Lead Market Report, January/February 2016

And here we go with the first LMR of 2016. I know it says January and it is now February March, but what can I say, I procrastinate with the best of them. I can usually gauge how busy I'll be working on a LMR depending upon how fast my watch list fills up after I finish the previous report. It filled up pretty damn quick this time around! Enjoy.

ARCHIVE
The beginning and final bid for this Sharkadillo (coughbulettecough) was $22.50.

CITADEL
We had a small assortment of ADD series minis this month: eight Blink Dogs in two lots of four at $6.50, $6.38, $3.25, and $3.25; and $4.59, $4.04, $1.88, and $1.50. Three Drow at $5.58, $3.25, and $2.25. One Zombie at $6.49. A complete set of three stage Female Fighters sold for less than the $35 asking price.

George the Giant sold for $47.80, pretty good for one of the more popular Citadel giants. A C28 giant went for $31.85, too much for me but I was tempted - I wanted the head and hammer.

DARK HORSE
Here's a trio of TMNT blisters that went for good/about average prices: Shredder/Splinter/Mousers for $22.16, The Foot for $18.16, and Terror Bears for $10.16.

DRAGONTOOTH
Hell's Bells, good AC/DC song. Hell's Well, not a happy place, unless you are the buyer of DE11, Demon Rising from Hell's Well that sold for $59. Just a sweet, sweet piece of old-school goodness. Staying with demons, here's DE4 Gothmaug (minus his axe) for $16.39. I think that's a great price, even with the missing axe. Another DE4 auction was for just Gothmaug's head, for $6.10. As much as I love giants, I was rather surprised to see this GI5 Horned Hill Giant sell for $45.10, considering he is missing his tree trunk club and loot bag. If you were trying to complete your MB6 Griffon, you may have bid on this nest ($12.50) or these wings ($2.82). The wings would also make for a nice conversion piece if that is your cup of tea.

There were three DT dragons on the block: a D78 Winged Fire Drake ($26), a D79 Large Dragon ($27.04), and a D81 Christmas Dragon ($52.89). I couldn't help myself and had to bid on the Christmas Dragon, and ended up winning it. If you are so inclined, you can see some better pics of it in the writeup I did on it..

 If you needed some bits and pieces, or don't mind loose minis, there was a nice selection: AC1 Amphibian Colossus (incomplete) for $13.07, A3 Ranidean Javelineer for $2.52, two T1 Trolls for $11.50, two P-series horses for $2.82, a P51 camel for $7.49, three assorted critters for $13.40, a small lot of weapons, gear, heads and figures including two Frost Giants (just one arm, though) for only $5.17, and three High Elf shields and one of the seven pieces from M8 Bodies & Booty for $7.53.

GALE FORCE NINE
I typically don't track GF9, but this lot was on my radar because it was such a great value. I'm sure the buyer is more than pleased with the bargain they scored. Orcus alone seems to sell for around $70, so yeah, this was a steal of a deal at $85.

GRENADIER
As regular readers of the LMR know, I loves me a bargain! I especially love bargains on giants, odd, rare, and hard-to-find minis, so when I was able to pick up this "Have A Nice Day" beholder (in blister no less) for $2, it totally made my day. Another oddity that a fellow bargain hunter picked up was this Future Warriors resin Street Gang Car for $4 (along with a blister of cyborgs).

Box set bonanza!Take a deep breath, here we go: on the rare/uncommon end of the spectrum, we have both the Lords of Light ($46) AND Lords of Decay ($67.50) in shrink. This Water Nymph was only $21.01, probably due to a generic title. Big dragons? Check. The Invincible Dragon for $42.99 and a Shadow Dragon for $21.50. Dwarf Cannon in shrink, $23.50. There are also some Series II Dragons including Red ($33.99), Black ($33.99), Bronze ($23.50), Silver ($22.50), and a Golden War Dragon for $19.16; Giant's Club giants Stone and Forest for $21.49 each and Chaos for $16.50; Gold Line Hirelings box for only $6.50; a Goblin War giant for a reasonable $38.77, an unboxed incomplete Goblin War giant for $17.28, Ogres of the East for $14, some Chaos Dwarves at $17.16, a super cheap set of Foot Knights for only $3.13 (not a typo, three bucks and thirteen cents). Oh, and one more, the Encounter at the Forest of Elvenwold for $23.59.

