Asgard Miniatures' Gunfighters by Bryan Ansell

Way back in the dawn of time (establised 1976) Bryan Ansell ran Asgard Miniatures with Paul Sulley and Steven Fitzwater, where he sculpted a set of cowboy types. Lovely old school stuff that needs to be seen. I was in contact with him some years back when he was looking for a set but, by the time I found them, he had already got them... helps to be connected! Anyway, I was fortunate to pick up another set recently so thought I should post them. They went under the obvious title of 'Gunfighters'.

W1 Doc Holliday

W2 Wyatt Earp

W3 Buffalo Bill

W4 Butch Cassidy

W5 Sundance Kid

W6 'The Hired Gun'

W7 Fat Manuel Mexican Bandit

Bryan's son, Marcus, now runs Wargames Foundry and, as discussed previously, they are in the middle of a big move to better climes, so to speak. Looking forward to popping over at some point to say hi.

The pics are already up on the Lost Minis WIKI for another shot at Asgard posterity. Always worth looking at the listings there for a look at gaming miniature history.

As always, enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Once upon a time there was a not Judge Dredd......

Sci Fi films and books have been copied mercilessly throughout the years within the miniatures industry so it was with great joy I came upon an old 80's Tabletop Games' Laserburn miniature 'LB100 Law Officer with pistol'. Sculpted by a slightly younger Bob Olley who was also responsible for a number of pieces in this range......Tony Ackland providing the rest. Pics of most can be found on the Lost Minis WIKI here. 

Also a pic of the 'LB102 Law Officer on bike' courtesy of my good friend Vincent.

Whatever was Bob thinking of when he designed these? I am quite desperate for the bike variant so please think of me if you come across one.....

Another good example from the Laserburn range is the Szithks war bird by Mr Ackland...lovely stuff.

15mm versions of most are now available again via Alternative Armies here. The smaller scale aliens were sculpted by the legend that is Tony Yates, may he live long and prosper. Alternative Armies has also dug out some of the 25mm molds for the Tony Acklands pirates along with the old Asgard Space Marines here. Don't, of course, confuse their Space Marines with the Games Workshop trademarked version.......after all, these were only released beforehand.....

As always give me a shout on enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Pictures that didn't make the 1983 Armory's Guide......

In 1983 a US importer of miniatures and gaming paraphernalia released what was to become, for me, a veritable pre-internet Bible. The Armory's Buying Guide to Fantasy Miniatures; Vol 1 Issue 1.

 A short few years later the manager of the Games Workshop where I worked in Manchester (Tim Olsen) travelled over to foresee the GW taking apart of the company after it had fallen the way of many, if indeed not most, gaming related companies in those halcyon days of yore. I sent him over with a large list of pieces I would like with little thought of the cost involved....I worked alongside a youthful (as was I at the time) Tony Cottrell who now runs Forge World. Tim came back laden with bits and pieces but without the cornucopia of lead I was hoping for...apparently airlines at that point preferred to be able to have their planes being able to leave the ground. Strange. Anyway, Tim brought me back my first ever Dragontooth set......The Magic Shop. Thanks Tim!

It was a loose unboxed set however it was my first sight of actual Dragontooth minis after the few that had been advertised in the early Citadel / Games Workshop catalogues of the 70s. I was hooked even further along that nylon line of leadalism....... I digress a little. The line drawings in the Guide were invaluable and only after the advent of the internet did I start to find more and more of these pieces......the perils of Stateside trading had not even entered my tiny mind before that point. By the time the Guide came out a few companies had already fallen themselves, Heritage Models Inc and Superior Models being two of the most memorable. Minifigs' lines had changed and their Stateside 'World of Greyhawk', an amalgamation of their historical and fantasy lines to populate said world had gone.....as well as the wonderful Valley of the Four Winds and the Aureolo Rococo. Today some of these pieces are being resurrected by Dave at Caliver Books here.....don't forget the more you hassle him, the more he will find. Mention my name for a speedy rebuttal....

A copy of the Armory Guide is available in PDF format from the wonderful 'Painted Miniatures' site here.

The point of this post...if there is one beyond my waffle..is one of posting some more old ads from Dragon magazine, the old TSR publication that lost its way once it stopped featuring miniatures...in my most humble opinion of course. The miniatures are mostly photographed on the Lost Minis WIKI..where there are gaps there is a need........ Enjoy.

Also discovered this one for Citadel Miniatures........most illustration are in the Armory's Guide however a few aren't so worth tagging on here.

