Welcome to the Army Men General!Previously: >>11887749>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://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://micshaunscloset.com/http://www.expeditionaryforce.com.sg/
Well this feels a bit awkward. I ordered another of those WW2 grab bag discount sets from The Toy Soldier Company and it arrived today... except they sent me the Civil War grab bag instead. Was going to order one eventually so having it now isn't an issue really; not getting the WW2 set is no big deal either. Still, do I say something? I don't want special consideration or compensation or anything, but just make them aware they sent the wrong thing so they don't do it to someone else, or muck up their inventory. I dunno, I just feel awkward heh.
>>11916997 If they are the same - or close to, the same price and you don't mind...just mention it to them. And if you are fine.. let them know. It's not going to cost anyone their job or anything..but might make them better.. also, as you said - inventory.
>>11917037Yes you're right, I'll let them know so they can adjust accordingly. Both sets are the same price, though the Civil War set is a greater discount from their original reckoned value. I'll end up re-ordering the WW2 set next week most likely. Is a relief really, was hesitant to even open the bag without saying something first.Funny thing is today I also received an Amazon order where among other things I'd ordered two cheap Civil War soldiers sets that I took to be basically the same ones ViiKONDO sells, same poses, shades of blue and grey and the same rounded bayonet tips. They were indeed, though they lacked the banner stickers on the flags. The only difference between the two sets (which was about $3 in cost) was the more expensive one also included a pair of horses for the two rider figures. Pic related, these being from ViiKONDO so having the stickered flags but the same in all other respects.
>>11917045Been raising a considerable amount of musket-era troops lately, got some grandiose ideas that will likely have to wait for next year's campaigning season. I mostly got these latest sets to fill out the less visible lines in a typical formation so the poses don't matter as much; still bugs me this particular set of Confederates doesn't have any aiming/shooting poses, just various forms of movement, one guy reloading and an artilleryman with ramrod for good measure.
>>11917048In fairness I believe the poses from both sides come from a set that was Gettysburg-themed, more specifically the climactic "high-water mark of the Confederacy" Pickett's Charge against the Union centre; the Rebels are all charging forward (or retreating) while the Yankees are grimly holding the line.
>>11917051Will probably unpack that grab bag tomorrow.
Well they wrote back and said it was an unfortunate mix-up of two grab bag orders; makes me wonder how things went with the other half of that equation. Anyway here's what was in that ACW grab bag, starting with this assortment of Imex Union infantry and artillerymen. I'm far less familiar with ACW toy manufacturers, been relying on the stated contents of the typical grab bag for help in getting the IDs right. I really like the officer figure with the Burnside-style facial hair; the guy to the left of him has an interesting firearm that appears to be a revolver with attached buttstock.
>>11920099These are by Accurate Figures, still on their sprue.
>>11920100I had a few of these guys in blue, nice to get a more complete set including the distinctive flag-bearer. The red colour is a little odd to me, being accustomed to ACW armies in universally identifiable blue and grey for the North and South respectively. It's only going to get more confusing in a bit...
>>11920104Out of several bagged sets in the lot, these are the only ones with any kind of labelling. My understanding is that Hobby Bunker has been re-issuing some Marx sets (Victory Buy, aka BMC and present-day Tim Mee also does some Marx) which explains the left bag; the other purports to be Marx originals and may very well be, I'm far from an expert but it doesn't matter to me either way. These two sets do cause me some consternation...
>>11920114The "Union" army is in grey. Perhaps it was a time before some unofficial universal standard to differentiate the two sides by their iconic colours set in, or perhaps they were counting on people to paint them. Either way they'll probably end up as rear line infill, at least those who aren't too identifiable. I'll note that a number of their muskets were curved from being far too long in their packaging, had to work in some heat treatment to bring them back into a semblance of proper form. This pattern will be repeated with a few others as we continue.
>>11920116Confederates in a silvery blue, or blueish silver I suppose.
>>11920118This next batch was unlabelled but are clearly the Marx Confederates, though in a different plastic and not as well made; they have CTS/TSC marked on their bases, which I take to be Classic Toy Soldiers. While they've done well with the details, some of the figures came out rather warped - the rightmost kneeling rifleman aiming skyward, one of the standing loading soldiers with wobbly base, and most bothersome of all the running guy at back who needed significant bending to just barely stop from keeling over. At least, these boys are in their proper grey.
>>11920126Keeping the waters muddied, these are also Confederates in two shades of blue, again by Marx but a different set than the above. These have had a colourful existence, literally; several editions were hand-painted and each figure was even given a name. The saluting officer is General Longstreet, while the rest seem to be generic or made-up names.
>>11920140This quartet is much more familiar, coming from one of the more widespread and reproduced sets of ACW army men. These are apparently BMC originals, packaged as a special set of generals with (left to right) Lee, Longstreet, Meade and Hancock.
>>11920152Next some Timpo recasts, described as "butternut" colour but I'd suggest they're more of a muddy brown, perhaps from the siegeworks of St. Petersburg.
>>11920158They also include a set of Marx ACW accessories, guess there isn't much demand for them.
>>11920159Finally we have a handful of randoms tossed in to complete the grab bag. A good half of the figures here are Marx rider poses, some cavalry and others caisson riders with whips; thinking I'll try using them as wagon drivers. The bluish silver are Marx Union infantry; the lighter blue dude with raised sword at right is also Marx but is a bit out of time, being a Mexican officer from their Alamo line. There was also a crude pavise-type shelter with two ill-fitting logs to prop it up; beside it and looming over everyone is a Toy Soldiers of San Diego Confederate, the first figure I've had from that illustrious toy manufacturer. Last but not least at the back is a magnificent black warhorse, not sure of its provenance and the Marx horsemen don't fit it but I'm sure I've got someone to match it.
>>11920164The remainder of the random stuff were these Marx figures, ten of whom are the same freshly injured infantryman in the midst of dropping his musket. The sole over-enthusiastic officer leading the charge is like an infantry version of the character Captain Stark in the old "Tuniques Bleues" comics I read overseas in my youth, basically a Belgian take on the American Civil War and Wild West following the adventures of Sergeant Chesterfield and his cowardly sidekick Corporal Blutch. They meet Captain Stark early on in the Civil War and it's quickly apparent that he's a fanatic, leading hopeless cavalry charges over and over yet miraculously always coming back for more (the rest of his men, however...).
>>11920171You just know this guy is distantly related to Luigi Cadorna.
Nice to see this general still alive and kicking
>>11921548There were periods of snow and cold over the weekend, nothing that stayed and temps are slowly creeping up again but the campaigning season is nearing its end. Have some hope for decent weather on Friday; we'll see how much more can be done before heading to winter quarters. The Wall will unfortunately have to wait.
>>11920114Hobby Bunker is some regional off-brand of Hobby Lobby or Hobbytown?>>11917045I would have said something.
>>11922869It's these guys, not sure if or how they're related to any other Hobby-named companies: https://hobbybunker.com/about . Funny enough I've been reposting the same copypasta link list all this time and completely forgot they're there, guess they possess or have access to at least some of the old Marx molds and have done their own production runs.Went ahead and ordered a few things from them including my first ever Armies in Plastic stuff, have seen a couple other anons with some and it's past time I tried them too. Also have another ebay find on the way...
>>11920099 Colt 1860 huh.
>>11920171 did the guy in the back just say "I left my bayonet in my other pants. Ima hit em."
>>11923600Judging from the man's saber he must be dismounted cavalry, it all makes sense now.>>11923602It is likely his unit did not affix bayonets as they can be an impediment to reloading; presumably the battle became much more close-quarters than anticipated. In this little scene though I'm inclined to assume it's an enraged Corporal Blutch attempting to prevent yet another hopeless charge.
Gale force winds yesterday, calmed down thankfully and tomorrow's forecast is promising. I don't really have any firm ideas for capitalizing on my day off, guess we'll see.
