| Arteis | 30 Nov 2009 11:49 p.m. PST |
I recall in the late 1970s I bought some Spencer Smith plastic 18th century figures. But these were not the soft plastic range (now on sale again as lead figures), but a much more detailed range made in a beige coloured hard plastic. I can only recall two of the poses – an elegant officer standing with a spontoon, and a dashing officer wearing a cloak and waving his sword. Unfortunately, I no longer have these figures and can't recall what happened to them. I do still have a Bavarian army made up of softer Spencer Smith figures (which have unfortunately turned so brittle I dare not remove them from their box). Does anyone else recall that more detailed range? Are they still to be found? How did they survive the test of time? As a side note, I painted these when I worked in Antarctica for a summer – I think they were probably the southern-most wargames army in the world! |
| GarrisonMiniatures | 01 Dec 2009 12:48 a.m. PST |
Many of the plastic Spencer Smith figures are still available in metal rather than plastic – have you checked them out? Officer with cloak suggests the Barry Minot figures. link picture |
| Arteis | 01 Dec 2009 2:27 a.m. PST |
Yes, I think they were the ones sculpted by Minot … but on that site I can't see the guy with the spontoon, who was my personal favourite at the time. |
| Vintage Wargaming | 01 Dec 2009 2:47 a.m. PST |
They are the Spencer Smith Connoisseur range, sculpted by Barry Minot. The plastic figures still come up from time to time on e-bay. They still come across as well detailed, properly proportioned figures. Though a bit more slender, they have the advantage of working well with the Steve Hezzlewood designed Hincliffe X Range AWI figures, which are now available from Hinds Figures |
| Captain Brummel | 01 Dec 2009 11:02 a.m. PST |
Yep,
Spencer Smith Connoisseur range, hard plastic in the old days. I had Lafayettes light infantry, I liked them very much. |
| battleeditor | 01 Dec 2009 11:45 a.m. PST |
If you're interested, I have some of the hard plastic Connoisseur range that I would be willing to part with. Drop me an email to henry at battlegames dot co dot uk with your details and I'll try to draw up a list for you this week. I suspect that I may have quite a few, languishing unused because my own collection is centered around the original Holger Eriksson style plastic Spencer Smiths. I'd be pleased to know they were going to a good home. Henry
Battlegames
battlegames.co.uk |
| Rob UK | 01 Dec 2009 4:06 p.m. PST |
Ah nostalgia! I had many many Spencer Smith figures back in my gaming days, including the connoisseur range. I recall French infantry and Hessian Grenadiers and fusiliers. hussarbob1746.webs.com |
| andygamer | 01 Dec 2009 4:49 p.m. PST |
I very much enjoyed your web site posting about your newly-rediscovered Bavarian army, Arteis. It's too bad about the brittleness. |
| Arteis | 02 Dec 2009 12:18 a.m. PST |
Thanks for your comment about my old Bavarians, Andygamer. For anyone else interested, this original soft plastic (sadly now brittle plastic) Spencer Smith Bavarian army can be seen here: link |
| GarrisonMiniatures | 02 Dec 2009 1:06 a.m. PST |
Actually, Spencer Smith only had about 20 of that particular range – I have the other 40. Tried putting a few out (Highlanders) and sold about 3 – possibly because I can't match Spencer Smith prices. Might as well try another test run….. link |
| adster | 02 Dec 2009 7:16 a.m. PST |
Really nice figures those rigid plastic designs. They were a nightmare to cast apparently. I had a selection of them from years ago including some really good artillery crew. |
| dwight shrute | 02 Dec 2009 7:28 a.m. PST |
bb wargames from norwich had a large box of them for sale at selwg in october .. most were painted … |
paints his first three ships from the starter set.
