Grenadier Miniatures – Comedy Lords Boxed Set (part 3)

Here we are with the last part on the Comedy Lord Boxed Set, if you’re looking for the previous parts here they are: part 1, part 2.

I will take a look at the last 4 Grenadier miniatures shown in the leaflet found inside the box, plus the mysterious Invisible Stalker figure (we shouldn’t forget):

Onward!

Wererat

Poor thing!

Undoubtedly an original miniature, maybe more a weremouse than later skavenesque creatures look like.

The careless guy equipped with leather armor and cap has been caught in a (rather large) mouse trap. It seems his long tongue still tries to reach a generous slice of cheese, held by his now cold fingers.

Halfling in Full Plate

Probably a very nice guy:

That’s the only mini of the set I got already painted, I will eventually strip and repaint it when the time comes. Of course it could take years or forever, I got a HUGE amount of minis, that’s the reason for The Minis Museum itself. Oh, and I would like to paint all of them…

Funny note: the Halfling in Full Plate is the only figure facing the wrong direction in the leaflet picture…

Basically is a large close helm containing an halfling, equipped with an halfling halberd (probably an hand axe from the point of view of other type of characters…). What can I say, this relentless fighter has its charm too.

Under the base the text is: “GRENADIER”, “© 198″ stamped, last year’s “8” and “F.F.4″ seem originally written with some hand tool (or small and light rotary tool).

107th Level Fighter, Paladin & Used Sword Dealer

Probably the most serious-looking miniature in the set, hand in hand (well, ooze) with the Half Orc Slime from the first part:

A walking armoury by itself, he displays an impressive list of equipment, weapons mostly:

two daggers in the left boot
shortsword and flanged mace at the belt, left side
another dagger and an haversack at the belt, right side
a mace and axe crossed at the belt, in front
utility belt on torso
composite bow and quiver on the back
a long, long chain with a flail head is also attached to the back and the head rests near the fighter’s left foot
full chain mail armor and partial upper body plate armor (pauldrons and gorget)
an uncommon multi-part helm
a knife between the teeth (yeah!)
left hand: “Bad Boy”-signed kite shield with skull and crossbones
right hand: Swiss multipurpose halberd with additional functions and tools just below the blade

Impressive!

It’s probably a quote of the common behavior for a lot of roleplayers – the Power Gamers type, that tend to amass a lot of equip. All that stuff cannot realistically be carried around by a person while doing something else. They’re usually waiting for someone with enough money or magical items to sell them.

Pizza Deliveryman

He’s the good companion of the Gamers from part 2:

Nice deliveryman hat and skeletal features, but the best part is the long sword at the hip and the schynbalds (lower legs armor). The pizza is also carried on a round shield!

It possible to feel, from pose and equipment, that the guy is ready for everything that could wait for him at delivery….

And finally, the centerpiece:

the Invisible Stalker

Yes, it’s a base… with marks of some human-sized bird of prey…

Detail is very good for being just a base, at least it’s enough to start to imagine what kind of foul creature could be there, invisible, awaiting to strike.

Plus, what else could you expect from a “Comedy Lords” box? It’s also a bonus!

Conclusion

Detail is very good and quality of casting is in line with the other products from the 80’s. As I said already, Grenadier’s miniatures have a characteristic look, thanks to their sculptors and their history.

They’re a milestone in the miniatures industry and some of us will remember buying those as a young lad or seeing them in some model stores…

I love the set, the figures have got plenty of personality, of course they’re not the most epic or “heroic scale. Nevertheless there are very few funny miniatures examples around, especially focusing on the geeky behavior of their users and fantasy worlds/RPGs situations.

Grenadier Miniatures – Comedy Lords Boxed Set (part 2)

let’s continue with some more miniatures from the set from Comedy Lord Boxed Set from Grenadier (here you can find part 1 of the article):

Undead Gamers (and gaming table)

Interesting bunch of nerds, one is probably the game master, not sure which one. The chubby one seems more bossy, but his hand is in the air, as if asking permission for something, he’s also ready to roll some dice kept in his left hand. Nice t-shirt, by the way!

The other figure has a soda can in his left hand and keeps the right one on his cap’s visor. It’s also easy to imagine him on a beach, shielding his eyes (well, dark and empty sockets) from the sun.

The table has on it an open book (1st edition D&D), some rolled dice, a small unidentified box and the drawings of a map can be seen. My version doesn’t seem to have the pen near the unidentified object, like the one seen on Lost Minis Wiki.

A funny piece, the figures are caught in the act of playing and their poses aren’t too static.

Under the base of the soda skeleton there’s a light text originally written with some hand tool (or small and light rotary tool) “1988 GRENADIER F.F. 3″

Under the base of the table same kind of text: “GRENADIER C 1988″

Half Elf

The half can really be identified as elf’s, with a chain shirt and a dagger… Nice thing is, there are innards details along the “cut line”:

…other unusual details to paint, especially because it will coexist with normal skin, clothes and accessories and there will be a strong contrast line dividing the two. Those should be painted as “good” elf organs, and not as those of a demon or some horrible monster, not even a zombie’s!

