Dear Tony Blair

Saturday, 13 June 2026

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

Edited 27th August 2026. More pics added included Plant Men!

‘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.

27th August 2026 - I have finally managed to pick up a couple of Plant Men. All praise the Lead Gods!

From https://barsoom.fandom.com/wiki/Plant_Men

The adults of the species can grow to a height of ten to twelve feet standing erect. The children of the species grow out from the parents' armpits, appearing identical to the adults. They are cycloptic, possessing only one eye in the center of their faces. The eye is pure white, with no apparent iris or pupil. There is no mouth in the head, and the nose consists of one nostril, which resembles a bloodless bullet wound. The head is covered with thick black hair, which can grow to a length of eight to ten inches. Each hair is about as thick as an angleworm and moves independently of the others; these act as the creature's ears. The rest of the body is humanoid in shape, but the feet are three feet long and very broad and flat, and the arms are short and undulating, not unlike an elephant's trunk. The hands are tipped with razor-sharp claws, and in each palm lies a mouth; the claws shred the leaves and grasses that make up the bulk of the plant men's diet so that they can be easily swallowed. Completing the anatomy is a tail which is round at the base but becomes flat at the tip. The "blood" of a plant man is green and sticky, resembling syrup.

The plant men travel in packs, using their broad feet to launch themselves into the air, not unlike the earthly kangaroo. Their brain is only slightly larger than the tip of the pinky of an adult human, and is only capable of directing the plant man's movements and processing what they see and hear. They are incapable of any sort of reasoning, acting only on instinct. Their diet consists of plants and blood from animals. If threatened, they leap into the air and strike their foe with their tails, which are so strong that one blow can crack the skull of a Green Martian as if it were an egg.

Mine seem to be missing claws showing on the black and white pic above unfortunately.

Lovely detail of a baby Plant Man growing on the body.

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

Allons Y!

enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Tuesday, 2 June 2026

Minifigs Drum Carriage and other WAGS

Edit - updated 12th June 2026

I have to thank Jake for this lovely piece. It's on my 'honestly I'll put it together' list... Minifigs did a veritabe plethora of varied wagons and such like. I've looked at this one over the years and always fancied it. Dave over at Caliver has them all re-released now;

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

Direct links don't work for some reason. Go down the left hand side to Minifigs 25mm then hit Napoleonics or From Pike to Shot and find wagons etc). Tell Dave I sent you of course!

I do remember Hinchliffe doing a large scale Napoleonic Larry Light Ambulance and it set a taste for wagon type models although they were always too pricey for my pocket money budget... nowadays unfortunately similar without the pocket money! There's one on eBay at the moment for $200. Maybe I should remortgage my soul although these days I think the devil would block it. Anyway, on to the pics. Drum carriage first and then various WAGs from the 1972/72 (I think, Minifigs had an annoying habit of not putting a date in many early catalogues) catalogues.