Napoleonic & ECW wargaming, with a load of old Hooptedoodle on this & that


Friday 17 June 2022

WSS: Les Higgins - a Little More Figure Paleontology

 I warn you now, this is an extremely nerdy post indeed, so if you like this sort of stuff you should maybe worry a little, but welcome to the gang hut anyway.

My WSS armies mostly consist of Les Higgins 20mm castings, or PMD (Phoenix Model Developments), which is how the company was relaunched after Les died in the early 1970s. As I work through the jobs involved in building up my own forces, I have become familiar with slight variants on the figures as time passed. I'm not referring to conversions added to the range by Old John in recent years, I'm referring to evolution in the original production days.

 
The relevant page from the Les Higgins Miniatures catalogue of 1971

This post (such as it is) was prompted by the realisation that the last few of my original-pattern MP16 castings are about to be painted, and all the MP16s I will have thereafter will be examples of the later PMD figure, which was sculpted entirely by Tim Richards, who succeeded Les as the company's chief designer. There was a sort of landmark period when the range was remastered to show the new PMD logo, and Richards took the opportunity to make some changes - the officer with sword [from pack MP17] was smartened up and given more ornate dress, and a couple of other changes were made; the throwing grenadier [MP3] and the charging grenadier [MP7] were always weak castings, since they stood on one foot, so these were tweaked so that the figures were standing more firmly. For some reason which I've never fathomed, the PMD version of the walking horse has it's head turned to the left, whereas the original was peeking to the right - otherwise the castings appear identical, logos apart. And there was a new, simpler drummer [from MP18], which was all Richards' work

 
The listing, borrowed without permission from the vintage20MIL website

Anyway, to MP16. The original figure is described, at least in the list in Vintage 20 MIL, as "at the ready". After the changeover to PMD, this figure seems to have disappeared and been replaced by a very different chap, who seems to be advancing in a very businesslike manner. I like both castings, personally - it has been suggested to me that the later version looks very similar to a Strelets French fusilier pose - not a bad copy, considering it predated it by 45 years or so.

To commemorate the passing of my last old-style MP16s, I set up a couple of photos, with a choice of lighting. The two figures on the left are Les Higgins' handiwork, and they show traces of white undercoat. The two on the right are the replacement PMD figure by Tim Richards. 


 

I love them all. 

12 comments:

  1. Fascinating study, Tony. I know you love them all but you must have a favorite between Old and New.

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    1. Tricky! Well Jon, I like the old ones if I can get good early castings, but in this case the later figure has a character of its own. If I had a choice between them I'd go for both! [jam or honey? - both, but don't bother with the bread - Winnie the Pooh]

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  2. An excellent study in my opinion. These old ranges need to have their histories kept alive and there is no better source than a devotee.

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    1. Thanks Matt - I've really only been involved with this Malburian range since I bought the 20mm bit of Eric Knowles 18th Century collection, in late 2019, but during lockdown I've become very closely acquainted with a lot of little men - my granny always said I would come to no good.

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  3. An enjoyable morning coffee read that Tony. Sure it's first time I have seen the catalogue images but I'm very familiar with many of those figures of course. Looking at those last comparison shots between old and new I must admit I'm drawn to the latter, the old certainly has it's own charm but I do like the crisp sculpt of the later version. Great stuff.

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    1. Phoenix continued to develop their pewter casting techniques at the "Shoe Factory" at Earls Barton - after the wargames figures were discontinued they continued to make items for dolls' houses, and there was always the larger collectors pieces. I am a big fan of Tim Richards' work, though all his soldiers have the same face!

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  4. If I had seen and had access to 20mmish figures of this quality in the 70s and early 80s, I might never have been drawn into 25mm then 15mm. Well if I had been able to convince my friends that THIS was the size for wargaming!

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    1. This last point is the potential killer - my friends were always very influenced by what the magazines were currently pushing - 5mm blocks, Hinchliffe System 12, Napoleon at War 18mm, Warlord games - fill in your own blanks! Higgins/PMD came at this from the direction of centrifugal casting with pewter (they also did trophies and monumental type sculpture - the traditional joke was that this was why Les's figures always had very dignified, not to say stiff, poses!).

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  5. I had a few Les Higgins back in the early 70's - as a 12-14 year old, a few was all I could afford and my choices were somewhat idiosyncratic - or probably dictated by what I came across, wherever it was I obtained them from. I did have a few Marlburian but also some ECW and Napoleonic - possibly the biggest single number were dismounted French dragoons, of which I had around 10-12. I do remember the lovely hand drawn images of the catalogue too!

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    1. I was a late developer - I was a new wargamer in my early 20s - I had a new son and needed a hobby that would keep me in the house! This means that, apart from any I have voluntarily sold or given away, in theory I still have every Higgins figure I ever obtained. Thus my Napoleonic British 52nd Light Infantry and the first battalion of my French 6eme Léger still contain the very first packets of Higgins Napoleonics I ever brought home from "The Toytub", in Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, back in Nineteen-Oatcake. This is devotion on a monastic scale. I assume that Higgins himself did the drawings in the catalogue! Dismounted French dragoons - nice figures, those. Elegant.

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  6. A nice bit of figure history Tony…
    And good to see the Toytub getting a mention… I got my first Minifigs S Range from there…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. The Toytub - Archie Alexander(?) was one of a list of extremely miserable local sellers of toy soldiers I remember from those early days. If I'd had a crystal ball handy when I saw the first examples of Higgins, in his shop, I'd have been able to forecast, "in 50 years time I'll still be a serious collector of these things, and by then I'll be able to afford them..."

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