Under the base the text is: “GRENADIER” “© 198″ all stamped, the last symbol for the year seems originally written with some hand tool (or small and light rotary tool), it’s not very clear but could be a “5” (or also “8” for congruency), is also visible a “F.F. 11″, probably.

Armoured Idiot

hmmm… the idiocy here is tangible, a blank stare, tights +1 and a Double Bent Spear of the Doomed, accompanied by a toothless grin, but let’s take a look at the heavy armour:

-ACME “Ice Plane Raider” Breast Plate (stove )

-Heavy Buckler of Pestilence (trash can’s lid)

-Ridiculously Heavy Helmet of Void Resonance (cauldron)

-Very Soft Cloth Shoes of the Fakir, left one with a big toe hole, a priceless feature

Under the base the text is: “GRENADIER” “© 198″ all stamped, the last symbol for the year seems originally written with some hand tool (or small and light rotary tool), it’s not clear but could be a “8”, maybe, there’s also a “F.F. 6″ or something similar.

F-19 Fighter Bomber

A Pegasus ready for an air strike, the wings accomodate double-barreled machine guns and more air-to-air and air-to-ground armaments can be seen underneath:

The horse itself has nice proportions and a muscular body, some smoke and dust clouds can be seen near his back hooves, ready to take off…

See you later with the third (and last) part and more awesome Grenadier miniatures!….

Link to Part 3

Grenadier Miniatures – Comedy Lords Boxed Set (part 1)

I’ve been lucky enough to put my hands on this very nice Comedy Lords Boxed Set from Grenadier Models Inc. from 1988 (code 6009):

It contains 12 miniatures, plus the bonus “Invisible Stalker” (?!) figure, credits for box design to Raymond Rubin, for figures design to Andrew Chernak.

Chernak was head sculptor at Grenadier and one of the founders with Rubin, from a fast web search I think he’s still working as sculptor (bronze statues), artist and military historian, I couldn’t find more info on Rubin.

Grenadier was one of the biggest miniatures producing companies in the 80’s and 90’s and was in business from ’76 to ’96, they laid the foundations for all the other producers that came after them. Some of Grenadier miniatures have a very distinct look and pose and you can identify them immediately (for example Nick Lund’s orcs and dwarves, we’ll speak about them in the future….).

The company was really prolific and has very different ranges, Terence Gunn has also written and published a book on it: The Amazing Worlds of Grenadier, I’ll try to get one, it’s a must-have for minis fanatics…..

Curiosity: Grenadier got his name from the first figure sculpted by Rubin.

And now… to the minis!:

This is the presentation text found inside the box, to let you “feel” the subject:

the minis pic from the same sheet of paper:

Now let’s take a closer look at each one:

Half-Orc Slime

Nice figure, not the best “heroic” sculpt, but the sliminess is tangible, in the back there are some impressive, waxy drips, from right arm and legs. Good to experiment some oozy effects when painting it!

He’s armed with a sword and protected by a breast plate and an helmet, probably the orc-half needs some protection from hits….. guess is there still are some bones inside to keep him standing and some internal organs aren’t completely jellied. The sword-wielding arm is elongated and enlarged, almost shapeless, pouring out of the right pauldron, while left arm is more defined, there’s a hand on the scabbard and a cowter (elbow protection).

The half slime part is obvious, if the other half is human, orc, elf or some other antropomorphic type isn’t so immediate, in my personal opinion the head could have been created a bit more orcish, if the original intent was a jelly greenskin (just slightly more jaw!). At the time the rpgs didn’t offer a lot of half races alternatives and the most common combat-oriented was probably the half orc anyway…

Under the base the text is: “GRENADIER” “© 1988″ all stamped, except for the last “8” that seems originally written with some hand tool (or small and light rotary tool). There are other symbols, very light, could be an “F.F. 7″, it’s also possible to identify a “W” letter (or a “M”).

Napoleon Boneyparts

Very nice figure, statuesque pose. A clear Napoleonic mark, the hand-in-coat is present, as well as a spyglass (I think) on the left hand, suggesting an ongoing field action…

Boneypart is maybe a bit meaty on the back and seems to have something (heels?) under his skeletal feet, but those details accompanied by a slight asymmetry on the head and shoulders give him (a lot of) presence.

The first reference I’ve found about the idea for this miniature (well, at least his name), goes back to Grenadier Bulletin number 10, where the top skeleton miniature in the following picture is called, in the joking text, Napoleon Bony-parts: I’m pretty sure those are from Skeletons Raiders of the Undead boxed set (6002). Or, is the left one Pizza Deliveryman from this set? …naa, just his “dad”…

…END OF PART 1, the rest will follow!

Link to Part 2

Sources and more info:

http://www.andrewchernak.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenadier_Models_Inc.
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~tpope/sol/grenadier/history.html
http://www.stunties.com/wiki/index.php/Grenadier_History
http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Andrew_Chernak

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