About Us

I’ve had a lifelong interest in toy solders and miniatures, starting with plastic army men and later Airfix HO, Atlantic HO, Britains and Timpos – all of which I still love. When I first moved to California in the late summer of 1975 I was taken to Old Towne Mall in Torrance near Los Angeles. There was a wonderful hobby shop (Paul Freiler’s Historical Models) that had a fantastic 15mm War Between the States battle scene set up in the front window. It was absolutely electrifying to a 5 year old who loved miniature soldiers. I had never seen anything so intricate, colorful and detailed. My mom inquired as to the cost of individual pieces. I can still see this tall, thin, 70s looking fellow with a beard and afro telling her that they were expensive, delicate, made of lead, had to be painted and were really meant for adults.

Instead of being disappointed I was excited beyond all description. “You mean I can play with toy soldiers when I’m grown up?”

I latched on to the idea and never let go. At first I did not like the metal miniatures and remember a bright Saturday morning in the spring of 1977, when I visited Gamesmanship at South Coast Village in Coast Mesa, CA. They clearly had a medium sized display of Der Kriegspielers Fantastiques behind the counter and I was interested, but decided not to get any. They were expensive, delicate looking, not very detailed, needed to be painted and out of scale with everything else I had. A couple years later I saw the animated Hobbit and Return of the King on TV. I started to swing from sci-fi to fantasy and desperately wanted fantasy miniatures to play with. The local toy store just got something new – Dungeon Dwellers. I wanted orcs/goblins and was again disappointed. I did not like the renditions (at the time!) and recall the salesperson trying to tell me about “lesser goblins” by “Fantastiques” that I might like. Sadly it would be 20 years before I finally saw them…

My Grandparents took me to Torrance again and this time they had a huge plexiglass case filled with Heritage LOTR and other figures glued to cards with descriptions and numbers as well as boxed sets from Knights & Magick. I almost got a K&M set as the rules box photos absoultely captivated me, but once again I was discouraged as the salesman said I might be a little young for the rules. Money was tight so I settled on my first pack of metal minis – Heritage Models LOTR 1770 orcs of the Misty Mountains command. Little did I know that over 25 years later I’d own THE set of master molds from which all these figures were produced…

Slowly as money permitted I began to buy Heritage minis. Miniatures were not common in my area and purchases usually necessitated a drive with mom or my grandparents. By the time I was finishing 8th grade in the Spring of 1983 I had under 20 packs of Heritage LOTR and DD with one each of Star Trek (Gorn) and John Carter (Radium Gun). Then I learned of the demise of Heritage and desperately searched in vain for more packs. For the next 15 years I bought a few minis that caught my fancy, mostly Grenadier, Ral Partha and Superior Models. Miniatures were uncommon where I lived and some lines like Dragontooth and Broadsword I saw only once or not at all, discovering them through the Internet years after they were gone. I always wanted more Heritage and from time to time I would come across the odd, batterd pack still hanging out in an overlooked corner of a store and purchase it like a long lost treasure. Then in 1999 I discovered eBay…

I wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t for eBay. eBay rekindled my interest in minis, put me in contact with all the right people and led me indirectly to buy a spincaster, vulcanizer and my own lines of discontinued vintage minis. At first I just wanted to obtain pieces for my collection, with the happy intent of painting them on the back porch of my future home in AZ (I hoped to meet people for wargaming). Then I discovered (through being regularly crushed in bidding) that there were other people who love these minis as much as I do, people who made more profitable educational and career choices (you will not make much money with an MA in history – trust me) than I did and who made two, three and four times as much as I did. I was repeatedly outbid and sniped to pieces. I could pay maybe $15 to $20 a pack while others could go to $50 and above. Constantly being heartbroken was a strong motivator to think “outside the box”.

If I couldn’t “win” them, I decided to make them. Likewise I’ve always had a strong motivation to share with all of the other people who love miniatures (and my other offbeat interests) as much as I do. After years of hard work, endless (and continuing) research, negotiations, meeting wonderful people and a great deal of spent money, I am now making miniatures myself. It’s a wonderful and rewarding hobby, but like all of the people in the industry warned me, not profitable. Almost every person I’ve met in the industry told me they got involved in casting because they love miniatures and their work is a true labor of love.