I wish everyone a Merry Christmas & would like thank everyone who visits my page.  

In this post we have two reviews. The first will be of a new toy soldier set from Mars. The second is a of the re-released Barzso Lexington Green foam buildings by LOD.

Last week I purchased the new Mars German Elite Infantry (Winter Dress) WWII set. I got them from Kent of http://toysoldierhq.com/. The set came with 15 plastic soldiers in 8 different poses. The scale of the soldiers is 1/32. The color is a light gray.

I like this figure set. The quality is not the best. But it’s not that bad. The quality of Mars is getting better. I like the poses and the captured Russian weapons that some of the soldiers have. Also the sniper and mortar guy are great. Mars reminds me of the vintage Airfix or Matchbox toy soldiers that you would get from the local hobby store. These are the type of toy soldiers that I had as a kid. I will show a few comparisons below with other companies.

Finally my Airfix German Mountain troops can have some fighting poses in winter gear to help them.. The Mars figures blend well with them. At least the last set of hard plastic Airfix figures that I got.

They are too small to go with Marx Germans.

They are a little smaller than the Conte Germans. But you mix some of them together. They don’t look that bad.

The same can be said when compared to TSSD Winter Germans. The Mars figures are smaller but you can still use them. I bet when they are painted they will blend better.

You can have them fight against the Biplant Russian Soldiers too.

Here are some 21st Century items that I used in this display.

I liked the way this mortar guy looks when I used him with this German Artillery piece.

Here is a display with a W. Britain German Panzer. They look nice when used as Panzer Grenadiers. The flash problems are not as bad with this set. Some of the molding errors actually help these figures if you are going to paint them. The marks on some of the helmets give you the worn look. Plus on some of the figures you will see the same effect with the uniforms. I am glad that the scale has improved to let us use some other brands that we already own. Most toy soldier collectors that purchased these sets want to add some reinforcements to their existing collection of other brands.

I pre-ordered a couple of the newly re-released Barzso Lexington Green foam buildings now made by LOD.

I ordered the Clapboard House in green. I have the Barzso Lexington Green playset with two Clapboard houses in red & white. So I wanted a different color that came from the factory. These are great to increase the size of your Lexington Green playset or just by themselves in a display. You can also use these house for different time periods besides the Colonial era.

I also got the Buckman’s Tavern. It was sold as a add-on to the playset, plus the Concord Bridge. I missed my chance with the tavern. I am glad that it was re-released. Just like most of the Barzso items that had been artificially increased on eBay over the years the building are being offered at ridiculous prices too.  Now is your chance to purchase these buildings at an affordable price. If you had missed them the first time, get it now before the are out of stock again. You can check what Ken is selling at his https://lodtoysoldiers.com/ page. Check out his blog section for the latest news or send him a message to see what is available. Don’t get ripped off on eBay.

Over the past few years I have been looking into ways to create my own figures & items that you can use in displays with toy soldiers like the rigid foam buildings and terrain pieces. Hopefully next year I will have some announcements. Stay tuned…..

That is it for now. Thank you for reading.