Welcome to the Army Men General!Previously: >>11551961>Plastic soldiers, knights and pirates, cowboys and indians, fantasy and sci-fi, cops and zombies, all are welcome here! (civilians are fine too)>Archived threads:https://archive.palanq.win/toy/search/subject/Army%20Men%20General/>Army men wargame rules:https://combatstorm.com/https://onepagerules.com/portfolio/one-off-games/https://www.plasticcommand.com/https://freewargamesrules.fandom.com/wiki/Special:Search?query=army+men>Places to get army men:https://bmctoys.com/ and https://victorybuy.com/https://www.armiesinplastic.com/https://www.toysoldierco.com/https://www.classictoysoldiers.com/https://www.toysoldiersdepot.com/https://www.hobbybunker.com/https://www.michtoy.com/https://www.toysoldierhq.com/https://micshaunscloset.com/http://www.expeditionaryforce.com.sg/
>>11579267Great pics.
A rare sci-fi set, Timmee's Galaxy Laser Team bucket.
>>11580724Terrain first, a trio of suitably Mars-like rock formations.
>>11580725One of the selling points of the bucket is a profusion of accessories which it certainly delivers on, in silver and red pieces. Here's the silver ones, a nice assortment of classic sci-fi structures and objects. Sadly the biggest of my nitpicks is found here, or rather isn't; the radar dish is meant to go on top of a console piece which is absent from the bucket.
>>11580732The red pieces are a little more unusual; half of them are furniture one would find in a classroom or lecture hall, the other half a mix of objects but none out of place in a sci-fi setting. Minor nitpick concerning the classroom stuff, everything is a little small for the average army men figure and this includes the ones in this set.
>>11580735Gotta love the space fighters that are basically F-16s that have sprouted an extra pair of wings and reconfigured them to an X-shape. The big red armoured car is a classic Timmee design and actually the very first example I've gotten my hands on (still intending to get a few green and tan examples but with Canada Post back on strike I have yet another excuse for further delay).
>>11580738The set also includes sticker sheets for making many of the pieces a little less generic, along with helpful double-sided instructions on how to apply them. I won't be doing the armoured car or jets for the time being, however the rest is another story...
>>11580740Must say the stickers make a world of difference. Due to the missing radar console I merely applied its sticker on top of the other console, waste not want not eh.
>>11580741And finally we get to the intrepid heroes and their implacable alien foes. The bucket has its figures in two colours, blue and lime green (only the latter shown here to avoid confusion with the army man soldier included for scale). My favourite has to be the Buck Rogers guy with rocket pistol - not the tv series Buck, but one of the classic comic designs Buck. As a kid I was given a volume of the old Buck Rogers comics and I loved the hell out of it, long after the cover separated from the rest and was lost in a move, with the pages being torn and worn over the years and finally, tearfully having to throw it away. Was able to find most of it in digital form since and even many of the stories that weren't in that volume, especially those that picked up after a brutal cliffhanger that I'd waited decades to find the resolution to... good times.The female with console is clearly channeling Wilma Deering, this time the TV version. Couple of space race age astronauts, a Magneto-looking dude, the ancestor of the modern astromech droid and two diversity hires round out the lot.
>>11580747Each colour has each pose in triplicate, with two exceptions. Likely human error when the bucket was assembled (also explaining my missing radar console) but I have one extra Wilma figure in green and one less Magneto figure in green. Overall a fun set, even if very much a product of the 1930s to 60s sci-fi genre I will certainly find a lot of usage for its contents.Thought about contacting Timmee over the missing radar console but it feels like a hassle, I'm very much the opposite of the talk-to-the-manager type and rarely pursue this kind of thing. Still, the set was over 80 maplebucks and would be nice to have it complete. Can't seem to find a way to make a request through Amazon, would have to email Timmee directly.
>>11580760Follow-up, Timmee got back to me the next day and requested my mailing info and sent it out today by FedEx. Not sure if they normally use FedEx but I did let them know about our ongoing postal strike and that I was ok with deferring sending the replacement until it was resolved. Great service for sure.
The first of a fresh wave of Chinese orders arrived, let's have a look. Was 40ish maplebucks with free shipping, first impressions are bittersweet; decent plastic bin holding everything but no packaging with fun artwork.
