against an enemy.
- Bear Strength is instead a power up spell, giving the Hero one extra die in both attack and defense. This spell has the particularity that may be used more times during the same quest because the Hero can regain the spell after recovering all his lost Body points. Used in combination with the other two spells or a healing postion, this one can be used at least 3 times per quest!
Artwork painted by Luis Octavio NB, you can check the original sketches tomorrow in another post.