It has been a while since my last post. I have been busy working extra and dealing with the weather for the most part in January. I have gathered some things that have occurred over the last month into one post. So let us begin with some news from Airfix.

Airfix is releasing 6 of there classic World War II sets this summer. British Paratroops, German Infantry, US Infantry, US Paratroops, German Paratroops and British Infantry. I think these are now being produced in India. I wonder if they will be in a soft plastic again?

Conte’s plastic Romans are in production and should be available before the end of this year. Hopefully by the summer if we are lucky we shall see Roman Legion Set #1. They will come in bagged sets of Gold, Silver & Red.

Some of the figures require assembly. You will have a some choices with the poses. This is a nice feature when building armies. Also the hot & cold water solution to straighten the spear might be needed. Head over to the Conte website over here, https://contecostore.myshopify.com/.

Next we visit CHELOVECHEK / LITTLE MAN. Set №8, which is called “The Missing Expedition of Franklin – EREBUS (1845-1847).” In the set are 6 men in 1/32 scale made in rubber plastic. Here is a short description: – Captain John Franklin with Capuchin the monkey, Private of the Marine Corps armed with a capsule shotgun, Ice Master with hook and pistol, Diver with bogor, Cook with a heavy look, and an old sailor with a ice ax.

Plastic Platoon is very busy these days. They have a new set coming out soon. It is Indian Warriors of the Battle of Little Bighorn #3.

Plastic platoon. Soviet scouts 1943. 1/32 + Master model. Planned for release in Spring 2021.

Here are some 3D rendered Indian figures for the new American Revolution theme sets being developed.

Here are more renders of the figures of the series American Revolution. This time, the figures are from the Artillery Revolution set. The girl is Molly Pitcher.

Next we see what Publius is up too. Here are a few of the new sets being released. There is a crusader set, Greeks and Knights.

Plus some of the older WWII Russian Soldier sets cast in the rubbery resin. These WWII Russian Sets can be found at https://micshaunscloset.com/collections/publius.

The last thing I have to report about Publius is the prototype of an Amazon.

Mars has two new sets coming out later this year. They are World War II German Paratroop Artillery and Mortar sets.

David and Kim at MicShaun’s Closet have some new foam pieces in development. Here are the photos of their new North Africa Building in three paint schemes.

Plus Palisade Walls for the Alamo and other dioramas.  Three different pieces – plain wall, angled section (more for Alamo) and and artillery section. Check out more of their products at https://micshaunscloset.com/.

Last time I previewed the English Archer set by Warhansa. They have continued with some new medieval themed sets. They are English medieval themed sets. I really like these sets.

They also have a new Viking themed set. You can see more at their website over here, https://www.warhansa.com/.

FOUND AFTER 14 YEARS

One of my favorite projects was the Robin Hood Set. After the set came out in 2007 I had 5 more Merry Men sculpted by the brilliant Jay Richardson of Ft. Worth , Texas. They were to be the basis for a small add on set called the Men of Sherwood Forest. The figures were in various camp poses , seated , standing around, etc. One guy was designed to carry a variety of items , like firewood , a cask, etc. I got involved with other projects and put the originals away for safe keeping. I put them away in such a safe place that I forgot where they were! From time to time I would mount a determined search , but always without success. Years went by, with no Merry Men in sight.

Fast forward to last Saturday night. I was moving some boxes around and found one labeled ” Original Sculpts .” even though I had looked in the box before , I thought I would check each small box inside. Each box contained a set of original figures that I sent to the mold makers and which they had returned, Aztecs, 1805 Marines, Hurons …and then I opened a box labeled British Grenadiers figures #1-#4. But within the box was the set of long lost, misplaced , missing in action Merry Men in Camp ! I immediately called my old buddy Jim Clouse and told him the happy news . We met the next day at a McDonalds parking lot so I could hand them over for some professional photographs. (In addition to his sculpting skills Jim is also an accomplished photographer.

Finally, I communicated with the new owner of Barzso Playsets, Ken Ciak. Ken was excited too and plans to finally produce these figures along with maybe a surprise or two. ( I had planned to include a Maid Marion and Ken makes great female figures and , well, you get the idea.

So there is the story of the missing Merry Men. I can hardly wait until they come out. Can you ?

~ Ron Barzso

Photos were taken by Jim Clouse. These figures will probably be out sometime in the summer or early fall. You can see more of the LOD products over here, https://lodtoysoldiers.com/.

Total War announced that they will be releasing Warhammer III late this year. It is a PC video game. Game Workshop is also developing new miniatures bring back the Warhammer Fantasy tabletop game.

Now for some news. I will not be attending the Midwest Toy Soldier Show this year. I will be at the Gettysburg and Columbus Toy Soldier Shows. Maybe some other shows too. But we shall see. I will have some of the Russian based figure sets at these shows. Companies like Prikaz, Warhansa and Publius. Plus the LOD resin sets and some foam products. I should also have my figures ready sometime late spring. That is all for now. Thank you for reading.