John Carter of Mars... Grenadier Models late 1970's limited range

‘I do not believe that I am made of the stuff which constitutes heroes, because, in all of the hundreds of instances that my voluntary acts have placed me face to face with death, I cannot recall a single one where any alternative step to that I took occurred to me until many hours later’

So spoke the man who would shortly be catapulted across space and time in one of pulp literature’s arguably most fantastic adventures... John Carter of Mars.

Towards the end of 1976 (74 or 75?), Grenadier released a short-lived ‘John Carter Warlord Of Mars’ series – this was quickly discontinued after failing to get the licence or possibly realising there was a licence fee to pay! I've just recieved some extra minis from the range and they have GM74 (I think) on the bases (see bottom pics)... I don't think the others had anything to be seen under the base... the mystery deepens a little. Some of the figures were repackaged into two pack of the Gamma World line as G9 Knights of Purity, Cryptic Alliance and G14 Tribesmen: Humans - I haven't noticed any other potential JC minis amongst the range although there are too few decent images of the blister contents... if you have them please help out! It would also be a joy to find the original card artwork if there was any! I've only even seen 9 different foot figures so far plus, of course, Terence's Plant Man.

In Terence Gunn's 2003 'The Fantastic worlds of Grenadier' he states '

...an eighteen title series based upon the characters and creations in Edgar Rice Burrough's John Carter Warlord of Mars series, sculpted 'mainly for fun' by (Andrew) Chernak. Unfortunately, due to a licensing agreement the miniatures company Heritage already had with the John Carter Warlord of Mars series, Grenadier had to withdraw its line.

In the 2016 new edition he removes any mention of the 'eighteen title series' although he does add some images. I have borrowed his image of the Plant Man from the book which is for imformative purposes only and retains his copywrite etc. I no longer have a working email for him so if there is any objection I will obviously remove the image.

Pics are the minis are either mine or US friend Joel's. 

Plant Man next to (I would say) John Carter... if anyone has this mini please let me know! Here he is missing his tail.

All below are different angles of the above. 

If you, like me, enjoys the adventures of John Carter then there are lots more post under his tab;

http://www.deartonyblair.co.uk/search/label/John%20Carter%20Warlord%20of%20Mars

More later I assume!

enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Grenadier Gamma World - Yexil - one more off the list.

 

I picked this one up a while back but just realised I hadn't posted it. G50 Yexil, one of the rarer Gamma World blister packs... a lot bigger than I'd imagined and, judging by the eBay images sent to me (all kudos to original owners who are unknown, posted here for the community), it stretched the blisters' ability to hold it! It was a great range that never came over here back in the day although the boxed sets did. I was fortunate to be gifted a pair of the boxes which helped immensely (thanks Joel!).

Good source for Gamma World information;

https://gammaworld.fandom.com/wiki/Yexil

It was quite a large and varied range (listing courtesy of Stuff of Legends);

G-01 Android Workers and Warriors

G-02 Human Adventurers 1

G-03 Human Adventurers 2

G-04 Grens, Woods People

G-05 Serfs, Mutant Men

G-06 Orlens, Mutant Men

G-07 Healers

G-08 Restorationalists

G-09 Knights of Purity

G-10 Knights, Mounted

G-11 Brotherhood of Thought

G-12 Seekers

G-13 Iron Society

G-14 Tribesmen Human

G-15 Barkskin Tribesmen

G-16 Mutant Tribesmen

G-17 Tribesmen Mutant #3

G-18 Woman Adventurers

G-19 Townspeople

G-20 Villagers

G-21 Power Armor Troops

G-22 Partial Armor

G-23 Arns and Blaash

G-24 Herps and Parns

G-25 Soul Besh and Cal Thens

G-26 Hissers

G-27 Kesshin and Sleeths

G-28 Menral and Blight

G-29 Arks and Wolfiods

G-30 Badders

G-31 Hoops

G-32 Centisteed

G-33 Brutorz & Rakox

G-34 Podogs

G-35 Robots 1

G-36 Robots 2

G-37 Robots Attack Borg

G-38 Ecology / Agricultural Robots

G-39 Engineering Bots

G-40 Transport / Lifter Bots

G-41 Warbot

G-42 Ground Cars

G-43 Intelligent Animals

G-44 Weapons Pack 1

G-45 Weapons Pack 2

G-46 Medical Pack

G-47 Mutant Do-It-Yourself 1

G-48 Mutant Do-It-Yourself 2

G-49 Mutant Do-It-Yourself 3

G-50 Yexil

G-51 Robot Tankettes 1

G-52 Robot Tankettes 2

Lots of images on Lost Minis (more needed please);

https://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Gamma_World_(Grenadier)

Some of the range was taken from the unofficial John Carter of Mars range, various, Red and Yellow Martians including a mounted one? The JC range is one that has never been listed unfortunately and remains one of my hobby holy grails (various pics on the blogs if you search on the tags). 

As always leave a comment or shoot me an email; enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Dragonooth Gelmen and Grenadier Gamma World

 As a lot of you know, my old school tastes tend to the very old fantasy / sci-fi - the more lead oxide coming off on my fingers the better (until the advent of eBay I loved wargame shows and, if my fingers weren't grey, it hadn't been a good show). Oh, no, I generally didn't lick them clean. Dragontooth and early Grenadier are prime examples of this... interesting sculpts but I love them and, a few days ago, a wonderful trade package turned up containing these beauties;

Dragontooth GEL6 Gelmen Infantry Armed with Spear

There are 3 variants, pics below c/o Kevan at Stunties / Lost Minis WIKI.

GEL5 Gelmen Infantry Armed with Mace - only 1 variant so I wonder if there were more?

A short video showcasing them... excuse the background noise of YouTube ads whilst I'm listening to Necroscope by Brian Lumley (read it in my youth and it's great to revisit it via audio).

 I believe they were sculpted by either Mike Gilbert or Michael Katok. Confirmation needed!

Next is a Grenadier G38 Ecology / Agricultural Bots

(1 of each type). This is a loose set - haven't been able to confirm if it's a full set as yet as the images available aren't that clear. Quite infuriating trying to catalogue the GW blisters for posterity!

A blister image off Lost Minis, not a great quality reference unfortunately.

A larger 'enhancement'...

If you have any more info / images / trade pieces do let me know.

enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Grenadier Models - Amulets of Magic

 

Not a lot known about this unfortunately. I picked these up about 10 years ago I think. Grenadier's Amulets of Magic was  produced in conjunction with "Tarheel Prods." I can't find any more information about them and have never seen any others - help!

"Symbols and sacred signs from Mythology, Ancient Civilizations, and Fantasy Legend. Produced in high quality Pewter, these amulets can be used for collecting, trading and gaming. Some pieces in each collection will be produced in limited editions and will be replaced by other designs. As each rare amulet is discontinued, we will publish it's identification and edition quantity. A secret contest has started with this collection. What will it be? What will you need to deduce the answer and win a fabulous prize? We will soon make clues known to you. Do you have all the coins needed to solve the puzzle?"

There were ten amulets in the bag, 2 each of 5 designs. Both sides are pictured below. We have no idea of the designer/sculptor.

So, if you have any ideas please leave a comment or shoot an email over to enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk