Thursday 23 July 2020

Hinchliffe promotional film 1975.

This popped up on my Facebook feed this morning, but as I know that not everyone follows FB I thought I would share this lovely bit of film here for a few days. It was long thought lost in the mists of time but has now been re discovered and digitalised. One thing that struck me was the number of figure sculptors listed which may go some way to explain the variation in size within some ranges, for example the Napoleonic and Roman ranges.if you have not already seen it, enjoy!


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14 comments:

  1. MSFoy23 July 2020 at 02:05

    Brilliant! Really enjoyed that - thanks for sharing.

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    1. 'Lee.24 July 2020 at 00:52

      It's doing the rounds Tony, posted about 10 days ago. Something about the workplace reminded me of my early days in the print. The quote re stock 'several hundred thousand' says just how successful Hinchiffe were if you equate the price of a figure back then to a typical 28mm metal figure today around £1.00 plus?

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  2. old john23 July 2020 at 04:40

    same here , cheers Old John

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  3. Paul Liddle23 July 2020 at 04:50

    I liked that video a lot. It was nice to see the 75mm Julian Benassi figures I always thought they had such character.

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    1. 'Lee.24 July 2020 at 00:53

      Certainly those larger figures still look very good today Paul.

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  4. Norm23 July 2020 at 10:54

    Thank you, full of charm!

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    1. 'Lee.24 July 2020 at 00:54

      Hi Norm, yes indeed, I really enjoyed it.

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  5. Rob23 July 2020 at 11:08

    What a treat - they must've been paid peanuts back then as it looks so labour-intensive.

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    1. 'Lee.24 July 2020 at 01:51

      Hi Rob, the number of employees struck me too. But it was a very successful business and if we equate the price of figures back then to those of today given comparative wages (I was earning £16.00 per week in 1976), the turnover must have been considerable given those crates of orders being packed. I read somewhere (was it the Military Modelling article) that Hinchliffe were selling thousands of models per week in their heyday and I guess those little jobs were local women were popular. I'm assuming that the tradesmen were paid the going rate for their skills.

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    2. Rob25 July 2020 at 11:25

      Yeah, I suppose if I think back I couldn't afford the wargame figures on pocket money so they weren't cheap.

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  6. Ray Rousell24 July 2020 at 11:35

    What a great piece of wargaming history!

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  7. Wellington Man24 July 2020 at 12:34

    That was just brilliant, 'Lee. Thank you!

    All the best
    WM

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  8. thistlebarrow27 July 2020 at 01:56

    Hi Lee

    Excellent video, thanks for sharing. I am surprised that not only have I not seen it, I have never even heard of it. The detailed "behind the scenes" narrative was very instructive. Puts to shame my own home made moulds which resulted in men with three eyes!

    It all looks like a very long time ago. But, to me, 1975 seems like just a few years. I lived in Salisbury then, and often visited Miniature Figurines in Southampton to collect orders of 25mm figures. Never saw behind the front of shop, but had a very similar feel and look to the video

    The actual models are really high quality, amazing given how long ago it was. I recall that Hinchcliffe were always regarded as top of the range. I had started with Hinton Hunt, and progressed to Miniature Figurines. I think Hinchcliffe were slightly larger models, and also slightly more expensive.

    Thanks for a very interesting trip down memory lane

    regards

    Paul

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