Latest News!! Loot from E.C.T.S.S. News from Engineer Basevich & Plastic Platoon.

November 10, 2019November 10, 2019 / Warhorse Miniatures / 1 Comment

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I have seen on a few different places Engineer Basevich is releasing two more sets to go along with the Revolution series. They will be in different colors again. So far I have seen blue and brown. They are cast in plastic in 1/32 scale. I found some of these pictures and information on the Engineer Basevich website.

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“So, “Engineer Basevich” with special pride presents a set # 30 “Commanders of the White Guard”. The set includes Kappel, Skuro, Drozdovsky and Ataman Semenov. Why are they, you ask, and begin to shower with no less worthy names? I agree! But such is the author’s decision, and although Kappel and Drozdovsky were already represented in my earlier sets on foot, I felt that they were no less worthy to lead your armies and on horses.”

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“There is a timeline for a new one for the 31st set of soldiers of the ENGINEER BASEVICH – “Leaders of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1921 R.” , and on behalf of the Director, Simon Petliuri, the hetman of the Ukrainian State in 1918, Rotsі Pavel Skoropadsky and Old Man -otaman Nestor Makhn. The fourth iguroyu set є petlyurіvsky colonel Petro Bolbochan. Hai live in Ukraine!“

Also around the net for a few weeks now are these new prototypes from Plastic Platoon. These are part of the Defense of Leningrad series.

“Plastic Platoon. Master model. Joint attack of 115 rifle division of the Red Army and 4 brigade of the Marine Corps of the KBF. Autumn 1941 Scale 1/32. The figures will be made in rubber-like material.”

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When I was on vacation I got a message about Plastic Platoon’s latest releases. Here is the breakdown with that.

1. Plastic Platoon. German Paratroopers set 3. Battle of Crete 1941. Soft / rubber material. 1/32 scale

2. Plastic Platoon. Battle of Crete 1941. Greek Infantry and militia. Soft / rubber material. 1/32 scale

3. Plastic Platoon. Terrain set – Battle of Crete 1941. Fallschirmjäger drop containers. Broken, radio, supply containers

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Last weekend I attended the East Coast Toy Soldier Show. You can read about that over here, East Coast Toy Soldier 2019 Review.

While I was at the show I picked up a few things. I found some time to take some pictures of them.

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I found this boxed set of Atlantic Apaches in 1/32 scale for $45.00. Some of these figures were still attached to the sprue.

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I found these Atlantic Roman figures for $60.00. Most are Roman Legionaries. Some were Gladiators or Citizens.

Here are the Roman soldiers. These figures are about 60mm.

Here are the figures for Coliseum. Looks like a Roman Emperor and some Senators too. Also some Gladiators and some poor Christians dealing with a couple of lions.

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I picked up a few Barzso figures for $3.00 each. Some are characters from the Davy Crockett set.

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I picked up about 20 of the Marx 60mm Robin Hood figures for $2.00 a piece in these poses.

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I picked up 5 of the John Jenkins Anglo Saxons/Danes for $40 a piece from Minutemen Toy Soldiers.

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The John Jenkins figures are really nice and blend very well with other companies like W. Britain, Conte & First Legion.

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I picked up this Schleich Mopane Tree for $10.

Lastly I found this Barzso rock piece from the Roger Rangers playset for $20.

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That is the last show I am going to this year. I might go to a vintage toy show in Allentown if I get a chance. I have updated the Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show which you can see over here, The Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show 2020.

That is it for now. Thank you for reading.

East Coast Toy Soldier 2019 Review

November 4, 2019November 4, 2019 / Warhorse Miniatures / 5 Comments

The Show

Yesterday I attended the 37th Annual East Coast Toy Soldier Show & Sale. After a 2 hour drive I arrived about 10 minutes before the show started. I went to the back of the line of about 100 people waiting to get in. I waited about 5 minutes before the doors opened and there was another 100 waiting behind me. So around 200 people entered as the show began. I heard from vendors that the show was well attended and they did good in sales. After 3 years of declining crowds it had bounced back.

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So after about a two hours I went out to get my camera and took a tour around the show which we shall see soon. I found a few more things for my collection. I was not really searching for anything in particular but I did find a few things for my collection. I will do a separate post about the items that I did find. I was not able to get every vendor in the post. For the article I used about half of them present.

A Treefrog Treasures

I was greeted by Julie the owner of Treefrog Treasures. They are usually the first table in the first row. She is very helpful with the painted metal seta that they sell. You can visit their website at https://www.treefrogtreasures.com.

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The next vendor that I came across was “Fast Eddie”. They had a bunch of vintage figures to choose from. Plus other vintage items. There were many box lots. He is usually at the New Jersey Toy Soldier Show and the Heart of the South Toy Soldier Show.

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One of the tables that I usually want to see is Scott Schleh one. He has amazing custom built dioramas and items for sale. Send him a message if you are interested in his work. His email is mrclaycars@aol.com.

D Army Wargaming Center

Gary Green of Army Group Center Wargaming was there too with his usual selection of boxed sets. Both 1/72 & 1/32 in scale. He also has boxes of loose figures for sale at the shows. You can go to his website over here, https://army-group-center-wargaming.myshopify.com/.

