Der Kriegspielers Fantastiques

American miniature sculptor Duke Seifried founded his own company, Der Kriegspielers ("The Wargamers") in the 1950s to make Napoleonic figures for retail sale.

In late 1974, Custom Cast released a new line of 25 mm figures called Der Kriegspielers Fantastiques ("The Fantasy Wargamers"), and the first product was a set of miniatures based on characters from Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring.

As historian Shannon Applecline noted in the 2014 book Designers and Dragons, "US miniatures maker Jack Scruby beat Seifried to the fantasy punch with a 30mm line that he sold at Gen Con VII (1974).

"[3]: 305 Custom Cast later merged with Heritage Models, which continued to produce figures for the Fantastique line, even after Siefried left the company to work at TSR.

[1] In the February–March 1978 edition of White Dwarf (Issue #5), John Norris thought that the Tolkienesque figures of the Fantastiques line "should be of particular interest to Tolkien addicts, because they are by far the most suitable range currently available for wargames set in his Middle Earth."

The "Fellowship of the Ring" figurines, part of the Lord of the Rings line produced in 1974. Image from White Dwarf #4