Minifigs™ was founded by Neville
Dickinson back in 1964. Neville, one of the founder fathers of the Wessex
Wargames Club, (Telephone: Ian Gould 02380 730912) started from the basement
of No. 5 Northam Road, Southampton. With a casting machine and vulcanizer
he set about making his own figures. Not long afterwards, Dick Higgs,
fresh from Art College in Portsmouth, started to design the figure that
he required for his army and asked Neville if he would cast them for him
with the statement "As long as I get what I want you can do what you like
with the rest". Well it didn't take long for the word to get about that
Dick's designs were worth having and the pair of them were in business.
Minifigs™ moved to 100A St.
Mary Street in 1967 and I remember Dick sat in the shop window designing
and dealing with customers and Neville looked after the production side
of things. The business was finally incorporated in 1968 and is generally
regarded as the oldest established war games manufacturer still in existence.
The company grew and moved to larger premises in 1972. This was 28/32
Northam Road, Still in Southampton, and it's fair to say this is where
Minifigs™ really took off. In 1973 Minifigs™ America was
set up in Pine Plains, New York 12567. The company led the world in design,
quality and sheer quantity of figures available in any range.
Dave Higgs, current owner and principal
designer, joined the design team in 1974. At this stage the company was
just thinking about 15mm figures but Dave's job was to redesign 25mm English
civil war, Seven years war, Hundred years war and finish off the additions
to the Napoleonics. It was during this period that Dick created the "Valley
of the Four Winds" and various other fantasy ranges such as "Mythical
Earth". In 1986 Minifigs™ secured the licence to manufacture and
distribute the Ral Partha range of Fantasy which took the world by storm.
So here you had the firm that did everything that was worth having. Minifigs™ ruled the world, it was a nice feeling.
The Eighties and Nineties however were
decades of mixed fortunes for the hobby. Many of our competitors did not
survive but despite computer games and magic cards we are proud to still
be serving the war gamer. Neville Dickinson retired in October 97 and
Dave Higgs took over.
On the home front, (i.e. Historical figures),
Minifigs™ launched it's 12mm (N
gauge model railway scale) World War Two range in 1998. As of 2007, this consists
of American, British, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Italian forces sufficient to cater
for Europe, North Africa and the Far East. These are accompanied by a very user friendly
set of rules.
The 12mm Moderns range was launched at the beginning of 2004 and currently covers the armed forces of America, Australia, Britain, Israel, Russia, Vietnam and West Germany. This allows the gamer to play conflicts such as the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Arab-Israeli Wars and the Gulf Wars. Again, these are accompanied by a very user friendly
set of rules.
In September 2009, Miniature Figurines was sold to Caliver Books.
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