Celebrating 10 Years: Moonstone’s Fiery Origins
We’re celebrating our 10th birthday this year and have lots of fun stuff planned for throughout 2026. We’ll share more when we have it, but wanted to start the year of celebration by taking a look back at Moonstone's humble origins.
The First Kickstarter - Firespitter
Moonstone first emerged as a small Kickstarter in June 2016. Tom had already been working on game rules and had some initial sketches for what would become the Dusk Till Dawn Starter Set, but wanted to start small. So, he decided to launch a Kickstarter for just the Firespitter miniature.
“I wasn’t sure whether other people would be as excited about Moonstone as me, so I decided to test the water with a single miniature. I had a lot to learn about… well… everything to be honest! From running a Kickstarter campaign, the process of manufacturing miniatures, shipping and fulfilment - it was all brand new to me! I chose Firespitter from my initial sketches as I thought it would make a pretty cool standalone miniature for people to paint, even if the project went no further.”
- Tom Greenway, Founder and Director
Sculpted by Tom Lishman, manufactured by Hysterical Games, and studio painted by Tom Greenway himself - Firespitter captured people’s imaginations!
The Kickstarter was funded in just 45mins, despite being an unknown company and brand new to Kickstarter. This is where the now legendary Baron Von Fancyhat limited edition sculpt came to life as an exclusive add-on, still the rarest Moonstone model with only 80 ever made. The Baron also proved tricksy during creation (not just when you face him on the table!) and demonstrated our attention to detail, as he wasn’t quite right and had to be tweaked before production.
In the end, 218 people helped us raise over £5,000 which Tom immediately re-invested in more artwork and sculpts.
We’ll carry on the story of Moonstone in another article, where another Kickstarter was launched just a few months after this one. We’ll also share a lot more about the early days of Moonstone in some other posts, as it turns out Tom never throws anything out!
Top-left: Tom Greenway’s orignal completed Firespitter sketch (now hanging on Mick Green’s living room wall). Top-right: The first ever playtest of the game (note the D6 Moonstones!). Bottom-left: Tom Greenway’s WIP Pencil Sketch of Baron von Fancyhat. Bottom-right: Tom Lishman’s first WIP of the Firespitter sculpt.
Top-left: Assembling the first Firespitter boxed sets on Tom Greenway’s dining room table. Top-right: Tom Greenway’s hand sculpted adjustments to the Limited Edition Baron von Fancyhat high-res prints, about to be sent off to the caster. Bottom-left: Tom Greenway’s half painted Firespitter, alongside a terrible home printed (PLA) Baron that was used to check the scale before shelling out for high-res prints. Bottom-right: Tom Greenway stepping out of his home on the way to the local Post Office to send the first ever Moonstone products off to Kickstarter Backers. And thus it begins…
From the Archives
Gav Thorpe’s article about Firespitter is still live.
One of Tom’s first interviews is still available on the Flock & Awe podcast.