Front Rank up for sale

[Sean Clark]

www.Frontrank.Com

A real old guard of the industry has been put up for sale. I have fond memories of these figures along with Dixon Miniatures.

Don't get any ideas Martin! I've still got lots of projects to finish (and start!) yet 

[pbeccas (Paul)]

I always had great service from Front Rank.  Good luck in retirement.

[martin goddard]

Front rank are certainly very nice figures.
They are one of the very best in terms of quality and reputation.
Alec Brown (owner) and his wife have given many years of good service to the hobby.
They deserve a good retirement with enough money too.

Sadly the problem for them will be finding a  buyer.
Quarter of a million pounds is a lot of money (to me anyway).
It may be good value but the whole sum is a lot.
If i had a "spare" 1/4 million I would carry on doing whatever gained me that 1/4 million.

I wonder how much the Hinchliffe sale was for?

martin

[Sean Clark]

I am thinking someone like Warlord Games will snap them up as they continue to monopolise the 28mm market.

The price of Hinchcliffe is interesting. Clearly a price acceptable to Alan and Simon, but you've got to imagine it was in 5 figures.

[John Watson]

I seem to have a hazy recollection that they ventured into 15mm at one point. They brought out a range of Wars of the Roses figures, some of which I still have and fielded against Martin on Tuesday. I think they sold the range on but I don't remember who to and I don't know what happened to them. They were nice figures but not in the same league as the 25/28mm ones.
John

[martin goddard]

Obviously this is all  speculation and i do wish Front Rank well.
But I enjoy a good gossip.
Their 28mm horse and musket ranges are up against warlord and perry plastics.
This is tough because such ranges often use many of the same figure, making a box of grenadiers a good purchase. Saves a lot of money if the army will have 200 plus figures.
If the ranges are used for skirmish games then folk will pay more as they need fewer figures and in greater variety.



martin

[Leman (Andy)]

I too still have some of their 15mm WotR in my armies. I have seen some very similar looking figures in QRF's FK15 range.

[steve_holmes_11]

Obviously this is all  speculation and i do wish Front Rank well.
But I enjoy a good gossip.
Their 28mm horse and musket ranges are up against warlord and perry plastics.
This is tough because such ranges often use many of the same figure, making a box of grenadiers a good purchase. Saves a lot of money if the army will have 200 plus figures.
If the ranges are used for skirmish games then folk will pay more as they need fewer figures and in greater variety.



martin

There's a bit of a thing for skirmish going on at present.
I can't imagine the table area required for 200 (Noo, make it 500) 28mms, but I guess a few have a huge shed or other massive game area.

[pbeccas (Paul)]

The advantage Front Rank has over the Warlord box sets is you can select the individual figures you want in your army, including individual horses.  That is an amazing service these days.

[pbeccas (Paul)]

I am thinking someone like Warlord Games will snap them up

Amazing figures made in crappy Warlord resin.  There is no god.

[martin goddard]

Good point Steve.
However many Napoleonic battle game rules I see in action do fill the table. I rarely see an open flank for manoeuvre.  This makes manoeuvre a bit like a car park. ie a bit wall to wall.

This all said I must admit that I have not war gamed Napoleonic for over 30 years! I have no experience with whatever the current used sets are.


martin

[Sean Clark]

Although I have played some Napoleonics, I have zero desire to do so in 28mm. You're right Martin, you rarely see an open flank. A bit like the Flames of War games where tanks are almost touching each other as they roll forward.

I think the sale is interesting as Front Rank have been around since at least the mid 80's...maybe longer and it will be interesting to see who does pick them up.

[Leman (Andy)]

Warlord have put out their latest figures, advertised in the build-up as resin, in metal. Maybe they are getting the message.

[Panzer21]

I don't remember Front Rank having a 15mm WOTR range but Foundry did briefly. The Perry twins have a habit of producing a random range just because they feel like it...
I got a handful from eBay and was surprised at how small they were; definitely "true 15mm".

I know Bryan Ansell wasn't a big fan of 15mm; although he did advocate 10mms - there were ranges of SYW  Austrian and Prussian. There was never any intention to sell these commercially though.

The moulds probably still exist, although whether in any state to cast from, maybe not.
Neil

[Leman (Andy)]

Yes, they were two different ranges. The Foundry figures were beautiful and some are still to be found in my Italian Wars armies. A great pity when they were withdrawn as I was still collecting them.