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Check out the art by Doug Dearth at his website, http://dearthco.net/. He is usually at some of the Toy Shows across the nation.

Usually at every show that I go to there is a new vendor or collector at the show. Phil Coffey was selling some off his collection this year. If you see anything that you might be interested in send him a email at hnc27@aol.com.

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George’s Toy Chest is usually at the show too. Check out all the antique & vintage toys at https://georgestoychest.com/.

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Here are some random pictures from the show.

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One of the new vendors this year was Janice. She was selling some vintage collectibles and toys. I think that the show is evolving a little to include more vintage toys and military or historical items. I picked up some elves for my girlfriend from Janice.

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William J Sullivan had a nice selection of hand painted miniatures and models for sale. Plus some books. Send him a message if you are interested in his work.

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Francis Turner was at the show again selling mainly Marx toys. He had playsets, figure sets, boxes of loose figures or bagged figures for sale. I picked up some 60mm Marx Robin Hood figures and a boxed set of Atlantic Apaches in 1/32 scale.

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Most of the shows that I attend I will see Rick Eber set up selling his vintage toys. Time after time he has some of the best and rare Marx Playsets & figures. If you are a die-hard Marx collector you should check him out. His website is at, http://www.marxplaysets.com/.

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Here are some more random pictures from the show.

A rare photo of Stengel Jr. Worth the price of admission, lol.

John Stengel Jr was at the show selling some of his vintage toy soldiers. He had a nice selection of Barzso Playset figures and display pieces. I picked up a bunch of Atlantic Roman figures from him and a few Barzso figures. We should see a set of the German Paratroopers next year. Hopefully in the spring.

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Steve Connell was selling some items for the first time at this show. He had a nice selection of metal painted figures.

L Arley Pett

Arley L Pett had a huge selection of antique & vintage toys for sale. He is also looking to purchase antique toys. He is up in Maine if you are interested in buying or selling.

M Smileys

Smiley’s Toys was a vendor selling mostly Hess Trucks. But the had some of collectibles for sale.

N Hornung Art

Robert Hornung of Hornung Art had a nice selection of his products. He has a lot of unique painted metal sets. He is currently working on a website. He does a lot of the sculpting and painting of his sets. I will have more information about his products in the future.

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The Patriot is a store in Lake George, NY. They had a nice selection of historical military items and vintage toys at the show.

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One of the vendors that you have to see at this show is Gerry Watts. He always has a huge selection of vintage toy soldiers to pick through. They are separated by price either loose or figure sets bagged. I picked up some Marx vikings from him.

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Here are some more random pictures from the show.

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The amazing painted metal miniatures from the St. Petersburg Collection by AeroArt International had a nice selection at the show too. You can see more at their website, https://www.aeroartinc.com/.

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Collector Robert Cuddy is selling off his collection. Send him a message if you are interested.

The Metal Shed was there with their custom made planes and vehicles.

Here are some more pictures from different vendors that were at the show. They have no websites and were just selling things at the show.

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Paul and Donna Amody were at the show again with their beautiful painted metal figures.

George Guerriero of Minutemen Toy Soldiers was at the show too with his great displays of hand painted metal miniatures. He also has some plastic figures and magazines. I picked up 5 of the John Jenkins Age of Arthur Saxons from him. Plus the latest issue of the Plastic Playset Magazine. Check out George’s website, http://www.mmtoysoldiers.com/. I get most of my metal figures from George. He offers great customer service and is very knowledgeable about all the different paitned metal companies.

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ScottyZ Toyz was a new vendor selling some vintage toys. Mostly action figures. But this was just a sample of what toys he has to offer. He is usually at the other vintage toy shows in NJ.

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Josh is another vendor that just sell his vintage toys at some of the shows. He usually is at the East Coast Show.

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William Britain was also selling their products at the show. This is one of my favorite companies. I also am one of their Collector Club members. W Britain CC offers so much than the exclusive figures. The Standard magazine is really nice. It is filled with pictures and interesting historical based articles. They offer exclusive discounts too!

Z Hobby Bunker

Hobby Bunker was at the show again. They offer a huge selection of both plastic and painted metal miniatures. They are now the proud owner of Paragon Scenics & Miniatures. You can check out their website here, https://www.hobbybunker.com/.

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It was another successful show. I had a good time talking to the vendors and other collectors. The time flew by quickly. I noticed more younger people at the show. There were more couples and families too. I think the show will keep growing with the basis being toy soldiers. But will have more vintage toys as time goes on.

That concludes the review of the show. In my next post of will have pictures of the items that I purchased. There was not enough time for me to take more pictures and then edit them. This probably is my last show for the year. I hope to have some more posts on different subjects and any news when it comes. Thank you for reading.

Toy Soldier Review ~ Mars German Don Cossack (WWII)

October 31, 2019 / Warhorse Miniatures / 4 Comments

During World War II, the Don Cossacks mustered the largest single concentration of Cossacks within the German Army, the XVth SS Cossack Cavalry Corps. A great part of the Cossacks were former Russian citizens who elected to fight not so much for Germany as against the Soviet Union. The XVth SS Cossack Cavalry Corps included the 1st Cossack Division and the 2nd Cossack Division.

