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.

Ral & Partha's Excellent Adventure (or Guam and Back Again)

I've mostly been buying single figures or small lots here and there for the past couple of years, trying to fill holes in the collection and generally avoiding large lots - the lead pile is already huge and I really don't need to make it bigger. But an eBay seller recently had a dozen or so lots of old-school goodness, and a few were just too tempting to take a pass on so I went ahead and bid on several, and ended up winning three.

What caught my eye in two of the lots were some Citadel AD&D minis, specifically four bugbears and six norkers. The rest was a great assortment of Heritage, Citadel, Grenadier, and a smattering of Ral Partha, Superior, TSR, and others. I've long desired to replace my Heritage bugbears and ogre that our first DM absconded with decades ago. And now that our new 3.5 FR campaign has kicked off and we are once again 1st and 2nd level, I decided my DM would benefit from a new batch of old low-level monsters to throw at us. I'm nice that way.

Citadel AD&D Bugbears

Citadel AD&D Norkers

Heritage ogres. Yellow one needs a medic.

Heritage bugbears, how I've missed you so!

That's when the fun started. I won two lots on January 23rd, and the third on January 28th. The third lot was in my hands on January 31st, perfect condition, no worries. The first two lots, shipped together, should have been at my house by the 27th, but that did not happen. The USPS decided my minis needed a vacation, so they sent them to Guam and Hawaii. WTF??? I copied & pasted the tracking history at the end of the post. You can see that the package left Missouri on January 24th, and was en route to the west coast. The last "In Transit to Destination" was on the 27th, and then nothing until the 31st when it shows up in Guam. From there, it heads to Hawaii, and then finally to Washington.

I was excited when the tracking info showed that the package was on my doorstep on February 5th. I opened the front door to find that there was no package after all. Are you f*cking kidding me? My guess is that it was delivered to a neighbor's house by mistake, as I have had items that weren't mine delivered to me by mistake in the past. Sure enough, today - two days later - the package shows up on my doorstep. Finally!

The box was pretty beat up, not a surprise considering it traveled in the neighborhood of 13,000 miles instead of the expected 2,100 miles. I said a quick prayer to the lead gods and opened the package. The seller had very creatively packed the miniatures into four plastic ice cube trays, and wrapped each one in bubble wrap. This should have been good enough for the anticipated domestic trip, but alas did not hold up to the rigors of pan-Pacific travel. A handful of minis where rolling around loose in the box, having been dislodged from their ice cube tray nests.

After unpacking and taking inventory, the final tally was six broken minis and two missing minis. The broken minis can be repaired, but the missing pair (a couple of Baaz Draconian warriors from the TSR Dragonlance box set) are gone forever. I hope they ended up in Hawaii, so they can enjoy the sand, surf, and sun. I don't know how USPS managed to drop the ball on this one. It's not like the zip codes are close (98072 compared to 96913), so I guess we'll just chalk this one up to human error.

After I have a chance to sort through these beauties, I'll be selling the leftovers in much smaller lots on eBay or Facebook. They all deserve a good home, and not just sitting around my hobby room in a plastic bin with all my other lead orphans.

• Delivered, Front Door/Porch
• Feb-05-2018, 17:38 PM, WOODINVILLE, WA 98072

• Out for Delivery
• Feb-05-2018, 08:20 AM, WOODINVILLE, WA 98072

• Sorting Complete
• Feb-05-2018, 08:10 AM, WOODINVILLE, WA 98072

• Arrived at Post Office
• Feb-05-2018, 05:30 AM, WOODINVILLE, WA 98072

• Arrived at USPS Regional Destination Facility
• Feb-04-2018, 22:04 PM, SEATTLE WA NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER

• In Transit to Destination
• Feb-04-2018, 12:57 PM, On its way to WOODINVILLE, WA 98072

• In Transit to Destination
• Feb-03-2018, 12:57 PM, On its way to WOODINVILLE, WA 98072