This Dragon Lords (the game) Dragon Treasure Hoard with Wizard blister sold for $10.49, and I really wish I had picked up one of these two Barbarian Giants that sold for $12.51 (blister) and less than $10 (loose) respectively. I did, however, pull the trigger on this Purple Worm for $20.50 - I'll be doing a post on this one later this month, where I compare it with a couple other Purple Worms.

HERITAGE
There were 5 blisters of Conan minis that sold, all for the starting price of $59.99 each and not surprisingly all won by the same bidder. They were Companions of Conan, Sorcerers of Conan, Enemies of Conan, Pirates of the Red Brotherhood, and Mercenaries of Koza.

 I kind of expected this complete set of Adventure Game Starter Sets to go for a bit more than the $9.99 winning bid. All are complete, two are in shrink, and the only defect I saw was some box crushing.

These two lots of LOTR minis went for about what is expected, $20.51 for a mostly complete Prancing Pony Inn, and $20.16 bought me a mix of the Helm's Deep boxed set and the Attack on Weathertop blister.

Staying with LOTR, a nice set of 10 LOTR 75mm figures didn't sell for $167.59, but did end up selling when relisted for $120.

I still need one of these Storm Giants and a Hill Giant too, and would have no problem paying the $11 that each one sold for. And this old hydra is very, very nice, and so is the $11.38 winning bid.

Some Heritage paper product was available, starting with the Knights & Magick rule set. It has no box, and is in nice condition overall, so the final bid of $31.04 is very fair and reasonable. Several copies of the John Carter Warlord of Mars Adventure Gaming Handbook were available, selling for $26.65, $26.00, and $22 (my copy). Another one is currently available on eBay until Wednesday 2/10/16 for a starting bid of $22.

LEADING EDGE GAMES
OK, the Power Loader from Aliens is pretty cool, but did you know it also comes with Jonesy? I wonder if Ripley's cat is statted up in the game. This NIB model went for the starting price of $25.

For the Aliens RPG game, there was this unpunched expansion that tallied $102.55.

MARTIAN METALS
This incomplete box set of 9901 Magic (magic users?) should have 9 wizards and 1 panther, but
only has 7 wizards. Still, for only $9, the buyer can probably fill in the missing pieces with a little patience.

MINIFIGS
$14.99 was the winning bid for an Elvin Dragon Master with Lance astride a Small Dragon from the Aureola Rococo line. I wonder what the price would have been if the wings were included, the tail wasn't missing the tip, and the lance was unbroken? And I really dig this neat sculpt of Satan, all that evilness for only $12.49.

RAL PARTHA
Lot of Battletech changing hands, including a fair amount of box sets and even more blisters. I wasn't able to track every blister lot, so I focused on the ones I though might command top dollar. We'll start with boxes and go high to low. Medium Lance for $132.50, Recon Lance for $128.50, Heavy Lance for $106.50, Light Lance for $56, Command Lance for $55, Pursuit Lance for $54, and another  Pursuit Lance for $42. The 4-pack of blisters sold for $182.50 (Marauder, Warhammer, Stalker, Orion), $130 (Goliath, Awesome, Victor, Orion), $71 (Warhammer, Atlas, Crusader, Ostol), and $61 (Warhammer, Cyclops, Archer, Crusader).

SOLDIERS & SWORDS
This might be the first entry for Soldiers & Swords for me (at least without going back and checking previous LMRs). Someone obviously collects them or uses them in their capes & spandex game, and hey, for about $4 per blister, this lot of 6 Champions blisters (The SUPER Miniatures, according to the subheading) seems like a very nice deal.

WOTC
This lot was $81, and included a Monsters III Box Set, an Umber Hulk, and 33 more blisters. At less than $3/blister, I think this lot is a great value.

