I have spent a blustery wet day today inside in the dry and warm, reading through the superb website of scanned Donald Featherstone’s Wargamers Newsletters.
I have been searching for Peter Laing adverts and reviews from the early 70s, looking at how the new scale and ranges of 15mm figures by the “industrious” Peter Laing rapidly emerged.
https://collectingpeterlaing15mmfigures.wordpress.com/some-peter-laing-adverts/
One of the oddest Peter Laing adverts so far was December 1973 typed advert (above) about the benefits of 15mm and the first six figure series or ranges totalling 100s of items that Peter Laing produced in his first year!
“If she * (the little woman – Mum – the Wife – the Girl Friend – or the better half!) complains that your army or collection is taking up too much room (or you are spending too much money) then Peter Laing’s figures could be the answer …”
Peter Laing 15mm Colonial figures (including bagpiper) – the unusual route to marital bliss?
I wonder what Mrs Laing – Wife – Better Half – etc thought of the advert?
These “Little Women” in Peter Laing’s life didn’t emerge for a few more years in the Late Victorian Parade Range (and probably ACW and Indian Mutiny Series).
By Christmas 1973, interest was growing in the new smaller scales of 15mm and 5 or 6mm. Minifigs has also by then launched a 15mm and 5mm Range.
In December 1973 I was still literally cutting my teeth at “Floor Games” level on larger plastic Airfix figures. Ten years later c. 1982/83 I would be buying my first Peter Laing ECW figures with my pocket money and paper round earnings.
This cataloguing and celebrating my Peter Laing figures (all now sadly out of production) is one of my ongoing 2022 projects and New Gaming Year’s Irresolutions, counting down towards the 50th anniversary of the first figures in October / November 2022.
Why do this? Pertly it’s because Peter Laing never produced an illustrated catalogue before the range vanished in the late 80s / early 90s when he retired. Now the moulds have sadly vanished.
Fellow Peter Laing collectors from the MeWe Peter Laing collectors circle have already started to contribute photos of figures or ranges I don’t have and sometimes figures I have never seen.
https://collectingpeterlaing15mmfigures.wordpress.com
The first advert October / November 1972 Military Modelling (Ian Dury collection)
Blog posted by Mark Man of TIN blog, 8th January 2022
Man of Tin blog 
It is so sad these figures are no longer available .
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Agreed it is sad . Who knows – One day these 1970s moulds might be found but probably beyond use now? Otherwise home recasts or EBay are your best options.
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Love the walk down memory lane. Great post.
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The whole scanning project of Wargamers Newsletter is a fascinating walk down our hobby’s memory lane from the 1960s to 1980.
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An enjoyable piece of time travel thanks for sharing this.
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Time Travel indeed! However the basic points of 15mm being space saving and cost saving remain …
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Hi….Interesting that the main strength of 15mm was said to be the smaller scale. At the time, early 70’s, the hobby was striving to reduce scales so more could be got on a table. One of the alternative paths was of course the use of wood screws which sadly only I seem to have followed. Also fascinating is the use of language, very NOT politically correct to today’s reader but perfectly ok at the time. Wonderful trip down memory lane, thanks. Regards.
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Interesting how now the smaller scales of 6mm and 10mm are returning or making some slow impact against the current dominance of 28mm. 15mm is on the back burner now for many in hobby terms.
Skim reading these 1970s Wargamers Newsletters online (free pdfs – great resource) looking for Peter Laing ads, reviews and references was interesting in parts; i recognised quite a few of the makers although I didn’t start reading the hobby magazines like Mil Mod and Airfix Magazine etc until the early 1980s (by which time Donald Featherstone had finished producing this newsletter but I was reading his books).
I wonder if Miniature Warfare and the famous wood screw army of 1969 gets a mention?
The 1970s humour is what I was brought up on, which was fine I was told as long as I didn’t repeat any of it. A lot of it makes me cringe now if I hear it again,
Even more so now …
there are still a few wargames bloggers who (jokily?) mention She Who Must be Obeyed etc. Maybe less “Memsahib” mentions now …
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I really like his ‘little women’ figures!
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I was very pleased to have found this little boxed set of Laing Victorian civilians hand painted by John Mitchell.
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