>>11923869 We were warned with snow myself but I have a Horror Film Fest till late Sunday.
>>11923869Last winter, during the ice, I saw people capitalize on snow and ice on ponds and streams for Clone photos (SW), the Joe storm and snow troop guys that already have parkas, but one guy even made a fake fire and using especially the girl in tank top and shorts, tried to imply another picture was then building a big bon fire in the snow and that the figures were freezing. Plus a lot of Krypto and Supes. Harder with these but you should be able to figure out some none 'grass' ideas.
>>11924363For ten years I did seasonal work operating the pair of community league outdoor ice rinks down the road. Significant idle time when things were slow kindled my interest in toy photography, as well as reviving my army men passions and ending my Lego dark age. For the latter half of my time there I also took on the maintenance of the rinks, involving many hours of cold hard work at a stretch. Being older now with a fulltime job and some persistent health issues I'm less inclined to spend time in the snow doing setups and shoots these days.
>>11924481I do miss it sometimes.
>>11924481Oh shit! I still have that one. My favorite set from when I was a kid. I still have the C130.
>>11924840Nice, definitely stands the test of time as a great toy and a great real-world aircraft. Mine was a garage sale find, should haul it out of storage for some action again sometime. As a kid I got pic related one Christmas, the Canadian version. It made three trans-Atlantic crossings as we moved back and forth a couple times; to this day I regret that I elected not to bring it back the last time. Still have both jets and some of the deck crew, at least.
Friday was indeed good weather. Unfortunately I had other pressing things to do and all my remaining time got sucked into this one scene.
>>11925579 That is great. and I can tell, a lot of work.
>>11924481That's what children are for. And if you don't have any of your own, and any potential related ankle biters are too far away, you join something like big brother or the scouts. It's also a way to pass on the hobby.
>>11926969>>11926969The epic film Gettysburg has long been one of my all-time favourites; the climactic scene of Pickett's charge advancing to drumbeat and then a soaring orchestral never fails to impress. As I've steadily grown my North and South forces it's been fun to recreate even a small fraction of that, blocks of infantry with banners fluttering as they march into the storm of shot and shell. And yes, very time-consuming when such large numbers are involved.
>>11927180Nah, I spend enough time around children and people in general at work, my army men time is an escape from all that. I do look for excuses to introduce army men to kids at work; building paper castles is even better with a few plastic knights, I'd say.
Hello /amg/, I have a question about this soldier in the right side of this picture. Is his rifle barrel broken off? He's larger than the normal sized soldiers (then left one for example) and he has alot more detail. I don't know if he was from a set or a standalone figure because he's the only one I have that's this size. The base has the code '593-e' and 'China' and a backwards '5' printed on the underside.
>>11928175I can give you a partial answer. Yes, the tip is missing. Yes, he is part of a larger set of poses. Unfortunately the exact origins is something I've been unable to find again. Years ago a guy called Thor had an awesome army men website and one of his pages specifically was about these soldiers. Can't speak for the unpainted versions as I've only ever come across them second-hand but a long time ago my brother got the painted ones in a little plastic treasure chest that also included a guy on a motorcycle, not sure where it is or if we still have it... Anyway when Thor passed away his site died too, with the internet archive having scrapped only a few pages from it before it was gone.Funny enough I'd kept the bag of these guys out of the bin for reasons unknown when I was reorganizing a few weeks ago, guess we know the reason now heh.
>>11928530They've been reproduced quite a bit, usually reduced in size and overall quality and with some cosmetic changes, mostly their headgear. They're always blended with poses from other sets; the other half of these are originally New Ray soldiers.
>>11928533Many of the large cheap army men sets currently on the market are likely to have this blend, adding Matchbox poses to the mix.
Trying to persuade myself I have sufficient "extras" for the background formations and should limit new acquisitions to the kind of interesting poses most prominent in the foreground. Given that the cheap Amazon sets don't have a single firing pose for the Rebels means just about every setup becomes a Pickett's Charge really, or maybe Hood at Franklin.