>>11585234Everything is bagged in batches, great cost-saving measure cuz usually these sets have to be hand-packed with care to cram everything in.
>>11585236As with many of this sets there's a battle map included and I gotta say it quickly climbed to S tier among the ones I've seen, for two reasons. One, it's a well-executed and simple stretch of road along the coast, uncluttered by random accessories or battle damage. And two...
>>11585240It is reversible with a second map on the other side, the first such case I've had to date. Admittedly I've not made much use of these kinds of maps for my setups since they're mostly done outdoors where they're not needed, may change that up some over the coming winter though.
>>11585241Moving on to the bags, which will be done one at a time (with Blue Timmee soldier for scale). This bag comprises the set's entire air force component, four each of two different helicopter models that seem to have had AH-1 and AH-64 in their ancestry and some point but have genetically drifted to new species in their own right.
>>11585243Next up is the lion's share of the set's naval assets, nothing that hasn't been seen before but welcome nonetheless.
>>11585244This one has the remainder of the navy with a couple new(ish) vessels, namely a nuclear submarine and a variant of the aircraft carrier in the previous bag. It appears they reduced it in size some and while it's not apparent in the photo the bow has been raised enough to give it a steadily rising slope, seemingly an attempt to simulate the ski-jump ramps of some carrier designs.The tanks are single-piece and really more accurately classified as assault guns, more suitable as background detail than anything but will fit in well with similarly-sized vehicles that are a staple of army men sets.
>>11585252I am constantly on the lookout for new and interesting vehicles for my plastic armed forces and the truck with multiple rocket tubes (the real-life Chinese PHL-03) ended up selling this set for me. Even better that it came as a pair, though tempered a bit with the fixed-in-place nature of the rocket tubes. Still, nice to have assets for raining down "JUSTICE" on some Tan heads.The other two vehicles are nice and new models too, particularly the truck with midget self-propelled artillery on the back. The tanker trucks are also an unusual sight in army men sets and most welcome to fill that gap.
>>11585260Thinking on it and reminiscing, kid me was so intent on ensuring my toy armies had sufficient fuel supplies that one of their tanker trucks was actually a commandeered Majorette milk tanker, not sure if I still have it but man that thing saw more action than many Timmee M48s, I reckon.Getting back on track the next bag is all artillery, specifically two variants of a rather silly frankengun design that is commonplace in many sets. I find it interesting that the two models, while visually similar in many respects are actually quite different, particularly in that the smaller solid green gun's "rocket" mount has been fashioned into a second cannon as opposed to the unmistakable rocket nose of the camo-pattern artillery.
>>11585266Moving on to base-building stuff, some pretty standard buildings, rock pieces, flags and sandbag walls.
>>11585268Also somewhat routinely included in many sets are these sprues of multiple and varied accessories, these ones being a bit higher quality than the average (with a pair of little palm trees to add a bit of green to an already mostly-green set heh).
>>11585272More bog-standard accessories, though I will say the pair of medieval-era turrets are some of the better ones I've found,
>>11585273Last bag of stuff before the troops and it's two different styles of rocks, a foursome of watchtowers and another foursome of logs. While the design itself isn't new I appreciate that they have greatly simplified the watchtower into being two easy-to-assemble pieces instead of a finicky and fragile puzzle.
>>11585278The set included four colours of army men, namely green, tan, red and blue. Interestingly the green and tan soldiers are of one set, previously seen while the red and blue are of a similar but distinct set, also previously seen.Neither set is what I'd call a particularly good one, more generally okay-ish ones. Both sets incorporate figures from all over the army men universe and across a few eras, a type of army I classify as "schizo"(phrenic). Matchbox WW2 GIs march alongside Desert Storm infantry and New Ray modern troopers.
>>11585285Red and blue are much the same, though their flavour of schizo omits the Desert Storm guys in favor of a couple WW2 Brit 8th Army types, fittingly enough.Pretty good set overall, lots to enjoy though would be better appreciated as an add-on to existing armies rather than a starter set.
>>11583236Just wanted to punctuate this, got the delivery today(!) and they didn't just send me the missing piece... they sent an entire extra accessories pack. What can I say, Timmee is awesome.
>>11586716>Timmee is awesomeIndeed! They've even brought back their Daniel Boone/Davy Crockett frontiersman figures for a limited-time bag. I'm thinking about getting one for Christmas to go with my CTS Mohawk warriors for some Creek War or Boonesboro fun.
