Top 10 Miniatures Companies

[@DavidMartin-lj8yj]

Grenadier did the dragon of the month thing years before Ral Partha. The second round of dragons from Grenadier were flat out some of the best sculpts ever thanks to sculptor John Dennett.

[@AZMountaineer]

Yes they had some amazing dragons as well.

[@bukharagunboat8466]

Great overview. Minifigs were probably the first. We used the Middle Earth range in tabletop games using homebrew rules c. 1974-5. When DnD broke for us in 1976 we used those miniatures, supplemented by their ancients, medievals, and the Hyperborean range. The other very early range I remember was the Hinchliffe Barsoom figures. We also used plastic conversions and scratchbuilds. I made Hell Hounds out of Britains 1/32 sheep dogs! I still have a box in the basement with the Minifigs Demons, most of the Asgard Dungeon Adventurers, early Citadel (including an Aardvaark Mage), and quite a bit of 1980s Ral Partha. I'm genuinely surprised that no serous collectors market has really developed. Why not?

[@AZMountaineer]

Thanks for the comment. I think there is a collectors market for old lead miniatures -- at least for the fantasy/D&D themed ones. It is a smaller niche of collectors so you have to find the audience. And with a few exceptions the prices haven't gone to ridiculous levels. I also think metal miniatures likely survived better than paper RPG products, in some cases a lot of these got sold back in the day, and several of these lines are still be produced today so the same figures are available -- barely distinguishable (unless the old ones were from the lead era - then there is a weight difference). I've been thinking about doing some other mini focused videos. I'll likely do a couple this fall.

[@jessquinn6106]

Back in the day I collected from several companies. But my favorite was always "Mithil Miniatures"

[@AZMountaineer]

I recognize those. They always looked pretty good. I think they really focused on the LOTR figures.

[@QuintMorrison6]

The Fiend Factory line were based on a White Dwarf column of the same name. The Fiend Folio was the compilation of the articles. Games Workshop had the license to produce DND in the UK and even made some of their own modules. Citadel got the license to produce official DND minis for about two years in the early ‘80s. Check out the Snipe and Wib Codex Compliant episode on the Fiend Factory column for more info about that. Also, I’m a Grenadier fanboy. I like the way their models are proportioned as game pieces.

[@AZMountaineer]

Yes indeed. I love White Dwarf ... especially those earliest ones. I wasn't familiar with the Snipe and Wib channel, but found a few videos they've done regarding the early years. Games Workshop is a great success story. Too bad TSR severed their relationship with them.

[@emdotambient]

My favorites came from Mithril's LOTR series. Looks like they are still going, too. I always liked minis that look more realistic, less cartoonish.

[@AZMountaineer]

Those are good ... it's nice to see that so many of these are still being made. Hopefully there is a new generation of folks being exposed to these.

[@stevenkennedy4130]

Ral Partha, Grenadier & Heritage. I had Big Meg back in the day. Wouldn't mind finding that one again. Thanks for the share!!

[@AZMountaineer]

Nice list and yeah Big Meg was memorable for sure.

[@quantus5875]

Would love to see a video on the value of some of this stuff, not just a short history synopsis. I have a few old Grenadier gold boxes from the day - maybe I'm sitting on something. 😂 Although I doubt it -- I assume valuation is like Toys -- have to be in the boxes, unpainted, and box needs to be in near mint condition. Sadly, I used and painted most of my minis - and the boxes have taken a beating -- so yeah -- collectible value is probably nil.

[@AZMountaineer]

I normally stay away from precise valuations because I think that tends to draw out back and forth from people who are better informed and/or have different ideas. That said, the old minis are collectible, in box or not, painted or not (I'm told stripping that paint is easy enough if you know what you are doing). Boxes (like the Grenadier gold series) are a big plus, with the paperwork even more so. Condition definitely affects the price but there are always plenty of bidders on those items when I see them go for sale. That said, I hope to do some more videos on miniatures and maybe I'll add in some pricing information (eg what I've seen these sell for recently) when I do that. It's good to know that would be of some interest/value.

[@quantus5875]

@@AZMountaineer Thanks. Looking forward to some price info down the road. To me it still seems like they are probably very valuable if you have the box, box is in mint condition, you have all the minis in the box -- and the value seriously drops if the box isn't in great condition, just like any other kind of collecting, comic books, toys, etc. Don't think I'll un-paint my Grenadier stuff -- sounds like a pain -- for almost no monetary value -- as the boxes I own are pretty beat. I did do a simple eBay search to see what eBay prices looked like (which is not the same as collector prices). Miniatures and boxes in decent condition go for like $80-$120 for a large Grenadier gold box, and around $60-$90 for a smaller Grenadier gold box. Doesn't seem like you need to un-paint your minis to get this kind of eBay price -- just box needs to be decent and no missing minis. So un-painting doesn't seem to make sense -- unless I assume if you have something that is really rare that you know is super valuable. Although -- yeah -- this in one area of the RPG hobby I know almost nothing about. Still pretty cool stuff. I've taught a bunch of 9-12 years olds how to play D&D and Pathfinder and they just love my old minis, which I still use. They are amazed that they are made out of lead.

