Hugo Negron's Blog - Posts Tagged "grenadier-models"

Hi all – any grizzled old gamers out there remember growing up in the 70’s/80’s when you had comics, Atari, and TSR Hobbies to help keep you entertained? I especially remember a company called Grenadier Models, Inc. They were a miniatures company that produced lead figures (initially historical soldiers, hence the name, “Grenadier”) that were used in a variety of role playing games, such as TSR’s Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu, Steve Jackson’s Ogre, and a host of others.

I was a huge fan of their products. I used to look forward to all of their upcoming figure lines for AD&D, as well as their special lines such as their “Dragon of the Month” boxed sets, “Giants Club” sets, and “Undead Legion” series (their skeletal war mammoth, complete with skeletal riders, and their skeletal war chariot riders come immediately to mind). The quality of their work with regards to detail and animation was amazing, from their president and head sculptor Andrew Chernak to such sculpturing greats as John Dennett and Julie Guthrie. Ray Rubin, their VP and head artist, did most of the artwork on the box covers. Talk about sparking the imagination! Their company even produced a magazine that discussed their products, and offered stories, jokes, games, answered customer’s questions, contests galore, and special mail-only products (anyone remember the undead pizza delivery man figure?). I still have the original run of 18 issues before it was replaced with a bolder, color version from their UK division. I don’t even recall how I got on their mailing list for the bulletin – I think I may have just written to the company with a question about their products, but I was glad I did! My figure collection was eventually passed on to my nephews but the “Grenadier Bulletin” as it was called, stayed with me. I remember entering many of their contests, and writing to them frequently. Grenadier was even nice enough to replace damaged figures that came in some of their sets I had purchased at various hobby stores for free.

Going through some old books and folders, I came across my bulletin issues, safely stored away in sleeves of plastic, and a wave of nostalgia overtook me. I recall the company had folded back in the 90’s, and I immediately began to wonder what had become of their head honchos.

Well, I was able to find Andrew Chernak and was happy to hear he was still actively sculpting! I sent him a quick missive just to say thanks for all the great work he had produced and launched with Grenadier. To my surprise, he responded back, mentioning he remembered me from back in the day, and was appreciative of the compliments and the reach out. For the president of a company to recall a customer (and a young teenage one back in the day at that) from an enterprise that was no longer around was quite the nice gesture, and deeply appreciated! Those guys helped outline a lot of my imagination back then, and were one of the many seeds that inspired me.

So a big Thank You, Mr. Chernak, for your artistry, products, and for Grenadier Models, Inc.! I’ll be needing figures for Forging of a Knight soon enough…!

I've mentioned in the past that I was a big fan of Grenadier Models, Inc., the pioneering miniatures company that produced little lead figures for such games as AD&D, Call of Cthulhu, Ogre, Car Wars, and eventually expanded to such properties as He-Man, the Dark Crystal, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and more.

That company went belly-up in the late 90's, rather sad when you think of the impact they made to the gaming industry, and seeing some of their rivals such as Ral Partha still around.

Being a big fan, I eventually found the company's president Andrew Chernak via linkedin and was able to re-connect with someone who helped inspire my imagination back in the day.

Fast forward to Terence Gunn - a fan who self-published in 2004 The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier, a book that detailed Grenadier's history, with interviews and photos to boot! Not exactly easy to find, Terence recently updated his book as The Extended Edition of The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier, available as far as I can tell only through Noble Knight below:

https://www.nobleknight.com/Product/2...

I've ordered my copy, and look forward to receiving! I didn't even know Terence had updated his book except by pure accident - I found the info on this book via kickstarter, and reached out to Terence to congratulate him on it, being a mutual Grenadier fan. To my pleasant surprise he responded back, and I found out about a NEW project of his, a supplement to his book, consisting mostly of pictures/images. Well, it turned out I let him know I still have my collection of all 18 issues of Grenadier's original monthly bulletin that they used to send out to customers (I've shared some pics from that bulletin series on my Forging of a Knight facebook page) and Terence let me know he was looking for images from these old publications for his supplement! Happy to be of service, I scanned quite a few pages to him, and hopefully we'll see the end result soon! Kismet, fate, who knows? Check out his kickstarter page if you are an old time gaming fan, miniature fan, or a big time Grenadier fan, like me!

Fun stuff comin'!

