"GEO-HEX ...did someone else pick up their line? " Topic

TMP link

Out of Business…but there was a great deal of stuff involved with that company, did it just fade away?

Some of the lines – like the game mats – have been picked up by other companies. Monday Knight Productions got the mats for example. The isomorphic hex tiles are caught up in a legal battle resulting from a divorce I understand, so those are in next-to-permanent limbo.

As well I recall that the patent was allowed to lapse

" legal battle resulting from a divorce"

this is what I understand. No valuation on the company could be agreed to so the result was 0.

What's the legal name of the company? I'd be interested to see that patent. Those hexes seemed to be popular and profitable.

What's the normal lifespan on a Patent these days? GeoHex had been around for long enough that it might have expired normally…

It did expire normally. There was just no effort to extend it.

You have to download a special patent viewer (from the US Patent Office site): patent # 4,685,884 issued to Kieran P. Rohan, august 11,1987.

For those that own the Geo-Hex system already and are familiar with the line of supporting terrain items that I made to work with it, there might be a chance for a few custom orders of my accessories to be made available. Back in the high times of Geo-Hex (late 80's and 90's) I made cast "hill tops" for the peaks of the hills that K.R. sold.

It's kosher for me to offer these, as the rights were held by me always and I still might be able to revive a few molds. With the Geo-Hex tiles out of availability, I will not be offering my accessories in any regular listing in the future most likely.

I also made a few select 1/285 half-timbered structures for armor games. One that I was always proud of was a half-timbered watermill that had a sloping base to fit the riverbank. I also had tank dug-in positions, tree bases and "Chenille" trees (although you guys know how to acquire these already). I also made several stone 1/285 bridges specifically to cross the standard setbacks of the river shorelines within the system (1", 6" etc.). The bridge is modular and extend-able. An example can be seen on the cover of the Mein Panzer Scenario Pack #1 by ODGW.

I was very sad to see that Geo-Hex had closed, as K.R. had built up a great rep among the gaming community. As trivia for old players of OGRE, in the miniatures rulebook by SJG you'll see a custom OGRE map made by me. I used Geo-Hex tiles that were marked with 1.5" hexes and in the desert color scheme (sold mostly for CBT, but in those days it wasn't "classic" quite yet). I added 3-D craters and debris and then airbrushed it a bit. I made four of those maps up, with two going to Steve. Those were fun times.

Worse, now I can afford to get this kind of terrain and Geo-Hex is out of business. Does anyone else actually male this kinf of terrain?

Gracias,

Glenn

"Does anyone else actually male this kinf of terrain?"

Well there's the Hexon II terrain system from Kallistra.
kallistra.co.uk

Since the patent has been allowed to lapse, that means that anyone can make a similar product now, and sell it, correct?

That Kallistra stuff is pretty slick.

<wry>elijahdprophet, they also sell it pre-flocked.</wry>

GHQ also might still sell Terrain MakerŪ. It came in a "bread bag" and was precut styro hexes, unfinished and unsculpted. I always liked the Geo-Hex system better, as it was very easy to set up. If I was going to make a board using smaller hexes like GHQ's, I'd just cut my own. But for some, Terrain MakerŪ might be a solution to consider.

link

John, if the Geo-Hex patent has lapsed, I'd love to see someone with the deep pockets to offer a plastic-injected version of the large Geo-Hex 12" hex system. I'd do it myself, but my deep pockets all have holes in them. K.R.'s patent was based upon seven geomorphic shapes, iirc.

K.R.'s patent was based upon seven geomorphic shapes, iirc.

While that's still a true statement, the "8th" piece is an unmodified full hex piece.

The main weakness in the system was that Styrofoam was used to make the pieces. After repeated use, the edges tended to get worn and care had to be taken not to crush or break the pieces.

John, I poked around on the U.S. Patent website. Unless I am incorrect, it appears that the full term of the patent was 20 yrs. It appears to have expired Aug. of 2007.

I'll see if I can get in contact with K.R., as I've known him for over 20 yrs. and get an update regarding this. The problem in making a durable product is the same as it always was, and material costs now are way up from when Geo-Hex was manufatured.

I hope that I don't appear to come off as a "vulture" in this, circling above the body of a company that I respected and admired…

For those that might not be familiar with the Geo-Hex terrain system, here is a 12" river section, along with a few of my old structures made to complement it.

picture

It appears as if the expiration of a patent is based upon the filing date and not the issue date. In this case, that date is Jan 27, 1986.

Any update on this???

I would love to see compatible "BattleScape" again I've managed to assemble a sizeable collection over the years and no terrain system produced today compares to it for Battletech. I hope someone takes up the product line again.

Wingnut

Geo-hex is back in Business again. Find him on facebook , by searching for Geo-Hex , and through Ebay as well.

Nice to hear.

Back in 88 I gave up several mint SPI big boxes to get the basic set and hill set.

They are great for gaming and the way the partial hexes go together to make various size hills are nothing short of shear genius…

GHQ's terrain maker was just a more granular knock off of GeoHex.

Frank

KR was and still is a great guy! Geohex and Gamescape are the best systems EVER for table top gaming, IMHO.

When I was stationed in Alaska I bought my first box. Desert Geohex. My buddy bought the green. we took turns playing at each others quarters and eventually built up a great group of players.

PCSd to Vancouver Barracks after that and met a guy with his pose at a local game store and we became great friends. After he saw my Geohex he bought the green and we played at each others house. I bought my second box there, it was the sunken roads set.

I also used to play at a club called WOW (Western Oregon Wargammers) KR would pop in on Friday nights and hang out with us. He would always pick up a piece and show us all how flexible it was!!! YIKES We owners would always grab our chest and hit the floor!!! He would just laugh and laugh at us.

After he closed up shop I sort of lost touch with him, but now as you know, he is back up and running. Not at full speed, but still….. You can find him on EBAY where he sells by GEOHEX2013. He usually has a couple things for auction at any given time. A little bit less in the winter months.

He was going to do a white sheet for me with blue hexes and I never did take the sheet to him. STILL kicking myself for not doing that before I PCSd from there. That was 18 yrs ago!! WOW!!!

I plan on getting some green gamescape next to play 15mm ACW on in the near future. Just waiting on my buddy to finish his dang Yankees!!!

Help spread the good news to all of your gamer buddies and local stores, so they will start to carry it again. OH, by the way, he can still sell the 4x6 mats too!

WALLY

Glad Geohex is back. I bought a number of boxes of it in a clearance sale after they shut down, unfortunately it was a mix some with the painted black grid lines (hex pattern) on them others just green flock. As a result they don't mix well together, and I would rather not have the black lines. Is painting over the black grid lines with green paint and re-flocking the best way to solve this?

There are three ways you can do this.
1. Just paint the black dots off.
2. Mix 1 drop of dishwashing liquid (Dawn works great) to 60% water 40% white glue (like Elmer's), apply it with a dropper and then sprinkle the green flock over it.
3. The easiest and fastest way, which is also the messiest. Just sand the top lightly enough to remove the flock and paint. Repaint the top with your green paint and sprinkle the flock over it while it is still wet. Use a good size brush, about an inch to two inches wide.

If you contact KR I'm sure he will tell you the exact colors he uses, so your pieces will match perfectly!

Hope this helps.

WALLY

Big Wally,

Hi, I got some Geohex mountainous terrain and it's great. Might you have a photo of your sunken roads? I'm v.interested in those.

George