NOT MINIS
Sometimes buyers get lucky, and sometimes sellers get lucky. I think this time the seller lucked out big time. I'm guessing they likely had no idea what they were sitting on when they listed "A Trio of Dungeons and Dragons Treasures" that included the red box Basic set, a Battlesystem set, and...wait for it...a woodgrain set! $1,314 got you this nifty lot (including Greyhawk and Blackmoor).

First printings of the Holmes blue box continue to hold their value, as evidenced by this example that sold for $242.50. I find it humorous that it is listed as vintage circa 1777. Benjamin Franklin was a DM, no doubt.

Lead Market Report, December 2015

Here's a present for under your blogging tree - the LMR, just in time for Christmas, Festivus, or whatever special day you choose to observe or ignore. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by.

ARCHIVE
One of several umber hulks that changed hands this LMR, the Archive amber hulk ($18) is a decent representation of the venerable AD&D menace.

BARTERTOWN FORGES
I have never heard of this outfit before, but I have heard of the sculptor listed on the packaging - Jason Wiebe. This lot of 15 minis sold for $22. If you take a look at the pictures shown here, you get to see what the final product looks like all painted up. Neat little goblin cannibals, each with a giant shield to hide behind.

CITADEL
Anytime you can score an ADD line monster mini for under $20, you are having a good shopping day. Take a look at this lich that sold for $8 and tell me how it isn't a good deal. And all you need is a wee bit of Green Stuff to make a new propeller for this rust monster's tail, a steal at $2.25 if you ask me. Three githyanki for under $30 is about average, at least from what I've seen. There was this batch of stirges and blink dogs (three blisters each) for $47.58. Judge Dredd fans bid this lot of 12 blisters up to $135.12, and the Star Trek crowd had their turn too, 4 ships for $22.38.

I hate passing up on C28 giants, especially ones with a weapon. This one sold for $24.55 (plus shipping from the UK) so I didn't bite.

The 40K folks typically drop serious cash for vintage Tyranids, especially Limited Releases like this Dominator and a trio of non-limited Genestealers. $84.08 was the final tally. And for the WHFB side, a nice-looking Ruglud's Armoured Orcs sold for $40.17.

DARK HORSE
This Groo the Wanderer cover dragon is kinda cute, and so is the low price of $11.11 (it sold on 11/28, not on 11/11). And there was this batch of 7 githyanki...I mean unholy...that sold for $57.

DRAGONTOOTH
This snakelike creature is one of the four characters included in The Magic Shop kit. And at $4, that's a good price to fill a hole in your set or use it for a unique character in your game. Same goes for this $3 body in a pile of booty from the M8 Bodies & Booty blister. This lance most likely completed someone's kit, so I'm sure it was $5 well spent. It looks like there were two bidders who needed some claws for their D78 dragon, so that pushed the final price to $20.49.

FASA
Whenever I see a model of the Reliant, I am compelled to yell "Khaaaaaaannnnnnnn!!!" This FASA version was only $7.50.

GRENADIER
This gold-plated wizard sold for less than the $100 asking price, exactly how much I don't know. I would have thought this still-in-shrink copy of Dragon Lords the Game would have sold for more than the $34.90 I paid for it, but hey, I'm happy it stayed under $40. The listing title on this box set cracked me up - Grenadier's Invisible Dragon - but maybe that was just me. I really thought $23.26 was a great price for the buyer. $20.50 for the Mounted Dragon Lords seems like a fair price for both parties. A missing Boromir helped keep this Fellowship set under $20, no doubt. I also like this pair of Dragons of The Month, $32.69 for both (complete with inserts AND gems).

Normally I salivate like one of Pavlov's hounds when I see a lot of Grenadier Giant's Club box sets, as I still need a couple of odds and ends to round out my collection. This time, though, I had to take a pass on this lot that sold for $82. Out of the 8 boxes, only 4 had giants in them, and out of those 4, only 2 (Frost and Forest) were complete. This Gamma World box was in fair shape, but contained zero Gamma World minis as far as I could see, so the $15.15 price tag was fair as well. This Teronus ($34) was complete with paperwork and all pieces. Shrink-wrapped Hirelings sold for $27.