An awesome interview coming your way soon - some old time miniaturist collectors/fantasy gamers might recognize this talented illustrator/writer from some of his works as shown in the Grenadier Bulletin, the Polyhedron, and Dragon Magazine...here's a tease from a page of the old Grenadier Bulletin - one of my favorites from him - Croink the Rollin' Golem...!

Continuing the conversation with Ron Shirtz from Part One...

HN: How long does it take?


RS: Depending on the complexity of the tile, whether it’s just a dungeon floor or a decorated room, anywhere from 1-5 hours for an 8”x 10” size tile. High-tech tiles take more time as they required lots of nuts, bolts, buttons, etc. Larger (11” x 17”) tiles are ten times longer to make. It took 40 plus hours to create the Space Freighter tile set, “Brandy’s Lament”. I was pretty burned out after making that one. It was several weeks before I would even consider making another tile!


HN: How do you achieve such realistic effects?


RS: Using a combination of design techniques and clip art photos I can achieve a near photo-realistic effect with many of my tiles. Clip art saves me considerable time from having to design sub-components for many tiles. But using clip art effectively is more than just cut and paste---much of the clip art I use has to be resized, cropped, trimmed, flipped, rotated, distorted, and otherwise modified to fit the scale and colors of a tile. I spend a lot of time researching hundreds of clip art files to find one to suit my purpose. But while I make use of stock photo clip art, the majority of my tiles are created ex nihilo in Photoshop. The real key in making realistic tiles is the use of lighting. Highlights and shadows give depth and drama to artwork. Using Photoshop’s layers, blur filters, dodge and burn tools I can create lighting effects to make the tile more dramatic. Adding texture overlays also enhances the finished product. These texture overlays can be imported and blended in at different levels of transparency to really set off a stone floor and other tile elements. Keeping the tiles to 25mm scale can be tricky--I keep a 25mm miniature next to my computer compare against the tile on the monitor to help keep the tiles in reasonably close to scale. Even so, I often fudge with the scale to make items on the tiles bigger than life for dramatic effect--- I used the excuse of artistic license more than once to justify my errors in keeping scale!


HN: Where do you get your ideas for tiles?


RS: Mostly movies & comics. I take a cinematic approach to my work. Among my favorite artists are N.C. Wyeth, M.C. Escher, the Brothers Hildebrandt, and Jack "King" Kirby. A lot of the old adventure movies from the 1960's give me inspiration for themes to make tiles. The idea for the "Crocodile pit" tile was from an old Tarzan movie I saw as a kid. Nowadays when I watch a movie I spend more time watching the scenery and the sets than the actors! Sometimes I get ideas from studying photos of historical buildings and structures from the past. The tricky part is making the idea translate into a top-down perspective on a tile. I often approach the design of a tile as if I am building a stage for the action to take place. I often add obstacles, pathways, different elevations, and other features to make a tile unique, and to give challenges for a party of adventurers to overcome. My goal is always to make a tile evoke mystery or drama. I like to think that my tiles often tell a story by themselves, giving the GM ideas for running an adventure.


A final bit of advice: Don't be too discouraged if your first attempts don't come out very well the first time. (Then again, you may be a natural born artist and whip out masterpieces on the first try--I've seen it happen!) If anyone saw my first tiles I did three years ago, you would have thought they were pretty pathetic. It wasn't till my second year I started to turn out some decent ones, and by the third year I was finally good enough to get Dragon Magazine's attention to publish my work. Even then, it wasn't until my last two tiles in the poster series that I begin to hit my stride. You must decide if you are going for masterpieces, or just some nice, useful tiles for gaming-- It can be a toss up to decide which would you rather do ----gaming or making tiles! Live with your choice and don't compare your work with others unless you are going for masterpieces. I make tiles because I enjoy it, (or getting decent bucks to do it!) The minute making a tile seems like work is when I wrap it up and call it a night. It's gotta be fun to be worth doing.


HN: Which of your works is your favorite? What characters were the most fun to develop? Which were the most challenging?


RS: I would say all have been my favorite. Each one engaged my imagination in a new way. One thing I learned is that there is always another story or picture to be made. So whenever I’m asked, which my best work is, I say “The next one”.



As far as the most challenging, I would say the map boards for Forgotten Heroes, Vietnam. Lots of detail, and I had to make sure all the geomorphic maps would align with one another regardless of their orientation. Every hex had to be given a reference number.


HN: What are your plans long-term? Do you have additional/different works in mind?