 

As always enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Stan Johnansen - unknown Sci Fi flyer

Sorting through the lead piles I came across a small bag of these guys from the dawn of lead time.....I can't find a listing but it belongs in the 'Sci Fi Fictioneers' range amongst the 'Xyban'. Possibly to be named a Combat Flier as the 'Death Raiders' have one of these......if you happen to have a more complete listing than that I've helped put up on the Lost Minis WIKI here please let me know! Stan himself is still going strong over at Stan Johansen Miniatures. He specialises in Mad Max / Road Warriors / Battlecars type stuff as well these days. Tell him I sent you....

  

deartonyblair@ntlworld.com

Superior Models Nativity Scene

I have this set hopefully winging its way over to me as we speak. I was aware of the 3 individual Kings in the Superior Wizards & Lizards 25mm line (starting later on in the scheme of things at Wl-131 Oriental Wizard) however have never seen this set piece before. Superior went on to become Perth Pewter who have most of the old pieces by those sculpting greats Ray Lamb, Ron Spicer and Steve Tofano (there is also a set of initials in a listing that I don't recognise; LC - it may be James Lane Casey - please let me know if you know!). The Superior lines are listed and (mostly) illustrated on the Lost Minis WIKI here. An interesting (and growing) pdf early history of the military side Superior is worth a read over at Alnavco here.

Note - just found this set with added sheep & shepherd at Perth Pewter here.

enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Nautical Nonsense by HLBS... plus old / new Minifigs D&D type 3 demon...

As they state, not strictly nautical.....Seabrook armored car in '28mm' scale with or without crew...they have some wonderful pieces in that range...I partly hope they won't be at Salute this year.....

Linky here...

and God bless Dave at Caliver for sneaking another old minifigs fantasy figure back into production...

Pic c/o Lost Minis WIKI - check out the Minifigs section here.

Anything you want to add? Email me at enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Salute 1977, Peter Gilder 1978, Perry Twins 1989.....

A few more pics from various old mags. From the article it seems this was the first Salute for the Warlords. I have another Peter Gilder article somewhere and will post it once I find it. His combover reminds me so much of my old Dad, God bless him. And yes, I have inherited the same.....

Peter Gilder of course was the sculpting machine for Hinchliffe Models. Check the tags/labels for more articles.

A 1989 shot of some Foundry people including a young pair of Perry twins. Top blokes and exceptional sculpting machines both.

Also scanned this Minot ad for the Lost Minis WIKI so thought I'd post it here. 1977 was a good year for minis....

Also found this in an old Military Modelling classified section.....prices you could almost afford...

enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Northern Militaire 1977... I was just about to turn 16.

Just found some old Battle magazines that I had stored at my mum's. I remember buying these at the time... more to follow at some point. Northern Militaire was the highlight of my year... I didn't know about anything local to Manchester and certainly didn't think about travelling around the country on my own back then... I led a very sheltered life unless it involved camping out somewhere for Motorhead tickets...

Files should be large enough to save and then peruse at your leisure if you can't read them here...

November 6th 1977 - next day was my 17th birthday 'Happy Birthday to me...'

Also found a later advert (Military Modelling March 1988) for a 'Dragon Miniatures' Dwarf Chariot - now me and my pal Boki Gromdal over at Stunties can't work out if this is a different 'Dragon Miniatures' to the one we've already posted pics of (Stunties and Lost Minis) - addresses are different parts of the island for sure - if anyone has any ideas please let me know as we haven't got a clue.....

As usual email me at; enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Sculptors that have moved away from the fantasy market.................

2 of the industries' most well known sculptors from the early days are Andrew Chernak and Nick Bibby. Andrew Chernak founded Grenadier Models with Ray Rubin back in 1975, having been running a joint giftware company, Canterbury Pewter Ltd, since 1972. His sculpts are numerous and many examples can be found on the Grenadier section of the Lost Minis WIKI. He now sculpts larger scale figurines in bronze. Check out his website; http://www.andrewchernak.com/

Nick Bibby was an early stalwart of the Games Workshop heydays....many of his sculpts, including his excellent dragons, can be seen on the Collecting Citadel Miniatures WIKI. He is now sculpting and casting in bronze...check out his website....the latest 'Indominatable' is a lifesize Grizzly Bear....takes my breath away. The pic below is borrowed from his site....http://nickbibby.com/

As usual enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Asgard Miniatures robot out of the blue...so to speak...

I picked up a box of assorted offcuts / throwaway bits a couple of years ago....I couldn't make much out from the auction pic but went for it anyway. When it arrived it was a joyous occasion, as all those receiving old lead will be aware of......there was a mix of Hinchliffe siege tower cladding, Archive robot scraps and loads of bits I had yet to id. The other day I was cleaning one of the robots off and noticed 'X2' under the base.......the penny dropped and I checked the Lost Minis WIKI........Asgard Science Fiction ....lo and behold I now give you X2 Three-Arm Robot......yet to be cleaned up......

Not 100% certain but pretty darned sure that this is the arm sprue for it...