"Minifigs sculpter" Topic

Hi all,

Can anyone enlighten me to the sculptor/sculptors that did the classic Minifigs fantasy ranges?

Mythical Earth
Sword & Sorcery
D&D
Valley of the Four Winds
Aureola Rococo

Were they all the same person or different I wonder.

Indeed the second generation Minifigs ancients smack of being done by the same person who did the fantasy ranges.

An unsung hero in my opinion.

Who were they?

Did they do anything else?

Richard Higgs.
A lot of the early minifig masters were carved from solid block (brass IIRC) rather than built up in layers like today.

VotFW skeletons rocked!

Although Dick Higgs made the early figures, later on he headed a design team – so may not have been responsible for sculpting particular ranges.

I do think (dragging memory here) that the World of Aureolo Rococo figures stood out at the time for being stylistically different to (equally stunning in their own way) ranges such as VotFW.

Gangrel is right. The AR range was very different. They were originally designed to go along with a set of rules (of the same name) but there was a licensing issue that could not be resolved with the author of the book series the world was modeled after. (Per Dave Higgs- Dick's brother). Steve Carpenter might be able to embellish more since those figs came out during his tenure of running Minifigs USA.

I had brought back many of those in new molds within the last 2-3 years of GFI. Great fun painting them!

I loved the AR range at the time, but I suspect they are showing their age these days.

I'm a somewhat obsessive Minifigs fan and I do think Dick and Dave Higgs deserve great praise for the quality of their designs and their sculpting. For me, the Valley of the Four Winds remains one of the best ranges ever made. I think it is a work of art and it should be on display in the Tate.

SJDonovan – I agree with you. Valley of the Four Winds figures were really quite splendid.

Are they still available?

John T

Hi John,

A few of the Valley of the Four Winds figures are available from Minifigs/Caliver. Every so often another figure will come back into production – seemingly when they stumble across one of the moulds.

For some reason they list the skeletons separately from the other figures in the range:

link
link

I always wanted that huge wheeled bell tower!

Thanks guys,

Dick Higgs, what a great sculptor, and to think they were done in brass. Wow.

I just love their chunky, but not chunky look. Great anatomical realism. Simple but good folds in their cloth. For their time good poses.

I guess I will always pick up and buy good Minifigs stuff.

Having said that I sometimes faint at the prices unusual VFW stuff goes for.I wonder if anyone has a full collection of those figures. I have mostly skellie-bellies..50 plus and 10 horse. They rock.But Swamp Lords..I have 3…doh!

I heard they were sculpted in wax. I guess they were then done in brass. Lost -wax moulding then. Jewellers techniques.

I have a lot of the VoFW range, love them. Yes, they are dated and a bit static, but the characters were very good. Not so keen on the orcs, but the swamp creatures were/are very interesting monsters (especially as I was into my Moorcock at the time, so they got pressganged in to many a battle).

If I remember correctly, the pixies got drafted into my 15mm evil armies (with the tree branch catapult)

Hi my first sculpting was done for mini figs back in 1981 making 15 mm SYW. He sculpted not using brass but solder and a 25 watt iron. I lost all sensation in my left hand ,due to holding dammed hot figures, he taught me loads and yes he was a great sculptor and a nice chap to boot.