I am thinking of starting to collect miniatures outside the games workshop LOTR range in addition to my ever growing LOTR collection). Before I do, however, I just thought I would ask which miniature manufacturers produce high quality miniatures. I would prefer a similar scale to the GW LOTR range, and style (ie. not warhammerish), so if anyone else has any experience with this assistance would be appreciated.

In particular I am interested in:

1. Miniatures which could be passed off for some race in Middle Earth. If the models are of a similar enough scale and style it would be a nice way to add more variation to my existing armies, as well as include things like civilians and militia, who may be useful in scenarios.

2. Historical miniatures from Feudal Japan. I have had a look at the Perry Miniatures range, and am impressed. If anyone has seen any of these in person, please let me know. Also, are there any other people who produce them, and if so, how is the quality.

For me, quality is more important than price (within reason, of course). I would also like to collect Napoleonic era miniatures as well, but fear I would be stretching myself a little thin. Still, I do like looking at them, so if you know a good place to look at pics, feel free to post a link.

Thanks in advance,

Matt

It is difficult to go wrong with the Perry Bros historical miniatures. When I was looking to put together some armies for Warhammer Ancients I bought medieval figs from a bunch of different manufacturers, and the best quality by far were the Perrys. They've even got a line of plastics in their War of the Roses range now, but I still dig their metals.

Perry miniatures look great. I wouldn't mind having a go with those.

You can check Wargames Factory too. They are cheap and each plastics box they release is much better quality than the previous.

I also know that Andrea miniatures has a line of 30mm Romans and Napoleonics. If you are not too picky with size you might get away with those, but I'm pretty sure they are clearly much bigger than 28mm. They are metal though, so more expensive, but excelent quality.

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Foundry are good but the postal charges are quite high, Vendel, Gripping Beast also do a good line of historicals as do Renegade to name a few.

Thank you all for the feedback so far. I have already started writing up a wish list for Perry Miniatures, who seem to have much of what I am looking for, but I notice Gripping Beast have some nice plastic Vikings who could possibly pass for Rohirrum. I really like the idea of expanding to other manufacturers as it saves me having to have half a dozen sets of the same 12 men on the battlefield, and the quality seems reasonable.

For now I think I will start with my Samurai army, and if time/money permits I will definitely look at getting some of those vikings.

Might I suggest but one more historical miniature manufacturer?

Take a look at eBob Miniatures. He has three main historical ranges: Stalag Luft III is a WWII range of miniatures that can be used on a board game to reenact the events that transpired at the German PoW camp, Stalag Luft III (which are the contents of the movie The Great Escape). Next, there is a very popular range of miniatures that fought in the Scottish War of Independence, known as Rebellion; this range features full wargaming rules, and consists of Scottish, English, Welsh, and soon to be Irish forces that could all fit nicely in the LotR range as Rohirrim, Gondorians, ruffians, Dunlendings, or the like. Another range is Tribes of the East, which consists of Mongol hordes, who could fit in nicely along Khand. eBob's Fantasy range also has some sets which were clearly inspired by LotR, you'll know which when you see them (there used to be more like that too, but they sold out or were forcibly removed). I'd like to have more eBob miniatures, they are amazing.

When you get Perry Miniatures, would you mind taking pictures and/or reporting your opinion of them? I really like the look of the American Civil War range, but I want an opinion from a noob who would not be biased towards Perry before I invest.

If it's Vikings you're looking for, I've bought from Artizan before and really like their models:

http://www.artizandesigns.com/list.php? ... 117&page=1

@Jamros

Will probably be a few months before I order anything from Perry Miniatures, but I will be sure to post my thoughts on them when they arrive. Having said that, I would like to do it while the pound is still weak, so if the current situation looks like it is about to change I may make my order a little sooner.


I am actually surprised at the variety of high quality miniatures out there, and the price difference between other retailers and GW. I will definitely avoid buying anything from GW in the future if possible.

@emperor_thompson

I think we have very similar sentiments. I'd like to get in some orders to eBob and Perry while the pound and dollar are more equalized, but it may be a few months before I actually order anything (I'm 17 and my parents don't order stuff online for me, so I have to buy those Visa Gift Cards to do so).

Looking at all these miniatures lately has turned me off to GW big time. I'm not as into Warhammer and 40K as I was a year ago, I'm currently basically in love with history. The only thing completely tieing me to GW atm is their supplies and LotR. I haven't purchased anything not related to either their supplies or LotR for a long while and I don't forsee doing so anytime soon.

Now if I could only find a viable alternative to their paints... I invest a lot of time painting my miniatures so I really don't want to risk some potentially low quality paint, so I have resisted looking for alternatives so far. But, at AU$6 a pot it is really getting rediculous, and I could never justify painting scenery with something that expensive. Of course, that is another issue entirely.

As far as I can tell, paint is paint, very little difference if any between maunufacturers (I have 4 brands in my paint station). My favourite is Coat d'arms, they are not the cheapest but far cheaper than GW, and they do have the best bottles availabe. Check out Maelstrom Games, they supply from different manufactureres.

I use Coat d'Arms and Citadel. In case of emergencies (ie, I've just run out of a basic color and I wanted to get a mini done soon), I'll go pick up one of the cheap brands from Micheals or AC Moore.

I also use Coat d'Arms and Citadel, but I have heard Vallejo and Foundry stock some great sets of colours. I have yet to invest in any yet though.

Warlord games Does have some great miniatures.

Forgive me for reviving this, but for anyone who is interested in buying from Perry Miniatures, my models have arrived. I purchased models mostly from the Korean and Japanese product lines, and found the quality of the sculpts to be excellent. The models have a very realistic style, and many come with surplus weapons, which may be useful for conversions later. The products are every bit as good as GW products, for a fraction of the price. There are two small criticisms though. First of all, from the time I ordered they took around 3 weeks for the order to arrive (while this was not a problem for me, but I was wondering for a while what was happening). Secondly, they do not come with bases. That is only a moderate inconvenience though, but something you should be aware of before ordering.

Yeah, I had the bases problem with Warlord also,
but the next time I order something from them I order a couple more bases.

But can you make some pictures for comparrison?

Forgiveness is unecessary, I wanted you to write a review!

A review? Not a bad idea, althouth that may have to wait until I get some painted, so you may have to wait a little longer. I was also thinking of creating a non-LOTR thread for the miniatures, which should appear in the next few months. I have a Khandish chariot which has been waiting a long time to be painted, so I'm afraid it will take precedence.