Here is another blog post on the hobby of toy soldiers. Here are a few pictures of some of the figures that I am going to talk about.

I usually try to visit flea markets, yard sales and antique stores in the late spring, summer and fall seasons. Most of the time I don’t find too many toy soldiers of interest to me. But the last couple of years I have been lucky to find some nice items. A couple of years ago I started searching for new places to visit that were about 2 to 3 hours away from the house. I find a store or town that I want to visit and then take the local roads until I get to that place. Usually we find stores or discover some yard sales along the way. The other day me and my girlfriend took a random drive and discovered the small town of Honesdale, PA. There were a few nice shops there. One of the stores that we visited was Ambeez Toy Box. This toy store was selling a combination of vintage and new toys. I saw a lot of vintage action figures there. Plus some Warhammer figures. The store is family owned. The owner Paul Bas was very friendly and helpful. I picked up a 21st Century Airplane. An WWII Italian Macchi C.202 Folgore in 1/32 scale  for $30. If you are ever around Honesdale stop by.

 

I stopped at a local Dollar Tree and found this Western bagged set. It had a few figures, a wagon and a camp fire. For a dollar you can’t go wrong. The Wagon is not bad, the figure is about 54mm. The other figures are about 60mm.

The last couple of months I have been picking up vintage western theme figures either from the flea markets or the internet. Mainly groups of figures from different companies and not sets. At the same time I have been going through my collection and re-discovering figures or sets that I forgot I had. One example is the Airfix Plains Indians  in 1/32 scale. I was looking for a few weeks for some on eBay. The prices are crazy these days. I was watching a set and then discovered a bunch of figures that I already had, lol. I also found some Timpo Solid cast figures and Reisler Indians that I had stored away. I am going to do a future post on them and some other sets that I have. One of my favorite was the 1/32 scaled Timpo Native American in the picture above and the others pictures below. This is from the 1960’s I think. He is holding a rifle with a blanket covering him. I had to repair him and the horse above too. His rifle was broken and the horse’s leg had broken off. I am planning on painting these one day. I think the horse is by Marx?

Most of the items that I picked up this month were from the internet. We will continue with some of the Western themed items that I found. I have been looking for some vintage Marx or European brands lately. I am gathering both painted and unpainted figures. A lot of the older European plastic figures were painted. I first found a few Marx figures. One is Roy Rogers. I put him on a Airfix horse. I got these guys and about 15 other figures for $9.00.

We continue with a lot of figures that I got from Europe. Most of my collection of toys are items from about 20 years old to the present. I am not that knowledgeable on vintage figures. Here are some pictures of the lot that I got for about $13.00. I think some are by Crescent, Lone Star, Cherilea, Hilco and Timpo. Most are about 1/32 to 1/35 scale. Some are smaller. A few have broken weapons and a few scuffs. I will try to fix them and them repaint most of them.

I found this Airfix Mulipose German set for $5.00. Another box to the pile of projects….

Here is an old Britain Herald set of Highlanders. I found this in an antique store for around $7.00. I have about 30 of these or these type of band figures. Most of the ones that I find have broken instruments or weapons. Plus the others have the paint flaking off. This one was no different. One of the figures had two broken legs. I glued the legs together with the Brush on Krazy glue. It works nicely and I have used it on a few of figures. Ed Borris gave me that tip. I am going to keep these guys in the package and display them.

Next are some figures that I picked up a long time ago. I got these Merten Indians for $3.00 at an auction. At the time I never heard of this brand. They are very colorful. These are 54mm. Made in Germany. They are painted hard plastic. The more common size is 40mm for these figures. These are some of my favorite figures in my collection.

The other day I came across these Walking Dead Zombie figures. Being a fan of the Walking Dead series I decided to get a few different figures. One was the zombies and then some character figures. I will make a mini playset one day. I am thinking of painting zombies one day. Maybe make a display box for a one of a kind playset. Plus I think that we shall see more Soldiers in the future episodes. I can add some of them for the future too. These figures are 1/32 in scale. 