RS: None really. I pick up the odd job here and there. I’ve shifted gears and now concentrating on writing my first book, a sci-fi adventure titled: The Last voyage of the Brandy’s Lament.


HN: As an author, it’s sometimes difficult to finally say a product is finished, no matter how many times you review or edit. Is there anything you would go back and change from your creations? Where there ideas you had in mind and then decided NOT to include?


RS: Oh yes. I rarely had a project that I did not wish I could revise after it was published. Can’t tell you the number of times that the day after I submit a project that the muse pays me a tardy visit and THEN tells me what I should have done instead! But when up against a deadline, one seldom has the luxury to mess about multiple versions. It’s often “Gotta get ‘er done!” “Publish or Perish!”


Often I wished I had added some more features here or there, or emphasized some of the elements. Composition is the key. I like to design my layouts asymmetrically to create dynamic angles and poses, while ensuing it is balanced and not ready to fall over.


HN: I have a 5 year old son, and structuring time around him can be challenging! I’ve lost count of the times he nearly pressed the delete button on something I was working on…how do you find time to develop your projects?


RS: Heh. Usually forging sleep, and working in the wee hours. Or getting up early. Makes for being a zombie for the rest of the day, but one must suffer for one’s art.


I’m paranoid about backing up my work. One time I invested 40 hours designing some HeroQuest RPG floor tiles, and blew off backing them up. Of course Murphy ’s Law kicked in, as my computer decided to pick up a virus and I lost everything. Oh, the pain! Never again. I vowed.


HN: Do you have a certain method you use – i.e., a certain room, music, mood, etc., to help get you in the right creative frame of mind?


RS: Not really. Sometime I do listen to music. But usually ideas come to me when I waiting somewhere, or attending a boring, purposeless meeting. My co-workers will see me scribbling furiously, thinking I am dutifully taking notes, when instead I’m doing thumbnail sketches of future projects.


HN: What are you working on right now?


RS: Nothing at the moment. I’m currently working on my first novel, a sci-fi adventure titled: The Last Voyage of the Brandy’s Lament. Boy, do I now have a greater appreciation of authors! The book is currently in its 17 month of gestation, and I have at least another 4-6 weeks to go to finish revising the original draft.


The rest of my time is spent on my favorite hobby, painting miniatures and creating tabletop scenery. I find it very therapeutic, if nothing else. I’m a terrible gamer as far as strategy and tactics go. I seldom ever win. But I do love the visual pageantry of miniatures displayed on a scenic game board.


HN: Where can readers go to find out more about Ron Shirtz?


RS: Well, I do have a Facebook page, but I am very shy to share much about myself. But Google Dwayne Agin’s Hero Quest page, or my name, and examples of my early RPG tiles can be found and available free for downloading.

As readers of these updates know, I'm a big fan of Grenadier Models, Inc., - a company that produced miniature led figures for role playing games from the 70's to the 90's. In 1996 the company officially closed its doors, although many of their molds and sculpts were purchased by other companies and are still in production today.

The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier is a book that follows the history of the company, written by an even bigger Grenadier fan Terence Gunn. I was lucky enough to find this book, and even luckier to connect with its author!


H.N. I was a big fan of Grenadier Models, Inc., especially their AD&D, Call of Cthulhu, and Masterpiece Editions miniature lines from back in the day. How did you develop the idea for The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier?

T.G. Well, first off, I should mention that I started playing role-playing games and book case games in 1978, when I was twelve years old. This was the year I started purchasing fantasy gaming miniatures, too – my first being the Grenadier Models Wizzards & Warriors boxed set Monsters. In 1983 I stopped purchasing miniatures, but continued role-playing up to the early 1990s – though less frequently and with less enthusiasm than when I was younger. I should mention also that I did not keep any of the games and miniatures I had as a youth – save for a couple book case games.

In the year 2000 (the year I started to become familiar with computers and the Internet), I had a fairly well paying job, good credit, and enough spare time and money to get into the hobby again. But what I was interested in most, were the games and miniatures from my youth. When I became familiar with eBay, my nostalgia really kicked in!

