Citadel Dragons - December 1992 and other bits...

Just picked up an old Citadel flyer for Dragons... as the title suggests! Most of these were released well before this however advertising is advertising...

I also had one of those Google memories come up from when I was on holiday in Nottingham a few years back. These pics show Citadel Miniatures' original site on Millgate in Newark. The address was Newark Folk Museum, 48 Millgate, Newark, Nottinghamshire. I think visiting there in the later 70's was when I first met Bryan and Diane. Happy days!

In case you've missed (and if so, where have you been!), Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson have recently published 'Dice Men', the origin story of Games Workshop. Well worth a read and it really helps me relive my youth!

Available from all good booksellers.

More later folks. If you fancy grabbing me a coffee it would be very much appreciated... picking these memories up is thirsty work!

https://ko-fi.com/davidwood

Or pop over to the shop and pick up some bits and pieces!

https://thelittlesoldiercompany.co.uk/

Email as always; enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Citadel Fantasy Tribe Fighters - November 1982

 

Back in the day, Citadel were frantically throwing models into generic ranges. The sculptors were working frantically and turning out some of the nicest minis around. A hobby friend queried a female barbarian type that is purportedly one of this range however, I can't see her on this particular advert from Military Modelling. Feast your eyes anyway, it was a golden age for us fantasy collectors.

Not sure who else beside the Perry twins would have been responsible for these as it's a little early for some of the other names of the 80's.

Edit; Tony Ackland just mentioned that this was his piece of work and he had to work late to finish it!

More later.

Unknown 25mm Gauls from the late 70's and some early Ral Partha...

 

Got a small job lot of minis the other day and it included a number of old historical minis, most easily recognisable, however there are two Gauls infantry that I can't pinpoint. Pictured below with a Hinchliffe rider. Ga1 and Ga3 on the bases respectively. Any thoughts? They're seriously nice sculpts and it'd be great to find some more.

I also came across some of my old Ral Partha minis. Some were from Wargames Publications (Scotland) Ltd who imported them in the later 70's (at a hefty 50p or more!) before Citadel/Games Workshop started producing them under licence. I've used the UK prefix as they're all from the early 'Personalities and Things That Go Bump in the Night' range. Most of these are the first versions produced and all Tom Meier sculpts who is, of course, still going strong producing minis for many companies such as Darksword and Ral Partha Unleashed.

ES43 Armored Knight 

ES31 Dwarf Lord, ES24 "Foregum" Super Hero and ES22 Elf Lord

ES11 Vallor, Warrior of the Gods, ES15 Super Hero w. Axe and ES5 Winged Gremlin

ES13 Assassin, ES56 Enchanter and ES10 Hill Troll

ES28 Gremlin War Party

ES9 Barbarian Hero, 2nd version with some cotton and plastic bits added.

Most of the range can be seen on the Lost Minis WIKI;

http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Personalities_and_Things_that_go_Bump_in_the_Night

Some great links about Ral Partha history and Tom Meier here;

https://ralparthalegacy.com/pages/features

As always, please leave a comment below (seriously, it's like a desert sometimes in the comments sections!!) or email me on enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

More later!

Thane Tostig, Wargames Illustrated 428 and my blog!

Well, the latest issue of WI (#428, August 2023) contains a great article on the legendary Thane Tostig by Daniel Mersey.

It's a great read and takes you back to the early years of minis and rule writing. Dan gives it a thoroughly modern update and accompanies it with some lovely pics of painted minis, old and new. 

Some of the pics are mine, used with permission, from my various articles on Thane Tostig. 

http://www.deartonyblair.co.uk/search/label/Thane%20Tostig

Another article is by Rick Priestley, 'Returning to Old Favourites', a wonderful look at his history of collecting proper old school lead and some modern converting to fill out his Minifigs 'Mythical Earth' armies. A great read... I have a growing tub of old Minifigs lead for Rick that I was going to bring over to BOYL last weekend but, as the dice roles go, my ex took the munchkins away so I was left without a dogsitter. Doh! A great weekend missed but I got to spend quality time with my hound. My good friend Tony Yates was there and has posted about it;

http://shadowking-shadowkings.blogspot.com/2023/08/boyl-2023-saturday.html

There's another very interesting article with the Perry twins talking about their sculpting history.

I always think that people today have a tendency to frown on proper old school miniatures as we're now treated to a veritable avalanche of metal, plastic, 3D printed miniatures etc along with a plethora of scenery pieces that could only have been dreamed of decades ago. Someone posted on a old school (Facebook) group a rather derogatory comment about some early sculpts and I couldn't understand why they would walk the halls of such a group. For me, the lack of detail, the small ranges, the joy of waiting weeks for an unknown commodity you've only seen in listed format (possibly extending that wait time by having previously sent a postal order / stamped addressed envelope for said listing), the days of waiting for the postman to visit, the frustrations of non delivery (barring Hinchliffe / Lamming who were extremely efficient)... then the day comes and you are faced with a mixed bunch of metal that brings a smile to your face and, even now, all those years later, bring back those happy memories. In the mid 80's I received a large pile of Pendragon Miniatures sculpted by Barry Minot (of Thane Tostig fame) long after he had stopped producing them (I phoned him at Elstree Studios on the off chance he might still be at the address) and balked at the poor sculpting... today they have been re-released by Wargames Design Workshop (https://wargamesdesignworkshop.co.uk/) along with some other old historical ranges. Now, of course, I look at them and love them. As Karl Hulme, ex assistant manager at Games Workshop in Manchester said (when I worked there and was in charge of miniatures) 'they are his children and he loves them well'. I remain the same to this day.

If you enjoy the blog, please follow by joining up (top left).

Any thoughts or critiques leave a comment below or email me over on enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Sandra Garrity 1981 Limited Edition 'Draggles'.

Johnny Lauck formed Dark Ages Miniatures  back in the very early 80's. Amongst other things, he re-released a number of Nevile Stocken's old Archive Miniatures as a limited edition run - these were produced in high grade alloys which allowed me to pick up some to replace the awful lead that Archive used back in the day (they, like early Citadel, would use tyre lead weights amongst other money saving shenanigans to bulk out the casting alloys... I did hear the old car battery lead would be picked up as well)). He did, however, commission a limited edition baby dragon called Draggles which was sculpted by Sandra Garrity (based on artwork by Chas Gillen). It's a heavy piece, weighing in at a pound in metal and apparently retailed for $25 although my own receipt shows a purchase price of $12.99...

It's a delightful piece showing, presumably, a female dragon lovingly hugging a wayward knight who was possibly intent on stealing her treasures!

A bunch of other bits (ranges now mostly sold on), on Lost Minis;

http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Dark_Ages_Miniatures

As always; enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk