Hugo Negron's Blog - Posts Tagged "role-playing"
Remembering 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 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…!
Gen Con 2014!
We are all set to once again booth at Gen Con August 14-17th in Indianapolis! I'll be selling and signing copies of Books 1 and 2 of Forging of a Knight, along with hopefully having copies ready for Forging of a Knight Book 3, Prison Planet of the Mah-Lahkt!
There were some great authors, actors, and lots of gaming fun last year - and this year should be more of the same. If you can make it, you have to come down and say hello!...
There were some great authors, actors, and lots of gaming fun last year - and this year should be more of the same. If you can make it, you have to come down and say hello!...
Grenadier Bulletin Circa 1981
Back in the day, Grenadier Miniatures created lead figures for various role-playing games. Starting off with historical figures, they quickly moved into fantasy characters, and expanded into all sorts of fantasy/sci-fi/horror, as well as figures for a host of games (Dungeons and Dragons, Gamma World, Call of Cthulhu, Lord of the Rings, Champions, Twilight 2000, and a bunch more, including their own range of fantasy sets (Fantasy Lords)).
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Andrew Chernak was the president of Grenadier Miniatures, and I was happy to have connected with him years later. When Grenadier was still thriving, they started to send out a free bulletin via mail - I was a big fan of their products and recall sending them a set of miniatures that I had purchased at a local gaming store with a hand-written plea for help. The set had some damaged figures, and Grenadier not only replaced them at no cost, they also sent me an additional figure as a thank-you for being a customer. I'm assuming that's how I ended up on their mailing list, and lo and behold, I got issue #1 of their bulletin below. They kept this up for awhile, eventually having to charge a few bucks for yearly subscriptions to the bulletin because it became so successful. They got to issue #18 before expanding into a colored glossy version known as the British Grenadier from their operations in the UK. I only got a couple of these new versions before I stopped subscribing. I kinda preferred the prior version as it had an old-fashioned simple charm to it.
Luckily I saved all the ones I had - and most of issue #1 - I think I tossed some additional contest info or ads, but here it is for your nostalgic consumption...if you'd like me to post any more, let me know.
https://www.facebook.com/Forging.of.a...
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Andrew Chernak was the president of Grenadier Miniatures, and I was happy to have connected with him years later. When Grenadier was still thriving, they started to send out a free bulletin via mail - I was a big fan of their products and recall sending them a set of miniatures that I had purchased at a local gaming store with a hand-written plea for help. The set had some damaged figures, and Grenadier not only replaced them at no cost, they also sent me an additional figure as a thank-you for being a customer. I'm assuming that's how I ended up on their mailing list, and lo and behold, I got issue #1 of their bulletin below. They kept this up for awhile, eventually having to charge a few bucks for yearly subscriptions to the bulletin because it became so successful. They got to issue #18 before expanding into a colored glossy version known as the British Grenadier from their operations in the UK. I only got a couple of these new versions before I stopped subscribing. I kinda preferred the prior version as it had an old-fashioned simple charm to it.
Luckily I saved all the ones I had - and most of issue #1 - I think I tossed some additional contest info or ads, but here it is for your nostalgic consumption...if you'd like me to post any more, let me know.
https://www.facebook.com/Forging.of.a...
Grenadier Bulletin No 2
Another blast from the past - still a fun read - Riega Nerd and a "changing" Editor...
https://www.facebook.com/Forging.of.a...
https://www.facebook.com/Forging.of.a...
Grenadier Bulletin No. 4
More miniature updates, a nice profile on Andrew Chernak, who had been the president of Grenadier Miniatures - luckily I was able to connect with him recently - still active, working on larger historical castings nowadays...
https://www.facebook.com/Forging.of.a...
https://www.facebook.com/Forging.of.a...
Gen Con
Well, Gen Con 2015 has come and gone - but nevertheless a wonderful experience with amazing authors, artists, cosplayers, musicians, and more! I had a great time meeting both current and new Forging of a Knight readers, and also a chance to witness some amazing costume work! Check out the pictures at www.facebook.com/Forging.of.a.Knight. Gen Con - where else can you see a Klingon and a Wookie on stage playing musical instruments together??
Gen Con Exhibit Map 2016
The Gen Con 2016 Exhibit Map is finally up! You can go to their website at www.gencon.com/exhibit_hall_map to check it out, or visit their Facebook page. Over 500 vendors, plus an expansion into the Lucas Oil Stadium should make for an even more entertaining event at the 'Con.
