Old School Citadel Blister Packaging

A short and sweet celebration post today, inspired by Andreas Massonne over on the Oldhammer Community Facebook Page and I subject that I have not really spoken about before here. Packaging. Or more precisely, the mid '80s early '90s packaging that I remember dangling en mass from the walls of gaming shops in the heyday of my youth. 

One thing that I loved about all of the backings to the blisters I would gaze at with longing every other week were the pices of colourful artwork that adorned the cards. A small selection of my collection of blisters can be seen above this text and the variety of colours and designs is most obvious, even to the laymen. All were different and yet some how appropriate to the type of miniatures that they advertised. My favourites were the anti-social green of the goblinoids range and the sinister red, white and green of the Realm of Chaos range. 

Obviously. 

Yet the packaging was not always as exciting. Originally, many Citadel models were sold loose in draws and you just asked for what you required. The freindly chap (or chapess) behind the counter would dutifully slide the draw open and unearth the 'skeleton warrior with severed head' that you were after/ Then came the tickets with a vague symbol and a hand written code telling you was contained within the plastic bag that dangled below. Miniatures had been packaged like for years and were a common sight in the 1970s. By the mid '80s the more familiar card packs appeared, as illustrated above, in navy blue and yellow. But it was the later '80s that saw an explosion in bright and exciting packaging. 

Have a gander at these!

By late 1991 I had moved on from regular miniatures buying. My parents had bought me a Commodore Amiga and my interests moved elsewhere. The years ticked by and by 1995 I had returned to the hobby and started collecting Bloodbowl miniatures again with a friend. Sadly, the glorious blister packs that I had fond memories of were long gone, replaced by much, much inferior products. 

See what I mean.

And they have been bland ever since.

Orlygg