Speaking of Silmarillion in another thread...
It's naturally a great pity the Lotr miniatures weren't released in 28mm. It would have given them a lot more longevity and use for other games. I know lots of players who tried to incorporate Lotr Elves into Warhammer armies, but gave up because of scale (but not the lack of "heroic" proportions as such). The Lotr range is a true gem as a whole, but even so the 25mm scale remains its greatest flaw. As such, we're not likely to find good approximations in 28mm-ish fantasy ranges.
Given this state of things, lo! and behold something odd.
Russian Alternative, a producer of quality not-Warhammer miniatures (wholeheartedly recommended), turned their hands at some high elves a while back. Recently when opening an order from them, me and my brother discovered that their high elves were
petite in comparison to Warhammer elves, not least the Elfin Lord, who looks quite much spot-on what I would imagine some Noldor high lords to look like, minus shoulder wings.
In fact, their Elven infantry are beautiful and intricately detailed with wings, gems and fine curly patterns, to be described as a succesful mix of WHFB and Lotr Elf styles. Probably close to Tolkien's own vision of Noldor Elves, with his descriptions of straight swords and tall helms:
These Russian Elves looks to be a godsend for Lotr collectors. I propose that these are perfect miniatures for many Noldor Elves. Hopefully they can be used alongside GW's existing Lotr Elves to give us that wide range of different uniforms/armour styles which would allow collectors to more easily differentiate between various Elven houses and tribes.
So what say you? Time to arm up for some SIlmarillion craziness? GW's existing Dwarves cover the Naugrim well enough, but until now the Elves were a tad thin on the bones. Would be lovely to see a small trend out of this, complete with army lists, rules, scenarios and army logs with Elves from various houses.