The Mad Devil
As I think is mentioned elsewhere, Polly S was my first brand of paints. Glass bottle, metal lid. They had a couple or three different sizes. At one point they had the TSR license and made official "D&D" colors. I still have a few as of May 2026. They were good paints. I am reluctant to open the few remaining pots I have for fear that I will learn that they have dried out and need to be thrown away. But given my current paint supply, I should.
I am not sure what sort of flow improver or similar material would help stretch its life at this point.
Doing some research, Polly S was owned by Testers and renamed Polyscale and discontinued in 2013
I feel like the hobby stores I used in the mid to late 90s phased out Polly S or Polyscale so by the time it was actually discontinued I had transitioned to the next entry.
The discontinuation announcement letter:
Friday, May 17th, 2013
Dear Valued Partner,
I am writing to inform you about changes that are taking place at the Testor Corporation. For over 80 years, we have provided premium paints and finishing systems to the craft and hobby industry. Today, we announced that we are transforming our business in order to more effectively address the changing needs of our consumers and their interests.
We’ve made the decision to exit the following businesses within the Testor® Brand family - Pactra®, Floquil®, Polyscale®, and ColorArtz®. This will enable the Testor Corporation to return to our foundation of success – providing premium, innovative product that inspires creativity. We will continue to accept orders and ship product for a limited time based on available quantities.
Going forward, the following brands will be critical to our success and development – Testor®, Model Master™, and Aztek®. These brands will be infused with marketing support, innovation and operational efficiencies.
In support of this, we have announced a consolidation of operations at our Rockford facilities. Over the next several months we will provide updates critical to your order and delivery needs as well as product availability. We assure you there will be no disruption to service during this transition.
Our commitment to the Testor brand has never been stronger. By implementing these changes, and the ability to leverage all of Rust-Oleum’s world class services, we are more strongly poised to take your business to the next level through product and merchandising innovations, and increased customer intimacy. Please contact me or your sales manager directly with any questions.
We appreciate your business!
Best Regards,
Kristin J. Schiro
Director of Sales & Marketing
In college and the years immediately following, I had found and was using a good bit of the Ral Partha paint line. I think I started noticing them when Polly S lost the TSR license. At least I remember buying the latest pots of Polly S at Hungates in the early 90s.
I am pretty sure that these only ever came in one size. Plastic bottle, plastic lid. As of May 2026, I still have a lot of RP/IWM pots still in regular rotation. Occasionally, I have to thin them, but they remain useful.
Ral Partha was acquired by Iron Wind Metals in 2001, and the internet tells me that IWM discontinued the paint line when they acquired Ral Partha, but I know I have IWM branded paint pots. It could be that they just burned through the remaining inventory or the internet sleuthing I am doing is wrong.
When Will P started painting in the late 90s/early 00s, he did not have my preconceptions about what brands were good. So he ordered miniatures from companies I had never heard of and bought paints with which I was unfamiliar. High on that list were the Vallejo paints. These were the first dropper bottles I used. It took some time for me to get used to that concept and I still feel like I end up wasting paint when I dont use all of what I squirt out.
That said, the first two entries get dried paint in the threads of the top, occasionally develop a dried out skin across the top of the pot and otherwise also have non-zero waste paint. I can't say with any certainty which wastes more paint.
When Will P stopped painting, I inherited his paints. I have bought other Vallejo paints as well beyond those I got from him. But somewhere in there I feel like my Vallejo purchases have waned. This likely coincides with my shift over to Reaper paints.
One of my early boxes of Xacto knives. Useful in trimming mold lines and injection sprues off metal minis. I don't know that I used too many of those blades over the years and somewhere the box and blades got lost. But I have a new one that is similar.