• Departed USPS Regional Facility
• Feb-02-2018, 23:57 PM, HONOLULU HI DISTRIBUTION CENTER

• Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
• Feb-02-2018, 18:21 PM, HONOLULU HI DISTRIBUTION CENTER

• In Transit to Destination
• Feb-02-2018, 12:45 PM, On its way to WOODINVILLE, WA 98072

• In Transit to Destination
• Feb-01-2018, 12:45 PM, On its way to WOODINVILLE, WA 98072

• Departed USPS Regional Facility
• Jan-31-2018, 21:45 PM, BARRIGADA GU DISTRIBUTION CENTER

• Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
• Jan-31-2018, 00:38 AM, BARRIGADA GU DISTRIBUTION CENTER

• In Transit to Destination
• Jan-27-2018, 12:07 PM, On its way to WOODINVILLE, WA 98072

• In Transit to Destination
• Jan-26-2018, 12:07 PM, On its way to WOODINVILLE, WA 98072

• In Transit to Destination
• Jan-25-2018, 12:07 PM, On its way to WOODINVILLE, WA 98072

• Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
• Jan-24-2018, 20:07 PM, SAINT LOUIS MO DISTRIBUTION CENTER

• Departed Post Office
• Jan-24-2018, 17:04 PM, BALLWIN, MO 63011

• USPS in possession of item
• Jan-24-2018, 12:20 PM, BALLWIN, MO 63011

Mystery Solved! Scruby Star Trek Miniatures

I recently picked up a small lot (19 minis) of what appear to be 25mm Star Trek miniatures. They were listed as Heritage on eBay, but upon closer inspection, I don't think they are. Or at least they are not part of the Star Trek line released by Heritage. There are no base markings on any of these minis, and while there are similarities, there are also subtle differences that make me think they are not Heritage. Namely, the phasers and lack of Starfleet uniform crest, as well as the lack of a raised collar on the Fed minis.

UPDATE (5/24/21): These are Scruby miniatures! Thanks to Mike Taber who answered my recent Facebook post on these guys. Mike says that they are indeed Scruby castings, and they were only available in-store at The Soldier Factory. Please see Mike's comment in the comment section at the end of this post. It took a while to finally ID these minis, but I have found that this community of collectors usually comes through.

UPDATE (5/16/21): A couple of weeks ago I posted these guys on eBay. And then earlier this week, I was contacted by a former Wee Warriors employee who saw the listings and let me know that Wee Warriors did not make or sell their own line of Star Trek miniatures. He confirmed this with Pete Kerestan.

The Anshell Miniatures ad from issue 10 of Starlog Magazine (December 1977) that lists the 54mm and 25mm sets from Wee Warriors will remain an enigma, at least for now. Was the ad a simple oversight, as in they said Wee Warriors but meant Scruby?

Once again, thank you to everyone who has contributed to this ongoing Star Trek minis mystery.

UPDATE (2/25/16): I went back and took another look at each miniature, and what I discovered was that there are 12 different poses total. 6 human poses, and 6 alien poses. This would be consistent with the Wee Warriors entry on the LMW, which lists 2 sets of 6 miniatures each - Landing Party and Alien Set. So it appears I have 2 sets of Landing Party, and 1 set of Aliens, with an extra female Romulan for a total of 19 minis. Of course, I still don't have have any photographic evidence to back me up, so it's still just a theory at this point, although a better than average one in my opinion.

Kirk, Spock, Uhuru

Redshirts

More redshirts?

Romulans?

Aliens

Looks Andorian to me.

Mugato?

I'd say Gorn, but the snout is rather long.

Heritage Models Books - John Carter, Warlord of Mars

I've been working on the latest installment of the Lead Market Report, and it's almost done, but I need to sit down and grind out the last couple of sections. It's tedious work, which is why it usually takes me several days to hammer one out. So as a diversion, I decided to scan a few items and post them for your viewing pleasure.

