"Who prefers primitive/retro/oldskool minis?" Topic

What I mean by that: Is there anybody here who prefers the look of more primitive minis, like old Heritage or Minifigs to the (admittedly better sculpted) pieces available today?

<chirp, chirp, chirp…>

Well, I do, and I admit it is for purely nostalgic reasons. To me, badly sculpted figures are just what wargaming is all about. Don't get me wrong, I am willing to take advantage of nicely sculpted figures for generals, heroes, wizards, and similar stuff, but for those legions of howling goblins? Gimmee Heritage any day.

Interestingly, I also prefer stuff that is more crudely sculpted that is still in production, like the Peter Pig Large Green (NOT THARK! NOT THARK!) Aliens, which I have linked all over TMP.

auction

auction

Now you can all call me insane.

I have some. They have historical value.

You are insane.

mjc

It depends.
I certainly prefer the older Citadel fantasy stuff to most of the current stuff… but not all of it. The older stuff has a lot of character… the modern Chaos warriors are technically nice sculpts but still dull, dull, dull… but the new beastmen (sans the minotaurs) are pretty nice (as are the old ones).
I still favor RT era 40K sculpts over the current stuff that seems completely lacking in a sense of humor (while still being absurd).

The old Minifigs stuff is relatively crude but that same abstraction fires up my imagination.

A lot of the old Grenadier stuff still holds up against, puts to shame, some of the modern stuff.

the modern Chaos warriors are technically nice sculpts but still dull, dull, dull

I did not want to start cracking on modern figs but… yeah. So much of it seems repetitive, even across manufacturers.

Bound to happen, I suppose. Same reason every PC doesn't have its own operating system. People find something that they think works, and stick with it.

I am a fan of the "simpler old school" sculpts.
Some of my favorites are from the 80s and early 90s.

nope

I don't think older figures are really less crude then todays figures, only less crisp and detailed. I really don't like todays 15mm figures, especially Napoleonics, because they have too much detail. I think even 6mm Napoleonic figures boarder on overly detailed! Most of the details cannot be seen at usual gaming distance--3 feet. I know I don't have to paint it, but if it is there I paint it.

That is why I really like Historifigs N-scale Napoleonics line. They may look crude or lacking in details, but they paint-up very quickly and look fantastic on the tabletop. If I could find similiarly sculpted 15mm Napoleonics I would buy them in a heartbeat.

Depends. If I were to get into 18thc. wargaming I'd definitely go down the Spencer Smith/Tradition route.

"Primitive" is the wrong term here, by the way. Miniatures aren't car engines.

Unless they are, which is when, but only when, a designer wanted to do X in 1985 but wasn't able to do it properly, given the technology at the time.

But then, Spencer Smiths never wanted to be Sp4ce Marinez.

Within reason. Once you start taking Tom Loback and Dragontooth Miniatures, you've gone beyong the pale. Or most of Barry Minot's ranges in the UK.

But I'll take a Napoleonette or a Minifigs goblin.

You are no more nor no less insane than the rest of us.

Allen

Unless they are, which is when, but only when, a designer wanted to do X in 1985 but wasn't able to do it properly, given the technology at the time.

1985 is firmly into "New School". Everyone but the stubborn had switched to Green Stuff by then. "Old School/primitive/retro" is Loback, Chernak, and the casting wax days. The age we are now in is the "Digital Hookey" school.

I absolutely love the old Heritage Dungeon Dwellers line, Grenadier, Ral Partha. I call it all "Old Lead", so much character and nostalgia. I remember hunting all around town for them in the 80's, looking through gaming mags.
Remember when you had to send away for catalogs?
Not today. Everything is sort of handed to us. Sorry, feel like I'm talking like Abe Simpson right now.

Nope.
RT is the OLDEST school I wanna go…

I bought most of my 25mm figures between 1980 and 1982. Early Citadel, Grenadier, Heritage, Ral Partha. The newer figures are nice, but I like the ones I already own, thank you very much.

Dragontooth Miniatures, you've gone beyong the pale.

I always thought that, though Dragontooth looked crummy out of the bag, they actually painted up really well. I painted Dragontooth Saurians when I knew absolutely nothing about painting techniques, and they still lokked good.

You are no more nor no less insane than the rest of us.

Damn.

You are insane (just thought I'd add that).

And I am a fairly avid collector of Hinton Hunt *vintage* miniatures:
findthatfigure.blogspot.com

Der Kriegspieler Dwarves and Goblins/Orcs/Man-Orcs/Trolls/Ogres (sold all of the non-Dwarves years ago.)

Some Ral Partha, Some Grenadier. Most old miniatures, not really.

Gracias,

Glenn

The Dragontooth triceratops is quite nice.
The rest of the line… meh

I could never understand Harry Pearson's obsession with old out of production figures in Achtung Schweinhund. Particularly since all he appeared to do was keep them in boxes.
I don't remember any ranges worth obsessing about, but
a) I don't go back that far, as Allen keeps reminding me (I am RELATIVELY "modern" to that old coot )
b) Most hobbyists are nuts anyway.

I have LOTS of AWI fiogures from the late 1970s and early 1980s, mostly Hinchliffe. I adamantly refuse to replace these Terrible Old Men with more "modern" ranges like Perry. Instead I will add reinforcements.

One thing I do NOT understand is the continued popularity of large figures painted in the glossy Toy Soldier manner. (See b) above)

One last thing. I have never seen better 15mm ACW minis than the Der Kriegspielers Confederette line of pre-ante-deluvian epoch.
So, I guess I am all over the place on this.

Mid-70s Ral Partha Orcs rule!

Yes. I find myself rummaging through flea market boxes in search of old fantasy figures from Grenadier and Ral Partha and Alternative Armies, rather than buying new stuff for retail price. Then again I play exclusively skirmish games in fantasy and sci-fi, so I put little emphasis on having a uniform "army" look to my collection of little painted men.

As a primitive/retro/oldskool mini myself, I do have a fondness for many of the old manufacturers.

Have plenty of new, but wishing I had a Handfull of select 2nd Gen Minifigs to replace new just because most of mine are 2nd Gen's

I am old enough to remember most of these as "new" and still have a real soft spot for many of them. My Minot Thane Tostig collection is THE one set of figures amongst the thousands I have that will never be sold off (at least not while I am alive)

I am really starting to prefer making my own figures. I know it takes longer to build an army (although I built and painted a 28mm DBA army in about three weeks), but I find I really like the modeling aspect more than I expected I would. As they have a toy soldier look, some would say they are retro in style. They are certainly like old Scruby figures where it is just the shape and all detail has to be painted on.

So I guess yes, I do.

One thing I do NOT understand is the continued popularity of large figures painted in the glossy Toy Soldier manner.

Depends on what you want. Really traditional wargamers, IIUC, still wargame with Britains, Starlux and Elastolin, though where they are finding the latter two these days is beyond me.