Ankh Morpork (so good they called it Ankh Morpork)

In this entry I'm going to cover figurines loosely based around Ankh Morpork. Characters, buildings and artefacts. This is only for the pieces I havent covered so far or those pieces that don't fit into a specific set on their own eg wizards, watch.
DW21 The Tankard From The Mended Drum
The Tankard was introduced after Terry requested that some smaller items were made available at a lower price so more fans could afford them. It was introduced at the same time as the potion bottles (see Witches). This piece was modelled on a tankard borrowed from a pub called the Gardeners Arms, local to the factory.
This was sculpted by Bernard and introduced in February 1991. It was retired in August 2001 and 2362 were sold. The 1st RRP was £10.11 and on retirement it cost £14.95. Top price paid is a reasonable £30. It looks a very tactile piece to me (and I love tactile) but for some reason I never got round to owning one. These were available in pewter and bronze finishes but there are no records of any being sold in these finishes.
The quote is from The Colour of Magic
"No - this was still the interior of the Drum, its walls stained with smoke, its floor a compost of old rushes and nameless beetles, its sour beer not so much purchased as merely hired for a while."

DW31 Gaspode the Wonder Dog
Gaspode features in 3 figurines surprisingly. He is featured in a Collectors edition with Death (DWC134) and an Event piece with Laddie from Moving Pictures (DWE16). These have both been covered in their respective sections. The remaining piece is just Gaspode on his own. He is shown scratching himself. He is often to be found scratching due to the host of doggy (and sheep) diseases he harbours! Gaspode has had loose affiliations with various different characters but after a while he sort of defaults to the Beggars. He becomes Rons' thinking brain dog and often speaks for him.
This piece was introduced in 1992 and was available until closure. His RRP was a very reasonable £12.95. He tends to sell for around this figure. He was sculpted by Leigh. I do not own this figure so do not have the tent card quote.


DW32 Teppic the Assassin
There is a whole set of figurines based around the book Pyramids. I debated whether to include Teppic the Assassin in that section. But I decided against it as I feel the assassin character is more tied to the city and the others were all released as a set. This one was introduced singly and first. There is only one version of this piece, however, the layers of paint necessary to get the required finish mean that no two pieces look exactly alike.
I really like my Teppic piece. There was a time when they were quite sought after. He is very detailed, down to the knives in his boots and the buckles on his holsters. He has a little moustache which gives him an air of Errol Flynn.
It was sculpted by Leigh and introduced in late 1992. He was retired in May 1998 and 1859 were sold. His first RRP was £25.12 and he retired at £34.99. Top price paid is recorded as £89, as I say there was a time he was sought after, I'm not sure that figure is always achievable.
The quote is from Pyramids
"He examined himself critically. The outfit had cost him his last penny and was heavy on the black silk. ........He opened the black box and took out his rings and slipped them on. Another box held kives of Klatchian steel, their blades darkened with lamp black. Various cunning and intricate devices were taken from velvet bags and dropped into pockets."
I love this quote. Particularly as if you read on he loads himself up with an inordinate amount of stuff and then, after checking himself in his mirror. Falls over!!

DW35 C.M.O.T. Dibbler
There are 2 Dibbler figurines. Dibbler was originally sculpted with his dragon detectors however it was felt that he should really be shown in his sausage inna bun guise. Therefore he was resculpted and dragon detectors was saved as a special event piece (DW35S, covered in special event pieces section). DW35 is the general sale Dibbler and is shown with his tray. He was sculpted by Leigh and introduced in February 1994 and was available until closure. The RRP was £29.50.
The quote is from Guards! Guards!
"Get your pig sausages, five for two dollars! said Throat, who never let a conversation stand in the way of trade."

DW37 Lord Vetinari the Patrician
The Patrician of Ankh Morpork. Lord Havelock Vetinari. I do like this character, specifically his interactions with Vimes. Stephen Briggs played Vetinari in early amateur productions and it is his version that the Clarecraft Vetinari is based on. The initial piece sent to Terry for approval looked slightly too much like Stephen so he asked that the figure was made more austere, that a skull cap was added and that the hairline was made to recede.
There are 2 versions of this piece. Mark 1 is known as the Cloakless Vetinari. Vetinari is shown sitting in a chair with his dog Wuffles at his side. The back of the chair had an open back. This caused issues with mould life so in July 1995 the decision was made to add a cloak to the back of the chair, hiding the gap. About 300 of the originals were sold before it was changed. I'm not sure where my cloaked version is. Just imagine a black cloak slung over the back of the chair!!
The piece was sculpted by Leigh Pamment. It went on sale in February 1995 and retired in February 2002 (after one change in 1995). 2228 were sold with around 300 of these being the Mark 1 'Cloakless' versions.
The RRP remained at £29.95 throughout its availability, top price recorded for a Mark 1 is around £300. They do go for considerably less as it is one of those rarities that most collectors are unaware of or have forgotten about.
The quote on the card is from Guards! Guards!
"You need a special kind of mind to rule a city like Ankh Morpork and Lord Vetinari had it. But then, he was a special kind of person."

