Lead Market Report, November 2015

What? The LMR, back from the dead? Help a brother out, my eBay watch list is clogged up with all sorts of ended auctions and I need to clear it out. And I need to get my ass back on some sort of regular writing schedule, so here we go.

ARCHIVE
This lot is not just an Archive lot, as there are minis from Dragontooth, Citadel, Grenadier, and Minifigs. But what caught my eye was Sredni Vashtar, Serpentine Dragon from the RuneQuest line. I really wanted Sredni, but once the lot passed $200 I was out. If I had won, I would have sold the rest to pay off the investment, but it was not to be. It's just a very, very cool old dragon.

CITADEL
Smaller than Sredni but still high on a lot of collector's list is the D&D Green Dragon. $51 for a minty copy is not a bad price. Maybe too high for a cheapskate like me, but pretty fair in the big picture. And as much as I drool over all things giant, $155.14 for Fergus the Psychotic Troll is just way too rich for my blood. Now $15.97 for a C28 giant, that's what I'm talking about! Just don't rub it in that I didn't bid on this one.

There were more than a few AD&D variants to be found, in particular not one but four Mind Flayers! Check them out at the very affordable prices of $15.50, $15.50, $11.74, and $11.60. And downright cheap were the three Goblins at $5.51, $3.75, and $3.75. The lone non-monster is this Cleric that went for $5.01. Oh, and this small lot that sold for $27 had one Umber Hulk and one Carrion Crawler in it, so that makes this one a bargain and then some.

DARK HORSE
I'm curious about this Groo blister that sold for $25. Is that tiny sprue an imp or something? There's nothing mysterious about the appeal of TMNT, which explains the $81 price tag for the 4 turtles. $36 for Splinter and Shredder is more reasonable but still about average for TMNT blisters, and $9 for Dr. Feral and his henchmen is even better.

DRAGONTOOTH
I like this Small Dragon (D80) as well as the small price of $20. It even looks like a nice paint job, at least tabletop ready for sure. Larger kits like this Saurian Behemoth with Howdah and Crew usually go on the higher end, but $41.55 seems pretty reasonable to me. It even looks like it has all the small bits too.

I snapped up a pair of DT minis on good BINs: a D78 Winged Firedrake ($16) and DE4, Gothmaug Lord of the Balrogs ($30). The dragon is missing his lower jaw and tongue, but Gothmaug is complete. They'll eventually make an appearance on TLD down the road.

GRENADIER
Gamma World always brings out the Grenadier bidders, and they pushed this Adventurers Set over the century mark to finish at $103.38. The minis look pristine and complete, and the box shows decent color although it is a bit bent up here and there. Nice find.

If I didn't already have one, I would have bid on this Giant's Club Fire Giant that sold for $20.50. And this Goblin War Giant looks complete as far as I can tell. $61 is a lot better than the $100+ many sellers usually ask for.

HARLEQUIN
Offbeat minis always catch my eye, and this Giant Forest Troll was no exception. At $8.58, it was exactly my kind of bargain - if I had only bid on it.

HERITAGE
The Great Dragon is one of those minis that is A) not mini and B) isn't cheap. I wanted this one, but didn't win. Congrats to the buyer who paid $203.23 for this example. It looks like it would be fun to put it together and paint it up. I think it would be super fun to trot this bad boy out during a gaming session, really freak out the players when they see a huge mountain of a dragon in front of them!

Another thing (two, actually) that you don't see much of are the Dungeon Dwellers pre-painted minis. Blister #1554 Female Adventurers sold for $41 and #1551 Adventurers II sold for $43. The cards look quite fresh and minty - someone took good care of them, that's for sure. Bats & Blood Birds went for $20 and Cockatrice & Basilisk went for $20.50. Two demons from 1262 (the big ones) sold for $26. The green boxed sets continue to sell well, like the Crypt of the Sorcerer ($36.57) and the Caverns of Doom ($56). The Caverns of Doom appears to have all the minis in perfect shape, but none of the paperwork/rules/etc, while the Crypt of the Sorcerer has the paints, some paperwork, but all the minis are the green plastic Grenadier models from the MPC line of plastic AD&D Action Scene kits. And 17 of the 18 Adventuring Characters set one collector back by $62.23.

