HLBS 40mm Modern figure range ?

[bobblezbob]

Hi,
I came across some of these figures today - BR7 SAS Desert and US4 US Rangers, 4 figures in each little black box - and wondered if I could pick the collective mind of you LAFfers. I've done a Google search but come up blank.
Whatever happened to this range, did any other manufacturer take the moulds and are they still available under a different name/line ?
Also, does anyone have a list of the range that was available and pictures of the figures please ? This would help greatly in knowing what I can search for to compliment the figures I have.
And finally, when HLBS brought out the range, was 40mm a popular scale at the time ? I moved up from 20mm to 28mm because the old eye sight was going and wasn't aware of 40mm ranges until I stumbled upon Perrys 40mm Border Reivers and remember thinking 'I wish they'd done those in 28mm' !!
Any help would be appreciated.

Regards
 

[Lowtardog]

I had a lot of them, at the time 40mm was about the only alternative for skirmish apart from 20mm they also released the Chris Peers rules at the same time

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Not sure what happened at the HLBS, but their vehicles (quarter inch or 1/48 scale) are now available from Empress (I have a BMD2).

No idea about the figures. I have their "Nimrod" SAS.

[majorsmith]

I had quite a few years back, no idea what happened to the range, nice figures though

[bobblezbob]

Thanks for the quick responses guys.
Now I'm particularly looking for info on the SAS Desert Storm type figure range and interested to know if there was any Iraqi opposition figures available ?
I've got an Arii 1/48th scale Scud and Transporter model sitting at the back of the cupboard screaming at me to be made now that I've a hand full of Brit Scud Hunters !!
Keep the info coming please.

Regards

[Rhubarb633]

HLBS didn't produce any 40mm Iraqi's. There were some Taliban though. There's a pretty comprehensive list of the complete range here: http://xanderswargamingmusings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/hlbs-36mm40mm148th-catalogue.html?m=1

Colonelbills in the UK has some of the range currently available including one pack of SAS and an SAS Pink Panther Land rover.

http://shop.colonelbills-store.co.uk/epages/4f27da57-42ee-48c0-9cb8-22c9dd921a68.mobile/en_GB/?ViewAction=View&ObjectID=630120&PageSize=5&Page=2

Happy hunting!

[v_lazy_dragon]

HLBS stopped producing the range for a mix of reasons,  but mainly it was economics. Due to how the moulds had been made, each contained several packs and this led to disparities in stock where certain packs massively outsold others. Coupled with aging moulds that needed replacing and the majority of the masters breaking during moulding, it was decided to cut their loses basically. Richard qas working on an Ultramodern 2010's range to replace it, but that has been in the works for several years now without coming to fruition. Originally it was going to be designed to fit in with the (at the time) forthcoming Airfix 1/48th range. Given that the Airfix figures are a good match for Emperess 28mm stuff, I can't imagine that has helped get things rolling. I seriously doubt that the replacement range will ever be released,  if only because them modern wargames market is a very different place now and there has been time for the likes of Emperess and Spectre to grow to fruition. I love 40mm's, and have been hunting them down over the last couple of years... But if it wasn't for nostalgia (always wanted the HLBS figs but couldn't afford them at the time) I would be buying 28mm's instead..!

2 packs of Iraqis were sculpted but never moulded let alone released. There were 3 packs of Taliban, and a couple of packs of insurgent/terrorists that could work. Your best bet for a semi uniform opposition would be mixing and matching figures from the african militia and central European militia ranges, bith of which seem moderately common on eBay (perhaps 'slightly less rare' is a better phrase).
There is a little bit of good news - the irregular miniatures 42mm modern range works fairly well with the  HLBS figures and is available off the shelf. They aren't the worlds greatest figures, but beggars can't be choosers! Lol. There are some size comparisons on my blog - the Xander's wargames musings one featured earlier...

