VSF Men- Title Bar: An Exhaustible Index of Some Very Extraordinary Individuals

Marvellous Men page two- being an continued examination of brave fighting men and scurilous rogues and villains- Compiled by Jakar Nilson

Pulp Figures

Now, although it is clearly stated as Pulp Figures, we can see that they manufacture figures of the dreaded Doctor Fu Manchu. And as most know, the Devil Doctor started his plotting back in the days when Victoria Regina ruled the world (well, the civilised, which means British, part of it, at the least).

They also have some Zeppelintruppen in the works, which means that one could game ideas from Custer’s Last Jump to The War in the Air without looking out of place.

The Virtual Armchair General

Here, amongst the various Sword and the Flame variants, the hooligan gangs of New York run amok in the "B'hoys!" range… there are colonial era cutout buildings in "B'hoys Town" to boot. We are sure that the quality of the pictures was affected by the fact that the General’s photographer did not want to be mobbed. Well, blame the Irish…

(Fact: the New York riots during the American Civil War were in fact spurred by NY Irish who weren’t too pleased about Lincoln, the rich people, the war, and the African-Americans getting their freedom…)

Iron Wind Metals/Ral Partha Europe

One of the most distinguished firms of our esteemed hobby, now produced by two companies either side of the Atlantic.

Searching through their ranges, one finds a small caravan of Arabic characters with camels and donkeys (Brigands Treasure Caravan 01-128), enough to spice up any encounter- sadly only available from Iron Wind, so you'll have to swallow your pride and go State-side for them.

To balance out this cruelty, Ral Partha Europe seem to currently hold a monopoly on the Crucible range, within which one can find two gentlemen that could only be described as Anarchists or Rippers…

Chiltern Miniatures

Chiltern have also bravely refused to get a North American distributor, though more than one colonial has ogled at their 28mm miniatures. For our interests, their 'Character Figures' include some expressive Vampires and Hunters from the beginning of the Queen’s reign.

Shadowforge

If one wants a female miniature in 28mm, one naturally thinks of Australia’s Shadowforge. And for our needs, they help us again, with a couple of cowgirls and homesteaders. We hear that the Earp sisters will make an appearance this year…

Newbold

Ian Newbold’s fantasy world doesn’t have much in the way of Scientific Romance, but the Interstellar Crew sent to scout it sure could find themselves aboard Etherships and submarines.

Reviresco

An antique company, known for the game Starguard and available from tin-soldier.com. The only humans in the VSF range are some divers- for those deep sea expeditions.

RAFM

These are the people that do the Space 1889 miniatures. If the Sons of the Widow aren’t enough, there is a pack of characters, ranging from the brave adventurer to the dashed inventor.

Like the proposed 'Thames Tunnel' and 'Moon Bridge' RAFM's website is still labouring towards completion, so until then here are some pictures from Ed's Miniatures Gallery...

Spyglass Miniatures

Steve Buddle has been coming out with a small range of assorted figures that are mostly Fantasy. But out of the blue, one can find the resident of 221b Baker Street, of the Basil Rathbone variety.

Project X

Now I know that these are a 1/48 pulp WWII range, but the British Power Armour could easily find its place at the 1889 Paris World Fair.

Yes, it could I tell you.

Doster Company: Entertainment

You might not have heard of them, but they came out with “The Quest for Piptwynn’s Scroll”, a different kind of wargame. However, what is important is that the figures were sculpted by none other than Tom Meier, and several have a Victorian feel to them. From a diver, a mechanic, a navigator and an Incan prince, one can easily find enough scenarios to entertain any number of players…

Graven Images

Out of Graven Images comes Disturbia, a gothic nightmarish Neverland-like world, full of pirates, clowns, possessed dolls, disreputable ladies and “futuristic” inhumans (alright, the Sandmen are based on WWII Germans, but 1939 IS in the far future when you live in 1889). Plenty of character in every sculpt, but one might be saddened that they are in fact much closer to 1/48th scale than 28mm…

Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company

An insane name like that MUST point to something Victorian (in fact, they do claim to have a stable time portal to the period…). Along a number of historical miniatures, they have a couple of more whimsical packs, mostly big game hunters with unusual guns, and some British soldiers equipped with body armour.

Steve Jackson Games

From the creators of the GURPS system come the GURPS Steampunk miniatures, seen here for a rare occasion. These consist of 6 ladies and gentlemen handling bizarre contraptions and come with a steamman and a clockwork cat.
Sadly SJG's miniatures line has gone the way of the dodo and the dinosaur (i.e. hunted to extinction by big game hunters), but you can find some preserved examples in Warehouse 23, The British Museum or on ebay

Team Frog Studios

The makers of Critter Commandos do happen to have a miniature of a rather 'extraordinary' gentleman who literally requests to remain out of sight. He is available both in his natural state or wrapped up so much that none could ever recognise him.

EM-4

Current makers of the old Grenadier Call of Cthulu detectives, one must point out that if the men of this collection could roam around quite well within the British Empire, the ladies presented seem to have lost the decency that is require of them. But we are told that these represent people from the far future of the 1920s.

Limited Editions

Never released Foundry VSF

We should not forget to mention these limited editions found here and there at conventions and such forth, as well as those minis that should have been released by certain companies…

Very Limited Edition

Fantasy Steampunk:

Here are those miniatures which are not Victorian in design, but still hold the charm of the Scientific Romance and the Steam-powered decadent youth genre.

Freebooter Miniatures

From the farthest reaches of Germany ("Used to be Prussia ... well, since 1871 father."), Herr Klocke has sculpted some extraordinary ladies, who show no fear at embracing technology, even if they disdain some decency in their appearance.

Warmachine

 

Warmachine, where Steam meets Fantasy, and made 12’ tall robots called ‘Jack. There are enough characters here to almost pass off as historicals, from Soviet mechanics-look-alikes to Seven Years War look-alikes, but still retain that bit of fantasy fun. Supplies are low, so grab’em while you can!

Heresy Miniatures

Andy Foster decided he wanted to sculpt and market his own line of figs, and by looking at them, who in their right mind would say no? Most of his stuff is fantasy, but he does have a masked figure that could easily pass off as a cat burglar, a Dread Pirate in search of his Princess Bride, or a Latin American vigilante, or whatever you would like him to portray…

Rackham

French manufacturers and designers of exquisite figures. A few of the figures look like they could hold themselves up quite well in a world of steam and Espers. Did I say Espers? I’m sorry, I meant magic…

 

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