As before, I will be boothing in the Authors Avenue area - table AA-AE for anyone who plans on attending and wants to stop by and say hello!
As before, I will be boothing in the Authors Avenue area - table AA-AE for anyone who plans on attending and wants to stop by and say hello!
Grenadier Models Revisited
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!
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!
An Ernest Gary Gygax trek to Lake Geneva
I was introduced to Dungeons and Dragons/Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, a fantasy role-playing game created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, by my 7th grade teacher, who brought her collection of gaming manuals and miniature lead figures used for the game into her classroom to teach leadership, creativity, and how to work in a team. I became hooked, collected my own manual copies as well as various miniatures, and played both on the dungeon master side and on the player character side. Atari, comics, Star Wars, and AD&D - talk about a golden era of imagination back then!
I decided to take a day to visit Lake Geneva, the birthplace of D&D/AD&D, and see if I could find some of the hidden gaming landmarks amongst the boutiques, resorts, wineries, and bistros (including the many mansions owned by such families as the Wrigleys, Schwinns, and others that a lake cruise tour can bring to one's attention). Would the quest be fruitful?
Here we have Gary Gygax's home at 925 Dodge Street in Lake Geneva. When he was just a kid, Gary and his family moved from Chicago to this stately home - the home of his mother's parents - back in 1946. Not sure who owns this now, of course, but they have obviously done a great job maintaining this residence.
In 1976, Tactical Studies Rules (TSR), the company Gary founded to produce the D&D game that both he and Dave Arneson created, takes up a house on 723 Williams Street in Lake Geneva to be their new office/hobby store location. It was known as "The Gray House." Again, its obviously currently inhabited, but hey, it's still there!
Directly before the Riviera, there are various plaque dedications surrounding a small fountain. There is a particularly interesting one with a dragon perched atop the image of a 20-sided dice...
And here it is - a plaque honoring Gary Gygax. A hidden gem indeed!
Horticultural Hall - where Gen Con started back in August of 1968. Nearly 100 gamers and fans attended that initial gaming convention. Compare this to Gen Con's attendance in 2017 of nearly 208,000 fans who came from around the world to attend the event now located in downtown Indianapolis, IN. I wonder if any present at that inaugural day would ever have believed the growth that was going to take place?
This is it. In the early 60's, Gary got married and moved back to Chicago. Just a few years later he would return to Lake Geneva to rent this house at 330 Center Street. Here he builds an infamous gaming table in his basement to host various miniature wargames - and eventually this is the birthplace where the D&D game was created.
I decided to take a day to visit Lake Geneva, the birthplace of D&D/AD&D, and see if I could find some of the hidden gaming landmarks amongst the boutiques, resorts, wineries, and bistros (including the many mansions owned by such families as the Wrigleys, Schwinns, and others that a lake cruise tour can bring to one's attention). Would the quest be fruitful?
Here we have Gary Gygax's home at 925 Dodge Street in Lake Geneva. When he was just a kid, Gary and his family moved from Chicago to this stately home - the home of his mother's parents - back in 1946. Not sure who owns this now, of course, but they have obviously done a great job maintaining this residence.
In 1976, Tactical Studies Rules (TSR), the company Gary founded to produce the D&D game that both he and Dave Arneson created, takes up a house on 723 Williams Street in Lake Geneva to be their new office/hobby store location. It was known as "The Gray House." Again, its obviously currently inhabited, but hey, it's still there!
Directly before the Riviera, there are various plaque dedications surrounding a small fountain. There is a particularly interesting one with a dragon perched atop the image of a 20-sided dice...
And here it is - a plaque honoring Gary Gygax. A hidden gem indeed!
Horticultural Hall - where Gen Con started back in August of 1968. Nearly 100 gamers and fans attended that initial gaming convention. Compare this to Gen Con's attendance in 2017 of nearly 208,000 fans who came from around the world to attend the event now located in downtown Indianapolis, IN. I wonder if any present at that inaugural day would ever have believed the growth that was going to take place?
This is it. In the early 60's, Gary got married and moved back to Chicago. Just a few years later he would return to Lake Geneva to rent this house at 330 Center Street. Here he builds an infamous gaming table in his basement to host various miniature wargames - and eventually this is the birthplace where the D&D game was created.
