What first started out to be a very dull year is suddenly filled with goodies; Santa, in a fit of generosity let me believe he was really flying; dive-bombed me with plenty of goodies. Let's get to the gossip and loose talk first.
It seems that Minifigs has released all kinds od 15mm goodies; ammo caissons, ambulances, pontoon wagons, rocket batteries, etc. But do they send me samples to review.... But, nooooooooooo. Minifigs is as hard to get samples from as RAFM. There is another English company: AHKETON, 190-194 Station Rd. Harrow, Middlesex, England. Nothing Napoleonic but some various things of interest (I told you I wouldn't mention fantasy too much.)
Now this brings up something that even I can thank the government for: if you've got the cookies send for English figures now -- a normally great bargain is now fantastic.
Of interest is a clever bit of advertising by Gene Barron. First, he is selling off 40,000 unpainted Hinchliffe. I would suggest you call Bob Freeman at 817-783-2210. There are being sold in lots of 100 foot or 50 cavalry for $50.00. They pay postage. Beside this, Gene intends to work with Derrick Freeman to produce a new line of "Hinchliffe sized" figures plus some other projects that even includes software.... I wish them luck.
Flat as a pancake, streamrolled Minifigs. You guessed it: FLATS! I never got into these but they are nice. Flat figures, excellently sculpted on both sides and often reproduced figures from famous paintings, they are produced somewhere in the Black Forest by elves, gnomes, endured servants and illeterate peasants. Imported and sold to you by Pickelhaube Figures, P.O. Box 305, Minneapolis, Minn. 55440. They have a medium stock of these 33mm figures but will try to find you what you want.
My old friends of FREI KORPS 15, 25 Princeton Road, Bangor, Co.Down BT20 3TA, Northern Ireland, have pulled a sneaky trick. They have been redesigning all their Seven Years War figures. And they really have done a splendid job. I've got a customer who has practically hired me for the next decade; in his last batch of about 500 SYW figures there appeared the new ones. The unnamed sculptor has slimmed down the figures, brought out detail and improved the already excellent animation. The drummers and officers are beautiful. Figures such as the Prussian Dragoon, at the halt- ready to charge, is a delight to see The new Cuirassier is also a fine piece of artwork and who knows what other delights the sculptor at Frei Korps 15 have turned out. Next is sue I hope to have an update on this fine company. So remember what I said about the exchange rates and order now. This is one of the few companies that you can order blindly from - I'd be surprised if you were disappointed.
PASS OF THE NORTH is now FRONTIER MINIATURES, 629 Centennial, El Paso, Texas 79912. They have been busy lately, they moved into a central building and are striving to turn over orders quickly. FM was kind enough to call me and fill me in on the progress and plans for the future.
$3.00 will bring you a catalog and a sample figure, because of time they now sale figures by the pack. Old time customers may still order single figures but the time this takes makes it impossible for them to continue this practice. The new rates are as follows:
- 15mm Infantry (20 fig. pack) $4.00
15mm Cavalry (8 fig. pack) $4.00
15mm Command or Artillery $4.00
Discounts are available. 25mm rates vary by the range but 10 infantry are $4.00.
FM also will custom design figures. If you have any questions about this or anything else you cae reach them at : (915) 877-3048.
We do have a small plug. One of our last reviews mentioned Juan Cortez and his fine work on the SYW line. I do have on hand his earlier ACW range (which they plan to redesign). This is a fine range with a very Minifigs flavor. I would recommend getting some of these figures befoi they are replaced. There is a bearded infantry figure that is the only realistic rendering I have seen. As some of my readers may know I once sculpted figures (some still in production) and I can appreciate the skill involved. The figure sculptor deserves praise when he merits it and you can find out just who it is. Juan Cortez is fast becoming one of the better carvers.
Although I don't have them at this time for review, Juan has designed the following releases: NORMAND, SAXONS, VIKINGS; 15 figures, 25 mm. PLAINS INDIAN WARS: 15 and 25mm. The indians come with separate heads that will allow you make hundreds of different figures. These should really be impressive. To give you skirmish people a jolly time, FM has a new designer: R.G. Perez. I haven't seen these figures yet but I can tell you what's out. R.G. Perez has done the excellent Mexican War line, which was another example of really excellent quality: solid, anatomically correct, detailed figures. I'll be looking forward to seeing these figures. We've got a War of 1812 line in 15 and 25mm. A 25mm range figuring the Pershing Expedition (1916-17). This has a lot of possibilities. Also in 25mm, is a range of Moro-Filipino Insurrection figures, 1863 French Imperial/Legionnaires and Mexican Army 1865-67. For all the colonialists, a huge Boxer Rebellion range in 25mm.
We'll bring you details on these figures when we see them but we have high expectations. This is the decade of the skirmish gamer and he is certainly a lucky swine.
The good folks at STONE MOUNTAINS MINIATURES, Box 33195, Denver, Colorado, 80233, have been busy also. There are handling or casting a nice line of 15's from England by TABLETOP GAMES. There is a big line of fairly inexpensive Napoleonics and Medievals. The infantry looks like MIKE'S MODELS but DONE RIGHT. A lot of detail but the heads are wee bit large, the cavalry are well done and mix well and guess what? The swords are the right size, wow! you'll like the horses too and a nice thing is you can order single figures. Get some...
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