>>11587671That would indeed be dope
>coming soon
Some more new sets, different kind of packaging than seen to date.
>>11591845Seems in the interest simplicity and economy the boxes display the contents of two different but roughly equal-sized sets on the back, with a box checkmarked on one of the sides to indicate which one you're getting. Currently there appear to be three or four tiers of box, with these two representing the smallest (maybe second-smallest) and largest tiers. Something to note is that the contents inventory is not exactly what you're getting; for some of the vehicles you will be getting a certain amount of the possible variants at random, while the colors of the green and tan stuff may be one or the other.
>>11591851Smaller box up first, and for reference I got the right-side set with the little tanks instead of the jets. As noted above the set gives you two random ones from the four possible types, all of which share the same hull but come with two turret variants. I got one of each, the Tan being a clear Soviet-era T-series (or Chinese copy anyway), while the white one is less readily identified. I'm almost certain it's the scaled down Panzer IV turret with turret skirt armour from a tank that occasionally appears in army men sets; looking closely one can see the "ribs" connecting the skirts to the turret which have morphed into a single piece.
>>11591858One thing these sets are doing to try and stand out from others is applying printing to various vehicles and accessories that otherwise would usually be blank, or in the case of flags might have a sticker.
>>11591859This trio came fully disassembled and helpful instructions were provided. I found it interesting that while the radar dish is basically unchanged from previous sets the other two have been scaled down significantly from their originals, to about half the size. Minor bug with the gun, it connected loosely to its stand and could not hold any position other than straight up or down (have since corrected this with a little heat treatment). The radar dish suffers a similar issue which is why the mini dish is at bottom (will also fix at some point).
>>11591861The main reason I decided to check these out was for the soldiers, specifically as they promised a couple "new" poses to the modern infantry set that's been around a while (I classify them in my plastic armed forces as "urban assault" due to them reminding me of US soldiers in Mogadishu or Iraqi cities).The "new" poses are actually taken from The Corps Elite futuristic soldiers set, namely the kneeling bazookaman and guy with minigun (two of three poses from the set that can passably join with modern forces and not stand out too much). They have been scaled down slightly to fit with the rest and look pretty good I must say.The soldiers are made of a denser plastic that has some flexibility to it and will generally keep its original shape when bent (a little heat works well to correct overly wayward gun barrels though). They're heavier than most other comparable army men as a result.
>>11591865Moving on to the larger set, this time it is the left-side of the two on the back of the box. alongside the two (of four possible) different rocket trucks we have some very familiar tanks, with an odd twist; they've swapped turrets from their original versions. Specifically the tan is made up of a Type 99 turret atop an M1 Abrams chassis, with the green tank the opposite. Not sure what the point of that was, other than to differentiate them from the originals I guess. The already undersized Type 99 turret just looks even sillier now, though.
>>11591867One of the more unusual features of these new sets is the inclusion of a pack of stickers, in my case all jet fighters of recent vintage (the box indicates one could also get tank stickers).
>>11591870There's also a pair of "real" fighter jets, also models seen previously and also slightly modified from those originals. In this case they've added printing and replaced the rear landing gear with a pull-back mechanism for additional fun-time.
>>11591872Naval assets are also not original and are the least-modified, with a little printing on the carrier and submarine being the extent of it.
>>11591873Once again the trio of some-assembly-required pieces, this time in green and this time with a proper snug fit for the gun in its stand; radar dish still having the same issue as the tan one. Really like the extra-tall palm trees to give my coconut groves a bit more character.
>>11591874Same other accessories; really lucked out in getting everything in both colors between just two random-contents sets.
>>11591875Almost forgot that this box included a battle map, quite a nice one too on fabric instead of paper or plastic. All the details are about right for Micro Machines and comically undersized for most army men but it's so pretty I don't mind, heh.
>>11591877Was hoping between the two sets I would get all the poses in all the colours and I came ever so close to that goal; blue is missing the running soldier with SAW and one of the two standing aiming riflemen, green is missing the officer with radio and M16 with M203, and tan is missing the bazookaman, running soldier with AR and running soldier with SAW.Still deciding whether I want to order more sets to try and complete each colour's roster (wouldn't mind getting the other variants of the rocket trucks too). One store had several of the sets in bucket form instead of boxes and that included one of just the soldiers but when I tried to order they asked me to cancel cuz they weren't available; listing is still up but they're all marked unavailable.They're decent sets in general, bit pricier than I feel they're worth but most stores carrying them offer free standard shipping so that's a plus.
