Tin Soldier

I don't know too much about them, but The Tin Soldier was an Australian game store that also carried it's own line of historical and fantasy miniatures. The physical store closed in 2011 and their URL seems to be long defunct, but the figures are still sold by Tin Soldier UK and Essex Miniatures Australia.

Some of my earliest posts include Tin Soldier figures, but their typical sculpts are in the chunky, cartoony style that I personally don't care for.

Despite that, I was always very interested in getting their 15mm Aztecs. I don't know if it's because their style reminded me so much of the images seen in Aztec codices, but there was something about them that struck a chord with me.

I finally decided to order one of their Army Command packs (AZA1) which includes a Chosen Speaker, Chief of Men, Arrow Knight Captain, Eagle Knight Captain, Jaguar Knight Captain, and Quachic Captain.

They're obviously very short, but their heads and upper bodies look comparable to those of 1/72 scale figures.

It's probably not realistic, but I always imagined them painted up like in modern clip art of Aztec pictographs, or like the Chinelo dancers of Carnival.

Perhaps with some effort the figures can be converted to be 1/72 compatible, but for now they go to into the lead pile.

I also ordered some Assorted Standards (AZ20) from their line of 25mm Aztecs. I'm not 100% positive, but I get the impression that they are similar in size to the banners from the Revell Aztec set.

Last up are three miniatures from their 25mm Fantasy line.

The first figure is labeled as a Minotaur (DF112), but it clearly looks like it was based on the Trampier Gorgon from the AD&D Monster Manual.

The next figure is a Hydra (DF103), which looks like it was based on a Sutherland illustration from the D&D Basic Set rulebook (except with only five heads). The model comes in five pieces consisting of two pairs of heads, one single head, the torso, and the tail.

The final figure is a Gargoyle (DF96) in the typical style of the sculptor for the Tin Soldier Fantasy line.

Shipping from the UK to US seems to be taking over a month now, but the cost is still relatively low, and I really like the Tin Solider accessory items even if I'm not a huge fan of the sculpting style used for their miniatures.