In the last 2 instalments we've discussed the very first few plastic miniatures from Citadel, The Fighting Fantasy Heroes range of 27 figures (1985), and the following pair of Warhammer Fantasy multi-part kits the Psychostyrene Dwarfs ('85) and the briefly mentioned Drastik Plastik orcs ('86), the later pair released to relative success whilst the former, released to mixed success.
- "...Every time we do something we learn a little bit more. Nobody could claim that our old 60mm plastics were a raving success" -
Despite the initial mixed results Citadel, having learnt a lot from these first few kits, began work on the follow up releases and their largest plastic box set yet, the massive Fantasy Regiments box, containing 60 miniatures!
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Before jumping ahead in the next article to the Warhammer Fantasy Regiments box set and more Dwarfs for the ongoing army project, I wanted to touch on the plastic miniatures released in the interim.
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'86 Drastik Plastic (PS2)
Briefly mentioned in the first instalment of this series, the Drastik Plastik Orcs were the sister set to the Psychostyrene dwarfs, sharing the same presentation of three sprues included in a blister package.
Each sprue offered a multi-part orc with options for arms and heads.
I’ll be hunting down a sprue of these guys once I’ve finished with my Psychostyrene Dwarf display.
'86 Skeletons Horde (PBS1)
With two multi-part plastic kits under their belts it was time to move on to the next big challenge, raising the undead!
The Skeleton hordes box proved a big step up in production from previous kits, a larger sprue filled with not one multi-part miniature but four! - the set contained six sprues making up a total of 24 skeletons, That's a lot more than the three Dwarfs, or Orcs, the previous kits made.
'86 Daleks & Cybermen (PBS2)
Citadel produced a number of 25mm miniatures licensed for FASA's Dr Who roleplaying game, more on that later perhaps…?
Being the second Plastic box set release from Citadel this kit boasted a grand total of 10 sprues and 40 miniatures, 20 Daleks and 20 Cybermen.
Each sprue contained two multipart Dalek miniatures made up of four pieces with an additional ‘weapon’ options, the classic plunger manipulator arm or claw, ‘Exterminate!’, per Dalek, and two single piece Cybermen… ‘delete…delete’
'86 - '88 Accessories (n/a)
Throughout the years A number of smaller 'generic' plastic sprues were produced during this time to be included with Citadels Metal ranges, these included:
Plastic crossbows (0001/01)
- A Sprue containing 4 crossbows, Originally designed for the metal Orc Crossbowmen sculpted by Kev Adams
Plastic Spears (0001/02)
- A Sprue containing two Spears, Originally designed for use with the metal Elven Cavalry sculpted by Jes Goodwin.
Marine Backpacks and Standard (0003/01)
- Used across the Space marine metal range, with some metal backpacks remaining in the range.
Chaos Backpacks (0003/02)
- Used across the Chaos marine metal range, with some metal backpacks remaining in the range.
Plastic shield kits (0003/03-11)
- a collection of 9 'generic' shield sprues used across the majority of Citadels fantasy metal ranges, using a pin and hole connection.
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'86 The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
Based on the Fighting Fantasy game book of the same name this boardgame contained 6 hard styrene play pieces.
The Miniatures in this boardgame aren't directly linked to Citadel miniatures at time of release, however as they are produced by Games Workshop and later reference in the citadel catalogue, it is assumed these are citadel produced sculpts.
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'86 Dungeon Quest
Originally released in Sweden as Drakborgen and published by ALGA the game was licensed and sold by Games Workshop under the name DungeonQuest and contained 4 hard styrene play pieces that were new to the GW edition.
The Miniatures in this boardgame aren't directly linked to Citadel miniatures at time of release, however as they are produced by Games Workshop and later reference in the citadel catalogue, it is assumed these are citadel produced sculpts.
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'87 Imperial Space Marines (RTB01)
What can I say about this kit that hasn’t been said already, the RTB01 ‘Beaky’ Space Marines are legendary, the first plastic space marines, there’s a lot of firsts going on aren’t there?.
The RTB01 Imperial Space Marines kit built 30 miniatures with a huge selection of weapon and posing options when compared to the previous multipart kits.
We will be looking into this iconic kit in a lot more detail later down the line.
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'87 Warhammer Fantasy Regiments (PBS3)
A massive 60 miniature box set allowing a player to build 10 of each of the included miniatures, with sculpts for Dwarfs, Elves, Orcs, Goblins, Skaven, and dark elves.
Each sprue contained a body of each faction, optional heads for each mini, as well as alternative weapons for the Dwarf, Orc and Skaven.
The box set also included 50 regimental shields giving a huge range of sculpted shields.
Now, that’s just the contents of the box, what about the miniature and the making of the kit itself…?
…Well, for that you’ll have to tune in next time as we will be discussing the fantasy regiments boxed set and the miniatures inside it in much more detail in the next instalment of Retroplastics!
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