I went a bit crazy and not only bought every game and miniature I once owned, but bought many of the games and miniatures I always wanted or was curious about, and some I never knew about. For miniatures, Grenadier Models was at the top of the list. I never did get back into gaming, but I did start painting miniatures again, learning different techniques, and honing my painting skills. I soon amassed quite a collection of miniatures, with Grenadier Models being predominant. Aside from the hobby aspect of seeking out, buying, collecting, and painting, I was getting also quite the history lesson of Grenadier Models and its products. I had no idea how long this company was in business, or how extensive its catalogue of miniatures and other products were; nor did I realize the tremendous impact Grenadier Models had on/in the gaming miniatures industry.

At the time, there was only one fairly comprehensive source of compiled information indexing Grenadier Models’ line of products – and that was on Thomas Pope’s website, The Stuff of Legends. Although a useful resource, I began noticing how many gaps there were in the product listings, and that certain lines were not listed at all, nor mentioned. There was also very little information about the company itself, the founders, and other people involved. Grenadier Models – one of the most innovative, prominent, influential, and pioneering gaming miniatures manufacturer in the history of gaming miniatures, and there was very little known about this company and its vast line of products. I was fascinated by this company and its products, and wanted to learn more. When I did, I decided to write a book on the subject.

No one had written a book about a gaming miniatures company before, so there was no template example for me to go by. I did not have much writing experience, had only a little amateur experience in dealing with image and text layout, and knew only a little about the do’s and don’ts of the publishing industry. Despite these shortcomings, I decided to chance my arm and go ahead with the project, which took over a year to finish. The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier was completed in late 2003 (hence the copyright date), but the book was not available until sometime in 2004. I sought out a publisher, but as the book was considered of interest to a niche market only, I realized soon that this was a dead end, so decided to publish the book myself.

The next step was to find a quality printer with a good reputation and reasonable charges. After some searching and comparing costs, etc., I decided on one. The book had a lot of colour images so I wanted the book to be printed on heavy weight glossy paper. Even the black and white images looked better on such. But such was expensive, and I could not afford all of the upfront printing costs. I contacted Aaron Leeder of Noble Knight Games and he agreed to a pre-order of 20 books, which helped considerably, given the fact that the first print run was only 40 books. Also, I listed on eBay 10 books for pre-order. I announced the book on a miniatures website, had a simple one page website for the book, and, after the book was printed, sent out a number of complimentary copies to certain people. Other than that, there was very little marketing. Most of the marketing was word of mouth, so to say.

The book was 60 pages long and featured an insightful chronological narrative, glossy colour images of products (mainly box cover art and blister packs), interviews with some of Grenadier’s sculptors and employees, and displayed the most comprehensive Grenadier Models product listings available. The book was also a good source of reference to many of the creations and trends in the gaming and gaming miniatures industry in the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s.

For a variety of reasons, the book was not intended to be a photo compendium of Grenadier’s remarkably vast line of miniatures. But, at the same time, I was aware that the book did fall short of displaying a significant enough amount of miniatures to satisfy the reader’s curiosity and desire for visual reference, so I put together and included with each book, a supplemental CD with a PDF containing 43 pages of images from Grenadier’s miniature lines and products. This was an efficient way to keep the printing cost down, as well as was beneficial in that one could zoom in on the images to see greater detail of the miniatures featured. But such wasn’t as enjoyable as having all these images included in the physical book, which one could reference and access more easily.

The first print run of the book had a number of typos and grammatical errors (I know – I should have used a proofreader or two, but I was in total do-it-myself mode), as well as some product date and other informational errors. Before going ahead with a second print run (which was another 40 copies, which I sold on eBay in blocks), I revised certain errors I was aware of, but there were errors still – errors I would become aware of years later when I began working on the new (2016) edition of the book.

After the first two print runs ran out in a number of months, I offered the book for a while as a PDF on disc, which included the supplement. For those who had missed out on the print runs, the eBook was the only option. I sold about 50 copies of the eBook, then dropped off the radar, and focused on other things in my life.

A number of years later, my interest in the book returned, and I began working on a new edition of the book. The new edition would be an extended and revised edition of the first book, and would feature loads of images of miniatures. At least, that was the plan. However, and for a variety of reasons, work on the new edition was short-lived, and was put on the back burner.

Fast forward to November 2015. I injured my left knee at the job I had at the time, and filed for worker’s compensation. A major part of my convalescence was to stay off my feet, and to not stand or walk, unless absolutely necessary; and as my job was physically demanding, I was not able to perform my duties. I was looking at months of sitting round at home, and, potentially, knee surgery, so what would I do to occupy my time in the interim? Work on the new edition of The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier, of course! And I did. Admittedly, at first there wasn’t a great deal of inspiration; but after a few days of working on the project, inspiration really kicked in!