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Mars

Mars just released a set of Don Cossack soldiers that served in the German Army during World War II. I recently picked up a set from Kent Sprecher. Here is the link for Kent on eBay, 32023 Mars 1/32 WWII Don Cossacks (German Allies) toy soldiers 15 in 8 poses. You get 15 figures in 8 different poses in 1/32 scale.

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Let’s start the review. I was very happy to get this set. Mars hit a home run in my opinion. I was surprised to find out that the scale of this set about the same scale as the Conte Germans. Now my German forces finally have some Axis Allies in the same scale. They also look nice when compared to Marx Germans too. Even the Plastic Platoon figures are about the same scale. The only flaw that stands out to me is the flash that cuts down most of the figures faces.

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The scale is one of the major drawbacks to most of the other Mars sets. Previous Mars World War II sets really didn’t compare that well with most sets. Unless you were a big collector of MPC figures then you were out of luck. Most collectors will pick a scale that they like to collect. You have 1/35 scale which is what most “Models” are. Then the classic scale of 54mm or the original 1/32 scale which most Marx figures are. Then the “Big” 1/32 scale which came along with Conte & TSSD figures. My favorite is the Conte Scale.

German Elite Infantry

As I was writing my review a few days ago I was sent some pictures of the new Mars WW II German Elite Infantry in Winter Dress. These figures look really nice. I hope that these new figures are also a little bigger than the previous sets. Kent should have them in stock in a few weeks.

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The East Coast Toy Soldier Show is this Sunday. I will be there and will have a review of the show most likely on Monday. That is it for now. Thank you for reading.

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Interview with Ivan Kostenko from ЧЕЛОВЕЧЕК or “Little Man”, Plus Review of the Ancient Aryans & The 2019 East Coast Toy Soldier Show.

October 27, 2019October 27, 2019 / Warhorse Miniatures / 1 Comment

Earlier this year I read on Stad’s Stuff about the Russian company called ЧЕЛОВЕЧЕК or “Little Man”. They released a limited edition set of Tlingit Natives. In September they released two more sets of figures. This time the subject of the miniatures was Ancient Aryans. The figures are historical based. They are 1/32 in scale and cast in a hard type of rubbery resin.

I had ordered the two sets of the Ancient Aryans. I have been communicating with the owner of “Little Man” recently about his products and then setup an interview with him.

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Warhorse Miniatures: Hi Ivan. Thank you for taking your time to answer some questions. Here is my first question. Can you tell the readers something about yourself and your Company Little Man?

Ivan: My name is Ivan. I am 30 years old. Since childhood I really love soldiers and enjoy history and ethnography. I really like to study the life of various tribes of the planet. A year ago, I took the first step towards creating a workshop “Little Man”. The goal of my project is through the contemplation of “Little Men”, through the game, to convey as much as possible the originality and colorfulness of historical cultures and ethnic groups born in the process of forming a single human race. In my project, I acted as the creator of the idea, historian and sculptor. It is very important for me to create exotic tribes that are little known to the world, in order to encourage people to study the history of the planet and take a wider look at humanity. I also focus on creating figures of ordinary residents, artisans.

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Warhorse Miniatures: The first set that Man released was Tlingit Natives. Why did you start here?

Ivan: The Tlingits were my first set because their culture shocked me when I visited the Museum of Ethnography in St. Petersburg. It houses the richest collection of their artifacts. These are the most dissimilar Indians to those that we are used to seeing in pop culture. In addition, the history of the Tlingit people is closely related to the history of the colonization of the Russian Empire by Alaska.

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Warhorse Miniatures: I recently received the Ancient Aryans sets that I purchased. I am really impressed with the amount of details, subject matter and the choice of poses. Can you tell us about these sets?

Ivan: The second set I dedicated to the tribes of central Eurasia – the ancient Aryans. In Russia there is an unusual archaeological monument called Arkaim. It is also called “Russian Stonehenge”. This is a fortified settlement which was built by the Aryans 4 thousand years ago. I was very inspired by this layer of history and for six months I studied all the possible information in order to maximally convey the real face of this people. I was a pioneer in the reconstruction of men’s suits and I had to consult and approve sketches from leading archaeologists in this area. In my sets I depicted the first chariot in the history of mankind, the first wild horses (tarpans) used for riding, the ancient breed of shepherd dogs (tobet), the early cults of fire worshipers. The ancient Aryans made a great contribution to the history of ancient Persia, India and the Scythian world.

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Warhorse Miniatures: What are you plans for the future?

Ivan: In the future, I will pay attention to each continent in turn and not focus on one topic. The tribes will be different, ranging from the Stone Age to the century of great geographical discoveries. The next set will be dedicated to the people of Asia, but more specific information will remain secret until the release of the set.

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Warhorse Miniatures: I have some collectors message me about how they can purchase your sets. What is the best way?

