Why do the easy way, what you can do the hard way? An ode to oldhammer

Let's face it, we are lucky. We have the opportunity to have a hobby (not everybody does, and we should remember it sometimes...) but even more than this, we are lucky enough to have chosen a hobby with so many aspects that we can lose ourselves totally in it without ever getting the chance to accomplish a tenth of what we'd want to!

What is the thing that lead me to thinking about this? Simple, a super deal on ebay which got me to get my hands on 21 gorgeous models for only 30£ with PnP included :

I can imagine that fellow oldhammeres are starting to salivate while normal people are starting to worry about my mental sanity (did he really buy that pile of crap for 30£?).

See, that is one part of this hobby. I'm like the regular lot and sometimes I like to have some good time kitbashing whatever I find on sprues (the term is getting rather popular at the moment so if GW starts using it so am I).

But sometimes, I need to have old lead just because some of these old models just happen to have poses and expressions no conversion job or no kitbashing will ever achieve. No aspect is superior to the other, it's just I'm not looking for the same pleasure in each case. While I'll developp on kitbashing and converting plastic, this time I'll share my joy of old lead with you because this very deal I made recently sums it all :

First, the lot has some models I didn't even know before :

It also contained models that I would never have wanted but which will prove either good resting paintjobs or good trade fodder

Lats but not least : I'll have the surprise to discover new models still hidden under thick layers of whatever the previous owner seemed to be able to apply :

Looks like we have some Imperial guards here, I just can't imagine why the guy would take the trouble to paint hair when he had already drowned the whole face under paint ...

Never seen these 2 before but they look realy nice, I'm expecting a lot from them when stripping is done.

Hopefully, the tab reads "three-eyes" because just looking at the face wouldn't  make it obvious we have a mutant here...

I saved the best for the end with what appears to be a squat with a stub gun. I remember a friend of mine who used to paint like this in '91 but I had always hoped he was the only one, well, looks like he had a british counterpart...

Any guess (or bets) on how many liters of acetone and brushes I'll use on this one?

 

I'm welcoming any hint or clues to identify these miniatures, I have to admit apart from the obvious ones, there are a few that didn't ring any bell... People who come up with help on these will have first call on any trades from this lot.

Now, reasonable people will just consider how many plastic miniatures I could have assembled for 30£ and the time to strip all of this and they probably would be right... However I like my hobby to be unreasonable sometimes.