One of the problems I faced when working on the new edition years prior 2016, was getting images of miniatures I wanted to include in the book – particularly, miniatures from Grenadier’s 1970s lines. But not just any images; I had certain specifications in mind. I had put the word out, but to no avail. In 2016 I put the word out again, and this time, a number of collectors came forward. I am really grateful to these people, and for the time and effort they took to photograph the figures they had and email them to me. The book certainly would not have been as rich without their contributions.

In the spring of 2016, I announced on a couple of miniatures/gaming websites that I was working on a new edition of The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier. I was still in the process of recovering from my job-related injury, but was now also unemployed – my previous job position had been eliminated at the end of January, due to, so I was informed, budget cuts. I really wanted the book to be in print form, but unless I found an interested publisher or financial backer, an eBook seemed to be the only option. Circumstances were different this time round, and the book was going to be a larger volume of work, which would mean higher printing costs, should I find the financial means to go in that direction. Kickstarter – which I knew nothing about – was mentioned to me, and I looked into it. Kickstarter offered a number of advantages over the do-it-yourself pre-order method, so I decided to give it a try. I am glad I did! Not only was the financial goal met, it was exceeded! But there was a period when pledges slowed down, and it did not look like the financial goal was going to be met. And although a couple of backers (I think it was only two) backed out before the financial goal was met, this did not affect the outcome.

H.N. What was the most challenging aspect of this project? What was the most fun?

T.G. Between the research, obtaining material, scanning material, acquiring images of material I did not have but wanted to include; cutting and pasting; editing text and images; doing the layout; doing the writing; fact checking over and over again, to make sure dates and details were as accurate as possible; etc. – all aspects of this project were equally challenging. There was also the challenge of dealing with the limitations and idiosyncrasies of the software programme I used to put all this together – which was, at times, very frustrating to deal with. And the data size of the book was so large, I had to split it into four sections, in order to add to, edit, and save what I added and edited. When each section was finished, I then had to convert each to a PDF, and then merge the four together.

As for what was the most fun, it was the process of creating something I was passionate about.

H.N. How difficult was it to search out former employees, sculptors, and owners of Grenadier?

T.G. The Internet made the search easier in tracking down certain people, but only those who had their own websites and/or social media sites, were active members of an online forum, or were affiliated with a company, etc. that had a website. Sculptor William Watt did not, and still does not, have a computer, and it was Andrew Chernak who put me in contact with him. Of course, not all of the people I tracked down and contacted wanted to talk to me or do an interview.

H.N. As a self-published author, I share the challenge of getting the word out on my works. What have you had to do to win broader exposure and branding for your work?

T.G. As with the first edition, I knew that the most efficacious way of promoting the work would be to announce the work on miniatures sites, etc., to those who would be potentially most interested. From there word would spread; but I had to remain active, letting people know of my progress on the book, posing questions, answering questions, letting people know what I added, etc. A number of people who had their own blog sites, mentioned on their blog sites the book and the Kickstarter campaign, and I am grateful to them for doing this. Allan Grohe (aka grodog) was particularly helpful in spreading the word.

H.N. This question will start off sounding like an old joke – a person walks into a bar (or convention or bookstore) and bumps into Terence Gunn – what would be your elevator pitch to showcase your work?

T.G. I don’t really have a pitch per se, other than stating the facts of what the book is about and what the book features.

H.N. As an author, it’s sometimes difficult to finally say a product is finished, no matter how many times you review or edit. Is there anything you would go back and change? Were there ideas you had in mind and then decided NOT to include?

T.G. Yes, there are a few things I would go back and change, but such are minor. There were a couple ideas I had in mind to integrate into the book, but did not. And, of course, there were numerous images I wanted to include, but did not. Regarding the latter two, the book has a certain flow to it, and I did not want to disturb the flow too much.

H.N. I have a five year old son and structuring time around him can be challenging! I’ve lost count of the times he nearly pressed the delete button on something I was working on…how do you find time to research and write?

T.G. Being in the state of singleness without children certainly helps!

H.N. Do you have a certain method you use when you write – i.e., a certain room, music, mood, etc., to help get you in the right writing frame of mind?

T.G. It depends on what subject I am writing about. But usually when I write and do research, I prefer a quiet surrounding with no distractions. When my mind gets too busy and noisy, I will turn on some light classical music in the background to pacify it.