>Sector Germania IV, supply dump Trasimene>mid-morning
>>11592696>just another slow day in the rear
>>11592698>the roar of a jeep engine pushed to the limit breaks the lazy stillness of the morning>as it approaches the driver lays on the horn, drawing the base commander to the entrance>brakes screech and the vehicle slams to a halt"CAPTAIN!">"Mornin' sir, what's good this fine day?"
>>11592706"Just shut up and listen. Strong Tan forces have slammed into the Teutoburg Redoubt, at least a battalion with plenty of armour. Firebase Surigao has responded but the line is barely holding, we need all available bodies up front on the double!">"But sir, what about the supply dump?"If those frakking sandmen break through they'll roll right over you one way or another, our only chance is to hold them at the Redoubt, you savvy?">"Why come all the way here to tell us, why not use the radio to-""Dammit son do you want every fool Tan in the sector knowing how thin we're stretching to hold off their attack? No? Well quit your jaw-flapping and get your men mounted up and on the road ASAP, I'll be leading you to where we need you">"Y-yes sir. on it"
>>11592713"No time to waste, driver get us moving!"
>>11592714>"ATTENTION MEN!>"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK AT THE TEUTOBURG REDOUBT AND THEY NEED ALL BODIES AT THE FRONT!>"EVERYONE GRAB YOUR GEAR AND MOUNT UP! YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS OR I'LL SHOOT YOU MYSELF FOR DERELICTION OF DUTY!"
>>11592717>the first truck is loaded up and out on the road in record time
>>11592722>"MOVE IT MOVE IT MOVE IT!"
>>11592724>the base commander himself drives the other truck, chasing the first and the jeep at top speed>"Frack me this was such a nice quiet day too... only hope we won't be too late to stop those Tan punks."
>>11592725>"Hope we aren't making a mistake leaving this place undefended, too..."
>>11592727>the rumble of big diesel engines steadily fades as the trucks disappear down the road to the front
>>11592731>an eerie silence envelops the empty supply dump, disturbed only by the green flag fluttering in the mild morning breeze>to be continued
Gotta love how adding "vintage" to your description justifies a price hike on otherwise unremarkable army men, cracks me up too when I recognize troops that have only been around a few years and are on the lower end. Guess I can be thankful that my ideal kind of listing is fairly rare - good mix of 80s-90s soldiers for a reasonable price - cuz never mind the financial aspect; the administrative side can take ages in my system. Finally got around to working on an ebay buy from a few months ago and it's taken the better part of two days to integrate into the various units.
>>11580724 These are great. I quite enjoy the lad and "science stuff". The guy in the back row next to bondage Magneto looks like he would be more comfortable with a musical instrument rather than the riffle.
>>11595892>looks like he would be more comfortable with a musical instrument rather than the riffleIndeed, reminds me of that weird rally in some southern state where a bunch of supposed black militia types got together but most looked like it was their first time even holding a firearm, iirc a couple people accidentally shot themselves/each other before it dispersed.
My job has its trying times, but even more so has its perks
>>11596351 last stand.
>>11596351>>11596353>>11596355Excellent
>supply dump Trasimene sits open and abandoned, its garrison departed to halt a sudden Tan surge in the sector
>>11597040...
>>11597041
>>11597042...
>>11597043...
>>11597044>Green reinforcements appear to have arrived to reoccupy the dump>but all is not as it seems
>>11596636 Thanks. We had a chance to go to the cottage for some of the first week of Oct. Went swimming in lake Huron on the 2nd.. brr. - but got *some* pics.
>>11597045"Furszt Skwaud delta formashun, szweep ze main builldungs and barrachks!"
>>11597045 Oh damn. Green's are in for a surprise.
>>11597052"Sekhund Skwaud kappa formashun, seckhure gazoline and munitshuns!"
>>11597055>hobnailed boots thunder across the supply dump, grim-faced Purple soldiers fanning out in all directions
>>11597059"Enemy preszence neghatifve, finnish ze szweep and stahnd by for neckst phasze!"
