Games Day 1981 Programme Guide

 

With many thanks to a great hobby friend, I thought this might be of interest... great to see many of the old companies that are now long gone listed as being present. It was held at the Royal Horticultural Society's New Hall on Greycoat Street... possible pic below. I know I went to at least two of the Games Days back in the day down in London, but I cannot for the life of me remember which ones. One trip was organised by the GW Manchester shop and another I drove down to. No programmes kept unfortunately... not sure why as I normally keep everything.

And on to the programme...

I've scanned and uploaded them as .png files which should allow them to be enlarged (or saved and looked at later).

If you enjoyed the read, a coffee is always appreciated... https://ko-fi.com/davidwood 

Any thoughts on anything please do leave a comment and/or email me on enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk, even if it is to berate me for my penchant for coffee :)

Happy Easter!

 

Empire of the Petal Throne minis on eBay...

 

Not often I eBay stuff from my collection but needs must... one Churstalli and a Hluss Neuter Warrior... edit; just the Hluss Neuter Warrior left now...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/deartonyblair/m.html

 

Around 1980, PHD Games Inc picked up the license to produce the Old Guard / Ral Partha range of EPT miniatures. They seem to have been produced in a lead free type pewter alloy which is very hard and not the easiest to clean up / drill. The Churstalli comes in 9 pieces and will require some cleaning up and gluing etc. One of the feet have become separated so will require some fiddly sorting out... I would say it would glue to a base easier than attempting to drill and pin as the metal is extremely hard. I picked up a few of the minis a long time ago from the States, I assume they were from a shop closeout or similar. The figure does not come with the card, that is staying with my copy as I only got the one. This is not a recast and is sold as I received it. 

The Hluss Neuter Warrior comes in 9 pieces and will require some cleaning up and gluing etc. I picked up a few of the minis a long time ago from the States, I assume they were from a shop closeout or similar. The figure does not come with the card, that is staying with my copy as I only got the one. This is not a recast and is sold as I received it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/deartonyblair/m.html

Normal service to resume shortly!

Minifigs ME1 Man-Orc with Sword - the box!

 

Every so often I dig out something that makes me smile. This is just a box, very true... however this isn't just any old box, this is a Minifigs box! The first coded mini for the Middle Earth / Mythical Earth range. There's still argument over who produced the first of the fantasy ranges... people still argue that Jack Scruby may have been the first but I think they came after Minifigs around 1975 whereas Minifigs advertised in 1973... the way adverts went back in the day you needed to send your material well in advance as well.

Minifigs ME over on the Lost Minis WIKI here.

Jack Scruby fantasy here.

Note the COMING SOON section at the bottom (Military Modelling, July 1973)

More details on this post;

http://www.deartonyblair.co.uk/2020/09/beginnings-of-fantasy-minifigs-me.html

The old Minifigs ME catalogue page...

An earlier box of unknown date... picked the image up off eBay some time ago so unsure where from. All kudos to the original poster. 

My own painted ME34 Giant... tried to make him more worrying looking than the casting suggests!

Lots more Scruby and Minifigs posts if you want to have a browse, check the tags on the right of the blog. Don't forget that Dave Ryan over at Caliver Books / Minifigs is slowly rereleasing all the old fantasy... 

http://www.miniaturefigurines.co.uk/Home.aspx

If you're interested, I appeared on the Rollin Bones show the other night... Canadian time 20:00... UK time 02:00. I'm still recovering! A good chat about the history and evolution of miniatures in tabletop gaming although I think I kept straying back to my own love of old lead.

 https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1446655812

I've also put a couple of old Empire of the Petal Throne minis on eBay... got to pay that mortgage somehow!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/deartonyblair/m.html

Minifigs SS16 (Bleaklands Barbarian Axeman) Cimmerian Chieftain

 Well, thanks to a great hobby colleague, Nick, I've finally got at least one of each of the old Minifigs Sword & Sorcery range infantry. He became a 'Bleaklands Barbarian Axeman' after certain IP lawyers apparently objected to the use of 'Cimmerian Chieftain'... ho hum. I still need lots of the cavalry (trying to pick up the old ones even though they're currently mostly being re-released by Dave Ryan over at Caliver/Minifigs here - go down the left hand side to Classic Sc-Fi & Fantasy Ranges). There's a tab at the top to my wants list(s).

I did paint one a while back, my only copy that was missing the axe... not my greatest paintjob... in truth I find old Minifigs quite difficult to bring to life. Richard Orclord Hale of Stuff of Legends has recently posted some wonderful paint jobs he commissioned. I look on in awe...

http://www.sodemons.com/rhminifigs/index.htm

The full range is pictured on the Lost Minis WIKI here.

That's it for now. Lots of new releases over at The Little Soldier Company... it'd be great if you popped over and picked some pieces up!

https://thelittlesoldiercompany.co.uk/

One new release is 'The Captain' over in the Emporium of Miscellany...

https://thelittlesoldiercompany.co.uk/the-emporium-of-miscellany

Star Wars Miniatures - Archive Style...

 

An excellent blog post over on the Star Wars Collectors Archive by Ron Salvatore and Yehuda Kleinman.

http://blog.theswca.com/2022/03/adventures-in-miniature-nevile-stockens.html

I blogged about these some time back but this article takes it to the next level and is well worth reading. My posts are here. Take note of the historical miniatures in one of the pics - Byzantine light cavalry, Huns, a Musketeer and a mailed cavalryman. I would love to find some more information on those as there is nothing out there that I have found as yet. Going off the scale by Nevile's eyes I don't think some are the 15mm Dark Ages range. A poor listing (here) on the WIKI seems very limited... I do have a few of the Ancients range and will eventually open the baggies and get them posted... for now though, we shall make do with what must be the 079 Sudanese Elephant with 3-man crew although the insert card is numbered 100. 

Nevile's customary signature...

So, only a short post today but, if you like the blog, please follow it and become a Politico (top left) - it makes me feel like I'm appreciated as does leaving a comment below!

Also, if you feel slightly flush, buying me a coffee is always appreciated...tomorrow is cinnamon twist roll at the park..  https://ko-fi.com/davidwood 

Any thoughts on anything please do leave a comment and/or email me on enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk, even if it is to berate me for my penchant for coffee :)

Hinchliffe Guide to Wargaming - 1977

Clearing out cupboards is always fun - I have a habit of leaving old drawings / birthday cards etc from the children in places where I'll come across them when having a sort out... great memories. Anyway, this is an old Frank Hinchliffe tome that I believe had one of two later editions? Quite simplistic but a fun read. Scans should be large enough to download and read etc.

12th April 2022, added front cover of the Heritage version of the guide at the end. Courtesy of John Leahy.

Below is the US (Heritage Models Inc) version of the front cover. Thanks to John Leahy for this.

Lots more Hinchliffe Models posting here.

Three pics of a Hinchliffe Crusader I've recently (ish) finished barring varnish... picked up a bunch of them along with lots of Robin Hood minis that need to join the painting queue at some point... I'm snowed under with The Little Soldier Company stuff to paint at the moment though... being the slowest painter in the multiverse doesn't help things! Peter Gilder sculpt of course.

If you like the blog, please follow it and become a Politico (top left) - it makes me feel like I'm appreciated as does leaving a comment below!

Also, if you feel slightly flush, buying me a coffee is always appreciated...blogging can be thirsty work... https://ko-fi.com/davidwood 

Any thoughts on anything please do leave a comment and/or email me on enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk, even if it is to just berate me for my penchant for coffee :)