I remember lots of ads for Grenadier in Dragon (usually the inside back cover), but they were mostly pretty goofy and didn't include close-up photos of the figures, as this one does. What's interesting is that Grenadier only had the AD&D for a short period of time – 1981–1983, I believe – during which they produced a lot of boxed sets and blister packs. That's likely one of the reasons why I so strongly associate the company with my memories of AD&D.
Iirc, Gary advertised these in the DMG as well. I think Mirliton Miniatures still makes a fair few of them.
ReplyDeleteConfirm that. Mirliton manufactures most of the old Grenadier ranges, and (unlike the later Ral Partha figs) TSR doesn't seem to have insisted on the models being taken out of production when the license ended.
DeleteThe History of "official" D&D Miniatures would make a great blog post.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I'd have to do some research to fill in some gaps in my knowledge first.
Deletedndlead.com has a nice overview of this.
DeleteYou might also find the Lost Minis Wiki useful for seeing some of the tangential-to-D&D stuff that gets mentioned here and there on dndlead, but the latter is definitely the best source that I know of for pure D&D figure research.
DeleteGrenadier figures were great, until I discovered Ral Partha, which set the standard.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the linked post, I'll add that Grenadier also did a short-lived range of Shadowrun figs, a few of which are still in production through Mirliton. The "eyekiller" is an excellent sculpt even by 2020 standards, and works well as a custom critter in virtually any game. Their Traveller figs are still very well-regarded, and quite a lot of their Call of Cthulhu figs are still available, again through Italy. RAFM's Call of Cthulhu figs are better known and generally better quality, but there are some prizes in the older Grenadier range - same goes for the ex-D&D figs that have been re-designated to general fantasy.
ReplyDeleteOff topic I know, but I was so impressed by the Call of Cthulhu range I bought a number of the blister packs and painted them up long before I read the game or played it.
DeleteVery evocative, well sculpted minis that were a pleasure to paint.
I never liked Grenadier miniatures that much. Some were OK. Ral Partha made the best imho. True 25mm but incredibly detailed and well sculpted. Archive made some great creatures, but they were often a bit oversized (again imho). And then there were those Ral Partha "elves" that were done for EPT originally. The Ral Partha elves were sized well to go with the official EPT figures as well.
ReplyDeletethis isn't historical, but every two years or so, Reaper Minis does a kickstarter, and those have been fantastic deals, even if you just buy the core set, due to all the add ons. I have done it twice, and now have more minis that I ever plan to paint...
ReplyDeleteI think perhaps the best "official" AD&D figures came from Citadel.
ReplyDelete