>>11597063"Sekhund Skwaud prephare to begin colleckting gazoline and munitshuns!"
>>11597065>the Greens once more find themselves victims of a Purple plundering
>>11597066>but again, all is not as it seems>to be concluded
>>11597050Good stuff, makes a nice change from all the greenery I've been spamming heh. Someday I'd like to get to similar environs for some army men action; last time I had the chance was a few years ago down in the Badlands but the trip was all too brief and our one foray out into the desert-like parts was a very windy day, expended all my energy and patience on a couple shoots with Mega figs.
New arrivals today, couldn't resist opening before heading off to work. VIIKONDO JEU is a Chinese toy company on AliExpress I've bought quite a bit from over the last while, they have great stuff and a lot of nostalgia bait for 80s-90s kids like myself heh. The caveat is their shipping costs tend to be high, seems they aren't subsidized like many of the other stores on AE. In recent times they've branched out into offering vehicles and accessories packs, alongside the usual playsets and individual armies.
>>11597114Was gratified to see they have a 2-pack of this beast, previously was only available in a large set that was largely repeats of stuff I had in abundance so it's thrilling to get them like this. I have a modest but growing black army, as of yet unseen in the Colour Wars universe but will eventually join the fight in some capacity.These were made in a hurry, had strings of dried glue still attached but everything looks good for it. The gun can only hold its position all the way up or all the way down, might try and tinker with it to allow for more elevations. The minigun on top is a separate piece, pretty sure a copy of the turret minigun seen in other sets (and defending supply dump Trasimene above heh).
>>11597117These things have opening rear doors and a fairly large interior, though standard army men poses will struggle to get in and out. The vehicles have a friction play feature on the front set of wheels, meaning they will roll on their own a ways if you drive them forward or backward. Have to take off for work so we'll look at the Humvees later.
>>11597119So yeah, about those Humvees. Not sure about the scale but they come in two variants (both unarmed) and roll nicely.
>>11597637This arrived yesterday, had to order through American Amazon but I finally got the arrears pay from our latest contract agreement so splurged a bit, got a couple more Timmee sets on the way.
>>11597639Been meaning to check out their deuce-and-a-half trucks and it so happens the red ones were half-price. The red faction has only made a limited appearance so far, in the future at that; will likely be revisiting them in the near future.
>>11597642The canvas cover is easily removed to use the truck as a flatbed, also comes with a sheet of stickers.
>>11597644With so many army men playsets settling for significantly undersized vehicles alongside its soldiers it's always a treat to get some that are closer in size.
>>11597067 sneaky. Wouldn't want to be the guy in the bush the Purp takes a whizz on. - who just has to stay there.
>>11597070 Of the time I was there I had about half the time or less - but had been the spur of the minute plan and I was bound and determined to be happy with whatever pics I got. Also some crazy Northern light shots on my phone at night.
>>11597719
>>11597721 and just some fun with sand and a mini-red cup.
>>11597717Such is the cost of war sometimeshttps://files.catbox.moe/lxvt90.mp4
>the Purple marauders carry on with their looting, completely oblivious to Green eyes watching them from the roadside fence
>>11598741>many pairs of Green eyes
>>11598742>*through careful hand gestures*>"Tangos in the noose, signal HQ">*thumbs up*
>>11598745>at Outpost Hannibal, HQ staffers wait anxiously for word from the supply dump
>>11598748"General Zizka, keystrokes coming through from Trapdoor Spider... Tangos in the noose"
>>11598750>"Understood Captain, thank you.>"Major Hogan, it's time. Start the countdown.""Aye sir General!"
>>11598751>"Captain, key the danger close notice to Trapdoor Spider.""Sir!">"Major, status?""Sequence initiated sir General! Counting down seven, six, five, four..."
>>11598757>*three*"Kaptaun, ze munitshuns bockzes are emptee!">*two*"Unposzible Sahrgeant, czeck all of zem!">*one*"Szir, gazoline drums emptee too!">*zero""Wha-"
>>11598761...
>>11598762...
>>11598763"Ach...mine head... whazt happened..."
>>11598764>"Detonation successful!">"Marksmen, take the towers!">"Squad, soon as they're down, light up the rest!"
>>11598766>faster than one can say "TANGO-
>>11598767>"-DOWN!"
