Who still sells vintage 25-28mm fantasy figures?

[Rhoderic]

In the interest of trying to foster more of a fantasy community on TWW I’ll ask this question here first before deciding whether to ask somewhere else like LAF as well.

I’m wondering whether I should take up a “vintage miniatures” fantasy project in 25-28mm. I hate the idea of trying to track down OOP figures on Ebay or similar places, let alone paying high prices for sought-after figures that other people are competing to get as well, so I would only take up this project if I can find a sufficient selection of vintage figures that are still being sold “first-hand” by manufacturers. By vintage in this case I mean mostly 1980s, but 70s and early 90s are also within bounds. Newly sculpted figures that have been intentionally made too look vintage in sculpting style would also do – I know there’s been a minor trend for making new figures in a deliberate “Oldhammer” style lately.

So, who still sells vintage 25-28mm fantasy miniatures?

Off the top of my head, I can think of Alternative Armies, Forlorn Hope (the old Grenadier range), Ral Partha Europe and Minifigs. I know there’s more but they all seem to be out of my mind’s grasp right now.

[Mike]

http://moonrakerminiatures.com/

http://www.irregularminiatures.co.uk/indexes/25mmindex.htm

[Ruarigh]

EM4 Miniatures have a bunch of the old Grenadier(?) figures: http://www.em4miniatures.com/

Never argue with an idiot. They'll only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

https://roderickdale.co.uk/
https://emidsvikings.ac.uk/

[Rhoderic]

Ruarigh wrote:

EM4 Miniatures have a bunch of the old Grenadier(?) figures: http://www.em4miniatures.com/

I believe those ranges are suspended while they’re being gradually shifted over to em4’s sister site, Moonraker Miniatures. Most of them are also available at Forlorn Hope, although some figures seem to be out of stock (hopefully not forever!).

[willz]

These are vintage Chronicle, Miniature figures and GW all up for sale Rhoderic.

[Rhoderic]

@William: Thanks for the offer (and great paintjobs so thanks for sharing the pics!) but I have this thing about wanting to paint all my own figures, it’s part of the creative world-building process for me. And I couldn’t bring myself to strip paintjobs of that quality.

I hope you get them sold, though. £2.40 per painted rank-and-file figure strikes me as a good deal.

[willz]

Cheers Rhoderic, thanks for you kind comment.  BTW I think Miniature figures are still doing or redoing Valley of the fours winds figures.

[Whirlwind]

Warrior miniatures? http://www.warrioronline.demon.co.uk/gallery/index.htm

 

 

 

[Rhoderic]

Oh, I’d forgotten about Warrior, thanks!

That reminds me, Essex Miniatures still has a very vintage fantasy range as well. The figures don’t mix well with much of anything else (honestly, they look almost a little bit like Maurice Sendak might have made them!) but there’s enough of them that a self-contained fantasy project with a very unique style could be scraped together from them, if one was so inclined.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Tin Soldier?

http://tinsoldieruk.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=401

I think Denizen are still on the go:

http://www.denizenminiatures.co.uk/

Also, Viking Forge picked up the old Asgard 25mm line… orcs to die for IMO!

http://www.thevikingforge.net/25mm-asgard-fantasy.html

[ian pillay]

Rhoderic, great thread idea. Didn’t ever realise Warrior miniatures did 25mm fantasy. They look great I can almost see a  couple of new 25mm DR armies being created with those. The price point is perfect and the styling does appeal, they will paint up nicely. I wonder how they compare to Caeser miniatures plastics which would be used to bulk out the armies……

Cheers!

Tally-Ho! Check out my blog at…..
http://steelcitywargaming.wordpress.com/

[willz]

ian pillay wrote:

Rhoderic, great thread idea. Didn’t ever realise Warrior miniatures did 25mm fantasy. They look great I can almost see a couple of new 25mm DR armies being created with those. The price point is perfect and the styling does appeal, they will paint up nicely. I wonder how they compare to Caeser miniatures plastics which would be used to bulk out the armies…… Cheers!

John at Warrior Miniatures provides an excellent and very efficient  service.  My last order I rang him at 1000 on Monday and it was through my letter box at 0900 on Friday.

[Whirlwind]

Prince August: http://shop.princeaugust.ie/25mm-scale-fantasy-armies-classic-moulds/

 

[Jonathan Gingerich]

I believe Mirliton is casting some of the Grenadier range.

I do agree Denizen makes some astonishing miniatures. I’m not sure anyone has surpassed them, even in the newer inflated scales.

