Top Ten Manufacturers Of 2023 - A "Fantorical" Viewpoint

Having purchased an "Elegoo" Mars 3 Pro 3D Printer just before 2023 began, I was utterly convinced that over the course of the year my usual source of miniature manufacturers were going to be wholly replaced by the various “Patreon” service memberships I subscribed to. Initially, that was the case too, as in my enthusiasm for the 'new technology' I both bought a veritable army of STL (Standard Triangle Language) files, and produced an almost endless array of grey, "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin models with which to litter my painting area.

Intriguingly though, despite this strong early showing, I increasingly found myself returning to the physical heft of metal miniatures, and even started buying from many of my mainstay manufacturers once again. Admittedly, this surprising development did not cause me to completely turn my back upon all the 3D sculpted science fiction oddities and the fantasy-based denizens of dungeons I owned. But it definitely lead to a noticeable slow down in my painting of the 'grey wave' I was creating, in favour of numerous metal and plastic models - with many being historically based...

No. 10 - "Steel Fist Miniatures" - "Italian Wars"

I must confess to this being one of my most disappointing projects of the year, considering just how much enthusiasm I had for it when I purchased my initial ten Foot Knights from "Steel Fist Miniatures". I had never had an interest in the Italian Wars before, but having watched a few "YouTube" videos on the subject, and bought "Fornovo 1495: France's bloody fighting retreat" by "Osprey Publishing", I was 'well in the mood'. Sadly, an incorrect order, an all-too easily broken figure, numerous assembly issues with the multi-piece metal models, a delayed second order, and then the website's temporary closure (admittedly due to illness), utterly sapped any drive I had to finish even two five-men strong forces.

No. 10 - "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" - "7TV  Second Edition"

Perhaps one of the biggest shocks of 2023 was just how pitifully few figures I pigmented from Karl Perrotton's company. The wonderful mixture of spy-fi, science fiction and fantasy miniatures which the Lincolnshire-based business produces has made it my favourite model manufacturer for the past two years running. However, for the first nine months of this year, I clearly got my usual fix of "space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life" from other avenues - predominantly 3D printed STL files based upon such classic franchises as "Doctor Who", "Alien", "Robo-Cop" and "Terminator".

No. 9 - "CoolMiniOrNot" - "Zombicide"

Despite owning more versions, expansion boxes and hard-backed scenario books of the cooperative boardgame "Zombicide" than I probably care to consider, I had never really settled down to purposely painting a batch of them until the arrival of Marvel Zombies. Spurred on by a deep-interest in comic book super-heroes, and an increasing disinterest in my once-popular range of "Heroclix" meta-humans, I suddenly found myself pigmenting a handful of plastic figures - in both their survivor and undead states.

No. 8 - "Battlefront Miniatures" - "Flames Of War"

Having previously painted quite a sizeable contingent of 15mm scale German Panzer-grenadiers, heavy machinegun teams and mortar units in the past, it seemed clear that my infantry would require some much needed armour/artillery if they were to succeed on the battlefields of World War Two. However, despite giving all of my Panzer tanks a rather basic dark grey palette, much of this initial enthusiasm was eventually watered-down by a lack of both games, and the time-consuming camouflage pattern I developed for my 7.5cm Tank-Hunter Platoon.

No. 7 - "Black Tree Design" - "Doctor Who"

Whilst the modern day interpretation of the "British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC" caused me to lose all interest in the actual show, I did find myself (once again) seeking some comfort in this company's somewhat clunky sculpts of the programme's Classic era - most notably the early days of actor Jon Pertwee's tenure as the Third Doctor. Resultantly, I found myself pigmenting a Martian delegate from the Galactic Federation, a plethora of boiler-suit wearing Autons, and even a trio of long-forgotten Quarks which had been sat gathering dust on my hobby table for longer than I care to recall.

No. 6 - "Wargames Foundry" - "Napoleonic Range"

I have always wanted to own enough 28mm Napoleonic figures to be able to have a decent game of Black Powder or some-such rule-set, and this was the year I decided to finally try to make it happen. Of course, this is going to be a long-term project. But having made some decisions regarding just how much detail I was going to paint on my colourfully-costumed collection, I got a good handful of British, French and Russian infantrymen finished - plus even managed to visit the company's shop in Newark.

No. 5 - "Games Workshop" - "The Lord Of The Rings" & "The Horus Heresy"

Being one of my mainstay manufacturers over the years, I definitely didn't get anywhere near as many "Citadel" miniatures tabletop ready as I had anticipated for this twelve month period. Much of this unproductiveness was due to the sheer number of Sons of Horus traitor marines required for even a simple game of Warhammer 30,000 eventually grinding me down, and if not for a renewed interest in their Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game (or at least painting the predominantly black Ring Wraiths) it's arguably doubtful that the studio would even feature on this list.

No. 4 - "Big Mr Tong" - "Dune"

With my 3D printing skills rapidly improving, I quickly found myself producing a seemingly never-ending conveyor belt of Mike Tongue's small-sized 28mm miniatures. Sadly many of these models went straight into a plastic container for a forthcoming 'rainy day'. But some, such as his marvellous Sardaukar sculpts, went straight onto my painting table, and enabled me to eventually field an impressive fifteen-figure strong unit of the Padishah Emperor's elite military force. Coupled with some (more) Sentry Robots inspired by "The Black Hole", as well as a giant automaton from "Laputa: Castle in the Sky", and I was extremely happy paying out for my Patreon membership with "Big Mr Tong".

No. 3 - "Warlord Games" - "American Civil War"

With hindsight, it is incredible that I managed to paint so many of this Nottingham-based company's 15mm scale plastic figures, as I absolutely hated putting a brush-tip to the seemingly never-ending, fiddly lines of infantrymen. Indeed, by the time I completed all the models found on the free sprue I received with Issue 397 of "Wargames Illustrated", I had almost had enough of the range - and that was despite playing a few games of Black Powder with them at my local wargaming club.

No. 2 - "Pendraken Miniatures" - "World War Two"

There can be no doubt in my mind that this was a bit of shocker, as before March I had little interest in resurrecting my long-forgotten 10mm Battle Of The Bulge project. A chance encounter with a bag containing half a dozen Sherman tanks completely changed all that, and before I knew it I was not only pigmenting the sizeable backlog of armoured vehicles I already owned, but buying numerous new ones from "Pendraken Miniatures" - both online and in person at shows. Furthermore, I started collecting and gaming the fictious Operation Sea Lion, which overall caused me to produce a whopping 42 armoured vehicles throughout the year.

No. 1 - "Papsikels Miniatures" - "Aliens" & "The Terminator"

Quite possibly, considering my love of both science fiction movie franchises and 3D printing, this particular creator was always going to be a tough act to beat. In fact, for a while, my utter infatuation with their STL files was close to stopping me buying any more physical figures ever again, and whilst I still visited a few wargaming shows, I was always offsetting the cost of metal/plastic models against the price of just one bottle of "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin and how many "Papsikels Miniatures" I could produce using it.