I filled a hole in my Grenadier giant collection with the purchase of this $6 Undead Giant. And this Wizard's Magical Observatory was also bargain priced at $5.50 for what looks like a neat little dungeon dressing set. I'm not sure what this Umber Hulk is doing with his left hand (waving buh-bye? Fist bump?) but he sold for $8. For the collector who needs some MM inserts, I really thought this $12.99 lot was priced right, even with the guide included. A what? A pegacorn? Sure, why not. $10.50 and it's all yours. Might even make a half-decent proxy for a kirin.

Someone finally pulled the trigger and picked up this AD&D gold line poster. Makes me a little jealous, as I've been watching it for some time but sitting on my hands when it came to making an offer on it. I'm guessing this sword probably isn't Grenadier as noted in the listing, but it looked interesting so I added it to ye olde watch list. Hey, it was only $7.50 and it made someone happy.

HERITAGE
I've always liked the DD ogre, with his bald head, massive belly, and heads hanging from his belt. And $8.01 is a fair price, so I should add one to my pile one of these days. And I've had a soft spot for the LOTR orcs, especially when you can get them for less than $2/mini and the condition looks great. Gollum Captured for $10.50 is a very nice price.

The final price on this lot ($203.50) really had me scratching my head. Was it the paperwork and maps for both Caverns of Doom and Crypt of the Sorcerer? I didn't see any other compelling reasons for the price to go so high.

I'm guessing the seller who I bought my copy of the Barsoomian Battle Manual must have unearthed a handful of these, as they have been selling them for the past month or so. The first one sold for $76, the next one (mine) for $34.59, and then one for $24.99 (starting price). There is another copy currently on the block, just FYI. If you needed a copy of Knights & Magick, but didn't need the box, this set was a serious bargain at $10.50. And this LOTR sell sheet (flyer) and catalog went for $35.56, not cheap but not outrageous.

OTHERWORLD
I usually see Otherworld minis listed as BINs, so when some boxed sets popped up as auctions, I had to see how they fared. They went for a lot less than expected, which is good for you if you were a buyer: DAB1 Human Male Characters (retail $82) sold for $33; DAB2 Demi-human Male Characters (retail $67) sold for $31; DAB3 Female Characters (retail $74) sold for $30; DAB4 Henchmen & Hirelings (retail $82) sold for $41, and DD1a The Demon Idol Diorama Pack (retail $52) sold for $53. Interesting to see that henchmen and hirelings held a higher value than characters. Maybe it's harder to find good sculpts of hired help? And there was this batch of pig-faced orcs, 22 in all, that retails for about $5.50 per mini, or $121 for 22. It ended up selling for $93, about $30 off retail, and they looked painted up to a decent tabletop finish.

PAINTS
Some vintage gaming paints were available if that is your cup of tea. There were three sets from The Armory: GG-086 Silks-n-Satins sold for $5, GG-087 Silks-n-Satins sold for $5, and GG-093 Ancient Uniform Colors (such as Roman Red) sold for $5. And I picked up two sets of Polly S/Floquil paints because they were only $3 each: Basic Colors and Creature Colors. After I graduated from my beloved Testor's enamels, I purchased mini paints from Polly S, Humbrol, Ral Partha, etc. I still have most of my old Ral Partha paints, tucked away in a box somewhere.

RAL PARTHA
This prolific Canadian eBayer sometimes has outrageous prices, and then sometimes starts big batches of auctions at .99 and usually does pretty well in the end. This Dracolich was $132.50, and the Birthright Abominations sold for $99. There were a few batches of 11-series blisters: the Peryton ($22.59), The Spider ($29), Drow II ($20.50), Sahaugin I ($20.50, $20.50, and $20) and Sahaugin II ($20). A small lot of loose 11-series monsters was sold for $36. Battletech collectors could have picked up a Heavy Lance box for $51.25. This large batch of newer RP sculpts was around $2.50 per blister, so not a bad price at all.

TOFANO STUDIOS
Stephen M. Tofano has sculpted alongside Tom Loback at DragonTooth, and with Ray Lamb at Superior Models/Perth Pewter. He had his own line of very cool demons, which I almost never see up for auction. So when this Raziel the Rainbow demon surfaced, not only did I have to watch it, I also needed to decide if I was going to bid or not. In this case, the lone bid at the starting price of $85 (not my bid) was the winner.