[Alex Bates]

Yeah, Mirliton in Italy has a bunch of the Grenadier molds, and they’ve kept a big chunk of their lines in production.

Eye of the Cyclops pre-orders now available, for a short time only:

https://eyeofthecyclops.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

[Rhoderic]

Oh, I had completely forgotten that Mirliton has lots of Grenadier figures that Forlorn Hope doesn’t have. Brilliant! The lizardmen are particularly appealing to me.

Thanks for all the tips so far!

I also remembered that Iron Wind Metals is resurrecting old Ral Partha fantasy ranges under the Chaos Wars label. Am I correct in understanding that these are more like true 25mm? Does anyone know?

By the way, does anyone still sell any of the old Metal Magic fantasy figures? The ones sculpted mostly by Josef Ochmann that Mega Miniatures used to produce? I have the impression that the casting rights and moulds/masters were spread to the four winds when Mega Miniatures sold them off piecemeal.

[willz]

Rhoderic found this, any good.

http://www.midlamminiatures.co.uk/news/news-80.html

[Rhoderic]

willz wrote:

Rhoderic found this, any good. http://www.midlamminiatures.co.uk/news/news-80.html

Score! So, Midlam Miniatures is now carrying the Metal Magic range, or at least large parts of it (I’m not quite familiar enough with this range to know whether anything is missing, although if there were never any elves then that’s a shame). I have a few of the human adventurers, and if anyone is interested to know, they’re not exactly true 25mm but not as big as 28mm-to-the-eyes either. They’re sort of halfway in between. I’ve been able to mix them with 28mm figures well enough.

By the by, regarding the old Asgard range mentioned by Rules Junkie Jim, I agree that parts of it is excellent. Interestingly, the Asgard barbarians (but only the barbarians) are also now being sold by Alternative Armies. I wonder if it’s another one of those things like with the Grenadier range, where the casting rights have somehow “branched out” through messy changes of ownership.

[ian pillay]

Just found some really nice old school looking orcs on Lancer miniatures website. They are full of character.

Tally-Ho! Check out my blog at…..
http://steelcitywargaming.wordpress.com/

[6mmwargaming]

Also Ral Partha has a bunch of older sculpts by Tom Meier etc

My 6mm Wargaming site https://6mm.wargaming.info

[Rhoderic]

Thanks all! Keep ’em coming if you have ’em 

Speaking of Tom Meier, I believe the 30mm goblins he sells at his own webstore Thunderbolt Mountain are vintage sculpts, or so I recall being told. Might be early Ral Partha ones or something, can’t remember. They don’t look particularly vintage – they’re quite exquisite – but then that’s Tom Meier for you.

[Cosmotiger]

Rhoderic wrote:

By the way, does anyone still sell any of the old Metal Magic fantasy figures? The ones sculpted mostly by Josef Ochmann that Mega Miniatures used to produce? I have the impression that the casting rights and moulds/masters were spread to the four winds when Mega Miniatures sold them off piecemeal.

Funny you should ask. I’m working on a dungeon crawl project with vintage figures and just ordered some of Ochmann’s elves from:

http://www.turnkeyminiatures.com/

Good service, fast turnaround, and the figures are very nicely cast. I would recommend them.

Most of the remainder of the Ochmann Mega Mini/Metal Magic line seems to have gone to this company:

http://www.midlamminiatures.co.uk/

I have not ordered from them, so I can’t comment either way.

EDIT: Whoops. Looks like someone already directed you to Midlam. I shjould have read the whole thread a little more carefully.

[Anonymous]

I buy from classicminiatures.net (well I email him directly because the web site is a WIP currently) for Dwarf and Lesser Orc (“smiley faced”) figures from the old Der Kriegspieler line.  It is not a business as much as a labor of love but the last two times I ordered he had my figures in stock.  The Dwarf molds are off to be remolded last time I contacted him.

these and Ral Partha 1970s are the only legacy 25mm armies I am keeping in 2017.

[Phil Dutré]

There is of course also Otherworld, they sell new miniatures, “producers of 28mm fantasy gaming figures inspired by the iconic imagery of the early role-playing games.”

Welcome to Otherworld Miniatures

And there was the “Pantheon of Chaos” kickstarter, for new Realm of Chaos Oldhammer miniatures in the old Realm of Chaos style.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/554542735/the-pantheon-of-chaos

[Rhoderic]

I’d say this thread has shaped up quite well as an informal registry of first-hand-market sources for vintage and vintage-looking miniatures.

[Author]

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