A while my wife's brother-in-law Rod gave me a slew of old D&D figures. He and his wife Anne (my sister-in-law) played OD&D and 1st edition AD&D but hadn't done anything with the figures in a couple decades. I finally got around to taking some pics of these wee leaden people.
I'm pretty sure the dude on the left was in several ads in
Dragon back in the day. The lady M-U in the middle is from
this set. The guy on the right must be the coach for his party, as he's obviously calling time out.
I really like the flowing beard and pointing finger on the wizard on the left. Painting his hat and staff the same color was an mistake, I think. Meanwhile, the other wizard's shoulder-mounted familiar should tell his boss he's holding the scroll backwards.
This is the sort of pose I don't see much of anymore. Everybody nowadays is either in a fighting stance or a boring generic pose with nothing in particular going on.
This poor son of a bitch has a mold line where his face should be.
Normally I'd think "crap armor + polearm = generic hireling", but that blue mask effect really makes this guy stand out.
A fully clothed fighting woman with a torch? Two thumbs up! (Not that I'm against chainmail bikinis, mind you. I just feel pervy putting tiny naked women on the table and expecting female players to actually use them.)
I swear this wizard looks like he's wearing a cowboy hat. That's rad to the max.
I'm pretty sure the dude on the left was in several ads in Dragon back in the day. The lady M-U in the middle is from this set. The guy on the right must be the coach for his party, as he's obviously calling time out.
I really like the flowing beard and pointing finger on the wizard on the left. Painting his hat and staff the same color was an mistake, I think. Meanwhile, the other wizard's shoulder-mounted familiar should tell his boss he's holding the scroll backwards.
This is the sort of pose I don't see much of anymore. Everybody nowadays is either in a fighting stance or a boring generic pose with nothing in particular going on.
This poor son of a bitch has a mold line where his face should be.
Normally I'd think "crap armor + polearm = generic hireling", but that blue mask effect really makes this guy stand out.
A fully clothed fighting woman with a torch? Two thumbs up! (Not that I'm against chainmail bikinis, mind you. I just feel pervy putting tiny naked women on the table and expecting female players to actually use them.)
I swear this wizard looks like he's wearing a cowboy hat. That's rad to the max.
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My female players will refuse to use any female mini that isn't half-naked.
ReplyDeleteThe "the flowing beard and pointing finger wizard" is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteSo is having your wife's brother-in-law give them to you.
Thanks for sharing!
Zak: I've known one or two female players like that. But I run an open table at the local game store and I want random Jill Gamer to feel comfortable playing. Under these circumstances handing out 25mm topless amazons would feel one short step away from requiring ladies to roll on the Judges Guild bust/waist/hips size chart.
ReplyDeleteNice winfall. Amazingly, I think I have owned all of these minis at some point in the past, and I think I still have the wizard and cleric in the first pic, and the female with the torch! Nice!
ReplyDeleteAh but Zak, your players are not all that typical. Super cool but not typical.
ReplyDeleteI find the female players in my groups fall into two categories...
The ones that refuse to wear the impractical chainmail bikini because they are going to be fighting and the ones that do not intend to fight unless they have to but insist on wearing either a chainmail bikini or a harem outfit.
The art of distraction...
Thanks Jeff, those are a blast from the past. For some reason I painted all my circa 1980 Ral Partha dwarves with green skin. Maybe I should revive the tradition.
ReplyDeleteIs it wrong I want to see Cowboy Wizard on a surfboard?
ReplyDeleteWhat perchance company are these guys from? I swear I saw the cowboy wizard in a flea market 6 month ago.
ReplyDeletegah! I used to have that guy with the spear!
ReplyDeleteWell - seemed more exciting a few seconds ago. As I recall the character was a ranger and I found him kinda boring.
So, I guess what I meant to say was, "Oh, yes. I used to use that same 'fighter-with-the-spear' miniature several years ago."
These are great old figures.
ReplyDeleteBut the part I like is using the Blitzkrieg board for the background. Nice touch.
As much as I like the newer, sharper Reaper figs, there is something about the classics that are so enjoyable! It might be how they take mundane or odd poses (the Wizard with the flowing beard - witch I also own - demands that you pull his finger!). It might be how they look like their where pulled off old works of art or movies. Or it might be how they don't always follow a normal fantasy template, where ALL figures MUST be Medieval in style (like this one Ral-Partha cleric before me, that has a noticeable Sumerian-styled hair & beard, and there are other things - little things - on other figures, that don't follow the mold - so to speak).
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty certain I owned the crappy armor + polearm guy at one point, many moons ago.
ReplyDeleteI had that cleric - matter of fact I think he's still on a shelf in my parents' house somewhere. Painted him according to the color scheme for priests of Quetzalcoatl laid out in Deities & Demigods.
ReplyDeleteI always assumed the hand gesture was either some kind of ceremonial sign or a kung-fu salute.
I just bought a big auction lot of random lead minis circa 1976, and that weird wizard guy you noted (with his spellbook on the ground in front of him) was among the haul. Thanks for helping me identify from whence he sprang lo those many years ago.
ReplyDeleteOh, man, I lust for your lead. I had about half of those figures, back in the day... and now, I haunt flea markets and antique shops, hoping to find someone who is unaware of what they have...
ReplyDeleteHey that last Cowboy Wizard was originally a Druid! Druid mini's always had odd headgear and rarely did 2 druid mini's look alike, unlike your regular pointy-hat wizard figures.
ReplyDelete