Besides the solid unpainted figures they have character figures that you put together. I had to connect the arms, legs, head and a few other parts together. These are 1/32 in scale too. There are some solid cast characters too. These are based on the comic and are different from the tv show.

Here are two 54mm Elastolin swoppet type figures. I don’t to many swoppet figures. When I was a kid I had the Timpo fort with the Cavalry & Indians. These two are nice. Made in Germany.

Here is another lot that I got from eBay a few days ago for around $20.00. I decided to add these figures to the post at the last minute. It is another grouping of European western figures. The main reason I bid on this lot was because of the mounted Indian. I later found out it was made by Cherilea by Paul Robinson who runs the facebook page Marxplaysets (Yahoo Group). This was seconded by Kent Sprecher of Toy Soldier HQ. 

I have been coming across some of these older figures here and there. Some of them are expensive. So when I find them they are usually in group lot that I find. This mounted Native American Indian is 1/32 and this figure is casted with the horse.

Besides this figure above there were some other interesting figures. The first batch of Indians were about the same size as Airfix Plains Indians. The three cowboys are about 60mm. The other groupings of Native Indians are about 45mm. The dark blue U.S. Cavalry figures are also 60mm. The other groupings of cowboys are about 50mm. I am planning on painting most of these figures. I will give them a wash and scrub off the old paint with a toothbrush. 

That is it for the new additions to my collection. Now here is some news on the hobby.

Just a few things to mention this time. The first is a preview of Evan Oelrich’s World War One figures. You can check that out at Stad’s Stuff. I think the details look good, but the arms and weapons look a little small. 

Also mention on Stad’s page and other hobby forums was that Armies in Plastic has a new promotion and some new recasted figures in different colors to be used as Napoleonic Lancers.

You can head over to Classic Toy Soldiers if you interested in World War II. They have some limited sets available at the moment. The first is the Iwo Jima Playset. It includes the following items.

CTS952A Iwo Jima Playset Contents (175 pieces) (1:32 scale) plastic toy soldiers
  1 CTS Bamboo Machine Gun Nest
  1 CTS Concrete Pill Box
  1 CTS Chi Ha Position
  2 CTS Fox Holes
  1 CTS Artillery Position
  1 CTS Cave

25  MARX Marines 

32 CTS GI’s
25 MARX Japanese
24 CTS Japanese
  3 CTS Sherman Tanks
  1 CTS Half Track
  3 CTS Japanese Chi Ha Tanks
  2 CTS US Howitzers
  2 JAPANESE Field Guns
  6 CTS Tree Stands
  1 MARX Palm Tree Set
  2 CTS US Weapons Sets
  8 Barbed Wire Sections
  4 Concertina Wire Sections

  2 CTS Flag Poles w/bases
  1 Japanese Rising Sun Flag
  1 American flag

Here is the second set, the Iwo Jima Defensive Positions Set.

WWII CTS7444A Pacific Theater Iwo Jima Defensive Positions Set #2  — 7 different pieces (painted)  for 1/32 scale plastic toy soldiers

Iwo Jima Pieces Set #2

Palm Log Machine Gun Nest (12”L x 7.5” W)
Dug-In Chi Ha Position (11”L x 9.5W”)
Artillery/Machine Gun Position (9”L x 6”W)
2 Fox Holes in 2 types (4”L x 3”W)
Cave #2 (large) (6”L x 4.5”)
Concrete Pill Box (7”L x 5”W)

I hope to see the Hat Seven Years War Austrians by the end of the year. Last I heard they are still in development. They are working the 1/32 Austrians and 3 other projects. 

Well at least we shall see the new figures from the LOD in September. Here are some of the older sets above. 

Here are more previews of the new Revolutionary War figures. Well the hype train is all most pulling in for the Yorktown Playset. It will be here at the end of September. I can’t wait to see it. 

My Union Softball tournament came again at the our annual picnic. This year we came as the defending champs. My team made it to the championship game again, but we lost…. We will be avenged!! I don’t know where these Viking shields came from be we had some fun with them, lol. Nobody had to the courage to take up the challenge to “Pick up the Shield!!!”

That is it for this post. Thanks for reading, Take Care.