Heritage released two publications to support their John Carter, Warlord of Mars line. First up is the Barsoomian Battle Manual, subtitled as Wargame Rules For Edgar Rice Burroughs' Classic Science-Fiction Series. It is 52 pages (not including covers), written by Scott Bizar, and bears a stock number of 1596 on the front cover. There appears to be two variants, this one with the monochromatic green cover, and this one with a photo of terrain and miniatures on the cover.

The Battle Manual is a straightforward affair, covering rules for conducting mass combat on Barsoom, and includes a section on flyer combat from fleet to squadron actions. There are four illustrations of Barsoom, 2D drawings of the planet in globe form. One for each side of the planet, and one for each of the poles. The book contains no photos, only charts and illustrations necessary to conduct battles.

There is a product list on page 29 that lists the entire proposed lineup of miniatures. I'm sure most John Carter collectors would loved to have seen the various flyers and airships released by Heritage, along with the handful of human/creature blisters that did not make it to production.

Next up is the Adventure Gaming Handbook, subtitled Painting Guide, Fictional Ethnic Descriptions, and Man-To-Man Action Rules. It is 64 pages (not including covers), written by Michael S. Matheny, and bears a stock number of 1595 on the back cover. My version features the monochromatic red cover, and there is also this version with a full-color picture.

I have to be honest, I was more than a little let down by the Adventure Gaming Handbook. Not from a content standpoint, but from an artistic one. I mean, come on, the first half of the guide covers all the wonderful races, creatures, weapons, environments, and cities of Barsoom, and I can't get one stinking lousy illustration? Miniatures are such a visual component in gaming, and I think that some artwork would have greatly enhanced the guide. I'm guessing they were constrained by their budget and the fact that artwork would have increased page count.

The rules seem geared toward resolving individual combat or for skirmish/small group adventures. Characters have six attributes: Swordsmanship, Strength, Finesse, Accuracy, Quickness, and Constitution. Movement and attacks are resolved, wounds determined (ranging from minor flesh wounds to instant death), and Princess Points are accumulated. WTF? Princess Points???

Yes, Princess Points! When you meet, rescue, or otherwise interact with a princess of Barsoom, the ultimate goal is to make a great first impression, right? Your looks, your bling, and rank all help determine your PP. There are also some random outcomes that can add or subtract PP, such as "Belch Loudly" (-100 pts.) or "Princess joins you in a sad, beautiful song of ancient splendors and glories. Entire room falls hushed." (+300 pts.) You get the idea. Once you have your total PP, you still have to determine the Princess Response, ranging from "Who are you, have we met before?" (sorry, pal) to "MY PRINCE, FIREWORKS, THE BIG TIME, HUBBA HUBBA!!" (he shoots, he scores).

Overall, both books are just what you need to conduct mass combat on Barsoom, have a small scale adventure, or just paint your miniatures as they might appear in the eye of ERB himself. My total investment was less than $60, and both books have been selling in the $20-$30 dollar range lately, so it shouldn't be too hard to pick up a copy of one or the other without breaking the bank.

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.

 

Lead Market Report - Heritage Historicals Edition

A couple of sellers on eBay recently moved quite a stash of Heritage product, enough so I decided to give it the LMR Special Edition treatment. I normally don't track historical or tabletop army stuff (except for what I am personally interested in), but given the Heritage/Duke Seifried traditional wargame connection, I thought it worthy of my time. Not as sexy as some DragonTooth goodies or Citadel rarities, but it's Heritage, so that's good enough for me. Enjoy.

Chivalry: I really thought the first two would have gone for higher considering the names, but I guess the demand just isn't there.

King Arthur, Standard, Merlin, and Sir Hector for $8.25, Mordred, Banner, Palimides, and King Claudas for $8.25, Mounted Knights with Swords for $7.10, Men & Peasants with Polearms for $6.93, Men-at-Arms with Spears for $6.26, Knights Smashing with Ugly Evil Maces (hehe) for $6.26, Knights Heaving Deadly Battle Axes for $6.26, Mounted Knights with Lances for $6.26, Men-at-Arms with Sharp-Bladed Swords for $5.50, a mis-labeled 3855 Knights with Two-Handed Swords (reads 3864 Men-at-Arms with Bills) for $4.99, and Knights Bearing Potent Two-Handed Swords (love some of those old names!) for $4.99.

