Minifigs and Maxi Problems

The famous Minifigs logo. I remember buying their figures from a small shop in Charing Cross and then over at Victoria in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The whole range is now available from Caliver Books.

It has not arisen yet but I can foresee a fairly significant problem looming over the horizon in respect of the Eric Knowles 18th century lead mountain. The unpainted 25/28mm collection contains a significant number of figures produced by that stalwart of wargaming history - Miniature Figurines or Minifigs as we usually refer to them.

For me, from the mid 1970s until the early 1980s armies of Minifigs for all periods from the time of the Pharaohs until the Great War strode across the table tops of the wargaming world. Their catalogue was an inspiring read in its own right and I can remember the sheer thrill of having one drop through the letter box and be read until the pages came loose! In 25mm or 15mm when choosing a new army the first thought (after 'is there an Osprey or a Blandford on it?') was invariably 'do Minifigs do it?' For breadth of coverage and uniformity of quality and pose Minifigs had a huge impact on the wargames of the world. The figures were basic but would reward a good paint job as well as more basic brushwork and although wooden in terms of pose were ideal for using en masse.

Minifigs 25mm Seven Years War infantry.

Now I am going to put this out there and certainly remain to be corrected but I believe that the reason we do not see quite so many Minifigs based armies around is simply because figure ranges now are not only larger but are also more detailed and animated. There is nothing wrong with this as there was nothing wrong with Minifigs - tastes have simply moved on and so it is very rare to see armies of Minifigs alongside Front Rank or Essex for example - simply because the ranges are so different.

I have absolutely no problem with Minifigs but I can see why they may not tick all the boxes for the evolved gamers of today.

Eric had no qualms about mixing ranges in his armies and indeed, was also usually fairly relaxed about such considerations as scale. This means that for most of his armies there is invariably a number of units of Minifigs - usually the first he raised for a particular project.

The problem that I think will arise is that whilst the Front Rank, Essex, Redoubt and later Hinchliffe will find a new home readily enough the early indications are that the perfectly usable Minifigs may well be left behind. This is a conversation that Bill and I will be revisiting in due course but in the meantime I will seeking out those gamers that enjoy using these classic figures.