Well that was dumb, I mixed up which tab I had open >>11929646
Been a very busy time, can finally catch up on some things. Had an excuse to run a decent-sized 3D print at work so I went with an army men fort I found on thingiverse. The original model had thicker walls with a brick pattern, trimmed them off before printing to save time and filament.
>>11933015Gotta love organic supports. The sloping part under the upper platform was intended to preclude the need for supports but things like the windows and rails would need some all the same; might tinker with the file to remove the slope as it adds a lot of print time and weight.
>>11933016Front with supports removed...
>>11933017...and back. Turned out pretty well, looks good in army green.
>>11933018Some 1/32 BMC japs for scale. There's a couple things I'd do differently; the stairs are appropriate for that size figure but don't account for stands, would probably make fewer stairs with more space for each step; would probably alter the windows too, make them more like bunker slits.
>>11933019Overall there's potential to remix this thing some into various custom fortifications.
>>11933020Also works for 1/35, not much smaller but one can always scale down the print.
>>11933022The crenellations are a bit odd really, not sure what I'd do in their stead though.
Oh yeah, another eBay find too.
>>11933024Trying to be choosy with those to avoid getting stuff I don't want or need; this group isn't all that desirable but the rest gets better.
>>11933025There were three different colours of this army, much the same as when I originally found some quite a few years ago at a dollar store (I think?).
>>11933028They're a bit unusual for having two different bazooka poses, the prone one being a particular oddity. The fact that he's likely to blow his own foot off with the backblast is neither here nor there.
>>11933031The kneeling soldier with scoped rifle is probably my favourite; the standing rifleman's weapon has an odd carry handle for lack of a better descriptor and almost seems more like a shotgun than a rifle.
>>11933033Now the main reason I bought this lot was it had quite a few of these old Airfix Napoleonic Wars guys, all painted.
>>11933036An earlier eBay lot had several of these, some painted and others in pieces.The paintjobs are in rough shape, not sure what happened to them but I get the feeling they might've been part of a diorama at some point.
>>11933037I mention the previous lot as I wonder if these soldiers have the same provenance. The two sellers are fairly close together geographically, is possible they both got parts of a larger collection.
>>11933038A few random odds and sods, even a lego ballcap.
>>11933039Lastly these guys, don't know the little gold guy's story but the rest are a Toob set. They have bits of terrain and clear stands glued to their feet, pretty sure they were also used for a diorama or something of that nature.
Can you imagine a set of Sharp's Rifles and a bunch of random Frenchies? That would be great. 1, How similar are the plastics used in making toy soldiers and the stock used for 3d printers? Like is it more or less flexible / breakable? 2. How easy is it to scan a toy soldier or design a .stl for one? - inspired by the Napoleanics thread. But also looking at being able to get particular figures from the Romans and Barbarians. Also, any estimates (ballpark) at the cost of material per solider?
>>11933150An army men line based around the Sharpe series would be awesome. Armies in Plastic does have a Riflemen set and other Napoleonic stuff.3D printers can use a wide range of plastics; at work we exclusively print with PLA which is a more rigid plastic. Haven't yet tried to make army men but I've found some medieval ones on thingiverse I intend to try sometime. 3D scanners are a thing but probably not cheap; I've heard that you can also take multiple photos of an object from every angle, upload them to some app and it will generate a 3D file but I haven't looked further into that yet.At work we charge 10 maplecents per gram so an average-size soldier would be around a buck; if you have to buy the printer and filament your costs are going to be significantly higher. The complexities of printing figures (overhangs, fine details) are why I've stuck to printing vehicles and accessories like these bombs and rockets so far; eventually I'll try some knights or something.
This is where we fight! This is where they die!
...Welp...
>>11934656>>11934657Gotta love how a simple camo-tarped trailer is one of the best army men accessories to come out in recent times. That it was packaged with a sweet heavy artillery piece just adds the cherry on top.
