Dragontooth Oliphant and Cumulus the Storm Giant...

 

Two Dragontooth giants… a little pun intended. Cumulus the Storm Giant and the Oliphant. Cumulus is hollow cast but still weighs in at 823g. His thunderbolt had been replaced with one made out of plastic card of some sort… broken anyway. The Oliphant weighs in at a mere 643g by comparison… I'm not 100% certain of the sculptor but I assume the late Tom Loback sculpted the Cumulus and possibly the Oliphant... I think someone else may have done the Haradrim? Both sculpts from the late 70's.

In fact I do have two pics that Tom sent me some years back... he did sculpt the Oliphant and this was painted by Steve Tofano.

Not sure on this painted example, just found it on my laptop... nice anyway!

The 1978 catalogue lists it although without any images...

The 1979 catalogue however features it on the front cover...

And on to Cumulus...

I believe this is Tom's painted one however I could be wrong. Please give me a shout if you know otherwise...

The 1978 Catalogue drawing...

That's it for now folks!

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Little Lead Soldiers Ltd - Greenwood & Ball

 

I picked up this little lot (every pun intended) off eBay recently as I'd never heard of them... according to the leaflet they are old Greenwood & Ball miniatures although they certainly didn't look like traditional G&B to me but then I did some research and found the company is still producing the miniatures... more below.

All supplied with these lovely stamped tin? bases...

The company's website; http://www.littleleadsoldiers.com/

They have many pics on the site and a full catalogue here. My pics at the top seem to be from the Greenwood & Ball old museum range... take a look at the website and have a good browse. They've moved to France now however have a full mail order service. Lots of interesting old school style miniatures.

Bob Bard's Bulletin - May 1958

 

"...items of interest to military miniature collectors and historians"

Well, this seems to be amongst my earliest magazine / periodical sort of things... later editions includes listings of Herald Models, Britains, Parade Square, Helenic, Scheid Miniatures, Imrie Risley and more... a wonderful pathway into the history of the hobby. He released a 'Making & Collecting Military Miniatures' book in 1957 with a 'Note About The Author' on the rear;

'If you were to walk into Bob Bard's office, for a moment you would wonder of you had not taken steps back through the pages of military history for there a pageant of miniature arms, armor, banners and uniforms unfolds - minutely detailed officers and men from the ancient warriors of Rome and Greece through the colourful Napoleonic wars and America's fight for independence as well as the wars between the States right up to the fighting men of today.

Bob Bard has been a collector for most of his life. His interests have gone from stamps and coins to trains and airplanes to his present love "Military Miniatures". He is recognised in this highly specialized field as an authority and is consulted by many of the most important collectors.

Mr. Bard has been a contributing editor on the staff of several magazines and has been the subject of numerous feature stories.'

The book was released in paperback in 2011 and had a current hardback release in 2021 so it has certainly shown the test of time! If anyone has any updates on Bob please leave a comment below.

There is a set of 1959 / 1960 Bulletin's currently up on eBay (auction is nothing to do with me, just for interest);

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1959-MILITARY-MINIATURE-COLLECTOR-Bob-Bard-Hobby-Periodical-UNIFORMS-EQUIPMENT/273861582388

If there's enough interest I'll post more issues (leave a comment below or email me).

enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Ral Partha Chaos Wars new Kickstarter - Wave 4 - a Tom Meier cornucopia!

 

For me Tom Meier is one of the sculpting Gods of the hobby. I picked up examples of his work when Ral Partha were first imported into the UK by Wargames Publications (Scotland) Ltd in the later 70's. His work is just about second to none and I hate to think of how many unpainted sculpts of his I have sat around the house... Jacob Fathbruckner has taken on the task of Ral Partha Legacy and it is a worthy one indeed. Take a look at what the Kickstarter has to offer, link below.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ralparthalegacy/ral-parthas-chaos-wars-wave-4-thunderbolt-mountain

Beyond that you've got regiment sets, giants, dragons, siege weaponry and more... pop over and pledge as Jacob tells me all the funding is going into producing the miniatures and then into getting more produced. Greater love hath no man.

An Introduction to Fantasy Wargames; Battle Magazine December 1977

 

A wonderful old memory I came across again when browsing through Battle mags. I think this was used separately by GW as a flyer? Great little article by Steve Jackson of Games Workshop,

I don't think Steve Jackson (or Games Workshop!) need any introduction of course. There is a fantastic looking book on the origins of Games Workshop coming out relatively soon. I backed it some time ago but it's not too late to pre-order;

https://unbound.com/books/games-workshop/

(image borrowed of the site purely for illustrative purposes)

More later, keep safe.

The Vermin have arrived... almost...

 

A new race has entered Geründerland... the Vermin... up for discounted pre-order with a hopeful delivery mid June. Accompanied by a Soulslayer and a Liche, they can throw terror onto your tabletop... flee you fools!

https://thelittlesoldiercompany.co.uk/product/vermin

This is a new venture for me instead of using Kickstarter which tends to be a little long winded, especially if it's just for a small release... every pun intended. The minis will go into general release later in the month but this does give the bonus of cheap figures!

McEwan Miniatures, Starguard, Stan Johansen and the Baralizar!

 

 I got my first McEwan miniatures back in the later 70's when Games Workshop imported them... they were very much 25mm and proper scale as opposed to the exaggerated sculpts we were becoming used to. He had a great mix of minis and they have stood the test of time as still available once again today! Stan Johansen had a massive range of varied subjects including the original Space Marines... GW anyone? Rich Brown has set himself the awesome task of getting a lot of old ranges some new life. He is also stocking those pesky rabbits, the Baralizar, from my own Little Soldier Company and incorporating them into the Star Armor rules... He is currently building up the following lines; McEwan Minis, Fictioneers (including the 'not John Carter' Sitan Giants), Star Armor and WWII Allies & Axis. He has a plethora of other items up as well so go visit him...

https://rrb-minis-more.square.site/

Whilst Rich is getting everything set up and running, there are always the Lost Minis WIKI pages to peek at. 

http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Stan_Johansen_Miniatures

http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=McEwan_Miniatures

The few pics below are c/o Rich and used with his permission. Only a small selection, the first being the category listing from the website.

And a favourite of mine...

Not forgetting the Baralizar... it's great to have them more easily available overseas with the crazy postage prices we have these days for sending from the UK.

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