TSR
A couple more unreleased David C. Sutherland III sculpts hit the auction block, courtesy of The Collector's Trove. First up is a female elf fighter with sword and shield. According to the listing, only two dozen were cast, and this one tallied a cool $380. One possibility is that she might have been destined for one of the two unreleased TSR boxed sets, 5309 Champions or 5310 Experts. The other miniature was a Dragonlance Sivak that sold for $305. I'm guessing these must have been cast at the same time as the unreleased Sutherland Ogre I own, which also bears a hallmark of TSR 1984.

WOTC
If you were looking to build up a warband, or resell some Chainmail and 3rd Edition minis, this was your lot. $135.31 was the winning bid to claim almost 100 sealed blisters and boxes, so you could even keep one of each for your own collection, resell the rest, and come out ahead.

LOTS OF LOTS
This lot is great for collectors and resellers alike. 160 minis for less than $1 each, he shoots, he scores. Sticking with the about a buck a mini theme, there is this smaller lot that includes a Heritage frost giant for $66. Another modest lot with a giant is this one that sold for $70, and had a DragonTooth GI5 Horned Hill Giant that appeared to be missing his loot bag. This lot of 200+ minis went for less than $2/mini, still a decent price, but I just didn't see much in it that made me want to jump in on the action. And the Citadel ADD minis in this $78 lot grabbed my attention, but it was such a mixed bag of scales and genres (fantasy, historicals, micro armour, ships, etc) that I didn't go there. There was a decent amount of 11-series mixed in with this about a buck per mini lot, so not a bad find as far as bargains go. For about .50/mini, this lot was priced right, especially if you were after the smattering of Citadel stuff. Probably the best bargain lot was this one, a whopping $13.50 for 60+ minis, including at least three DragonTooth boar-headed tribesmen tucked in among the pedestrian Grenadier figures. I spotted a xorn in this 66 minis for $79 lot, so that was good for the buyer. I would have gladly paid $14.50 for this small lot, if only for the body & head from DragonTooth's DE4 Gothmaug. Here's a fearsome foursome of mind flayers that sold for $13.50, less than $4 per brain-eater. And finally, this lot is stated to have "over 3,000 figurines" and yet it sold for only $164! In the pics shown for the listing, there were some Citadel LOTR minis (Gandalf, Saruman, Tom Bombadil), so I really do wonder exactly how many figures were in the lot total, and how many of those were more than garden-variety castings? I think someone probably got a very nice deal out of this one.

NOT MINIS
And in this case, not even mini-related. There were two copies of the orange version of B3, Palace of the Silver Princess, that die-hard D&D collectors ponied up some serious bucks for. The first copy went for a mere $2,240.80, while the second one was more than double that at $5,860.00! Of course, that one was signed by Jean Wells, and is possibly the only signed copy of B3 in circulation. A Jim Roslof study from D&D Character Record Sheets sold for $1,730.00. The study depicts a remorhaz, while the final product was changed to show a blue dragon. This paladin poster sold for $305.00, and I'm speculating that the condition (never folded) had something to do with the final price. And if you into Tiffany crystal, I'm sure you saw this TSR paperweight that sold for $311.

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.

Lead Market Report - Heritage Historicals Edition

A couple of sellers on eBay recently moved quite a stash of Heritage product, enough so I decided to give it the LMR Special Edition treatment. I normally don't track historical or tabletop army stuff (except for what I am personally interested in), but given the Heritage/Duke Seifried traditional wargame connection, I thought it worthy of my time. Not as sexy as some DragonTooth goodies or Citadel rarities, but it's Heritage, so that's good enough for me. Enjoy.

Chivalry: I really thought the first two would have gone for higher considering the names, but I guess the demand just isn't there.

King Arthur, Standard, Merlin, and Sir Hector for $8.25, Mordred, Banner, Palimides, and King Claudas for $8.25, Mounted Knights with Swords for $7.10, Men & Peasants with Polearms for $6.93, Men-at-Arms with Spears for $6.26, Knights Smashing with Ugly Evil Maces (hehe) for $6.26, Knights Heaving Deadly Battle Axes for $6.26, Mounted Knights with Lances for $6.26, Men-at-Arms with Sharp-Bladed Swords for $5.50, a mis-labeled 3855 Knights with Two-Handed Swords (reads 3864 Men-at-Arms with Bills) for $4.99, and Knights Bearing Potent Two-Handed Swords (love some of those old names!) for $4.99.

