A Quick Chat With Tears Of Envy
We were lucky enough to speak briefly with Tammy (TearsOfEnvy) about her truly amazing Rogue Trader styled action figure concepts and designs. You can find Tammy’s work at tearsofenvy.wordpress.com as well as the Instagram link above. A massive thank you to Tammy for taking the time to speak to us, and to not get annoyed at the fact Adam just wanted to talk about Golden Axe.
We here at the Fluffenhammer and all its arms have a close to rabid love of the Rogue Trader era action figures you've been creating (and even more so of the continuing tale of Snega, the fictitious company that produced them). Where did it this journey start for you to lead to this very niche yet joyous creation?
Not going to lie - it was a friend who came up with the idea for 40K retro action figures, so I can’t claim it as my own. But to quote Steve Jobs, "Ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions." So I’m going to claim the metaphorical millions from actually executing it. I’m sad they are metaphorical, but hey, I’ll still take them. The “trash lore” as I call it was a natural progression as a way to explain these strange out-of-place artefacts; to give them context and make them even more believable.
I've noticed you sneak in some of the sadly now departed Wayne England art into the packaging for the figures. Is there any of the artists of the time that you lose time just staring at?
Definitely the work of the “gruesome twosome” - Ian Miller and John Blanche. Oldhammer fans will of course know that the pair collaborated on a kind of “duograph” book called Ratspike. I bought a copy back in the day and it just blew my mind. You can just stare at those drawings and lose yourself for hours - they really packed in the details and the images are kind of fractal-like in this way.
How long does it take to design each of the figures? And how does one create a parallel universe travelling machine to gain ownership of the frankly stunning Chaos Space Marine you created?
It depends on the figure - if I already have a chassis designed then it can be a few weeks, but if it’s an entirely new chassis then more like 1-2 months as I have to work out all the base proportions. In these cases I tend to do rough mid-way test prints as part of the process and these often show that I need to rescale certain elements or details. I’m always looking for efficiencies by re-using parts or details, but I feel this is faithful because this is exactly what toy companies used to do (MOTU was well known for this).
The trash lore grew quiet organically, although I did find the “voice” I wanted to use pretty early. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve paused the trash lore recently because I’m working on a pure trash lore project! This is very exciting, but some technical hitches mean it’s going slower than I hoped.
What made you decide to focus on the ever fun and funky Rouge Trader era? Whilst it's still "40k" as we know it now, it always feels to me like an alternate universe of the setting.
There were two reasons; the first was I just love the setting. It was a time of wacky creativity in Games Workshop and I think this is reflected in their output, which clearly resonated because it became popular very quickly. The second was more of a point of logic - if I was going to make retro figures, they should really be dated to roughly the correct era, and so Rogue Trader was the obvious choice.
I should point out that I’m aware my figures’ designs are a little anachronistic - they are more akin to late 70s / early 80s designs, rather than the Rogue Trader era. By the early 90s action figures were a little more realistic and better articulated (think Thundercats, MOTU and GI Joe).
There's a real sense of Bluebird or Britain's in the design aesthetic that you capture in a way I've not been able to pin down. I can absolutely see the Snega toys being on the shelves of a independent toyshop, hidden away in the town. The type that you don't see anymore and when you do, people also mutter about how it's always been there. Was there any lines you looked at before beginning the project?
Ha ha - I LOVE the idea of toyshops you remember but rarely see anymore! In the words of the excellent League of Gentlemen I suspect any that survive are very much “a local shop for local people”. I absolutely looked at the Britains line of figures, which I remember from my childhood, especially their rather ill-conceived Space line. My 54mm line is aping them, including their rather pedestrian packaging. My sister and I had Poly Pockets in the 80s, but at the moment their toys are not something I’m referencing directly. But I can imagine doing 40K clamshell toys with little scenes inside.
What armies and miniatures are you currently looking at or collecting? Are you a minis first collector or do you have a more game-centric approach?
The action figure project now consumes most of my hobby time, so I am not doing much with miniatures. That said I’m working on two factions of my own devising for a small skirmish game. The rough elevator pitch is: post-apocalyptic British folk VS mad wizards. I’m very much more about the setting and vibe than a gamer.
Please tell me more about what I can only imagine is a Cornwall based post apocalypse! I can't help but imagine a magical version of The FP?
The setting - called Calamity Jamboree, has two factions. The ‘bad guys’ are all based on a small selection of British post-apocalyptic films. It’s a slim genre, with the ‘greats’ being: No Blade of Grass, The Bed Sitting Room, Jubilee and Threads (and I’m adding a bit of Psychomania and Brazil too, which I think are more dystopian rather than strictly post-apocalyptic). I’m a bit less sure who the wizards are, but they’re all wearing fluorescent clothes. I love the concept behind the forthcoming video game Tactical Breach Wizards, so that will no doubt influence the magicians!
I understand what you mean about the vibes. I can forgive a janky ruleset if the brainfeel works. There was a Shadowrun skirmish game years back that used 6" action figure. Janky but a joy. Would you run something similar at any point using the figures you’ve designed? I can imagine Inquisitor may work...
I can well imagine releasing some kind of home-brew rules at some point, especially for the 54mm versions of my figures. I like the idea of having to make terrain from whatever you find around the house, like stacks of books with a sheet thrown over them as the ‘landscape’. Or maybe it’s a kind of meta game, where the action figures are alive and they have to traverse your house looking for their original packaging or something.
Seeing the Gillius Thunderhead figure from Golden Axe brought me so much joy. Is Golden Axe 2 the greatest side scroller ever made? (Yes, I'm doing all I can to not just ask 40 questions about Golden Axe)
Ha ha it’s certainly up there! I hear you but I might raise you: Castlevania, Gods, or Xenon 2.
But what of Megaman X?
Megaman X rocks.
Xenon 2 is a strong choice. I get the sense there was a lot of Amiga in your household growing up?
We never had any kind of computer or console in the house until the early 90s, as my parents were somewhat technophobic. The only TV we had was black and white until the late 80s—our parents fibbed to us saying the area we lived in prevented us from receiving the colour TV signal. Today kids would describe this sort of thing as ‘traumatic’ or ‘abusive’, but, to be honest, as a GenXer who literally ate dirt while playing outside, this was unbothersome. However, our neighbour had an Amiga 500 which is where our experience of those games comes from. This was the era of pirated software (as the floppy discs were so easy to copy) and he had a wide array of games which we played the hell out of. Ah, happy times! I still miss eating dirt.
This is a weird aside, but have you ever read the Golden Axe issues from Sonic The Comic? (I ask as for a long time it was the closest thing to a Warhammer comic available. And was just great).
No - but I now want to!
Thank you so much Tammy for taking the time to speak with us. We all at the Fluff wish you the best for your projects and are somewhat excited about seeing the mad wizards take shape!