DW47 & DW47W The Mended Drum
The Mended Drum and Bridge Over The Ankh are 2 buildings related to the city. Grannys Cottage was another similar flat back piece that came in two finishes. This is covered in the Witches section. The Drum is the smaller of the two pieces. It was sculpted by Bernard Pearson and introduced in February 1995. There were two versions of this piece. One in a painted finish and one in a wood finish. As ever the wood finish was intended to make the piece more affordable as the detailed painting made them quite expensive. The painted version was available till closure but the wooden version was retired in February 2002 due to lack of sales. 239 wooden effect pieces were sold. There are no numbers sold for the painted pieces. The RRP of the wooden one was £24.95 throughout its availability. The RRP for the painted version was £59.95.
The quote for the piece is from Sourcery
"The Drum jealously guarded its reputation as the most stylishly disreputable tavern in Ankh Morpork..."

DW48 & DW48W Bridge Over The Ankh
DW48 is not a building but a collection of buildings. In keeping with AnkhMorpork being almost medieval the bridges in the city have houses on them. The bridge is a large and heavy piece and was again offered in a painted and wooden finish. The painted ones were available until closure and the wooden ones were again retired early due to low sales.
This was sculpted by Bernard and introduced in February 1995. The wooden finish was retired in February 2002 and 229 wooden finishes were sold. The RRP was £29.99 from start to finish. The RRP of the painted piece was £79.99, a huge difference from the wooden version. There was no quote on the tent card of this piece.

Wooden version

Painted version

Beggars
I am covering the beggars here. They are a discrete group so in theory I could cover them as a whole entry but again I feel they are of the city.
DW74 Foul Ole Ron
Foul Ole Ron is the head of our little gang of reprobates. He was the first beggar that Clarecraft made. He was introduced in early 1997. He was retired in February 2003. Ron was losing Clarecraft 7% on each figure sold. The RRP was £29.95. He was sculpted by Joe Pattison. I do have this figure, I must admit it was a gift and I'm really not keen at all. I'm having a clearout soon. I have never sold a figurine but I think Ron and the Duck Man will be rehomed. I will never buy the other beggars so there seems no point in keeping them. The retirement of the beggars was announced in August 2002. At the end of that month 648 Rons had been sold. All the beggars finally retired in February 2003 so there was plenty of warning and shops did stock up so the final number maybe much higher. Sadly I have no final numbers sold.
The quote is from Hogfather
"You posh, Ron?"
"Buggrit."
"Yep. Sounds posh to me."

The final three beggars were all released together in February 2000 as it was felt Ron was getting lonely. All four beggars including Ron were retired in February 2003. Lots of notice was given and lots of shops stocked up. I have no final numbers sold but I do have figures for how many had been sold up until the end of August 2002.
DW112 Coffin Henry
The RRP for this piece was £27.50. Numbers sold by end of August 2002 was 356. I do not have the quote for this piece.
DW113 The Duck Man
The RRP for this piece was £27.50. Numbers sold by end of August 2002 was 390. He was sculpted by Joe pattison.
The quote is from hogfather.
"'The Goose was good,' said the Duck Man, picking his teeth.
'I'm surprised you et it, what with that duck on your head,' said Coffin Henry, picking his nose.
'What duck?' said the Duck Man


DW114 Arnold Sideways
The RRP of this piece was £27.50. Numbers sold by end of August 2002 was a very low 221. I do not have the quote for this piece.

This is a picture of all four beggars taken from the newsletter. Coffin Henry is the one in blue and Arnold Sideways is the one sat down.

DW164 The Golden Statue
This is the statue from the Ankh Morpork Post Office in Going Postal. This was another of the last pieces produced before closure. It was only available from May 2005 until October 2005. There are no numbers sold but again it is likely to be low. This rarely comes up for sale. It is possible that people preferred to spend their money on characters they liked that were made at the same time (the Monstrous Regiment trio, Ponder Stibbons or Vetinari for example). The statue is shown complete with all his wings. I do not know the quote for the piece. It was sculpted by Joe Pattison.

DW165 Lord Vetinari Standing
This was one of the last pieces produced by Clarecraft, introduced after May 2005 and retired on closure later that year. This is another of the last batch of pieces that I bought, its a very simple and elegant piece. It was sculpted by Joe Pattison. The piece was inspired by a photo taken of Stephen Briggs at the Discworld 21st birthday party. I have included this photo taken from the newsletter for comparison. I have no numbers sold for this as it was retired on closure however, as it was available for such a short time it is safe to say that it will be limited. It has made significant sums since however the last one sold on ebay went for £92. That's the first time I have seen it go for below £100.
The quote for this piece is from Going Postal
"With his hands steepled reflectively in front of his pursed lips, was Havelock, Lord Vetinari, under whose idiosyncratically despotic rule Ankh Morpork had become the city where, for some reason, everyone wanted to live."

DW170 Wax Seal of Ankh Morpork
This is another Going Postal related item. It is a lovely piece styled to look like a wooden stamp. It has Property of AMPO written around the handle. On the bottom is the Ankh Morpork crest in pewter. I really like this little piece, it is another tactile one. It was one of the last pieces released and retailed for the bargain price of £13.49. It was sculpted by Joe Pattison and there is no quote for this piece. Shortly after the factory closed this little piece became greatly sought after and reached £127!! It has been a while since appeared but it is probably unlikely to make that kind of money again.

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