As for a room, for the most part, I write in the upstairs lounge of my rental house – where my computer is – using the computer’s keyboard as my writing implement and the internal word processor software as my editorial assistant. And, of course, when doing research, having the Internet at hand is very useful, and is a quick go-to resource; but one has to be discerning when one comes across any information – be such on the Internet, or in any other form or way.

H.N. What are you reading right now?

T.G. Book-wise, I am not reading anything currently. But the last book I read was The Juniper Tree and Other Tales from Grimm (aka the brothers Grimm), translated by Lore Segal with illustrations by Maurice Sendak. I read a number of tales from Grimm in my youth, and wanted to revisit them as an adult. There are a lot metaphors, morals, and alchemy present in these tales, which I find very intriguing.

On a side note, and although they are variations of the stories on which they were based, I really like what Jim Henson and crew did with a number of these tales in the wonderfully brilliant late 1980s TV series The Storyteller.

H.N. Do you have additional works in mind? What’s your next upcoming project?

T.G. The project I am working on currently is a supplement to The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier. Page-wise, the supplement will be a larger volume than The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier, and will be more of a photo compendium, featuring images of miniatures and other things that were not included in the new edition of the book. Initially I was planning for the supplement to be a PDF download only, but the more I work on the supplement, the more I am leaning towards the supplement being in print form, as well. This would, of course, require starting up another Kickstarter campaign, and the financial goal would have to be met, in order for a print version to materialise, but I am optimistic. We’ll see! It is too early to start up another KS campaign, as I have no idea how large or what all the contents of the supplement will be. But I am very pleased with what I have put together thus far, as are a number of other people who are interested in seeing this go to print, and willing to back it.

H.N. Where can readers go to find out more about Terence Gunn, The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier, and the up coming supplement?

T.G. Presently I do not have a website, but for more information, one can go to The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier Kickstarter project page at:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

One can click the Updates section, scroll down to the beginning, and then proceed upwards, to see sample pages of The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier.

For those who are interested in purchasing the book, they can go to the Noble Knight Games website. The book is listed as Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier, The (Extended Edition). Here is a link:

https://www.nobleknight.com/ViewProdu...

Regarding the supplement, the sample pages I have posted on the Kickstarter page are viewable currently only by backers of the KS campaign for The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier. For those who have purchased the new edition but were not backers of the campaign, and who are interested in the supplement, I suggest following me on Kickstarter. When the supplement is finished, I will post on the KS page an update viewable to the public. And, of course, should I start up another KS campaign to raise funds for a print version of the supplement, this will be viewable also to the public.

H.N. Thanks Terence, for sharing some of your time!

T.G. My pleasure, Hugo! Thank you for your interest. And all the best with your next installment in The Forging of a Knight series!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I was a huge fan of miniatures company Grenadier Models headed by Andrew Chernak and Ray Rubin back in the 80's. They not only produced superb lines of quality miniatures for such varied products as AD&D, Call of Cthulhu, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Masters of the Universe (to name a few), but they also developed innovative lines such as their Dragon of the Month, Masterpiece Editions, Giant's Club, and more. They established a strong bond with their customers, based on their Grenadier Bulletin newsletter, contests, promotions, and competitions. When their company folded in the late 90's, for their fans it was a sad event, although Andrew moved on to bigger and better things, producing life sized bronze statues, movie props, and more, so there was a proverbial happy ending to the tale.

In 2016, Terence Gunn, fan extraordinaire, produced the Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier, a historical homage to the company, exploring their history, and their products, with pictures and interviews galore. I was lucky to connect with him, and now his follow-up work, The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier Supplement, is out! More pictures, more insider info, and a condensed collection of every single Grenadier Bulletin from the 1980's-1990's, including a wonderful interview with Kim Eastland, Grenadier's early public relations manager, who also was the 'Bulletin's editor for its first five issues!

Lastly, I was able to humbly contribute some scans of a few 'Bulletins to the project, and was gratefully acknowledged in the book by Terence. Seeing my name among the biggies like Andrew and Kim - what else could a Grenadier fan desire?! If you enjoy miniatures, nostalgic for the old' 70's-80's era of gaming/miniature collecting, or just a fantasy/sci-fi gaming fan, you have to get this!!

https://www.nobleknight.com/P/2147727...