Medieval: These didn't do quite as well as the Napoloeniques (nothing went for more than $7.16), so hopefully these were a bargain for the buyers.

Saracen Armoured Cavalry for $7.16, Saracen Armoured Horse Archers $7.16, Saracen Horse Archers $7.16, Peasant with Sickle $7.15, Crusader with Lance for $6.26, Armoured Horse Archer for $6.26, English Knight with Battleaxe for $6.26, French Mounted Men-at-Arms for $6.26, Mounted Men-at-Arms with Lance Charging for $6.26, French Knight with Sword & Shield for $6.01, English Knight with Lance for $6.01, Hand Gunners for $5.76, 7 at $5.50 each: Armoured Infantry Standing with Halberd, Spearmen,  Peasant with Pitchfork (can you say angry mob?), Spearman in Pothelm Advancing, Men at Arms with Pole Mace, Front Rank Pike Men Full Armor In Salades (I didn't know what a salade was, so I had to look it up. Type of helmet.) and Crossbowman in Jaunty Felt Hat Advancing (OK so I threw in the 'jaunty'), 3 at $5.24 each: Armoured Infantry Advancing with Halberd, Armoured Infantry with Spear, and French Peasant with Bow (Help! Help! I'm being repressed! - Bloody peasants!) and 8 at $4.99: Dismounted Knight with Mace and Bassinet Attacking, Dismounted English Knight with Sword and Shield, Armoured Infantry Advancing with Sword, Billman Advancing (Post no bills! Post no bills!), Scottish Pikemen Coat of Plates In Salades and Buckler (longest blister name ever?), French Crossbowmen, French Peasant with Spear, and last but not least - the few, the proud, the Peasant Levy.

Napoleoniques: I wonder how many WH40K players know that their battles in the grim future were born on the gaming tables that recreated battles of the grim past? Just sayin.

French Young Guard Tirailleur for $23.01, French Artillery Line 1809 for $21.95, French Middle Guard Fusilier Chasseurs for $17.16, Officers (nationality not noted) for $13.51, Mounted Officers (nationality not noted) for $13.01, Russian Cavalry Chevalier Guard for $11.51, GRD Lancers for $11.00, Battle of Waterloo British Cavalry for $10.51, Russian Cavalry Chasseurs for $10.51, Old Guard Grenadiers Charging for $10.51, GRD Lancers for $9.00, French Cavalry Guard Dragoons for $8.54, French Leger Lancers for $8.54, French Guards Gren A Cheval for $8.54, Line Battalion 1812 Repelling for $8.00, Satellite Cavalry Brunswick Hussars for $7.16, French Lancers Regt. 7/8 for $7.00, French Middle Guard Fusilier Grenadiers for $7.00, French Line Carbiniers for $6.50, French Line Dragoons for $6.04 and $6.00, British Infantry Fusiliers for $5.75, British Command Groups for $5.60, Battle of Waterloo French Cavalry for $5.50, Russian Infantry Pavlov Grenadiers for $5.20, and British Life Guards for $4.25.

Panzertroops: A personal favorite of mine and something that I actively pursue. Heavy metal, 15mm style!

USA - A big, bad M41 Walker Bulldog went for $12.57. These M8 Greyhounds were $7.57, some 3/4 ton trucks for $6.27, an M7 Priest for $4.99, and an M8 Scott also for $4.99.

Germany -  For tanks, the PzKpfw IVH was tops at $12.26, followed by PzKpfw IVf2 at $8.59, and a PzKpfw IIIj for $4.99 (mine!). Then there was a pair of SdKfz 231 armored cars for $9.05 and $8.48. The seller had some blisters of US and German infantry, but I forgot to track those. Shouldn't be too hard to find them in the completed listings search.

