"What's your "perfect" Conan the Barbarian miniature?" Topic

Maybe this could even be in the Poll discussions board…

What would you consider to be your perfect Conan the Barbarian miniature?

As much as the Frazetta images are seared in my mind, my first impressions of the Barbarian were John Buscema's artwork from the Marvel Comics.

picture

So those are some of the most iconic Conan images to me.

The Mcfarlane Toys have some very different versions of Conan, but somehow they're almost perfect, too.

picture

Now, in miniature form? That's a tough call. There are a thousand and one generic barbarian miniatures out there. Some of Mark Copplestone's old sculpts for Grenadier still hold up today, and several of them would make a great Conan miniature.

picture

picture

Tre Manor's sculpts for Red Box games all look amazing, but they're a bit too 'busy' for my tastes.

picture

Although if that one was clean shaven instead of having the little soul patch, it might be the closest one I've seen yet…. damn Tre's a good sculptor…

But I think that for me, the perfect Conan miniature is the one in the center of this picture here:

picture

It's an old Citadel figure. Simple, clean, not carrying too much junk (Conan doesn't need any fancy spangles and accessories!), and a face with a nose that looks like it's been broken more than once.

So what's your favorite Conan the Barbarian miniature?

-Alex

Alex:

I like the Copplestone ones best; particularly the one with the axe. The Citadel one has a great pose & musculature, but his chin is a bit too wide. At least the way I picture Conan. Like you – from the earliest works in Marvel Comics. I read most of the series at the time over a course of several weeks – every night after school when I was in the 7th or 8th grade. My cousin let me borrow them from her collection (which included the "Believe It or Not" & "Witching Hour" series too!). Regards, Dean

I quite like the GZG (?) barbarian figure as Conan

Here's the one that I ended up painting, courtesy of Reaper:
link

Alxbates, you haven't specified if this is only for 28mm. If I could choose another size I'd choose Andrea Barbarian:

link

If it's just 25-30mm then I also pick Ravewood option, the Reaper one.

Of the ones listed above, I like the Reaper one best.

What about figures of Conan in the kind of region-specific dress he often wears in the stories? Middle Eastern style pantaloons and a sash, for instance? I'd like to see some miniatures like this, that still look undisputably like Conan.

Good examples all.
I especially have fond memories of the old GW and Grenadier barbarians!

Dark Sowrd has a nice Conanesque barbarian in quite a dynamic pose (DSM 7401 Visions in Fantasy – Classic Male Barbarian)

picture

This one is nice

link

I always rather liked the plastic guy from the old Hero Quest game. Not Ahnold specifically, but very nice slightly over-muscled barbarian anyway. No link to a pic though.

That Andrea Miniatures one is pretty much spot on the Ahhnold Conan from the movie. It doesn't get any better than that, it actually bears a good likeness to Ahhnold.

When it comes down to it, I like the 2nd Copplestone one that Alex suggested. I'm reading through all the Savage Sword of Conan reprints and this reminds me of King Canon.

My favourite "This has to be Conan!" miniature is from the Avatars of War range, designed by Felix Paniagua:

picture

I know its for somebody else, but the big guy from Heresy fills the bill for me…

Lots of "Big Boris" figs to choose from…

link

For me, this is it: link

Now I'll need to dig out my Archive (WOW he's 30!) Conan from back in the days when they labeled the figures with names like that

Archive had the best not-Conan figure.

701 Cimmerian & She-Devil
730 Cimmerian King Mounted

The one from Caesar Miniatures looks a lot like the
Gropenfuhrer.

Fantasy 104 – Adventurers

link

He is shorted than I'd expect, but looks a lot like Arnold.

LLC aka Ron

picture

This is the Drac Mac Syro I painted to be the literary Conan, though, for a touch of movie Conan, I gave him the the shield Arnold used in the final battle (Barbarian).

picture

picture

The best ever is the "Ahnold", the "teeny" one out of these two.

I second Big Boris from Heresy. That figure looks like Conan to me.

The answer for me was Thrud;

picture

I think I have three of these models.

I'm with Beowulf on this one…

I'm mostly thinking of 28mm-ish scales.

But I'd love to see links to pics of those smaller scale 15mm or GZG ones mentioned at the top of the thread.

-Alex

Hasslefree "Wolf" makes a pretty good Conan.

link

A Third for Hasslefree's wolf and a second fro Confrontations Drac Mac Syro. I have and love both.

Drac is the literary version. coolminiornot.com/75588

Wolf is the movie version. link

No worries, as it happens I do know the code for the Reaper figure (well, I remembered that it's name was something-or-other of Heimdall anyway, which made it easy to find): link

As for the 25mm GZG one, Eureka has a picture: link

He's described as "huge", so he might work well in 28-30mm too.

That Reaper fig is always the one that comes to mind for me.

While not painted that way normally, this Celtos mini makes a good Conan: link

That is a pretty good Conan figure, GypsyComet.

Thanks everyone for the various suggestions and options!

-Alex

I have a Conan miniature that I'm trying to identify and was wondering if anyone knows what company made it. It features Conan sitting on a throne with his sword in his right hand. I'll try and get a picture posted. Thanks if you can help!

Skeletoys – is it the Reaper miniature here?

link

Fenryll makes one too.

From Barbaric Splendor: Skeletoys – is it the Reaper miniature here?

Thank you VERY much Barbaric Splendor! That is the figure I have! Boy, that was quick! Really appreciate the help.

SKELETOYS

You are welcome – as you can guess from my screen name my preferred genre is barbarians/heroic fantasy :)

Funny and interesting how each gamer's perception of the hero in 3D is so affected by how they were introduced to the character. John Buscema comics, Arnold's movies etc.
These both tend to inspire an Over the Top sort of character, while for those of us who for whom Howard's works were the inspiration, something more realistic, historical and less epic seems about right. Im still looking by the way!

Another entry: Converted Heresy Big Boris figure: picture

Grumpygamer, "historical"?

Despite the fact that Howard's world was "on earth" in an age undreamed of, that hardly counts as historical. But even so, what would the historical Conan look like? Would he still be the strongest guy around? That is how he is described. Normally, he is also the largest man around. I have read every single Conan story and I think that though Arnold is the wrong image, he was larger than life. Were you picturing someone a little more… …average?

I use this guy (Urich the adventuring warrior) from Reaper minis for an "armored" Conan.

picture

I still like the original Ral Partha barbarian – sword in right hand, curved dagger in left, mane of hair and Conan written all over it.