📖 How to tell an original old Citadel / Warhammer miniature from a recast

Citadel Miniatures was formed in 1979 by Bryan Ansell with backing from Games Workshop. It invented the "slotta-base", the slotted base. Old metal miniatures are now highly sought after, and some fetch 30 or 50 euros each, or more. That demand attracts copies, known as "recasts". Here is how to identify an old miniature and spot a copy.

1. Identify the miniature: year and name

• If the miniature is on a square base and you can remove it without damage, look at the tab that goes into the slot: it sometimes shows a copyright year and the model name (for example "orc" or "dwarf").
• Note the year and model, then find the miniature in old Citadel catalogues, which are organised by season and year.
• Start with the metal miniatures, which are harder to identify; plastics are more recent and easier.
• The Stuff of Legends site, cited by the Oldhammer wiki, is a go-to reference for identifying old Citadel miniatures, with many scanned catalogue pages.

2. Citadel, Marauder and the blister packs

• Marauder Miniatures is a separate company, set up in 1988 by two former Games Workshop/Citadel sculptors, Aly and Trish Morrison, and promoted alongside Citadel in White Dwarf. A Marauder miniature is therefore not a copy.
• On old blister packs, "Citadel" is no longer prominent on the front: the back shows the company and "A Games Workshop Product".
• According to a contributor to the Miniset database, three code systems (Citadel, Marauder and Games Workshop) existed side by side. A pack can therefore show "Marauder Miniatures" with a Games Workshop code without being suspect.

3. Look for the mould lines

• Metal miniatures are spin-cast in a two-part vulcanised rubber mould, so they keep mould lines or flash along the edge.
• An original has a single set of lines following the outline of the miniature. A copy is made from a mould taken from an already-cast miniature, and its lines rarely fall in the same place: doubled mould lines are one of the surest signs of a recast.
• Moulds wear out over time, so a poor cast is not necessarily a copy. Look mainly for doubled lines, for example on the shoulder pads seen from above.

4. Examine the details, the tab and the metal

• Blurry details, especially along the mould lines, and soft edges (for example the teeth of a chainsword) often give away a copy. A detail damaged during cleaning or assembly is not proof.
• A badly cast tab is a good clue. A missing tab proves nothing, since some miniatures are pinned or placed on special bases, and a bent tab is common because tabs were bent to hold better in the slot. This can only be judged reliably on an unpainted or stripped miniature: glue and thick paint can fool you.
• Metal colour is only really informative for very old pre-slotta miniatures. For the rest, late-1980s models were produced by mail order well into the 2000s with different alloys, and stripping or wire-brushing can change the tone.

5. Material and high-risk models

• Games Workshop announced Finecast, an official resin range, in 2011. However, a miniature that should be metal or plastic and is offered in another material should raise a flag.
• Even plastic kits and Forge World models are pirated today. Be wary of a piece offered much cheaper or much more often than usual.
• The most exposed models are the rare and expensive ones: special miniatures from army boxes (especially standards), Black Library miniatures, the 1997 French Games Day Bretonnian Knight, many "unreleased" items, and Veteran Sergeant Centurius, given out around 1996 for the opening of the 100th UK store.

⚠️ Watch out for

• On a painted miniature these clues are hard to check. Copies are often sold unpainted or just primed, since painting would lower the price.
• Some collectors have copies sculpted to fill a gap in their collection, which is technically counterfeiting. If they are later resold without saying so, they can pass for originals.
• If in doubt, ask specialist communities such as the Oldhammer and Middlehammer groups, or an identification and valuation group, before paying a lot.

Sources : Chaos Bunker (repérer les recasts) · Spikey Bits (identifier de vieux modèles) · Oldhammer Wiki (Citadel Miniatures) · Miniset (codes Games Workshop) · Collecting Citadel Miniatures (copies « look alike »)

Updated on Oct 6, 2026. These pointers are indicative and do not replace an expert's opinion: for a valuable piece, have it appraised.