| Industry | Wargaming Role-playing game |
|---|---|
| Fate | Closed |
| Successor | Mirliton S.G. |
| Founded | 1975 |
| Defunct | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Springfield, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Key people | Sculptors: Andrew Chernak Julie Guthrie Bob Charrette Sandra Garrity Nick Lund Robert Watts Owners: Andrew Chernak Ray Rubin |
| Products | miniature figures |
Grenadier Models Inc. of Springfield, Pennsylvania produced lead miniature figures for wargames and role-playing games with fantasy, science fiction and heroic themes between 1975 and 1996. Grenadier Models Inc. is best known for their figures for TSR Inc.'s Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, collectible Dragon-of-the-Month and Giants Club figures, and their marketing of paint and miniature sets through traditional retail outlets.
The company began as a basement enterprise, but by 1983 they had grown to a company of 50 people and had the third highest gross sales in the gaming market.[1] Grenadier's sculptors included John Dennett, Janine Bennett, Julie Guthrie, Robert Watts, Nick Lund, Mark Copplestone, Michael Daley, Sandra Garrity, Bob Naismith, William Watt and Ian Symonds. Grenadier closed its doors in 1996, but many of their products remain in production by companies in Italy and the United States.
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The company was founded by Andrew Chernak, president and head sculptor, and Ray Rubin, vice president and head artist, when they reorganized Canterbury Pewter Ltd., a gift-market sculpting business which they had established in 1972. The duo were not new to historical miniatures. Chernak had previously sculpted for Superior Models and Rubin was a co-founder of Squadron-Rubin Miniatures. Grenadier Model's first product was a line of 25mm American Revolution figures released in anticipation of the 1976 United States Bicentennial. The company received its name from their first miniature, a grenadier.[2]
By the end of 1976, Grenadier had produced miniatures soldiers from Classical Antiquity and the American Civil War, and American Old West gunfighters. Although they were primarily focused on the well established market for historical miniatures, their early produced included spaceships dubbed Space Squadrons and Stellardate: 2998 (product codes SS1-19, #5008), 25 mm fantasy figures called Wizzards & Warriors (W1-60, WS1-5), and a small selection of 15mm fantasy figures.[3] As the fantasy market began to out-pace historical miniatures in 1978, Grenadier released box sets containing select portions of their fantasy, space ships, and gunslinger lines.[4][5]
By 1981 Grenadier Models had begun to refer to itself as "Your D. & D. Figure Company" and established a newsletter to advertise its status as the official producer of miniatures for TSR Inc.'s AD&D and Gamma World role-playing games. The company established The Grenadier Bulletin in the fall of 1981.[6] The periodical had a short run, but its first editor Kim Eastland became an influential author of role-playing games and fiction published by TSR Inc.. The AD&D lines included blister packs of monsters (#101-116), small box sets (#2001-2013), and large box sets (#5001-5004, 5009). A collateral product was Action Art box sets (#8001-8004) which included paint and miniature figurines. The Gamma World role-playing game was supported by a series of blister packs (Gxx), a box sets of adventurers (#5005) and post-apocalyptic monsters (#5006). Grenadier also produced figures (SN1-4) for TSR Inc.'s Snit's Revenge board game.[7]
With the popularity of fantasy and science fiction gaming Grenadier discontinued many of their historical period figures. However, they continued to produce 54mm figures (#5401-5409) featuring historical figures like "5401- Jesus of Nazareth," and a 77mm series of figures (#9001-9003, 9006) based on the calendar art of Boris Vallejo.[7] The 77mm figures were dropped the following year.[8]
In late 1982 Grenadier Models and TSR Inc. ended their business relationship.[9][10] The issue appeared to have been over Grenadier's plans to produce figures for other game companies. Several years after the fact Grenadier described the separation as "a bold decision... in order to provide players of all fantasy games with a broader range of quality fantasy miniatures".[11] Since many of Chernak's sculptures predated TSR Inc.'s artwork, Grenadier Models retained the rights to their sculptures and re-released many of the them in the Dragon Lords (#2001-2013, 5001-5004), Fantasy Lords (#6001-6005, 101-112), and Action Art (#8003, 8004) lines.[4] There may have been issues with the reuse of the sculpts, and the following year some sets (#2010-2012, 8003, 8004) were replaced with new sculpts.[12]
As Grenadier parted ways with TSR Inc. they continued to reach out to the burgeoning adventure gaming market. In 1983 they became the official producer of miniatures for Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu (#6501, 6502), Game Designers' Workshop's Traveller (#1001-1003), and FASA's Star Trek role-playing game (FASA).[10] At that same time the owners of Grenadier Models spun off a subsidiary called Pinnacle Products with an orientation toward mainstream retail outlets. They produced The Dark Crystal Adventure Collection which included two boxes sets (#9001, 9002, n.b. reuse of product code) containing paints and miniatures of the characters and furniture in the December 1982 movie The Dark Crystal. Other Pinnacle Products merchandise included the Paint and Collect Series consisting of 2201 - Dinosaurs, 2202 - Fantasy Lords, 2203 - Fantasy Monsters, and 2204 - G.I. Assault Team.[8] In early 1983 Grenadier added four Paint and Playsets (#9101-9104) to coincide with Mattel's Masters of the Universe cartoon and 1/285 scale tanks and artillery for Steve Jackson Games' Ogre (#6101, 6110-6115, 6118, 6122) and 1/180 scale vehicles Car Wars Autoduel (#6201-6210) games.[12] In October 1983 Grenadier added a line of Secret Agents (#3001, 3002).[1]
In 1982 and 1983 Grenadier conducted a Wizard's Gold Contest in which they placed gold-plated castings within random boxes of figures. The box also included a certificate for a drawing. The grand prize for 1982 was a one-half ounce of gold for the purchaser of the box set and the store which sold it. The 1983 certificates awarded gift certificates and were placed in 6001 - Dragons of the Emerald Idol and 6002 - Skeleton-Raiders of the Undead box sets.[12] However, collectors have reported gold-plated figures from contemporaneous sets.
