RIP Uncle Duke

Bruce Seifried, better known as Uncle Duke to the miniature and wargaming community, has passed away. I never met the man, nor did I have the pleasure of participating in his legendary games. I did have two small personal interactions with him, however. The first one was in 2011, when I purchased a Heritage Panzertroops Humber armoured car from him via eBay. He was kind enough to sign the blister card, and also sent a business card. The second one was in 2014, when I asked him several questions about the very rare 25mm Uncle Duke miniature. I was very appreciative of his time and answers.

The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society has posted an obituary here.

Godspeed and thank you for your massive contributions to miniatures and wargaming.

Uncle Duke Seifried in 25mm

Every once in a blue moon, I see a miniature that really and truly fits the definition of words such as unique, hard-to-find, cool, one-of-a-kind, and yes, rare. So not too long ago, I noticed a miniature on the auction block from the estate of David L. Arneson that caught my eye.

It is a miniature representation of Duke Seifried, the prolific miniature sculptor and wargaming legend who is affectionately known as Uncle Duke. I remember being intrigued by such an uncommon sculpt, and meant to ask Uncle Duke back when the auction was live, but I let it slip into the back of my mind for a spell.

One thing I really like about our hobby is the history and background of the various companies, sculptors, and personalities that make up the business, past and present. The whole notion of an Uncle Duke mini struck me as awesome - but what I really wanted to know was the how and where and why of how this miniature came to be.

Fast-forward to Friday when I finally got off the dime and fired off a missive to Duke, who was kind and gracious enough to give me a reply and answer my questions about the Uncle Duke mini. So here you go:

TLD: What is the story behind this sculpt? How did it come to be?
 
UDS: A limited number were made to present to special people.   It was me with my usual briefcase full of samples and paperwork.   They used to tease me about that case because at one point when someone else opened it up they found a gun.

TLD: Is it a Heritage miniature? Does it have a code stamped on the base?

UDS: Yes, it was produced during that period.  No code.

TLD: Is it a one-off? Limited Production?

UDS: There were 20 produced.

TLD: Was it an in-house only item, or was it available to the public?

UDS: Never available to the public.

TLD: Did you sculpt it? If not you, who did?

UDS: I believe it was a fellow namd Steve  (I think ) Bisset but I cannot remember clearly from some 30+ years ago.   

TLD: Did you paint it?

UDS: There were only two painted that I gave to important distributors.


TLD: Did you give it to Dave?

UDS: Yes, he was a very good friend of mine.   He was one of the "special people".

TLD: Sorry for the barrage of questions, but this is such a fascinating item I had to dig up your card and fire off this email. Thank you for your time.

UDS: This figurine has become a rather rare collector piece - and I understand brings a pretty penny.  I have only one left  myself.

Respects,

Uncle Duke

I had to send a follow-up to Duke to ask him if it was OK if I shared this info and his reply was "By all means! Stories are made for all of us to share." What a gentleman. Thanks again, Uncle Duke! I hope you all enjoy the background on this fascinating miniature.

 

Thank You, Uncle Duke

Back in early September, I picked up a lead version of one of my favorite WWII armored cars, the Humber Mk. II. I built several 1/72 Daimlers and Humbers back in the day, and still remember fighting various North African battles that pitted our plastic Afrika Korps versus Monty's Desert Rats.

The lead Humber I speak of is a 15mm model from Der Kriegspieler's Panzertroops line. It was sold to me by none other than Duke Seifried, the man known affectionately to wargamers and miniature enthusiasts as Uncle Duke. It's a hefty little chunk of lead, weighing in at 3.2 ounces (90 grams).



I'm usually not the fanboy type, but this time I just couldn't help myself. I asked Duke if he would sign the blister card, and he seemed happy to oblige. As if the hand-written product details on the card itself weren't a neat touch, it now reads "Tom, Great Gaming, Duke Seifried" on the front. He also included one of his business cards (shown below with his address and phone numbers concealed).



Sure, it's not as cool as if the Humber had been painted and used by Duke himself, but I think it's more along the lines of something a bit larger than a piece of lead. It was the personal interaction, a legend in the miniatures industry who was nice enough to honor a small request from someone who appreciates the man and his body of work (10,000 miniatures sculpted, according to various sources on Al Gore's Internet). That's a rather substantial body of work!!!

Here's a link to Duke on BoardGameGeek, an old picture of him on Lost Minis Wiki, and a more recent picture on the Historicon website.

I'll be sure to post pics of the Humber once I have it properly painted up.

UPDATE (11/29/11):

I'm not 100% positive, but it looks like the old Panzertroops line is still available through Old Glory Miniatures. This Humber looks a lot like mine, except that it appears to have been updated or possibly resculpted altogether. I might have to shoot them an email and see if they can shed any light on the fate of Panzertroops.