Cheap Scifi Miniatures! (Star Wars Micro Machines)

Ron had a post on his blog a few years ago that turned me on to these. Remember those Micro Machines figures that came with all those cool Star Wars playsets back in the '90s? Turns out they are in 1/76 scale, just a scoach shy of the favored scale of this blog. Of course they're out of production, but they are readily available on eBay, and while some sellers seem to have a tenuous idea of what the market will bear for these collectibles, some patience can yield some excellent deals, well under the 50-cent/mini rule I try to follow. I just lucked into a huge lot of these figures for a steal myself, so I thought I'd share.

Some humans. They're quite a bit smaller than Sven, though it's worth remembering that Sven is a bit big for his scale, as this post shows (maybe I need a better comparison mascot?). For the most part these figures will only look a bit smaller than 1/72 minis.

Aren't you a little short for storm troopers? Fittingly, these guys are superabundant on the secondary market.

Other masked humanoids, some of whom should seem familiar.

Aliens! I think the Gamorrean on the right makes an excellent fantasy mini. Too bad Galoob never made a Gamorrean set! 

Various pipsqueaks. The Ewoks have a lot of potential for fantasy, and I've already used a Jawa figure for conversions (more here).

Finally some droids(TM). The 2000's era Trade Federation Droids are kind of hard to find cheap, which is too bad, as they make excellent generic robo-soldiers.

This gallery is great for checking out more of these figures. I think the Gungans and Tusken Raiders also have some potential for fantasy gaming.

Again, when shopping for these, don't imagine that the prices you see most on eBay are what you have to pay. My sense is that even all these years after they were produced, the supply of Star Wars Micro Machines is fairly saturated, and that it's basically a buyers market. Just save a search, be patient, and the deals will become apparent.