"Best Miniatures Company?" Topic

With a miniatures company being defined as a company that manufactures and sells miniatures…

That's a tough one. I just had some Conquest Miniatures Seminoles painted for me – they are some of the best casts I've seen anywhere. Painted, they're incredible.

I'd also put the Perry American Revolution figures up there too. I have some castings; they're off to the painter next.

(All 28s)

Rick

What are the criteria? Just my favorite or nicest miniatures?

Well I am going to vote for Warlord. Second place goes to Otherworld at the moment.

I have gotten consistently good product, service, and interactions in general from Reaper Miniatures (They changed names a while back, but they'll always be Reaper to me!).

This holds true from way back in my LGS days when I was stocking Dark Heaven, up to last month when I ordered from their Chronopia line.

They consistently put out great looking metal figures at a competitive price point.

Whether I order straight through their online store, or through one of their retailers, I'm happy with their products… Now I just have to paint them all.

Oh my. Too many!

Xyston for 15mm.
Baccus for 6mm.

I have had consistently good service, support, and products from both GZG and Pig Iron.

Best how ??? Price, service, or figures ???

Best overall

Most I've dealt with (if not all) are very good from sculpting, price/value & customer service side. Off the top of my head: TAG, VFM, Victrix, Aventine, OG, 1st Corps/Curteys, Kingsford, Relic, the list goes on…

LBMS is great too – but they only make mini transfers

Perry and Copplestone.

That is going to be a long list .
Old cRwo \
pig iron
hasslefree
Reaper
Pulp figures
Copplestone
etc etc

well, mine, of course…….. because….. it's mine! :-D

But in reality, it depends on what I am looking for and in what scale. There are many great companies out there!

-Will

In terms of who I buy the most from, it has to be Old Glory. I like the price, I like the variety and I like the quality.

Eureka Miniatures – great figures and excellent customer service

Warlord Games. Great models, top service, good price, variety, free world wide postage and no VAT for all us non-European gamers.

Hmmm… well, I like Copplestone's 10mm Fantasy, Baccus's 6mm Ancients, Kallistra's 10mm Fantasy (and the value is hard to beat), GZG's spaceships, Studio Bergstrom's spaceships, GW's Bo5A/Warmaster and LotR stuff. I've had excellent service from all of them, so I couldn't put any as better than another on that front.

Price vs. value, all (except GW) are about equal. GW is overpriced on Warmaster figs compared to Copplestone and Kallistra both, so they beat it out. Copplestone's Warmaster-designed packs end up edging out Kallistra, only because with Kallistra I wind up with extra strips unless I purchase in groups of 3 of the same unit. That's okay for hordes, not so much for specialist units. So give Copplestone the nod on convenience to my needs, as well as slightly better quality.

Baccus pretty much stands by itself in a unique category for me, so I don't know that a comparison is fair.

GZG and SB are tied for me on both design and value for the lines I like by each.

Final tally:

10mm: Copplestone, by a 10mm-scale nose.

6mm: No contest. Baccus.

Spaceships: Tie.

Overall sculpting (of the lines I own): Tie, Copplestone and GW.

Taking service, price and quality together, for me it has to be Old Glory.

There are some companies I prefer for specific ranges, but for overall quality and most comprehensive range: 15mm Essex

Old cRwo \

I presume that's Old Crow…

Old Glory
Warlord Games
Peter Pig
Perry Miniatures
Brigade Games

Too many very good ones to list at the risk of slighting someone deserving of mention. We are a lucky hobby that is generally served very well.

Best as in best figures? Or best as in best service?

For the best combination of quality and service:

Copplestone
Peter Pig
Pig Iron

Best Prices I gotta go with Old Glory and the army discount.

Reaper consistently puts out quality figs, with uses for many games, at a reasonable price. Games I play come and go, Reaper is always good stuff.

GHQ
Ebob
Reaper
Conquest
Hasselfree
Artizan
Pig Iron
Copplestone
and GW LotR line

…are all favorites of mine.

For WWII troops in 72nd scale, I like AB Figures, Valiant Miniatures, and Plastic Soldier Company.
Weaselhoffen.

Depends on the type of figs I want.