Ivan: You can order a set by contacting me on the official page, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100035023535786. Two boxes of Arias will cost $124($62 each). Mail goes out at $23.

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Warhorse Miniatures: The sculpting is really nice. Besides the sculpting do you also do the casting?

Ivan: Thanks for the rating. With the second set of Aryans, I personally began to master the art of casting.

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Warhorse Miniatures: I think you told me that you will have more of the Ancient Aryans sets available soon. Is that correct and when?

Ivan: I pour on pre-order. From the moment of ordering, the kit is sent in about two weeks to its customer. First I accept the pre-order, after about two weeks I inform you about the readiness of the set and we agree on the purchase.

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Warhorse Miniatures: Also are there plans to recast the Tlingit Natives again?

Ivan: The Tlingit – War set will be reissued, but so far I can’t say when. A set of Tlingit-Potlach will also be created, in which all the figures will be dedicated to the peaceful life of the tribe (fishermen, woodcarvers, dancers, etc.).

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Warhorse Miniatures: Is there anything else you would like to say to the readers?

Ivan: I recommend that all readers study the history of our humanity, because by studying history we become more tolerant of each other. After all, we all have one roots and one future in the universe.

That concludes the interview. Now we will start my review of the Ancient Aryans by ЧЕЛОВЕЧЕК or “Little Man”. There are two boxed sets that complete this collection. Ivan was kind enough to give us a description of the figures in these sets.

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In the first box is a Chariot. They used a hard type of liquid plastic/resin to make the Chariot and the idols.

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Leader. Armed with a bow with bone plates, a bronze arrow, a stone mace as a symbol of power, bone lamellar armor.

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Chariot driver. In the hands of a scourge, a wicker shield is covered in finished leather. There is a bronze ax on the belt. Each miniatures has the “Little Man” stamp on the bottom of the base.

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Two tarpans with bear skins pull the chariot.

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Potter. A woman with a pot raises her hands to the sun. Jewelry: Front bronze pendant, mantlet, bronze spiral bracelets and a ring.

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Caster. An ancient metallurgist pouring bronze into a mold.

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A small idol made of stone.

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Weaver. Woman weaving a cloth on a primitive loom. From the jewelry: nakosnik, spiral bronze bracelets, ring, temporal rings.

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A carpenter. There is a leather flask on the belt. In the hands of bronze adzes and logs. Dressed in leather pants stitched veins. There are two bear fangs on the neck.

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Priest. In the hands of a bone spatula and a bull horn with the hallucinogen Soma. Woolen cape and belt as a symbol of status. Behind the belt is a bone rod in the form of a horse’s head. There is a felt cap on his head.

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Hunter. Felt hat, leather bracelet, bow with bone overlays, quiver with a wolf tail, a bronze dagger.

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Warrior. A hide hat, leather armor, a bronze ax with a striker, a wicker shield covered with hide, a reinforced bow, a quiver, a bronze dagger.

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A tall wooden idol.

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Also a shepherd dog of the Tobet breed.

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Shepherd. A young man playing on a shepherd’s horn. In the hand is a bronze spear and a wicker shield. On the shoulders of the skin of a bull. There is a bronze dagger on the belt. There is a leather hat on his head.

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I was really surprised with the amount of detail that these miniatures have. Plus the mixture of craftsmen and warriors. The subject is unique. I also like the poses selected too. These are more like a collectible than toy soldiers because of the price and limited amount of sets being cast. The scale of these figures is advertised as 1/32 scale, but they really are 1/30 in scale.

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I can’t believe how fast this year has gone. Next Sunday is the 37th Annual East Coast Toy Soldier Show. I will attend this show and have a review most likely on Monday. Here is their website, http://eastcoasttoysoldiershow.com/.

The 37th Annual East Coast Toy Soldier Show will be held Sunday, November 3’rd 2019 at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s 40,000 sq. ft. Rothman Center, 100 University Plaza Drive, Hackensack, NJ 07601

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That is it for now. Thank you for reading. See you next weekend.

Toy Soldier Review ~ Biplant Gauls & Rus Warriors.

October 20, 2019 / Warhorse Miniatures / 3 Comments

It has been about a month since my last post. I have been busy with work and was away on vacation. While I was away I did find a few things. I will talk about that in a future post. Today I just wanted to do a quick review of 2 sets that I purchased from the company called Biplant. The sets are of Gauls and Rus Warriors. I did a preview of these sets in a past post, Latest News!! 09-13-2019 ~ Previews of some new releases from Engineer Basevich & Biplant. I purchased these on ebay for $6.50 a set. The first set I will review is of the Gauls.

Biplant Gauls

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Here is the set of Gauls. I am very pleased with these set. The poses are nice and so is the sculpting. When I first read about these figures I thought that they would be about 65mm. They are closer to 54mm. They are a little smaller than the Conte Medieval figures. The material that is used is like the Conte figures too, but a little softer. I am planning to use some of these figures as Saxons or Vikings.

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These figures blend very well with the Conte Medieval figures. I am planning on trimming some of the weapons and helmets.