Now if someone would just unearth a large stash of Air Power minis, that would really make my day!

New Additions To The Lead Pile

Every now and then, with equal parts persistence, patience, and luck, you unearth a nugget of gold, a little gem amongst the dirt, the chaff, the fool's gold. Sometimes it is only a small find, like a Grenadier Frost Giant (2nd series #071) you've been looking for but didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for (I paid $3.50 plus $3 shipping). Other times, it is a bit more fun - like a Ral Partha Remorhaz (11-504).

 Posed jauntily atop some craggy mountaintop.

A quick auction site search for the Remorhaz shows models being offered for $120. A search of completed listings shows models for $100+ that did not sell. The most recent sale was for $64 + $10 shipping. So when I picked up one for $35 (free shipping!) it pretty much made my day. The other minis in the lot included a couple of Mithril blisters - the Barrow-Wight King (M257) and Balin's Tomb (M285), a partial RP Black Prince's Chariot of Fear, and a couple other misc. items to boot. Score! Now begins the fun part - assembling a multi-part ralidium frost worm. Hours of fun, no doubt.

 Paint, glue, and patience not included.

Another small lot landed a WOTC Umber Hulk and the body of a Citadel C28 giant, with another eight minis included. That set me back $6.50 (+ $4 shipping). I do love bargains, mmm hmmm.

And to round things out, how about some heavy metal in the form of an armored juggernaut? The Heritage Panzertroops Centurion III is big and heavy! I've posed it next to a Matilda for scale reference, as well as with a WIP 1/72nd Hasegawa Tiger.

When Men Were Men And Tanks Were Lead

I recently picked up 10 blisters of Heritage Panzertroops, and they arrived in the mail the other day. Have I previously mentioned that I really like these little war machines? They were sitting around in someone's garage, and it shows - most of the cards were beat to hell and back, the blisters in rough shape, and the foam in the blisters had long since petrified and now easily crumbles. Still, the models are in pristine condition and none the worse for wear after 30 years, give or take a few. It is a mixed lot of American, British, and German models and quite armor-heavy (9 of the 10 blisters are AFVs). They are as follows:

 The usual suspects, rounded up for viewing.

American
1x M5A1 Stuart Light Tank (2 models)
2x M3 Grant Medium Tank
1x M47 Patton II Medium Tank

Stuart - small and boxy.

 Grant - 75mm not in place.

 Patton - 90mm goodness.

I'm curious why they included the M47 and other post-WWII tanks in their lineup - most of the vehicles are WWII, but perhaps they thought gamers would want to play Korean War battles with the late-model US and Russian tanks?

British
1x Daimler I Armored Car (2 models)
1x Matilda II Infantry Tank
2x Crusader II Cruiser Tank

 Daimler - not so boxy.

Humber - boxy personified.

Matilda - Queen of the Desert.

 Crusader - Cruiser tank.

German
1x Sd.Kfz. 251 Half-Track
1x Infantry Assaulting

 Sd.Kfz. 251 - MGs included but not yet mounted.

This purchase expands my overall Panzertroops inventory quite a bit. Previously, I only had a Humber II (read about that one here), two M29 Weasels, the Infantry Assault boxed set, and some loose troops on foot. I suppose if I painted up the Stuarts and Grants in British 7th Armoured Division livery, I could have a decent 8th Army force. Hmm, what to do, what to do.

 Patton with ruler.

And I thought they were quite a good deal at just a bit under $4.30 per blister (price + shipping factored in). To compare that to Flames of War models, it looks like those retail for $12.50 each, so even if you can find them on sale for half price, you would still be paying more. Maybe that's apples and oranges, but I'm always looking at the bottom line on my expenditures. Still, it would be nice to compare the two brands side-by-side. But that's going to happen because the last thing I need to do is start collecting FoW!