"Hang on Travellers"

 A line from the great science fiction TV series Firefly.  It's often taken as a clue that Josh Whedon the creator of the series had based the show on the SF RPG Traveller, although he has never directly confirmed this.  A quick dig around on the internet came up with this link Is Joss Whedon's Firefly based on the Traveller RPG he played? - Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange .  The comments strongly suggest it was.  Certainly the mix of weapons and technologies in the show mirrors that available in the game and the stories are the sort of thing that came up in games I played.  Even down to the prior military careers of some of the crew.  You see, in Traveller you rolled up a character who had already had a career, and gained useful skills, before becoming a freelancer, and sometimes they died during character creation,  yes Traveller had some interesting quirks folks (for a given value of interesting).  

I still have my original box set of rules on the shelf behind me as I sit typing this post but haven't played in years as I don't have a group of locals who are interested.  More to the point though post are the figures I still have.  These are mostly early Citadel from a range which was, I think, called Spacefarers with a couple of Minifigs and a Ral Partha casting added for variety.  The Citadel sculpts are true 25mm and for their age simply stunning castings, from the talented Perry twins.  The range was launched in 1979 and a full listing appeared in a catalogue in 1980 (it's amazing how erudite you can appear with the help of Google search)!

As nefarious a bunch as any role player could wish for

From left to right Marvin the Paranoid Android manufacturer unknown although as of a couple of years ago the range was still available on line, then two Minifigs followed by seven of the Citadel offerings and finally a lone Ral Partha figure.

I should perhaps have called this post "In the lead pile no one can hear you scream!" as I also found these un and part painted castings lurking in it's depths.

These guys would like the chance to be nefarious if only someone would paint them

A quick trawl through ebay shows prices ranging from £10 or more for an individual figure to £7 for a full set.  I suppose I should at least prime the unpainted chaps to prevent any risk of lead rot, although they have survived in an old OXO cubes presentation tin for 35 years or more so they may be safe.