LEAD INTO GOLD: THE ALCHEMY OF A GOOD CLEAR OUT

The Happy Discovery. I think I'll call him Klaus (as in early Xmas present)

When putting together my original 19thC Prussian forces, I went with the Northstar 1866 Prussians as my base figures. Unfortunately, when Northstar picked up the line from Helion, they seem to have reduced the range, leaving a few gaps. Specifically, there are no mounted officers. At  that time, however, I was lucky enough to scoop up a few Prussian mounted commanders via Caliver Books, who were then clearing out their Helion odds and ends.  Readers of this blog may recall an earlier post wherein I described pressing a specialty figure, a Prussian 1866 uhlan trumpeter, into the role of command figure due to this shortage.  Well, there has been a surprise development since then.

Because we were going to have some work done on the house, I was obliged to do something that I had long been putting off--clearing out and organizing my lead mountain and associated jumble of hobby stuff in my basement painting area.  This was a laborious, two- day activity, but I diligently went through every box, bag, and bin. In so doing, I found things I had forgotten, brought forward lapsed projects into the light of day, and struck gold: a forgotten Northstar Prussian Command figure! How I came to lose track of such a key fellow is beyond me. Well, not really. I know exactly how it happened: too much stuff and too little focus (oh, shiny...oh, shiny...)--a cousin to the syndrome of ordering a book and then discovering you already had it--I'm sure nobody but me has experienced that one.... 

Taking this  as an object lesson, I promptly painted him and plopped him on a command stand before I had the chance to put him "someplace safe" and forgot him again...

...and with the addition of Klaus, Prinz Frederick's staff has been expanded by 33% (not counting Trumpeter).    

Sometimes, even a mundane chore can render a reward!

Excelsior!