Want To See A New Mini? Speak Up Now!

Do you ever find yourself perusing your collection of minis and notice that you don't have a particular model for an upcoming encounter? Or maybe you are trying to collect each monster listed in the Monster Manual, and just can't find exactly what you are looking for?

The good folks over at Center Stage Miniatures know where you are coming from, and they are currently soliciting your input. Stop on by the CSM forums (this thread in particular) and give them a few minutes of your time. I've already left my feedback - my board ID there is TheLeadDragon - and I must be omniscient or something!

It looks like Matt is trying to see what the people want, and hopefully give them exactly what they want, so kudos to him for that. I know I'll be following that thread and see what kind of miniature goodness CSM releases this year.

Gamma World Blisters

A fellow Acaeum member has recently landed a nice collection of Gamma World miniatures by Grenadier that can be seen on this thread.

I'm not sure how many of the blisters depicted above are already shown on the Lost Minis Wiki, but it's worth checking out if you are a Gamma World and/or Grenadier fan.

To me, it's always cool when someone makes a find like this. They came from the collection of a fellow blogger, so as an added bonus, you can trace the line of ownership. Just part of the fun that goes along with collecting minis!

It's NOT a small world, after all

As the title suggests, I am indeed speaking of Disneyland. Packed up the family, hopped on a plane, and visited the Magic Kingdom. We would have gone to Walley World, but it was closed!

It was the first time for all of the kids to take an aeroplane trip, and I'm happy to report it went well. No one was strip-searched by the TSA, no one barfed on the plane, and the only problem was my youngest didn't get a window seat for either leg of the flight. Next time, little man.

I have not been to D-Land since right around, oh, 1972. I have vague memories of The Matterhorn, the submarine (was it 20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea? It's Finding Nemo now), Main Street, and the ride that scarred me for life: It's A Small World. Can't...get...song...out...of...my...head! (Do that a la Captain Kirk for maximum dramatic effect).

Fast forward to present day. The park is just a little bit bigger these days, which translates into more walking! I don't know how many miles we covered walking in four days, but we were pretty much beat by the time we left. And the lines. How much time did we spend in line? Even with the Fast Pass system, there was still a LOT of time spent shuffling along, going nowhere fast. The kids, to their credit, did very in the lines.

The rides, of course, were a lot of fun. Over in DCA (Disney California Adventure) The Tower of Terror and California Screamin' were both excellent, as my 8-year-old son, my father-in-law, and I will attest to. To all the poncho-wearing people I scoffed at on the Grizzly River Run, I ate my slice of humble pie, thank you very much. You can get soaking wet on that one! Soarin' Over California was neat, and Muppet Vision 3-D was entertaining if you still dig Kermit and Co. To finish off our trip, we took in the World of Color show on a Thursday night. It was just OK in my opinion. The people up front must have been drenched with all the water spraying around! And we were all the way in the back, and we felt the heat from the flame throwers, so I wonder if that's how the wet folks up front dried off?

Heading back into D-Land proper, we hit Pirates of the Caribbean twice, Matterhorn, Dumbo (yes, Dumbo!), Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Indiana Jones (my least favorite ride - it just wasn't anything special as far as I'm concerned), Jungle Cruise, and one or two others. Splash Mountain was closed, so we missed out on that one.

We found that the long lines to have backpacks searched and enter Disneyland proper were a lot shorter in the afternoon. After braving the crowds in the morning, we would head back to the hotel for lunch and a rest, and go back for more later in the afternoon. I have to mention that getting around was a breeze. Starting at the hotel (Embassy Suites Anaheim South), buses pick you up about every 20 minutes (we bought pre-paid passes for that) and bring you right to the park. The same buses return to bring you and your tired feet back to the hotel, although sometimes it was standing-room only.

All in all, it was a great family vacation. The kids loved it, the adults survived, and the happy memories have been etched into everyone's minds.

So after a nice long break from blogging and painting, I'm ready to resume my ranting, raving, and musing over all things lead, as well as pick up my brushes and see what I can finish before my late May trip to roll bones back down in California.

Treasures Unearthed

I was able to swing by American Eagles again today for what is probably my last run there before the doors close on April 9th. My goal was to pick up some items for fellow collectors over at acaeum.com and see if there was anything for me. I am SO glad I went! And the fact everything was 40-70% off didn't hurt either.

Now that I have recently completed my collection of AD&D Birthright adventures and accessories, I can now focus on the miniatures, novels, and PC game. Sitting on the top shelf of the paperback rack were the four BR novels - Greatheart, The Hag's Contract, The Iron Throne, and The Spider's Test. Sweet!

Had to grab a copy of Raid on Rajallapor. Why? Well, I don't play Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes, so I guess it's because the module was produced by Grenadier Models Inc. That little bit of shrinkwrapped goodness set me back $1.98!

