I have been meaning to pick up some of the western shootout figures from these two ranges for a while. Before I start I should disclose a connection to the owners of both businesses. Lance of Galloping Major has been a good friend of mine for almost fifty years (and yes there was a sharp intake of breath behind this keyboard when I was checking those dates!) and I have known Paul and Christine of Empress Miniatures for almost forty years (second sharp intake of breath). Notwithstanding that, I will try to be completely honest in my review of the figures.
Lets start with the Galloping Major figures these are the Lawmen and Enforcers packs plus the Soldiers Free gift figure. Well sculpted with plenty of detail and a little chunkier than the Empress figures. The clothing depicted is historically accurate and the poses anatomically accurate. Some of the sculpting is a little heavier than I might like but it doesn't detract from the overall quality. There is no flash and on any of the figures and no mould lines either.
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| Galloping Major -Lawmen and Enforcers, sets 1 & 2 |
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| I inked these to help see detail. Empress Stumpy (left) Galloping Major free figure (right) |
The Empress chaps are from their Wild Bunch range and depict personalities from famous Western movies. I bought the Baxter Boys from the movie 'Open Range'. These depict them exactly as shown in the stills from the film as they walk down main street towards Boss Spears and Charlie Waites, moments before the gunplay starts. The sculpting is some of the best I have ever seen, at least on a parr with Artizan's personality figures. I also bought the Walter Brennan as Stumpy from Rio Bravo figure, again clearly recognisable from the movie stills. Lastly, I got the Unforgiven Cast pack consisting of English Bob, Little Bill Daggett, W. W. Beauchamp and Delilah FitzGerald. Apart from Stumpy who is loading a shotgun, the rest of the figures are in walking poses so can play the roles of passers by. Oh and I bought the hitching post set of two "Empty Horses" and a hitching rail. These figures are all flash free and apart from the horses have no mould lines. The ones there are minimal and were easy to remove.
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| Empress Baxter boys set |
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| The cast of the Unforgiven (excluding Ned, Will and The Schofield Kid) |
The Empress figures look less bulky that those from Galloping Major as they have proportions much closer to those of real people. The bases are much thinner as well and remind me of the old rectangular bases on Airfix soldiers. If I had to play favourites I'd have to say that the Empress figures are more appealing as they depict personalities from great western movies, although the Galloping Major ones have a wider application because they don't portray identifiable characters.
I can only find one drawback to these two ranges and that is the overall size. Galloping Major are 30mm to the eyeline and Empress vary (as the figures depict people of differing heights) but are between 30mm and 32mm to eyeline.by comparison my Foundry figures average about 26mm and my old minifigs are even smaller at 24-25mm. I would have no problem mixing the two ranges together as they make a good match one to the other and even comparing them to other ranges I don't see the size difference as being particularly noticeable on a table. It certainly will not prevent me buying from either range again. My greatest concern is that my painting skills might not do them justice!
Thanks for the post with the pictures. I can identify with two of the items you discussed. First, the variations in size over time from one manufacturer to the next. I too have figures from early Grenadier, Pass of the North, early Foundry, Ral Partha, later Grenadier, Dixon, Later Foundry, early Knuckleduster, Artizan, current "Gunfighter's Ball Knuckleduster, Black Scorpion, Dead Mans Hand, Blackwater Gultch, and I'm sure a few other "odds and sods" in the mix. Put them in order by size and you can typically take one size and comfortably use them one up and one down in the line. More than that and for me the differences are bothersome and if you go from one extreme to the other it looks ridiculous - Black Scorpion handgun with a small Foundry looks like a small cannon. I also can't pick just one size but find myself headed northward on the size issue. Too many great figures in the larger sizes to NOT do so.
ReplyDeleteAs for your concern about your painting skills, I don't worry about not doing them justice. I just rationalize my results with "Well, you ARE using the smallest paint roller you could find!"
I do wish I could actually sculpt. There are characters from my youth I'd like to see figures of that aren't among the ones being gradually added and suspect they may never get picked up for production. The Lawman (John Russell), Bob Valdez in his retired cavalry scout uniform (Burt Lancaster) the four members of "The Professionals" (Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Woody Strode, Robert Ryan) Gabby Hayes, Roy Rodgers, Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) and some old timers with their signature look like Tom Mix, Hoot Gibson, and William S. Hart.