Russians

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The next set is of Rus Warriors. Again I am very happy with these figures too. Yesterday I watched the trailer to the “Vikings” tv show. The Rus finally arrive. Perfect timing to start a Rus collection of figures. Some of the these figures can be used as Vikings & Saxons or even a Norman.

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The figures are a welcome addition to my collection. Some of the poses will stand out in a display. I am planning on purchasing a few more sets of these soon.

That is it for now. My next post will be about some of the things I found on my trip. Thank you for reading.

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LOD~Barzso Playset Recasts & The Chicago Toy Soldier Show.

September 22, 2019September 23, 2019 / Warhorse Miniatures / 5 Comments

In my last post it was announced that LOD had purchased Barzso Playset, Latest News!!! 09-19-19 ~ Ken Ciak of LOD Announces the purchase of Barzso Playsets!!. To help Ken decide on what items to recast I am posting some polls. The link to the poll is below the picture of the poll. Your feedback is important!!

Barzso Foam Pieces

In order to vote you have to click on the link over here, Which type of Barzso Foam pieces would you like to see be recast? You can choose more than one.

Barzso Resin

In order to vote you have to click on the link over here, What Barzso Playset figure sets would you like to see recast first?

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Ken will decide what to recast and most likely start that some time early next year. Actually it might be soon than that. I talked to Ken before and he will probably look into making an order next month. So we might see something by the end of the year or early next year.

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The 39th Chicago Toy Soldier Show ended a few hours ago. I heard that the room trading was a little slow this year. But the crowd was good at the show. I will let the picture do the talking about the show since I was not there. I hope to make it there next year.

I was sent some pictures from a few people and found some on a few of the forums. Here are some pictures that David Cook of https://micshaunscloset.com/ sent me of a few different rooms from the room trading.

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This was Ed Borris’s room.

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This is the room Hobby Bunker had set up in the hotel. You can visit them at there website, https://www.hobbybunker.com/.

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Here is Ken with his son.

Here are some pictures of the room that Ken of LOD had. Some of the pictures were taken by David Cook and some by Ken. Here is the LOD website, https://lodtoysoldiers.com/.

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Here is the room of David & Kim Cook of MicShaun’s Closet/TSSD. Here is their website, https://micshaunscloset.com/.

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Steve Weston from England had some of the latest Engineer Basevich sets with him. His website is here, http://plasticsoldiers.co.uk/.

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Here is some pictures from the lobby of the hotel that the show was in. I like to again thank David Cook of MicShaun’s Closet for send me these pictures.

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Here is Dan Beidelschies and Austin Beidelschies.

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Here are some pictures from Austin Miniatures of their products at the Show. They had their new Marines and Japanese figures. You can go to their website over here, http://www.austinminiatures.com/.

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Here are some pictures of a few of Paragon’s foam terrain pieces. You can go to their website over here, http://www.paragon-scenics.com/miniatures/HOME.html.

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George of Minutemen Toy Soldiers always has the best displays. You can check out his website over here, http://www.mmtoysoldiers.com/.

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Here are some pictures that George took of King & Country.

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Here are some more pictures of the King & Country Vietnam display. I found these pictures on Treefrog Treasure forum.

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Here are some unpainted prototypes of John Jenkins Designs. The first set is of Late Roman Command figures. The second set of figures looks like the characters from “The Last of The Mohicans”. I got these pictures from Treefrog Treasures forum.

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Here is some more pictures of the huge display that Warring Warbirds did in the lobby of the Motel. I should have some information in the near future from Michael of Warring Warbirds.

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Here are some more pictures that came from Treefrog Treasure forum that were taken by Beaufighter. All credit goes to him where I mentioned pictures from Treefrog.

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That is it for now. Thank you for reading.

Latest News!!! 09-19-19 ~ Ken Ciak of LOD Announces the purchase of Barzso Playsets!!

September 19, 2019September 19, 2019 / Warhorse Miniatures / 4 Comments

LOD Barzso

The news just came in. Ken Ciak of LOD announced that they have purchased Barzso Playsets. So what does that mean? Well I was lucky enough to talk with Ken this week and ask him a few questions. Here are some highlights about the transaction.

~ LOD owns all the rights to the figures & foam buildings & terrain pieces and other items.

~ They will keep the Barzso name on the products like the earlier molds they had purchased.

~ Ron is going to stay on and consult for at least a year.

~ Production of the Barzso figures will done in Indiana.

LOD

Last week Ken posted this picture on Facebook. He left an “easter egg” of things to come by adding some of the classic Barzso figures. I had a feeling that something was in the works. I have been wishing this would happen since I found out that Ken started recasting some of the plastic Barzso sets and when they had both worked together on the last Barzso playset. Barzso playsets is a major part of my collection. So the news that LOD will continue with the Barzso products is an early Christmas gift.

Earlier in the week I was talking to Ken about a post I was working on and some other things. He mentioned to me about his plans. I was sworn to secretly and I am proud to say I didn’t break, lol. I put some questions together and Ken found some time in his busy schedule to answer them.

Warhorse Miniatures: I know that you have been working with Ron for a while, so this is really not a surprise to me. Can you tell us how all of this went down?