I was trying to take my time, poke around, see what I could find. Sure enough, in a bin with some small stuff like Gamescience Federation Tugs were a couple of packages very familiar to me - little plastic baggies with red paper inserts bearing the Superior Models Inc. logo! I scored a four-pack of WL-130 Ninjas, and something I have never seen before: WL-151 Sorceress with Crystal Ball in 40mm scale. She comes with a small crystal ball that appears to sit on her bosom, and a small crystal star that I think sits on top of her crown. This one needs a picture, so I'll get going on that and post one ASAP.

Two small white boxes also caught my eye, and sure enough they also contained minis by Superior Models: two copies of WL-152 Dragon on Rock/4, a dragon perched on a rock with 4 gems that fit in the base. Sadly, both dragons are missing a wing, but I'll take what I can get.

Perhaps the most bittersweet purchase was my very last plastic model from Eagles. I was hoping to go big, say a 1/48 Mosquito or something along those lines. They were pretty well picked over at this point, so I went with a time-tested standard for me: the 1/76 scale Stug III Ausf. G by Fujimi. It will eventually take a place next to my Tiger.

I wish I had gone in much earlier since my last visit. I wonder if I would have had a shot at one of the three TSR bookcases they had sitting out? The ones with the SOLD tags on them. Oh well, coulda, woulda, shoulda. I still came away with some nice things. As an added sentimental bonus, the BR novels have American Eagles price stickers on the back, so I'll always know where they came from.

Thanks again, American Eagles.

The Lead Market Report - February 2011

Since March is all but over, it's time for me to crank out February's LMR.

Archive: Kicking it old school! A succubus for $36.55 and a bugbear for $45.00 shows that old lead can show sellers the money. Just don't ask me why a bear with a pumpkin head is called a bugbear, though.

Citadel: The AD&D series continues to do well, especially the monster minis. A trio of Mind Flayers went for $43.35 - no one is going to mistake these bad boys for Grenadier's sculpt (you know the one - he's doing The Robot, for crying out loud!) And just because I love Citadel C28 giants, here's Ninefingers for $20.72.

Dark Horse: Heroes in a half-shell - Turtle Power! Turtle Power is a 75mm Leonardo going for a cool $46.50 in this case. This four-pack of Groo minis topped the century mark at $106.07. TMNT and Groo usually do quite well.

Grenadier: $97.75 is what it took to secure the Battle Giant in shrink-wrapped goodness. I don't see this one too often, so this price isn't too shocking, really. Perhaps even more rare is the Goblin War Giant that sold for $99.99. No packaging, but apparently complete - many that show up are usually incomplete in one form or another.

One of the lesser known Grenadier lines is the Fantastic Females of an Ancient World. For some reason, Princess Achmiri has been showing up here and there recently. This example went for $9.50, which seems like a bargain to me. More examples to follow in the March LMR.

Leading Edge Games: Yeah, but it's a dry heat, Sarge. The Aliens sets always seem to command respectable numbers, like this $51.99 set. I would love to paint up a set of Colonial Marines for my friends, with this set going for $44.35.

Ral Partha: Someone picked up a complete Menzoberranzan set for a paltry $22. I say paltry because someone paid $32.53 just for the Drizzt mini from the same set! Huma's Silver Dragon went for $51.00 while his evil counterpart The Red Dragon of Krynn went for just under half of Huma's price at $24.50.

West End Games: I really thought these Imperial Speeder Bikes would have gone for more than $15.50 but hey, what do I know?

Stay tuned for the March report, where I continue to track Princess Achmiri and other notable bargains and wallet-busters.

Fantastic, Indeed!

If you collect Grenadier miniatures, you are probably aware of a very cool book called The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier by Terrence Gunn. In addition to being a fabulous visual reference, it also tells the story behind the scenes at Grenadier, including interviews with several of the players.

Some of you are lucky enough to have a bound copy of the book. I'm still looking for one myself, but I do own the eBook version - PDFs on a CD. And I recently noticed that Terrence is selling another round of the FWOG eBooks on eBay at the moment. It's only $18, and at last count, 7 copies were still for sale.

Even if you don't exclusively collect Grenadier minis, it is still a great resource and a good read to boot. I rate it 5 out of 5 Dragons! Enjoy.

Giant Axe-Swinging, Snake-Growing-Out-Of-Neck Goodness!

Check out the photos at the bottom of page 3 on this thread over at acaeum.com!

That's right, it's none other than Molydeus! Center Stage Miniatures is bringing this huge baddie to a gaming table near you in the not-so-distant future. This is a Tim Prow sculpt, and I can only guess that it will be a whole lot less than the $150-$200 price usually commanded by the Ral Partha 11-series Molydeus.

The CSM blog is located here, and the their store can be found here.

Way to go CSM!