For Conan collectors, 5 blisters for $12 each is a great price. This is a mostly Heritage lot for $72.50, so I'll just lump it here. And for $20, you could have had this mixed bag of LoTR minis. And this LoTR lot was $73 or this one for $38.73.

LEADING EDGE GAMES
I forgot to bid on these Alien Eggs, so someone snapped up an absolute bargain at $4 for 4 eggs. And I think $20 for this Dracula set (still in shrink) is a fair and decent price. Another one I let slip away was this absolute steal at $40 that included a bunch of Marines, a Power Loader, and 4 Sentry Guns.

But what I was totally hot and bothered about was this sweet lot of pristine Alien goodness: The APC, Power Loader, and 18 blisters for $227.50. That's a bunch of Aliens, eggs, facehuggers, sentry guns, and various Marines. Not a steal of a deal, but pretty damn reasonable overall.

MARTIAN METALS
Giants always grab my attention, as did the two lunks in this Martian Metals lot that went for $70. Cool giants, but the price point was too steep in my opinion.

RAL PARTHA
How about a three-pack of Sahaugin (11-443) for $52? Maybe an Illithid (11-505) is more your liking for only $15. Still too much? OK, I will give you my rock-bottom prices. My 11-series purchase was 11-753 Justina and the Banshegh for $5, so I was happy with that. Orcs (11-409) for $3.54, an Erinye (11-643) for .99 cents, and also Factol Darius (11-603) for a mere .99 cents.

Oh, and if you don't need a box, this $10.49 Niddhogg the Wyrm (10-464) is about as cheap as you are going to get for a fairly large and nice-looking dragon kit. And I don't know if this giant piece of metal is Baakesh Va (Ral Partha 10-602) or Baak (Dark Sword DSM6102), but either way it was only $15.50 so that's a small price for a neat giant.

TSR
It's not just glue, it's the Official AD&D Basic Adhesive Set! But if it is Advanced D&D, then why is the glue only Basic??? Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week. All this could have been yours for the price of $22.72.

LOTS OF LOTS
Tons of lead goodness in big old lots. Check them out: $320 for a bunch of old stuff, including some sort of terrain (the 33 square pieces shown). This $895 lot takes the big money prize, but I didn't see anything I couldn't live without, so I'm guessing a reseller might have scooped this one up? For $96, you get a neat assortment in this lot, including a couple of different minis of Orcus. And I know I'm not the only one who spotted the Grenadier Purple Worm in this $77.40 lot. And can anyone help me out and tell me why this lot went for $356??? Was there a rare gem or three, or was it the siege engines and miscellaneous items that pushed it so high? And for $162.50, I thought this lot was a nice mix of characters, monsters, and terrain. If unopened blisters are your thing, you might have bid on this lot that sold for $107.22. That's only $2.82 per blister, so if you keep the ones you want and resell the rest for $5, I think you come out just fine in the end. And one last lot at $202.50, with RP, Grenadier, and Citadel minis for the most part.

LEAD PAPER
Previous readers of this series will know I have an affinity for all things printed when it comes to the world of miniatures. I feel it is important to document the catalogs, flyers, ads, and sales sheets of manufacturers, in particular those who are long since gone. The pieces that recently sold ranged from a few bucks to over $50. I even got in on the action this time! The least expensive item was this 4-sheet lot that has Masters of the Universe and the Dark Crystal, among others, for only $5. Next up are more Grenadier/Pinnacle sheets, 5 for $10.50. I was the only bidder (at $40) for this lot of DragonTooth catalogs and sheets. Another one I was interested in was this Broadsword price list. It went for $46.01, a bit on the high side considering there is nary a picture or illustration to be found here. But then again, it is rather difficult to find any printed Broadsword material. Finally, a black & white Saxon catalog sold for $52.77, and did have pictures in it, which is always nice.

GOT ART?
Not miniatures, or miniature-related, but there were some Jim Roslof sketches that recently hit the block. Two that caught my eye were Ares ($209.16) and Yoshi-iye ($225.07). I still enjoy skimming through my copy of Deities & Demigods every now and again, just to take in all the wonderful artwork.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST
This 5-headed Hydra looks so damn familiar, but I just can't place it. Anyone? Anyone? For $9.38, at least you can't say it was overpriced.

If you made it this far, thanks for stopping by and I hope, as always, that this info ends up being of use to you at some point.