We still hear tales of woe about the "dying" hobby. Nothing could be farther from reality! When I personally discovered this hobby 17 years ago, miniatures were only available from overseas and from Jack Scruby. Table Top Talk and The Armchair General were the only magazines. We were able (with Scruby's help) to locate the grand total of 62 miniature gamers in the whole country.
Today there are 10's of thousands of miniature gamers, at least 10 companies the USA making historical miniatures (many more in England). There literally dozens of magazines available from all over the world (and specializing in just one period).
These manufacturers are bringing out more new lines each year than existed when I started and in several scales (we had only 20mm and 30). There have been 8-10 new rule sets published this past year and there are more reference books, painting guides and historical military treatises than could possible read being printed every year.
Various acquaintances who own hobby shops or who manufacture history miniature items report a healthy rise in historical sales with a corresponding decline in fantasy (as opposed to SF) sales.
We are on an upswing all right but this is no time to be complacent. We'll continue to help the hobby along by converting non-historical gamers, bringing in beginners, attending historically oriented conventions, supporting the stores that supply historical items as well as the manufacturer who makes them (avoid pirated figures and zeroxed rule sets).
A SAD NOTE
I have just received word that Tom Shaw (of Avalon Hill) and his family were recently involved in a very bad automobile accident. I am sure you will all with me in wishing them well and praying for their quick recovery.
Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. V #4
To Courier List of Issues
To MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1984 by The Courier Publishing Company.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com