the other day I was at the mall with “She who must be obeyed” While she went to Ross I stopped into a little Mom and Pop toy store that has managed to survive in the world of Toys R Us and Wal Mart. they specialize in the less commercial toys. This is the kind of place you go to to find and Ant farm or a wooden train set. the kind of toys that kids would balk at today. I could just imagine the outrage of my minions if we stuffed their Christmas stockings with bags of marbles, spinning tops, and wooden farm animals.
Anyway, I saw a marvelous display of a fantasy castle with a large collection of nicely painted plastic figures. 
The figures were sold individually and while the paint and quality were top-notch, they were just a bit pricey for me ( was more of an Airfix HO scale army men guy myself).
But what really caught my eye though was this figure-
This lil guy looked awesome. He reminded me of the Spell Jammer Giff characters, but much cooler. A Rhino-man. A rhino-man with a big Fricken axe! I have to put you somewhere… Not on Erisa (it’s a bit too high fantasy for that setting). But on Hador he might fit right in. I already have a race of Lion-centaurs, and I’m toying with a place that has an H.G.Wells “Island of Dr. Moreau” / David Gemmell “Joinings” vibe. so why not go balls out and throw in
Rhino-men? I think they look cool. But as I have stated before the “Rule of cool” is a thin line. Does Rhino-man cross into silly? or does he have a place on Hador?
What do you think?
By the way, their Lion-man is pretty swift looking too.
Rhinoman rocks on toast! Either as the results of some hideous magical experiment or as one member of a larger race.
ReplyDeleteI'd say, go for it!
- Brian
I vote yes.
ReplyDeleteThat Lion man is definitely cool.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Rhinoman looks so bad ass how could you not go for it!?
ReplyDeleteTrust your gut on this one..
I like it. If nothing else, he could always be a demon.
ReplyDeleteAny idea what company made the Rhino-man and Lion-man figures?
ReplyDeleteMy gut tells me McFarlane Toys, as this would be right up their alley.
Go with the rhino-man! They work in Doctor Who The Judoon: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=shJRm4sNuhE
ReplyDeleteThese two guys just scream Gamma World (or Mutant Future).
ReplyDeleteI have an Gator-Man (mutated Alligator) in a play-by-post 4th ed GW game that has just started...and I would love to see a similar fig for him. So far thebest I've seen (unpainted though) is "Shrend":
https://www.nobleknight.com/imagepage.asp?image=2763_G.jpg&name=Shrend%20-%20Alligator-Man
Anyway, awesome finds! Those figs are sweet!
Brother Shinrin:
ReplyDeletethe Papo toy company from France is the manufacturer.
Looks Like Rhino-man is in.
ReplyDeleteNow to decide - is he unique or are there more?
Decisions, decisions...
I wholeheartedly recommend the entire Papo range; I've purchased practically all of them for my daughter, and she loves them. The themed knights (Swan Knight, Dragon Knight, Bull Knight, etc.) are particularly cool, and the dinosaurs are stunning. The T-Rex, Allosaurus, and Spinosaurus are fantastic, and though i don't use minis in my rpgs, they'd make absolutely perfect tabletop dinosaurs given their size.
ReplyDeletecheers!
Colin
Go for it! But if you go with the Dr Moreau scenario, my opinion would be he should be 1 of 1.
ReplyDeleteSince real world rhinos and lions share the same habitat, perhaps their Hador cousins do too.
ReplyDeleteThere ought to be at least a couple rhino-men serving as a monarch's personal bodyguard. You could leave it up in the air as to whether they're members of a species or were magically created for the purpose.
ReplyDeletePart of me votes for a whole race of rhino men. Can you imagine a rhino mage or a rhino ninja? On the other hand, rhino ladies scare me a bit.
ReplyDelete