Ken Ciak: Thanks for the questions and opportunity to share a few details with you and your readers. Ron and I struck up a friendship back in 2015 as I released the initial War at Troy figure set. With us both being from the Midwest and three hours apart, we have ample opportunity to get together and visit on the hobby. I purchased four of his figure molds that are at the same factory in 2016 and we collaborated on the Yorktown Playset in 2018. He wore me down . No, just kidding. We discussed the future of the company and agreed on the value in keeping these popular products in the marketplace. While I am still relatively new to the hobby (and production), Ron and I both agreed that it was a good fit to keep the Barzso products available while also finding new markets and outlets for them.

Warhorse Miniatures: I bet collectors would like to know your plans. You said you have all the rights to the figure molds and foam piece molds. Do you have plans on recasting all of these or just some?

Ken Ciak: Enterprises did purchase the company so we do have rights to all figure and foam molds. We will be assessing the market and bringing our products little by little. While these dates are not finalized, I would anticipate that we have figure sets available after January 1st. Ron has offered to work with me on a consulting basis so we will develop a plan with specific sets to re-introduce first. I will also be soliciting feedback from collectors and commit to do our best to make as many fans as happy as we can.

Warhorse Miniatures: Will the figures be recast in resin or plastic. Maybe both?

Ken Ciak: The figure sets will be recast in resin. To have them done in plastic would necessitate making new molds and would be cost prohibitive.

Warhorse Miniatures: Now that you own Barzso Playsets. Do you have any plans to continue producing playsets like the way Ron did?

Ken Ciak: That is a good question and intriguing possibility, but probably not. I know we will not be re-releasing Playsets that Barzso Playsets did in the past. Those were created at a specific time and many (most) are collector’s items. We will release components of them in figure or accessory sets for sure.

Warhorse Miniatures: Most of Barzso Playsets was Resin based. But LOD is mainly plastic injection. How is this going to effect the way LOD develops?

Ken Ciak: This is going to provide LOD with the ability to use both processes. We will continue to create figure sets with Eastcorp Toys with new lines and growth within the existing War at Troy series. The resin based molds held here in the Midwest will be accessible for recasting many of the existing sets, but also to create character figures that we do not realistically need 2,000 shots of. We are considering doing the Greek Gods and Goddesses in resin, as an example.

Original Barzso Sculpts that Ed Borris owns.

Warhorse Miniatures: Here is another question. I know that Ron had some finished sculpts that he never had produced. Do you plan on releasing any of those figures?

Ken Ciak: To be honest, I have not given this one any thought as of yet. I am not against doing that at all.

Warhorse Miniatures: Thanks a lot Ken. I just wanted to clarify one thing about the playsets. You said that you weren’t going to re-release any of the older sets. But how about anything new?

Ken Ciak: I am not sure on the Playsets at this point. They do create a buzz and are worth looking into, but figure sets and allowing the customer to create their own diorama/scene appeals to me more right now. It is a little different, but I am interested in how Austin Miniatures Playset does this weekend.

Metal Cannon

Warhorse Miniatures: Have you thought about creating any new resin figures that would support existing sets or themes. For example F&I War British Artillery set?

Ken Ciak: Yes, I certainly want to add on to the existing sets with new figures and sets. I am excited to introduce my sculptor to the production team in Indiana. A lot of creative genius between them and we will be putting out some fun items over the next few years.

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Warhorse Miniatures: Would you like to tell the collectors anything else?

Ken Ciak: We are excited about the acquisition of Barzso Playsets and keeping the legacy of Ron’s creativity and imagination available for new and experienced collectors. He and Mary Ann have become good friends and I can think of nothing better than taking their products out to more and more people.

That being said, we verbally closed the deal a few weeks ago and just announced it at the Chicago Toy Soldier Show. There is a lot of research and work to do on my part (Ron will help). I will keep you and our enthusiasts updated frequently on social media and my website, but we are in the earliest stages when looking at upcoming releases.

Thanks for all of the support and we are excited to take collectors along on this expansion with us.

LOD Barzso

That concludes the question that I have for now with Ken. I hope to continue helping him in any way to continue the fine traditions of Barzso Playsets. I will be doing another post in the near future about the Barzso products. Any feedback from the collectors is most welcome.

Barzso8

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Most collectors will be happy about the recent news of Barzso Playsets. But some of those greedy eBay sellers will not. I will try to keep spreading the word about new old stock being made as they come out.

I will have some more posts this weekend about the show and LOD. Take Care for now & Thank you for reading.

Toy Soldier Review ~ LOD Amazons!!!

September 16, 2019September 20, 2019 / Warhorse Miniatures / Leave a comment

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Ken of LOD was kind enough to rush me a set of the Amazons. I am truly impressed. The details are really nice and so is the color. It was hard for me to get really detailed pictures. But I did try.

