Figure reviews are a staple item in most gaming magazines, and well they should be since the review gives the wargamer needed information on what is happening in the hobby. Two recurring problems, however, have always bothered me.
One is that no one has yet developed a system for comparing the work of one manufacturer with that of another. The other problem is that most reviews are highly subjective often overlooking key information needed to make an educated purchase.
What I will be doing in all of my reviews for The Courier is rate each figure or groups of figures against five key factors that determine the quality of a figure. These five are: (1) anatomy, (2) animation, (3) detail, (4) paintability, and (5) casting quality.
For easy comparison each category is assigned one point. The figures being reviewed are judged by tenths of a point. As a general rule the following scale applies: 0-1.9 = reject, 2-2.9 = acceptable, 3-3.9 = good and 4.0-5 = a must.
Miniature Figurines, Ltd. is one of the "old time" companies in our hobby. As a company they have come a long way in both their scope of subject matter and the quality of each casting. Although some hobby shops carry Minifigs their major marketing avenue at this time is direct mail order.
Unlike most companies Minifigs offers a vast selection of figures and an equally impressive number of historical and fantasy periods. At last cound they have over 5,000 figures to choose from covering both 25mm and 15mm armies.
Let's look at some of their newest releases.
From their Indian Mutiny series we have three figures,
two infantry and one cavalry. The first figure (IM-17) is
a sepoy rebel firing. He is still dressed in his British
issue uniform with a turban gracing his head. The
second (IM-23) is a sepoy wearing the distinctive
"Indian Shako" and advancing in bare feet.
These two figures confirm two of Minifigs
strongest assets: consistancy of scale and excellent
positioning for wargaming armies. The faces on both
figures are very nice with a certain amount of
character being the strong element. Details are
perhaps not as obvious as with other figure
manufacturers and they tend to be on the chunky
side, but everything being considered they are nice
gaming figures. Rating (1) anatomy - .6, (2) animation
- .8, (3) detail - .4, (4) paint - .8, (5) casting- .8, Total
3.4
The next figure (IMC-8) is a British lancer of the same period. He is in dress uniform and is nicely done. Beyond question cavalry is Minifigs strongest area. Their horses are the best on the market, and come in an endless variety of poses and periods. The detail on. both the horse and the rider are very good. Rating: (1) anatomy - .9, (2) animation - .8, (3) detail - .7, (4) paint. - .8, (5) casting - .9. Total 4.1.
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