>>11598769>"POUR IT ON, BOYS!">*dakka dakka dakka intensifies*"Scheissehund! Is a trap! Gife return fi-AAAHH"
>>11598771"El Tee, hostile SPG buggin' out!">"I see it son>"Brutus! Longinus! Frag that fecker!"
>>11598775"You got it El Tee!"
>>11598778>one pair of violent detonations later"SPG is kill, El Tee">"Good shooting boys! Looks like the rest of them purple devils have been served final notice too.>"Esteves, get on the horn and inform HQ>"Everybody else, we're sweeping the base for leftovers!"
>>11598782"General, Trapdoor Spider is reporting no further resistance from Tangos and are effecting sweep of the base for holdouts">"Thank you Captain. Inform your men that if any Purples are found to be still alive to attempt live capture if practicable""Yes sir">"And pass along my personal congratulations to every man, well done""Sir!">"And that goes for all the rest of you; it's not every day we get to stamp out a Purple warband"
>>11598783>some time later
>>11598787"General, the base is secured, all men accounted for. Regrettably no Purples were obtained alive in the operation, Lieutenant Chivers reports that the few survivors apparently took their own lives rather than fall into our hands.">"Thank you Captain, nice work but yes is a great pity. This operation was excessively costly in materials and man-hours, just to deal with a company's worth of bandits.>"We need to figure these miscreants out, get into their heads so we can stamp them out. It's true they harass the other colours just as readily but they seem especially adept at finding our weakest points.>"Ah well, let's not brood on such things when there's a victory to celebrate""Yes sir"
>>11598793>"I tell ya, nothing stirs the heart like seeing Ol' Gory waving proudly in the breeze">end of chapter
>>11596135Wood blocks—plain or with letters/numbers, big plastic blocks like the ones in this pic, and those little carpets with cities on them always seem create a certain vibe. Regardless of the actual toys being played with.
>>11598795 Nice. I like the turn-around here. I wonder if the purps could be "tamed." Like give em ammo and go juice then just set em loose on everyone else?
>>11601698Really miss the haphazard collection of wooden blocks we had, was a mix of various crudely made pieces, a few lettered blocks and a bunch of equal-sized cubes of various colours, with a few slightly enlarged ones that had a hole in the middle; come to think of it they must've been repurposed fingerboxes, an even greater loss now... was supplemented with a bunch of off-brand duplo and served in many a campaign in so many variations of fortress, castle, warzone, urban setting, wilderness, etc. Not sure what happened to them in the end, just disappeared in the last cross-atlantic move so I guess they were deemed too heavy to take with us. Getting back to that pic, was the duplo collection we have at work for kids' programs.
>>11601803Would be a difficult proposition, but perhaps not an impossible one; if anybody is up to that task, best to lay money on General Ziska. Operation Sicarii, the Tan Stealth Crisis and countless others were his handiwork and this latest smashing of a Purple warband is yet another success under his belt and he knows more than anyone that we haven't seen the last of these marauders.
These randomly appeared on my AliExpress and I couldn't resist, bit expensive for what they are but hey, free sheet of Cars stickers.
>>11604434Knew ahead of time these would be on the smaller side, have questionable paint apps and some unsteady legs/stands but that last can be fixed with the hot water trick I think.
>>11604436Definitely a babes in arms feel but somewhat historically accurate; high-born sons would be getting suits of armour and training for warfare at an early age, participating in jousts coming out of their tweens and going to war before being of legal drinking age in the present day.Several of the poses have ring hands for separate weapons; pretty sure they're shrunk down copies of a much older medieval set but unfortunately they neglected to copy the weapons. Several of the poses lack stands as well and my guess there is they were intended to be mounted on warhorses, must say these stand up relatively well for it. Just so happened to teach a 3D printing 101 class tonight and it's got me thinking I could take a crack at making some lances, swords, axes for these guys, would be an interesting experiment after the struggles I had with larger Lego-sized stuff. Failing that it'll have to be toothpicks and paper clips, heh.
>>11604439The blackened figures came from an eBay buy earlier this year, they're more or less the same quality as these new guys; the older brother of the mace and shield guy is from a fairly common set of knights that in earlier iterations also included that sword and rectangular shield guy but lately is not to be found with them.
>>11606356