In the twelve months between March 1984 and February 1985 Grenadier released monthly installments in the popular Dragon-of-the-Month series. Each installment consisted of a variety of fantasy dragon which included a jeweled base and a portion of a map. Those who collected all twelve dragons were eligible to receive an additional dragon figure. Other 1984 introductions included the Masterpiece Editions 5501 - War Mammoth of the Undead Legion, 5501 - Death Dragon, futuristic war machines called Warbots (#4501, 4502), and miniatures for Mayfair Games's Champions (#4001, 4002). Grenadier also released four gaming scenarios: The Horrible Secret Of Monhegan Island by Gary Pilkington for Call of Cthulhu, Cloudland by Tony Fiorito for Tunnels and Trolls or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Raid on Rajallapor by Gary Pilkington for Blades' Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes, and Disappearance on Aramat for Game Designers' Workshop's Traveller.[13][14][15]
Grenadier celebrated its 10th anniversary by adding 10,000 commemorative Paladin figures to boxes of 6007 - Fantasy Lords Dungeon Raiders.[15] Due to the popularity of the "Dragon-of-the-Month" series, Grenadier released a second series of dragons in March 1985, "The Giant's Club" whose first installment was 3501 - Fire Giant, and the "Monster Manuscript" which included dungeon creatures organized in alphabetical order. Also in 1985 Grenadier released the official miniatures for I.C.E.'s Middle-earth in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings, a line of 15mm soldiers for Game Designers' Workshop's Twilight 2000 skirmish game which takes place in a world where the Cold War was resolved with arms, superheroes for Hero Games' Champions, Pacesetter's Chill, Mayfair Games' D.C. Heroes, and West End Games' Paranoia role-playing games.[16][11][17][18]
Grenadier signed on Julie Guthrie in 1987 to sculpt their first signature line Julie Guthrie's Fantasy Personalities.[19] By 1988 Grenadier became the manufacturer of miniatures for West End Games' role-playing system, Star Wars. This miniatures series was based upon the characters and creatures of the first three George Lucas films, and consisted of everything from the main characters, Rebel troops, droids, villains, storm troopers, and vehicles. In 1989 Grenadier released the first Shadowrun miniatures for FASA's role-playing game.[4]
By 1991 Grenadier had begun selling Nick Lund's Fantasy Warriors: a game of fantasy battles a boxed game which included 102 plastic figures sculpted by Mark Copplestone. Branches of the company were established in Auckland, New Zealand, and Deeside, Clwyd, Wales to support British and Australian customers and connect with British sculptors Grenadier's British sculptors The British shop was placed under the supervision of Bob Watts, Andrew Chernak's brother-in-law, in order to remove the cost of exporting miniatures to Europe and take advantage of the growing popularity of Games Workshop's Citadel Miniatures.[4] Grenadier Models' office in Wales became the new center of product design and British artists Mark Copplestone, Bob Naismith, and Nick Lund.[20]
In 1992 Grenadier Models underwent a period of revitalization. The company's founders Andrew Chernak and Ray Rubin returned to their creative responsibilities.[21] Kim Eastland returned to Grenadier Models.[18][22] The return to the early structure of the company may have been prompted by the limited success of their partnerships with game manufacturers. By the beginning of 1993 Grenadier Models only produced Andrew Chernak and Sandra Garrity's sculptures for R. Talisorian Games' Cyberpunk.
Nick Lund's Fantasy Warriors the center piece of the 1993 catalog[21] with a similar space-themed game called Future Warriors (#1501-1509, 1701) released later that same year.[22] Fantasy war gamers were targeted with the Lost Lands boxed sets of 25mm scale miniatures (#3001-3006), Fantasy Warriors artillery pieces and battlefield accessories (#9201-9203, 402-406) and a 15mm Warlords(#1801-1818) line of military units.[22] The fantasy role-playing market was addressed by Julie Guthrie's large signature series (#801-899, 701-724, 7001, 7002, 8101-8145), a Fantasy Legends line (#3101-3128) sculpted by William Watt, Sandra Garrity, and Julie Guthrie, and selected pieces of their existing lines.[21] Also in 1993 Grenadier Models produced Dragon Lords the Game (#5700-5711) a 6mm scale skirmish game featuring dragon riders, and 25mm plastic space marines called Space Rangers (#87003).[22]
Initially, Grenadier Models' figures were cast from lead and tin alloy, but in 1993 New York legislators nearly passed a public health bill barring the use of lead in toys and miniatures.[23] Despite the additional cost, numerous manufacturers anticipated parental concerns, similar legislation in other states, and their own workplace safety and began using white metal alloys. Grenadier began converting its lines to a non-lead alloy they called Luminite in the winter of 1992.[22] The use of non-lead alloy marks a clear benchmark for dating old figures. In time, New York Governor Mario Cuomo relented to hobbyists' concerns and exempted miniatures from the state's Public Health Law.[24] However, Grenadier Models did not return to producing in lead.
At Gen Con in August 1996 it was revealed that the molds and masters of Grenadier Models had been purchased by Stratelibri, their long-time distributor in Milan, Italy. The rights have since passed to Mirliton S.G. who continues to produce many of the figures from Grenadier's last years in business. Many of Grenadier's artists retained right to their work. In 2001 Mega Miniatures purchased the production rights to 180 of the Julie Guthrie's Grenadier Personalities.