Heritage Models Inc. was the name of a company that for a time was the more successful in producing Martian figures based on the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs for the ever growing popularity of war games during the 1970’s.  When it obtained the right to go into production, it sent examples of their work to ERB Inc.  However, the initial mouldings received a poor response and Heritage went back to the drawing board.  The outcome was an improved version and several figures such as the green warriors of Thark and Warhoon (60mm), the great white apes (50mm compared with 40mm) and plantmen (60mm compared with 50mm) were all much larger than their earlier counterparts. 

How some of these earlier figures came into the hands of private collections remains a mystery although one has to suspect either the modellers themselves kept them for a time before selling them on, or someone at ERB Inc. gave them as a gift to a passing fan.  The company did not survive and was sold on and other lines were manufactured leaving the Barsoomian figures as nothing more than a forgotten memory.

As a brief aside, in 1989 while on a five week tour of the U.S., I passed through Dallas, TX and took the opportunity to check out the address Heritage Models Inc. gave as their address.  I found the small industrial estate and Building 106 with no problem but Heritage had by that time long gone.

 

John Carter of Mars – Hinchliffe style

There were perhaps two other companies and maybe more that briefly delved into this market of fantasy gaming, one was Hinchliffe and the other an unknown company of which I have no information whatsoever.  A website I came across: www.greatwesternmedicineshow.com/Toy%20Soldier/mars.htm shows photographs of several painted figures and refers to them as being made by Hinchliffe but gives no model reference numbers.  On the hand, an article that appeared in issue 4 of the British ERB Society fanzine, The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs written by Mark Negus, listed 15 out of the 16 characters supposedly available with references (listed below) but there were no pictures to accompany the article. 

The only suggestion that these figures written about by Mark Negus and those shown on the website may be one and the same is that Mark mentions how the warriors have either helmets or headdress which nicely ties in with the pictures, but I accept this is only an assumption on my part and may be erroneous.

SF 1 Red Martian Chief
SF 2 Red Martian warrior with Radium rifle
SF 3 Red Martian warrior with sword and dagger
SF 4 Red Martian maiden with pistol
SF 5 Black Martian with Radium rifle
SF 6 White Martian Chief
SF 7 White Martian warrior with sword
SF 8 Green Martian Chief
SF 9 Green Martian warrior
SF10 John Carter – Martian Warlord
SF11 Red Martian Princess
SF12 White Ape
SF13 Plant Man
SF14 Banth, the Martian Lion
SF15 no information
SF16 Red Martian mounted on thoat
SF17 Green Martian mounted on large thoat

I do not have all of these figures, but of those that are in my possession show that there are variations in the above with two types of SF5 – the black Martian, one having a rifle, the other having a sword and three type SF-9 – the green Martian warrior having a variety of weapons.

Hinchliffe, like Heritage Models Inc. inscribed their model reference numbers to the base of each figure but one has to have some knowledge what reference belongs to which company.

Also, take a close look at figure SF7, the white Martian (Thern).  They may have listed him as a warrior but on his chest is the Holy Diadem that portrays him as a Holy Thern of the Tenth Cycle.