Meet Ivanka's two sisters + naming contest results!

Edit October 13: Now available!!!

We are happy to introduce Kapitan Ivanka Kurganova's sisters, Kommander Malinka Kurganova and Admiral Olga Kurganova. (More info below image.)


Coat details are still work-in-progress

PRE-ORDERS BEGIN TOMORROW!
Malinka and Olga should be on pre-order tomorrow, at a special launch price reserved for the 100 first buyers. Furthermore, don't forget to follow the news tomorrow as we will have an additional surprise for you concerning the Kurganova sisters…

WHO ARE THEY?
Malinka is the youngest and the problem child of the family, and Olga is the eldest, an over-achieving top-ranking officer.
From the beginning, we envisioned big sister Olga as Malinka's opposite: Olga is stern, she's very good with politics, a great strategist, and she aims for the top.
We wanted a character that would look tough as nail and very sure of herself. An incarnation of authority. So here she is, hope you like her!

THE CONTEST
As you know, we asked our Slavic friends to find a name and a motto for Ivanka's little sister. We received over 60 cool answers!
The feedback was so interesting that we ended up using this feedback for the big sister of the family as well…

When we read Svyatoslav Karyagin entry from the Spellscape shop in Ukraine, we knew that he had exactly got Invanka's little sister's spirit: "Куда черт не поспеет, туда бабу пошлет" (When the devil can't make it, he sends a woman).
Pretty suitable motto for this trigger-happy lady?
However, because it is too long to fit on her coat, we shortened it to " Куда черт не поспеет…" (When the devil can't make it…).

Fact is, we received many interesting suggestions. Here are some of our favourites:
- From Bielorussia: "Семерых одним ударом!" (Seven at one blow!)
- From the Czech Republic: "Ни шагу назад!" (Not one step backwards!)
- From Russia (via Sweden): "Пуля дура, штык молодец" (The bullet is stupid but bayonet is a good one (well done)" This is old military proverb means that fire weapons is ok, but they can miss and in close combat there is nothing better then cold weapons!)

We also got many, many cool first name suggestions.
So how did we pick the name Malinka?
Well, in fact, nobody really suggested this name. But Adrian Kramarzyk from Poland suggested Kalinka. We instantly liked the sound of this name. In fact, you probably already know this name as it comes from the very famous Russian folk song "Kalinka, Kalinka, Kalinka maja" as Adrian reminded us.
So we looked up the words of the song and we discovered that Kalinka means little guelder rose tree, a small tree that makes red berries that Russian people used to offer to the Russian goddess of love.
It was nice, but not quite in line with our hell-raising, if cute, Lolita.
However, the next verse of the song talks about Malinka, which means little raspberry!
Little Raspberry, isn't that a tangy name for a cute girl with big guns?

So, the prizes goes to Svyatoslav for the great motto and to Adrian for putting us on the right track for a great name. Each get a first-cast Malinka.

We also used the feedback to work on Ivanka's older sister.
First, several of you suggested the name Olga. We liked this name: definitely not a cute-sounding name, and exactly what we wanted for the older sister. The name Olga is also laced with a lot of history, being a name often used in the Russian imperial family. So Olga it is!

Finally, Adrian Kramarzyk also suggested the motto "только мертвые , увидели концу войны" (Only the dead have seen the end of war), a phrase coined by the philosopher George Santayana. It seemed very fitting for our ruthless Olga.

So, prizes goes to Adrian for the motto and for the name, we have three winners, from Ukraine, Russia and Lithuania. Each get a first-cast Olga.

Thanks to all the participants!
More tomorrow!!!


Coat details are still work-in-progress