Package from Birmingham was waiting in my tiny new mailbox last night. Hooray ! My order of Copplestone's "High Adventure" miniatures was ripped open and in short order I had lots of polar explorers, sleds, sledges, and sled dogs spread over my desktop.

Casting, metal, flash, mold registration, and all other technical aspects are perfect, as we have come to expect from Copplestone Castings. Sculpting is also excellent. The explorers are varied, determined-looking, and heavily armed. Clothing looks just right, and detail is rich and satisfying. I know you will think I'm losing it here, but I do believe I can see frost buildup cast onto the moustaches of two of these polar explorers. Probably just my overly-vivid imagination again.

The sledges are very nicely done, and having four different types of sleds/sledges simultaneously available is an embarrassment of riches! Most of the loads are cast separately, so for the small and medium sleds one can build them either loaded or empty. (This is just great, and will probably mean that I must purchase more of them to load myself with bits and boxes and parcels and gear that I have been hoarding for years.) The frame sled can only be assembled loaded, and the heavy sledge has a thick layer of shallow boxes cast-on with lots of additional baggage which can be added or ignored. Everything fits very well and they will be a joy to assemble. Overall great work on concept and design here.

The sled dogs are nicely sculpted and have some personality. Very gratifyingly, CC has included four different poses of sled-dog. (This is excellent, as I have vivid memories of chopping, re-applying, puttying, and detailing the heads of the (all same pose) RAM Call of Cthulhu sled dogs in order to get a slightly more varied appearance to the teams.) The dogs are cast in 'moving forward" attitude, and their harnesses look well.

What don’t I like about these packs? The only problem is that the model sled dogs are huge in proportion to the figures. Photos of modern sled dogs lead me to believe that their backs are usually only knee-high to a human. The CC sled dogs' backs are between crotch and waist high, being scaled like enormous German Shepherds. (In this respect Bob Murata got it right, his RAM sled dogs are appropriately tiny and short-legged.)

The promised addition of polar encampment and Inuit miniatures can only add to the appeal of these cool castings.

Check them out on Tim Peterson's fine website, the photos are good representations: http://www.gisby.org/adv.htm Chick says: "Order these miniatures now and start inventing skirmish games in arctic regions. You will not be disappointed.