The set includes 8 figures on foot in 4 different poses. There are two mounted figures in 2 different poses. I like the fact that Ken had them insert a piece of plastic between the horses legs to keep them from warping. Plus the weapons were protected in a plastic case. After opening the bag I used some hot water to straight a few that were bent a little. Hot water in a coffee cup placed in microwave for a minute or two. Dip the figure or weapon in for about 10 seconds. Then straighten out the figure or part to the desired place. Finally run with some cold running water or cold water you place with ice. Let the figure or part stand in the cold water for about 10 seconds. This works like a charm.

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The first figure is thrusting a spear downward. The spear is separate which makes for a better and easier casting. Plus an easier way to customize with other weapons that a collector might have or make.

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The second pose is of a warrior with an battle axe. I used the hot water method to change the stance of the other warrior a little. You get a aggressive stance and then a defensive stance from the same figure.

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Here is the third pose of a wounded Amazon. My least favorite figure of the set.

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Here is the fourth pose of an Amazon warrior shooting a bow. This pose is really nice. I bet I could change the stance too with some hot water to get a few different versions from the same pose.

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There fifth pose is of a mounted Amazon shooting a bow. Both the figure and horse are really nice.

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Here is the last and sixth figure. This one is of a mounted Amazon thrusting a spear downward. These one looks like the leader of the group. She is mounted on a different horse too.

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These figures are really nice and the scale fits well with many other brands.

Details1 Details2 Details3 Details4 Details5 Details6 Details7 Details8

Here are some random pictures trying to show the details of some of the figures.

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All in all the Amazons are really nice. They will be available starting on the 19th. Get details. Nice mounted figures. So run out and get a few at https://lodtoysoldiers.com/.

Ken of LOD: I will be in Room 5101 this year. Ron and I swapped rooms and he is in 5104.

Amazons are in the Midwest and arriving at LOD headquarters tomorrow. Figure sets will be on the website on Thursday (9/19) and available at the Chicago Toy Soldier Show the same day.

That is it for now. Thank you for reading.

Latest News!! 09/15/2019 ~ Chicago Toy Solider Show, Pre-Show Information & New Publius & MAN sets!!!

September 15, 2019September 15, 2019 / Warhorse Miniatures / 2 Comments

It is less than a week now until the Chicago Toy Show begins. Next Sunday is the official show. But collectors will be arriving on Wednesday. Room trading starts on Thursday and goes on until Saturday. I will not be attending. But I am thinking about going next year. Check out the Chicago Toy Soldier Show Website for more information.

CTSS 2019

Some of the Vendors have sent me some information about new products, what they are bringing and the room they will be at.

Kirk Larson: I’ll be in Room 4105 selling: Britain’s Deetail, Marx toy guns, Die cast vehicles, Playmobil, Misc plastic Wild West stuff & more!

Stephen Connell: I will be in Room 5412, with my general mix of Plastic and Metal….larger mix this year than most.

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Here are some of the things that Todd Nace is bringing. Looks like a lot of vintage plastic. He will be in Room # 5428.

Slim Stengel

Ed Borris will be in room # 5203. He and Mike Kutnick will have vintage plastic sets & toy soldiers. Plus some Barzso Playsets & figures too. He also has his own line of toy soldiers, Beast Productions. They are limited run figures. I will get one of the John Stengel Sr. figures which is in the last picture above.

Ed sent this while I was writing up the article.

We will good stuff we will also have the large Davy Crockett Alamo with 5 firing cannons and cream Mexicans.

a Fort Apache stockade with unfolded tin

plus the two Barzso sets. Treasure Island and New Orleans.

2 sets of matched tan Marx 60mm Rin tin tin cavalry

1 matched set of Marx 60mm powder blue Rin tin tin cavalry

plus hundreds of 60mm Marx Indians

Mint in Box Andy Gard cowboys and Indians never been opened

good quality stuff

plus surprises, meaning i don’t know what (Mike) he is packing

not to mention the Beast production figures and John Stengel memorial figure

plus my conversions

I will also be giving a demo on how to convert

Friday or Saturday I don’t know

There will be tons of stuff can you dig thru.

Hobby Bunker

Hobby Bunker: I’ll be in the Sage room all week, lobby level. They should have a little of everything. Both plastic and metal.

Austin Miniatures

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Austin Miniatures is getting their new WWII figures ready for the show. I hoping to hear about the details about the playset before the show.

paragon

Bloody Lane

Burnside's Bridge Burnside's Bridge1 Burnside's Bridge2

Burnside’s Bridge

Custer's Battlefield

Custer’s Battlefield

Reno's Last Chance Low Res Reno 6 Reno4 Reno7

Montana Bluffs

Reno’s Last Chance and the Montana Bluffs

Covered Wagon 1 Covered Wagon 2 Wagon and Accessories

Gene of Paragon will be in room 5110. Here has a bunch of new foam terrain products. They look really nice.

Here are some photos of a diorama I will be displaying during the show.

I call it “Reno’s Last Chance.”

The base is a new piece that I am bringing to the show. We call it Montana Bluffs. I have also done a covered wagon with accessories.

It is not a playset. The scenic piece comes in two pieces that form a 36 x 24 x 4.5 diorama piece. It comes completely painted and flocked and sells for $235.00.

