Over the last couple of years I have become quite enamoured of the old Minifigs 30mm ranges. They went out of production in the UK sometime in the early 1970s though I have been told that some are still in production in the USA, but, so far, I have not been able to track them down.
Now I don't have a huge number of these chaps as - currently- as I understand it at the moment, they seem to fall into 2 groups which, for now, I shall call 'Early' and 'Late' .
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| Minifigs 30mm Scots Greys. These will be joining the 'Shinyloo' collection.. |
The early chaps seem to have had separate arms but still the minifigs look I have some Chasseurs of the Guard which I pit on Stadden horses as I didn't have any minifigs horses when I painted them. A bundle of highlanders - again with separate arms and all flank companies complete with sporrans, a couple of British light infantry in the tapered shako- separate arms and about a dozen funny looking blokes in British style kit who may perhaps be Rifles but seen to be supplied with muskets and don't have a rifles waistbelt.
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| Another view of the Greys - considering these fellas are some half a century old they stand up rather well. |
The 'later' blokes don't seem to have separate arms I have both British and French gun crews and some rather nice limber horses and a single British limber. Some very sturdy British guns. The bulk of this group are cavalry, including the newly restored Scots Greys in the photos. I have Prussian Hussars and French Cuirassiers still to restore as well as some of the aforementioned gunners.
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| The Officer model-. I had to file up a new sword blade when I broke the original. |
By today's standards these are by no means perfect (on these chaps facial details is pretty basic) but then 'perfection' is overrated, not to say boring, at least when it comes to toy soldiers/ wargames figures/model soldiers (take your pick) 'Perfection' tends to lack character and difference. I like to be able to tell one maker from another thanks rather than have to deal with collections of perfect clones. One of the reasons I like some older ranges is simply that they have some differences from each other. There is no 'tedium of 'perfection' here.
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| A trooper. I rather like the horse. . |
Very impressive and just the right style for these figures I think. You have set yourself a bit of a task there - Minifigs 30mils are pretty rare - I've never seen any in the metal. There's a list of 'proposed' models in the 72 catalogue but by the time the next full catalogue came out in 75 they'd disappeared entirely. How many actually got made I've no idea. Nice to see some at last.
ReplyDeleteI have in total about 30 cavalry with minifigs horses and another dozen or so I put on Stadden horses when I painted them. I have a pdf of the 1972 list which when I find it I shall put up on the Old School miniature FB group. and another pdf of a review of the range in 'Scale models' magazine for 1971 I think.. All came off ebay. I have also missed a few lots- some Cossacks I think and definitely some British rifles
DeleteI have never seen these before. I know they were around when I started the hobby but local shops had Hinchliffe or normal Minifigs. Fascinating. They would have been contemporary with Willie figures. What might have been!
ReplyDeleteWas it a different sculptor do we know?
30mm were well beyond my pocket when I started as they were 3 times the price of the then 25mm. My local shops in Manchester had Hinchliffe and another had a few Les Higgins25mm Naps. Once I moved to the NE in 74 I could get Minifigs and Garrison as well as Hinchliffe. I believe - but don't know for sure that the minifigs 30mm range was designed by Dick Higgs . Some of them do look like 'blow -ups' of the S range. Cavalry saddles are on the man as they were for S range.
DeleteThanks Andy.
DeleteThe molds certainly made it to the US and the figures were marketed, if memory serves, as the "Fusilier" line. But the last time I saw the molds they were in the basement of the late Wally Simon. Haven't seen them for sale for decades--but I'd start looking in the DC vicinity.
ReplyDeleteThanks I have been told that they were still on sale in the 1990s but nothing more recent than that.
DeleteThese completely passed me by at the time so it’s fascinating to see them now. Back then I struggled to find the money for Hinton Hunt’s so they would would have been far out of my price range anyway!
ReplyDelete30mm were well above my pocket back then- didn't own any 30mm until the late 1980s and they were second hand Stadden AWI. Been adding to my 30mm collection ever since. Back in the 70s any metal models were quite rare amongst the airfix. Didn't have a fully metal army until about 1976-77 , that was minifigs 25mm ECW.
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