Out of Suitcase #20: The art of obscure finds...

Chaosium President Rick Meints shares stories from a life-time as a collector of all things Chaosium.

I recently got asked "what are some of the rare or obscure items in your collection?" I have a number of unique items, and it's hard to pick just one. Last night I was writing about one of them for my book on Gloranthan publications, and thought it was worth sharing here. It is Fantastic Battle, a three-piece prototype set by the Danbury Mint. It features the art of Richard Bober. It reminded me of the cover of an unpublished HeroQuest RPG* supplement that was cancelled, and when I checked my hard drive, lo and behold, I found the cover art...

The set features a hand painted dragon miniature and a porcelain plate, both of which sit on a stone base. The pre-order brochure from the Danbury Mint describes the scene thusly: Gildor the fearsome dragon is stirring from his slumber of a thousand years. The hour has come at last for a battle that will shake the earth ot its core. A second dragon, Rhunyx answers the challenge with a deafening roar. The citizens of Ashkelen are frozen with fear...unable to escape as a titanic battle of unimaginable fury and destuction unfolds. Exclusively from the Danbury Mint, it is attractively priced at just $55.

This is the background plate, which makes it easier to see it is the same as the cover art from Sartar Rising: Dragonrise, other than being reversed and the flying orlanthi in the sky being retouched out:

As for the fate of Dragonrise, the fourth part of the Sartar Rising series, that will have to wait for another post...

*our HeroQuest RPG is now called Questworlds.