[bobblezbob]

Thanks for those leads - I love the Land Rover DPV it would go up well against my Scud launcher but would need a crew.....talking of which, there's a guy on ebay selling 67 figures of the British range - including the Land Rover crews - for £100, not bad I thought when that works out to about £1.50 per figure but a lot of dosh to fork out when I only want 4 or 5 of the SAS packs from his list.
An excellent blog Xander with loads of pics AND the list  all I need now is pictures of the packs that corresponds to your list ! A shame about the Iraqis never making it to the casting room and it would have been nice to have seen Israelis and Arab forces too.
Does anyone know who sculpted the masters for HLBS, were there different sculptors ?
I'm thinking of putting a WANTS thread in the Bazaar but if anyone has any Desert SAS and Taliban/Insurgents that they no longer need please feel free to send me a PM before I get that thread up.

Regards
 

[v_lazy_dragon]

Thanks
All the sculpts were by Richard Kemp of HLBS.
Sadly, you're right about the lack of pack pictures. If there are any you are particularly after pictures of, I can see what I have stashed away upstairs or have pics lurking on the hard drive.

Good luck in the wants thread - I've done it a few times over the years, so not too sure how many offer's you'll get.
If you were to get the eBay lot, I'd potentially be interested in some of the vehicle crew and the Gurkhas....

[bobblezbob]

Thank you, pictures would be a great help if possible.
Going off the list from your blog, pictures of the British SAS I need are;

BRITISH
BR8 SAS Desert Bare Headed
BR8a SAS Desert Arab Head dress
BR15 SAS Land Rover Crew. Desert. In Arab Head dress
BR30 SAS (desert) with cross-country motorbikes
BR31 SAS (desert) riding cross-country motorbikes

And then;

RUSSIAN
RU13 Tank Crew (If full/dissmounted figures I might be able to use them as Scud crew)

TALIBAN (Possible use as Iraqis ?)
TA1 Soldiers/Militia
TA2 Soldiers/Militia
TA3 Soldiers/Militia with RPG

URBAN GUERRILLAS (Again, possible use as Iraqis ?)
UG3 Middle Eastern Guerrillas
UG4 Middle Eastern Guerrillas

A bit of a tall order for you but appreciated if you can manage those thanks.
Unfortunately I'm not sure I can justify spending £100 on a about 8 packs of figures between us and then stuck with about 30 odd figures to try to get rid of, maybe if someone else on the forum would be interested in what would be left then it might be a goer.
Thanks again for all your help.

Regards

[axabrax]

I had a bunch of these at one point. They were beauties but I had a lot of problems with the tips of the weapon barrels breaking off which pretty much ruined the figure as they were too small and thin to glue back. I still sold them for a good profit on eBay, which is probably your best bet as they are long out of production.

[Durutti]

got some of these, well actually a whole load of these figures, most of mine are Soviets, guerrillas, africans, and french.
I do however, have a reasonably well painted Land Rover, complete with crew, if you still need one.
At some stage I will clear out the rest, will post them on the bazaar page. 

[bobblezbob]

Hi Durutti,
PM inbound.

Regards

[bando]

Durutti -- Does your “French” contain any of the HLBS French Foreign Legion (FR1 and FR2)?

[Commander Roj]

Hi,
I came across some of these figures today - BR7 SAS Desert and US4 US Rangers, 4 figures in each little black box - and wondered if I could pick the collective mind of you LAFfers. I've done a Google search but come up blank.
Whatever happened to this range, did any other manufacturer take the moulds and are they still available under a different name/line ?
Also, does anyone have a list of the range that was available and pictures of the figures please ? This would help greatly in knowing what I can search for to compliment the figures I have.
And finally, when HLBS brought out the range, was 40mm a popular scale at the time ? I moved up from 20mm to 28mm because the old eye sight was going and wasn't aware of 40mm ranges until I stumbled upon Perrys 40mm Border Reivers and remember thinking 'I wish they'd done those in 28mm' !!
Any help would be appreciated.

Regards
 

They also had some very near future warriors. Have these also disappeared completely?