The Wagon sells for $42.00 and comes with the cover and a removable insert (crates and sacks)

The barriers sell for $12.00 a piece.

You can inquire with Gene about the Custer’s Battlefield, Bloody Lane and Burnside’s Bridge pieces.

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We are excited to be a part of the 2019 Chicago Toy Solider Show. Room trading will begin on Thursday, September 19th through Saturday, September 21st. We are looking forward to meeting more of our amazing customers.

We are in Room 5201 and our tables are in the Lower Level Main Room South. Tables 301A, 302-305.

We will accept cash, credit cards and checks!

At the show, we will have two (2) new prototype Alamo buildings – the Kitchen and the Lunette! We will have the painted/finished buildings available for purchase. Below are the photos of the prototypes:

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The Kitchen. The right side of the kitchen designed to be placed next to the Main Entry Gate Building #TS222. The kitchen will be painted to match the current Alamo buildings.

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The Lunette. The Lunette goes in front of the Main Entry Gate Building #TS222. It will be painted in earth tones similar to what you find in Mark’s Lemon’s Book – The Illustrated Alamo 1836.

We will also be carrying many more Expeditionary Force figure sets, Chin Toys/Engineer Basevich. We will definitely have the Ex Force sets in Chicago and hope to have the Chin Toys/Engineer Basevich as well.

We have received a large restock of the Atherton Scenics diorama pieces.

New stock of our TSSD Foam pieces and have arrived and we expect more over the next week.

We will be bringing many of these pieces with us to Chicago.

LOD

Ken of LOD: I will be in Room 5101 this year. Ron and I swapped rooms and he is in 5104.

Short post today but excited for the events over the next couple of weeks.

Amazons are in the Midwest and arriving at LOD headquarters tomorrow. Figure sets will be on the website on Thursday (9/19) and available at the Chicago Toy Soldier Show the same day.

New foam Santa’s Workshop will also be available at the Show and online now.

We look forward to seeing friends and collectors next week in Schaumburg.

Here are the New Amazons.

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Santa’s Workshop can be the centerpiece of your Christmas display. This finely crafted foam piece is the hub where the elves are hard at work building the toys that Santa delivers every year to good boys and girls.

The Workshop will be available on its own ($125 plus shipping) or as part of an LOD display set ($160 plus shipping).

The display set includes the following – Santa’s Workshop, Santa’s Christmas Delivery figure set, a bag of decorative snow, five assorted sisal trees, and eight LOD gifts in four colors (blue and pink shown).

This set will be on the website this weekend and available for pre-order. I will also have them at the Chicago Toy Soldier Show.

Merry (early) Christmas from LOD 😊

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Ron Barzso will be at the show too. He will be in Room # 5104 this year. Even though he is retired he still has some products to sell. He even has a couple things to surprise us sometimes too!!

That concludes any information that I have about the show from the vendors. I should have another post up next weekend about the show itself. I will update this article if I have anything new to add. I hope to attend next year.

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I was just going to do this post about the show. But I was informed about some more new sets coming from Russia.

Publius Ancients1 Publius Ancients2 Publius Scythians1 Publius Scythians2 Publius Scythians3

Here is Publius latest set, Ancient Scythians. They are 1/32 in scale. Another 8 figure set. Well sculpted as usual. They are up for sale on eBay now.

MAN is the company that came out with the set of Tlingit Natives earlier this year.

Man-made monument to HUMANITY

Workshop on the creation of plastic men.

Project goals: through contemplation of the “little men” through the game, to convey as much as possible the originality and colorfulness of historical cultures and ethnic groups born in the process of forming a single human race.

Ancient Arias Set2 Ancient Arias Set1

They now are releasing two new sets about the natives of Aria or Ancient Aryans. You can read more about Aria here, https://www.ancient.eu/aria/. Also you can read about the Ancient Aryans here, https://www.ancient.eu/Aryan/. Check out the video below to see all the figures.

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Chariot

These sets are 1/32 in scale. I will try to find out more information on when they will be available and what the cost of these sets will be.

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That is it for now. Thank you for reading.

Latest News!! 09-13-2019 ~ Previews of some new releases from Engineer Basevich & Biplant.

September 13, 2019September 14, 2019 / Warhorse Miniatures / 6 Comments

The toy soldier show in Chicago is around the corner now. I bet there will some new products & news. Plus some surprises!! We will have to wait for now. But until then I have some news to share from Russia. The first is from Engineer Basevich. They have two news sets in 1/32 scale that they are releasing.

EB Russian Cav Set 28

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The first one is Set #28 “First cavalry army. Civil War in Russia 1918-21”

EB Russian Cav Set 29

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The second is Set # 29 “Red commanders. Civil war in Russia 1918-21″

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These sets will be cast in different colors. The details are really nice. Here are some more pictures below.

Civil War in Russia Civil War in Russia1 Civil War in Russia2 Civil War in Russia3 Civil War in Russia5 Civil War in Russia6 Civil War in Russia8 EB Russian Cav Set 28a EB Russian Cav Set 28b EB Russian Cav Set 28c EB Russian Cav Set 28d EB Russian Cav Set 29a