Thrift Store Argonath

So here in the USA the day after Thanksgiving is know as Black Friday it's an insane day of shopping bargains and retail chaos.  I normally stay home I just don't like the crowds and madness of shopping on that particular day.  My Wife and I had agreed that Friday would be our day to relax and take it easy but by 12:30 she was getting antsy and wanted to go out.  Its a tribute to my love for her that I went shopping with her on a Black Friday.  It was a successful trips the stores were busy but not maddeningly so and we got several people checked off the Xmas list and/or got some bargains for ourselves.

One of the stops we had to make was at a thrift store called "SAVERS" we have a birthday party for the daughter of one of Ari's bridesmaids and the family had requested donations of baby cloths and items for a local charity.  We figured we could probably get more bang for our buck there.  In any event we were walking through the furniture section when a box caught my eye.  A set of "bookends" in an iconic shape recognizable to any fantasy literature/movie  fan.

 Tolkien's Argonath  and they where only $5.99 I said to my wife those would be good for a wargaming project, she looked at me a little amused and said "Yeah they would get them if you want them."  Obviously I did.  I did a little looking around this morning on line and found these are available on Ebay if you want them but the price is considerably higher.

 The pieces are solidly built, the hands and necks look a little fragile and sadly the box they came in will not work for storage but I think they should hold up pretty well. They will look great on a Frostgrave table and might be useful of Dragon Rampant as well.

I was pleased to see the rear of the piece was as detailed as the front so often this sort of item the rear is flat or worse covered with copyright information. I haven't decided if these need paint or not.  I might do a little maybe dry brush the crowns in gold like it was once covered in gold leaf that has worn away.  A light dry brush in light gray might bring out the texture in the stone or I may use them as is. Anyone want to weigh in on this one?  I would be glad of any suggestions.