"Jeff Valent - Washington's War figures?" Topic

I know that this line has been defunct for a couple of years now but with the reincarnation of Polly Oliver figures, I'm curious as to if anyone purchased the molds from Jeff.

Frankly, I loved those figures, as they were the easiest to paint and looked great [even with my poor painting skills].

Any news?

Loved the figures, as well as his medieval line. Contacted him at one time asking if he could cast some more and while he agreed, never heard from him again.

Agree about the ease of painting the figures. Clean cast and well detailed, too bad that they, like other lines (think Frontier) have vanished.

Dan

I have bunch of these figures and also love how easy they are to paint.

Good to see you posting Eric S.

Are you still in Poland?!

I wonder if I could use some of these Washington's Wars figures at Polish Guard? I believe they are the ones with tricorns, or was it bicorns?

Had the same experience Dan Cyr. I just let it drop. Not sure if he still goes to the HMGS shows or not. I'll look.

No, did not see him on the list for CW.

He no longer is a vendor. He has a printing business now which takes all his time.

Great artist, poor businessman.

Hey Eric [DinofBattle2],

Yep, still in Poland and yes, I know this is off topic but no, the Polish and Lithuanian Guard were in a bicorn, so it would be best to use French Rev. British Line [I use Minifigs], though I guess it really doesn't matter as very few people [say 10] would know or care about that. Most 18th century gamers are more forgiving it seems than some Nap. players I've ran across when it comes to the headgear of a particular unit or even army. "Wait a minute, you can't use 1805 Russians for 1812 Russians, the shako is wrong!" or vice versa. I've heard this term or something like it at cons in the States, though most Europeans don't care one way or the other or, if they do care, are more polite and don't jump to conclusions like most American Nap. gamers. And yes, I know I'm generalizing but in my experience, it's true.

All, it's a shame about Washington's Wars and Frontier, as I love true 15s and while Essex, Minifigs, Musket and one other company are producing figures; for some reason, Washington's Wars figures seem to fit my 'style' of painting the best.

Oh well, people were complaining about Polly Oliver being gone for several years, and now, they're back, so I'll keep complaining and maybe Jeff will get the hint!

The best thing might be if he sold the molds and sculpts (if he has those).

I thought the Jeff Valent line was back under a different name, or did it come back this way and go away again?

I wonder if there are any pictures of this old line of figures available?

historygamer,

If you go to the Scandinavian Wars Yahoo group, you can see pictures if the Jeff Valent figures I pressed into service in my 1788 Swedish and Norwegian armies. Admittedly, I only used the American infantry and light infantry and the Jeff Valent guns but it'll give you an idea of the style of the range.

Thanks. I have some figures I suspect are from that line I intend to sell. I just wanted to make sure they were from the old Washington's Wars. Thanks again.

Not sure who had them but they came back for a while in 'bulk' packaging and then went away again. A shame, they were the nicest figures out for the AWI in 15 mm – and I figures from almost everyone who makes them for this period.

Polly Oliver are very nice, Peter Pig are very nice and I have some of each but my main source has been Musket Miniatures, a venerable range with a great price (within the US at least). That's for infantry. For cav, I actually sourced a lot of my mounted units from Freikorps and their SYW ranges – I did this because I wanted both mounted and foot for each unit. Maybe not all perfect matches but I managed to get it done for twenty (yes, twenty) different units.

Oh, and if you think having twenty mounted units for the AWI is excessive, well, so is having 176 infantry units. No, don't ask why – no reason other than I wanted to. Artillery at the rate of one gun per four infantry units.

Why, heck, I'm even giving serious consideration to getting started on painting the figures! ; )

:)))

Would you guys who have had the Washington's Wars figures say they were nicely compatible with Polly Oliver figures (size and/or sculpting detail-wise)?

FlyXwire,

I have both and I'd say that Polly Oliver are on the 'thin' side. Polly Oliver are very 'energetic' [at least the infantry], while WW's figures are more 'static' in style. The size is noticeable as well – Jeff Valent's are more 'hefty' and match up well with Essex, while Polly Oliver don't mix well with any other manufacturer that I have.

To me, Jeff Valent's are great little minis and, as I've stated, match my painting style. I also like Musket Miniatures as well, as they have figures in various poses. I have one unit of Polly Oliver and while I'll keep them, I don't think they are the best. There are people who love Polly Oliver and to each his [or her – don't want to offend the PC police on TMP]own but with the choices in AWI 15mm minis, there's enough for everyone. However, the more choices we have, the better.

Early Morning Writer,

I suspect you're thinking of Legends in Time, who had some of them a few years back [I think I bought the last infantry packs they had]. From what I recall, LIT sold them in packs of 50 infantry, with the other arms being in appropriately sizeable packs as well.

Thanks Swampking for your comparison info.

My Polly Oliver Hessian Jagers are one of the least 'energetic' of their infantry sculpts, and I've been keeping an eye out for a good matching figure in size and style that I might replace them with.

FlyXwire,

I've never seen the Peter Pig AWI figures 'up close and personal' but from the website, their figures are 'energetic' and seem to paint up very well. I know that Essex makes Hessian jagers that might be work, though I'd think they'd be a bit too 'clunky' or 'chunky' for Polly Oliver. Musket Miniatures have a certain 'style' that doesn't suit everyone but you could look at them. QRF might be an option as well. Like Peter Pig, however, I've never seen their figures in the flesh, though.

I'll weigh in and say that Musket Minis, Freikorps, Peter Pig, and Polly Oliver all mix together just fine I'd think Essex a bit on the large size in comparison – but not nearly as large as Irregular, Matchlock(?), or Blue Moon (though I haven't seen any figures from the latter's range but I have many other ranges of their figures to judge by).

I'mm surprised this review hasn't been cited yet. It's a few years old, so won't have Peter Pig and Blue Moon, but does have some of the older ranges that aren't easy to find nowadays – best of all, it includes some of the ranges that haven't been mentioned so far, such as Minifigs.

link

There are separate sections covering infantry and cavalry.

If anyone needs to check out what Peter Pig look like when painted and in units, see here for some excellent examples, as well as some fascinating AAR reports for both the owner's own rules, and "British Grenadier":-

link

Unfortunately SM the photos are now missing from that older 15mm AWI review.

Damn – I hadn't realised that (been a while since I looked at them).

So, the mice finally fried out of existence! This is fairly recent since it wasn't that many months ago the photos were still there. The other link is of interest, however. Have to visit when I have more time but I really need to be dealing with what we in the former colonies rebelled against, April and all.