Medieval: These didn't do quite as well as the Napoloeniques (nothing went for more than $7.16), so hopefully these were a bargain for the buyers.

Saracen Armoured Cavalry for $7.16, Saracen Armoured Horse Archers $7.16, Saracen Horse Archers $7.16, Peasant with Sickle $7.15, Crusader with Lance for $6.26, Armoured Horse Archer for $6.26, English Knight with Battleaxe for $6.26, French Mounted Men-at-Arms for $6.26, Mounted Men-at-Arms with Lance Charging for $6.26, French Knight with Sword & Shield for $6.01, English Knight with Lance for $6.01, Hand Gunners for $5.76, 7 at $5.50 each: Armoured Infantry Standing with Halberd, Spearmen,  Peasant with Pitchfork (can you say angry mob?), Spearman in Pothelm Advancing, Men at Arms with Pole Mace, Front Rank Pike Men Full Armor In Salades (I didn't know what a salade was, so I had to look it up. Type of helmet.) and Crossbowman in Jaunty Felt Hat Advancing (OK so I threw in the 'jaunty'), 3 at $5.24 each: Armoured Infantry Advancing with Halberd, Armoured Infantry with Spear, and French Peasant with Bow (Help! Help! I'm being repressed! - Bloody peasants!) and 8 at $4.99: Dismounted Knight with Mace and Bassinet Attacking, Dismounted English Knight with Sword and Shield, Armoured Infantry Advancing with Sword, Billman Advancing (Post no bills! Post no bills!), Scottish Pikemen Coat of Plates In Salades and Buckler (longest blister name ever?), French Crossbowmen, French Peasant with Spear, and last but not least - the few, the proud, the Peasant Levy.

Napoleoniques: I wonder how many WH40K players know that their battles in the grim future were born on the gaming tables that recreated battles of the grim past? Just sayin.

French Young Guard Tirailleur for $23.01, French Artillery Line 1809 for $21.95, French Middle Guard Fusilier Chasseurs for $17.16, Officers (nationality not noted) for $13.51, Mounted Officers (nationality not noted) for $13.01, Russian Cavalry Chevalier Guard for $11.51, GRD Lancers for $11.00, Battle of Waterloo British Cavalry for $10.51, Russian Cavalry Chasseurs for $10.51, Old Guard Grenadiers Charging for $10.51, GRD Lancers for $9.00, French Cavalry Guard Dragoons for $8.54, French Leger Lancers for $8.54, French Guards Gren A Cheval for $8.54, Line Battalion 1812 Repelling for $8.00, Satellite Cavalry Brunswick Hussars for $7.16, French Lancers Regt. 7/8 for $7.00, French Middle Guard Fusilier Grenadiers for $7.00, French Line Carbiniers for $6.50, French Line Dragoons for $6.04 and $6.00, British Infantry Fusiliers for $5.75, British Command Groups for $5.60, Battle of Waterloo French Cavalry for $5.50, Russian Infantry Pavlov Grenadiers for $5.20, and British Life Guards for $4.25.

Panzertroops: A personal favorite of mine and something that I actively pursue. Heavy metal, 15mm style!

USA - A big, bad M41 Walker Bulldog went for $12.57. These M8 Greyhounds were $7.57, some 3/4 ton trucks for $6.27, an M7 Priest for $4.99, and an M8 Scott also for $4.99.

Germany -  For tanks, the PzKpfw IVH was tops at $12.26, followed by PzKpfw IVf2 at $8.59, and a PzKpfw IIIj for $4.99 (mine!). Then there was a pair of SdKfz 231 armored cars for $9.05 and $8.48. The seller had some blisters of US and German infantry, but I forgot to track those. Shouldn't be too hard to find them in the completed listings search.

Now if someone would just unearth a large stash of Air Power minis, that would really make my day!