[@tracysalathe3152]

I agree with your top three picks for sure. Still have many of the figurines I had as a teen from that time. Just wish I had had the funds way back then when these were first released. I certainly would have invested in many more. One of my favs was the dragon from Ral Partha that you showed on your video, it was the one from the bottom left. I still have that in my collection. I may do a new paint job on it, as my painting skills back then weren't the best, nor the paints that were available. Look forward to watching more of your trip down memory lane. Keep up the great work!

[@AZMountaineer]

Thanks and glad you enjoyed the video. I really enjoyed making this one!

[@KabukiKid]

Strongly agree with your top three picks. :-) Definitely the cream of the crop.

[@AZMountaineer]

Thanks ... I agree. Those three really stand out. But you know I'd love to have some from most of those companies ... I have too much lead and (mostly) stopped adding to my collection when it weighed more than I do.

[@KabukiKid]

@@AZMountaineer lol I own a healthy collection of old-school lead minis, myself. ;-) I know what you mean!

[@gregh5665]

The hobby shops in my city carried Ral Partha, Citadel, Grenadier, Rafm, and TSR miniatures. We used to marvel at other types we saw in Dragon and White Dwarf magazines, but stuck with our hometown shops (RIP Leisure World and The Railhead). I can't remember the company, but there was a cast-your-own product that we also used. There were various kits that provided molds and tool to cast your own miniatures. We had a set of molds for skeleton warriors and another for goblins. We could produce hordes of goblins and skeletons, and when they were no longer needed, we would melt them down again. So useful. Sadly, fear of lead poisoning has probably rendered this approach verboten in the modern marketplace...

[@AZMountaineer]

There are some great advertisements in the gaming magazines. A lot of these companies never had as much distribution to gaming stores so they relied on those adds and mail orders.

[@SteveInTokyo-b8n]

They were by Prince August, I am quite sure, I had them too.

[@roberthultz9023]

Custom Cast ! Love the "Die Krieg spellers" line. My 25mm ACW army was 100% Custom Cast back in the day.

[@AZMountaineer]

So many good companies and so many fun miniatures!

[@billiebob9042]

Did you know.. the sea elves from ralphartha were originally sculpted to be used as figures for Empire of the petal throne. The ornate Armor and Big plumes are a giveaway. I believe they were originally for the armies of Livyanu. I don't know whether this didn't happen because of Licensing issues or they just didn't expect enough sales when TSR was no longer producing Empire of the petal Throne or what. Ralphartha is now reissuing a lot of the old EPT figures with more generic names.

[@AZMountaineer]

I had not ever heard that before. I like those EPT minis -- there are some really different ideas in that game.

[@williamarthur4801]

I still have a citiadel catalogue from 1980 / 81, at that time there were two 'games workshop' shops, one in London and one in Manchester, I really liked the fantasy tribe of Gnoll, wihch I believe came about as they could not use the term Orc, I love the two drunken figures in the range. Oh re Ral Patha, I love the elf archer you show, I spend a good deal of time painting those.

[@AZMountaineer]

I really enjoy the old lead! I need to get some more of the Citadel line -- my collection of those is much smaller and they have some fantastic figures.

[@williamarthur4801]

@@AZMountaineer You might have to pay a bit more than the 25p or / £2.10 for 10.

[@AZMountaineer]

@@williamarthur4801 no doubt!

[@Perchpole]

Close but you blew it at the end! The only AD&D figures that mattered (at the time) were by Grenadier. Every time a box set was released you had to buy it. I still have a gold Orc from the Orc Lair set.

[@AZMountaineer]

I definitely hear your point and I know a ton of people no doubt agree about Grenadier. The gold box AD&D lines were the quintessential products back in the day. The first time I saw miniatures in person was my cousin painting a box of those.

[@quantus5875]

I have to agree with @Perchpole. Ral Partha was good -- but Grenadier IMO is #1. Wish I had more sets from back then. I think I have two of the larger gold boxes, Woodland Adventurers and Tomb of Spells, and 4 of the smaller rectangular boxes. Love Grenadier because they had the license from TSR -- so their monsters were from the old AD&D Monster Manual.

[@manofaction1807]

Heritage had the Caves of Doom and Crypt of the Sorcerer mini games with the Dungeon Dwellers.

[@AZMountaineer]

Those both look like really cool ones ... I have an eye out to find those for my collection.