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Favorite Official Line of AD&D Miniatures
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Poll: What is your favorite line of "official" AD&D Miniatures?

Poll ended at Sun Mar 02, 2008 7:18 am
Ral Partha - Best variety and largest selection! 37%       37%  [ 11 ]
Citadel - Monsters from the Fiend Folio are great. 10%       10%  [ 3 ]
Minifigs - Official Greyhawk miniatures! 0%       0%  [ 0 ]
Grenadier - Love the old "Gold Box" sets... 43%       43%  [ 13 ]
WoTC Plastics - Just because they're painted in a 3rd world country. 10%       10%  [ 3 ]
Total votes : 30

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Magelin
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Post Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 7:18 am 
 

Just curious as to which line of AD&D pewter miniatures is the favorite around here on the Acaeum.

If you answer the poll, WHY is it your favorite line? Why don't you like the others? Or do you like them all?

Just thought I'd inquire...


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HermitFromPluto
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Post Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 7:42 am 
 

I voted for Grenadier. I am not really into miniatures - but I do collect those old gold box sets... love em!!!
  

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Badmike
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Post Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:30 am 
 

When I picture certain D&D monsters in my mind, sometimes I still see the ones from the Grenadier Gold Box sets.  Not to mention when I think of the first group I ever Dm'ed, I picture their grenadier figures. For awhile in the late 70s they were the ONLY lead minis available in my area....lots of nostalgic memories.  

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Egg of Coot
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Post Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:48 am 
 

No TSR Miniatures listed?  

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Post Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:52 pm 
 

Ral partha 11 series.  Great minis, many hold up to todays standards for detail and quality.


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Magelin
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Post Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 2:34 pm 
 

Sorry, Egg, but I don't even consider the garbage TSR made (except for the Silver Anniversary "Red Dragon" and "Hill Giant") as real miniatures.

The blister-packed monsters were awful, and the boxed sets were mediocre at best, IMHO.


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Egg of Coot
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Post Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 3:57 pm 
 

Center_Stage_Hobbies wrote:Sorry, Egg, but I don't even consider the garbage TSR made (except for the Silver Anniversary "Red Dragon" and "Hill Giant") as real miniatures.

The blister-packed monsters were awful, and the boxed sets were mediocre at best, IMHO.


Surely you jest?  The Executioner's Hood?  Best mini ever!!!!

Serious though, I was merely playing the gadfly when I posted above . . .

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Post Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:33 pm 
 

I used to collect old lead, but got all I'll ever need years ago. Nowadays I play 'Prepainted' [WotC plastic] with my friends, my son & his friends, plus the assorted looneys at the local venue. Inevitably that's my choice because that's the reality I live in.

The Mighty Max line of toys spurred development of increasingly complex plastic minis throughout the 90s- e.g. Star Wars, or Hot Wheels figures which resembled model railroad people. There was a real dearth of sword-&-sorcery fantasy during the 90s however. Hercules/Xena was about the only thing to come close, & even they were more bible-times than medieval. Remember the obnoxious angel trend?

MageKnight figures began showing up at D&D games as soon as they appeared c. 2000. Less cool than lead, sure, but the plastic stuff is so much easier to carry around to a game group than lead. Most of the RPG groups I played in during the 80s-90s dispensed with minis altogether as not worth the trouble. With plastic it's easier.
  

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Post Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:18 pm 
 

I voted for the Grenadier Gold Box sets. I have most of the sets and they do bring back alot of great memories. But Ral Partha gave them a run for the money, a close second!

Still opt for the "metal guys" (as my kids call them) over plastic. Just prefer the metal, I guess!  :)


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Post Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 12:28 am 
 

Go ahead and turn those flamethrowers on, but I think most of the current plastic line is pretty cool. Don't get me wrong, the alleged "collectible" aspect is absurd and the entire line is completely overpriced, but the individual miniatures are pretty neat ... especially some of the named figures. Seriously, how jazzed was I to own an actual Lareth the Beautiful mini?

(That's one of them thar rhetorical questions, by the way. I was pretty jazzed).
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Post Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:41 am 
 

Voted for Grenadier Gold Boxes due to the nostalgia value, but Ral Partha's had a great wide selection and the best sculpts.  
Though not official D&D, Heritage Dungeon Dwellers were also great with figures that looked like the Monster Manual pics, including an Asmodeus.  
I'll never get plastic, though I can say why someone starting to collect/game today would use them instead of the metal stuff.
  

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Badmike
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Post Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:31 am 
 

Xaxaxe wrote:Go ahead and turn those flamethrowers on, but I think most of the current plastic line is pretty cool. Don't get me wrong, the alleged "collectible" aspect is absurd and the entire line is completely overpriced, but the individual miniatures are pretty neat ... especially some of the named figures. Seriously, how jazzed was I to own an actual Lareth the Beautiful mini?

(That's one of them thar rhetorical questions, by the way. I was pretty jazzed).


I like the plastic stuff in certain cases.  How cool is it to have an actual scale sized dragon, Bulette, or Treant? The lead versions were always laughably small ("What?  My fighter is almost as tall as the frost giant!!!!").  Not to mention I got tired of relying on others to assemble and paint my many minis. Now we use a mixture, player characters are lead and the monsters are mostly plastic in my games.

Mike B.


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Post Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 11:52 am 
 

I've always been partial to Ral Partha, mainly because that was all that was available in my town when I was growing up.

I'm not too fond of the WotC plastic miniatures, but they the only line that does dragons and other large creatures to scale.  They're also very conveineit because they're light and you can carry them around in a bag or unpadded box without worrying about damaging them.


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Post Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:23 pm 
 

Some of the mid 1990's Parthas were good.  They made ALOT of crap.  But since they made so bloody much, some were bound to be pretty flippin good.  The Lord Soth comes to mind as an incredibly detailed model for that (and even this) era.

I am rather surprised you didn't include the WOTC metals from 8-9 years ago in the poll, including the 25th anniversary TSR ones. :?
Not the best castings, but some had buckets of character.
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Magelin
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Post Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:19 pm 
 

Actually, I was considering it...but then I realized the only metal TSR "Silver Anniversary" minis that lived were the Red Dragon and the Hill Giant.

So I decided to pass...

OOPS

:oops:


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