Minifigs Catalogues... the ongoing quest.

 

Well, we know that Minifigs was originally founded in 1964/65 by Neville Dickinson but the question is how many catalogues did they have? Now I have 7 editions so there will be quite a few more out there... my earliest is probably a late 60's one but unfortunately undated... this is a collection for posterity as I'd like to get them all scanned and recorded for all. Help appreciated!

Just the front covers for now...

They moved from this address in 1972 and were incorporated  (becoming a limited company) in 1968 so any year between these?

Thanks to Peter Lloyd ; One thing I did find out in my search which may help you date the first one on your list, the initial catalogue from the late 60s had S range infantry listed as a shilling each, the second catalogue from September 1970 had them at 1/3d.

Looks like this one s 1970 then...

1972/73

1975

Sword & Sorcery page photocopy passed to me in the 90's, unsure of which catalogue it came from - the 1975 catalogue lists the range but no image sheet.

1979?

1980

1985

1993 / 94

All help appreciated... either comment below or send me an email;

enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Minifigs Normans and Saxon / Carolingian Franks & Moors ranges

 

A hobby friend asked me about these as he couldn't find a listing. They are in my 1980 catalogue however don't seem to have lasted long? Does anyone have any catalogue images? I have a few examples in mixed boxes but I don't recall adverts? Please prove me wrong!

Edit 2... a 1976 Military Modelling review with some images;

Edit; I've unearthed a few of the range as below... some with broken weapons unfortunately. Hoping for more pics from a French hobbyist soon.

NS2 Norman Heavy Archer

NS7 Norman Heavy Maceman

NS9 Saxon Fyrd Spearman

NS10 Saxon Fyrd Archer

NS12 Saxon Fyrd Clubman

NS17 Viking Chieftain

NS19 Viking Bandi

NSC4 Norman Knight Charging (uses Horse M5)

NSX1 King Harold

As always; enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Lord of the Rings - 1979 American Express style.

 

Back in 1979, American Express card holders got the chance to lay their hands on a pewter set of 12 Lord of the Rings miniatures. I don't have many details unfortunately, but was lucky enough to pick up a slightly worn set a few months back which has just arrived courtesy of a friend in the good old US of A.

The underside of each base was inscribed with name of the character in capitals followed by;

Limited Edition

Fine Pewter

authorized figurine from 

The Lord of The Rings ™

by J.R.R. Tolkien

©1979

Elan Merch, Inc.

The complete set.

Gandalf.

Frodo.

Sam.

Strider.

Boromir.

Gimli.

Legolas.

Saruman.

Galadriel.

Gollum.

Nazgul.

(note the unhappy broken axe)

Orc.

Unfortunately I have no more details regarding the sculptor or reason behind the choice of characters... surely the Fellowship should have been represented in full? Perchance it was the usual suit decisions...

The Certificate of Authenticity, presentation box and leaflet images have has been sent by a friend via old eBay auctions and are presented here for information only with all kudos to the original owner(s?). If anyone has them and can get the chance to scan them I would love to replace them.

Any more details? Please let me know!

All the best for now.

David

enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Anton Derbilov, Strelets sculptor killed in action. The reality of war.

 

It's not often that I go to research a range of miniatures and find myself touched by the horrors of war however this has hit me with the repercussions and futility of war. Anton Derbilov was the sculptor for Strelets plastic figures until he moved on to his own family run company, Sirko Toys;

https://www.instagram.com/studio_sirkotoys/

There are more details of his passing here;

 https://gwaramedia.com/en/kharkiv-bids-farewell-to-fallen-soldier-and-sculptor-anton-derbilov/

An interview a month before he was killed;

https://gwaramedia.com/en/from-miniatures-creator-to-national-guard-soldier-story-of-anton-derbilov/

A lot of his work for Strelets is detailed here;

https://plasticsoldierreview.com/ManufacturerList.aspx?id=24

He also played banjo for 'Alcohol Ukelele' - worth a watch purely for the name alone...

https://www.youtube.com/c/AlcoholUkulele/videos

(image below off the internet on numerous sites)

RIP

I was attempting to research some miniatures I had picked up a few years back, carded '28mm' fantasy and a bunch of loose ones. The company name given was Strelec*R. Possibly nothing to do with Strelets at all of course and no link to Anton himself. The dwarves I passed to Kevan over at Stunties 

http://www.stunties.com/stunties/index.php?title=Strelets.R

and the 'Empire' types I passed on to a Frother's Unite colleague. I still have a few somewhere but came across this goblin card whilst, as usual, searching for something else.

A lot, if not all, of the miniatures were taken on by Alionas Minatures (website now defunct) and Lost Minis gives this detail;

Alionas Miniatures was owned by Elena Brodskaja and opened in 2001 as a painting service but soon added a large range of miniatures sculpted, mainly, by Igor Karpov and Evgeny Nifedov. They appear to have been out of business by 2009 when the website went dormant with it going offline sometime in 2018. At least 2 catalogs existed: 2005 and 2007; they were published in both book and CD format.

So... if anyone has any details of these please let me know!

enquiries@deartonyblair.com