While there are plenty of companies whose figure I enjoy – Pig Iron, MERCS, Copplestone, Artizan, Heresy – in my experience, balancing selection, quality, service and price, GZG come out at the top of the list.

I'll take a different tack. In my gaming career the best miniatures company would have to be MiniFig. Decent figures at an affordable price, even for a starving student, vast ranges of figures and wide distribution.

Favorite figures: in 15mm the Napoleonettes for ACW and Napoleonics. For 25mm the Ral Partha figs.

Most revolutionary company for the time: Old Glory. When they brought out the big bags of cheap figures with animation galore I thought I'd gone to heaven.

Today I'd say Old Glory for the same reasons as MiniFigs back it the day.

Didn't see Calpe above. Folks, they have to be seen to be believed. Limited line of figures but if you are looking for Prussians in the Napoleonic era, they are it 100% in 28mm scale.

Minden figures, I believe them to be proportioned extemely well and are great but they are 30mm 7YW only.

AB figures for 18mm Napoleonics, enough said. Anthony Barton's ancients figures are amazing too. As mentioned above, they 20mm WWII are outstanding.

Corvus Belli and Mirliton for true 15mm ancients and medievals.

AB. Amazing figures supported by fantastic customer service for distribution.

Not one person has mentioned Wargames Foundry yet. Are they doing something wrong?

Thread dead! Sorry, couldn't resist.

Pulp figures, siimply because I probably own more of their (his?) stuff than anything else…
Eureka, Astisan and Brigade fill in a couple of missing areas, as well…

GHQ are my favourites.

If we are talking best we would need Quality + Service. The stand outs for that are Eureka and Baccus.

Honorable mention to Warlord, Victrix, Foundry (when they have a sale – thier Napoleonics are still awesome) and the Perries.

Those companies are the ones I always read the "New Releases" for with great interest.

Mithril
Thunderbolt Mountain
Reaper

Freebooter Minis
Black Scorpion
Artizan
Pulp Figs
Tale of War
Masquerade minis

I can't pick one 'best,' since I collect in different
genre's and periods.

I have Calpe Prussians and agree with the comment above.

I have a plethora of Sash and Saber 28's in Nap and ACW
and absolutely love 'em.

I have Pulp figs, think they're great.

I have some Reaper, some Mithril and some T'Bolt Mountain
in fantasy and love 'em.

I have some Eureka and they're great too.

Don't see how in heck one could pick a 'best'

Baccus for 6mm my favourite scale. Then whoever can provide what I want at a reasonable cost

ML

Reaper. Huge selection, reasonably priced, and commonly available. Best fantasy minis company by far. And now branching into other genres through the Chronoscope line.

Castaway Arts
Empress
Foundry (if only for their back catalogue)
Perry
RAFM

I don't know who is the best, but Wargames Foundry is what I have the most of.

Lots I like and use, but top of the list Hasslefree and GZG. I've bought from others at shows, but these direct. Also always had top drawer service from EM4 when I buy future wars figures from Doug so a shout out there. Along those lines I bought my first figures from Copplestone last week and they arrived the following day so thats top drawer too.

Wargames Foundry

Hasslefree and Heresy ----- Joint First.

Great sculpts, service and people.

No minis ocmpany makes winning figs all the time.
For me it comes back to how nice they are to deal with.
So, in alphabetical order, because all are tied for first place, my list is:

Armoury
Dwarven Forge
Reaper
Ral Partha EUROPE
Studio Bergstrom

Assault Group

There are several good ones. EM-4, Combat Wombat, Gzg, Rebel, Pico Armor, Perry, Baccus and others. But the most influential outside of GW and wide ranging would have to be Old Glory. No one else comes close.

Thanks,

John

Wooo. Best is tough. Very subjective.

I will go as follows based on what Im collecting currently:

1) Ground Zero Games
2) Old Glory 15mm
3) Rebel Minis
4) Old Crow
5) Peter Pig/ Pig Iron

I've got the answer!

The Best Miniatures Company Is… (drum roll)
.
.
.
.
The one that sends me lots of free figures!

Applications are now being accepted.

(See, that was easy. I don't know why I sweated over the question at all. )

I personally like:

Gorgon Studios
Artizan
Wargames Foundry