"Most-Missed Miniatures Company (Round 1D)" Topic

Woodens by Windcatcher Graphics is my other on this section.

Agreed on the Woodens by Windcatcher Graphics.

Although I voted for Ral Partha, they are still available through Iron Wind Metals -- link

In fact not to long ago I ordered some Medieval figures from them, receiving them fairly quickly.

Jim

Also through Ral Partha Europe, and Ral Partha Legacy is continuing to roll out other older lines.

Ral Partha, during the 1980's-1990's(?), had a TSR license to produce official AD&D miniatures. They had some great figures, some of which I picked up, but when their license ended (TSR idiots refused to renew their license… IDIOTS!), they had to destroy all of the molds for those product lines. I miss those figures, very much. Cheers!

1987–1997, then WotC yanked the license after their hostile takeover of TSR.

1987–1997, then WotC yanked the license after their hostile takeover of TSR.

You are correct, it was the 90's. I started building fantasy armies in the early 90's, and I bought a bunch of RP Goblins, including a sweet chariot set, and somehow I managed to acquire a Skeleton Crew manning a dinosaur boned Catapult… The Goblins are all OOP, with their molds long destroyed. I believe the Catapult is still made, but it is very pricey, today.

I really loved the RP AD&D figure lines, but my funds were limited back then: I was paying a friend to paint my figures for me, and that really ate into my hobby funds in a very big way. I finally started painting them, myself, and I have never looked back -- my hobby funds go much farther as paint is inexpensive.

I read about how TSR had storage units, in Lake Geneva, which the company could not pay the rent on, so they sent a couple of people over to empty them out: they had 10's of thousands of dollars worth of painted fantasy miniatures, terrain, and so much more, and they were instructed to put it all into the trash! They saved what they could put in their cars, but it was a drop in the bucket.

TSR was so mismanaged… I do not consider WotC's takeover to be hostile, considering TSR owed millions of dollars to various companies. WotC saved D&D, back then. What they have done since Hasbro bought out WotC, is reprehensible. Your opinion may vary. Cheers!

Whether you like the end result or not, it was hostile. WotC gave them the biggest loan, called it due, and took the company.

TSR didn't have clean hands either. They pulled the same stunt (more or less) on SPI.
No, I didn't have a "lifetime subscription" to SnT. I realized it for the desperate scam that it was. I had also moved on from that type of boardgame anyway.

I missed Ral Partha for the 10-packs of historical figures. All one pose, "true 25mm" (which actually was smaller than 25mm), etc.
I took a 10 year break from miniatures during which they fell apart. In that period of time, a few other "true 25mm" companies also went under. Some are in this Poll, some not.
When I came back, my interests had changed.
I miss them now, more for nostalgia's sake than anything else.
As Junior Brown observed about Country Music, "Nobody plays Ragtime anymore either."
Some purporting to bring back "true 25mm" Frontier figures had put out notices on TMP, and then gave up. Have heard nothing since. They probably ran into a wall of indifference. I might have bought a unit of "Bombay Sappers and Miners", but that was it.
"True 25mm" is gone. RIP.!🤷

Alain Touller miniatures was not on the list, and I miss his miniatures a lot. The molds disappeared after his death. He made some gems in 15mm.

Ral Partha also lost the license to do FASA products at the same time. (Battletech, Shadowrun, etc.) It was like a consortium against them. When I picked up Minifigs from them, there was an animosity against them for producing historicals even though the owner of Blackhawk (the B in BGR partners) was the principal. Greenfield also closed their doors shortly after. This info was from Jack Hasselbrock's mouth while eating breakfast on the first day we packed up Minifigs. A loss for us all.