Thread 11472968

Welcome to the Army Men General!

Previously: >>11446456

>Plastic soldiers, knights and pirates, cowboys and indians, fantasy and sci-fi, cops and zombies, all are welcome here!

>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/

Continuing from last thread, some more examples of modern army men; this particular set is very much a late Cold War/90s NATO force, with a mix of G36 and M16 rifles, M60 machine guns, stationary grenade launchers and a guy with a Milan anti-tank missile. They're slightly larger than the average army men as well and seemingly exclusive to the one bucket set so far.

>>11472978
On the flip side these guys are a little bit smaller than the norm, with unmistakably American kit all around this time and poses inspired by the classic Timmee Vietnam War soldiers.

>>11472983
This set is relatively new out of a company selling on AliExpress, couldn't say for sure but I feel like they probably didn't originate the molds of these modern American soldiers but may have come up with the novelty of separate baseplates.

>>11472988
Can also find appropriate opponents from the same company.

>>11472990
lol, الحرية لفلسطين

Ordered from Toysoldierco for the first time, they were hesitant to ship it cuz of the ongoing unrest with Canada Post (which is still unresolved...) but it arrived today.

>>11475277
Initially I was just going to get some BMC Japanese, three sets of pic related to beef up their portable artillery and bannermen. The rest of the poses are equally great and it was a fairly cheap set overall.

>>11475282
Decided to add on one of their WW2 grab bags where you get a couple pounds of various army men and equipment, some fixed, the rest randomized, all for a rock bottom price. Considering that nearly all my army men have come from outside the US market this is a pretty fun experience for me, not the least because it somewhat replicates the flea market/garage sale find with the random assortment of troops that helped grow my armies way back when and remain a (very occasional) special event; actually I just bought one off ebay on a whim, will be getting that in a week or so.

>>11475289
They promise a random selection of vehicles and I'd say I got some great ones - never had that Higgins boat in grey, nor jeeps like those in any colour.

>>11475290
These army men components of the lot were non-random but no less appreciated; original Matchbox 8th Army, a handful of painted Russians and a quartet of leader figures. If there's interest I'll share what I got in the random pile too.

>>11475277
What is the shipping like?
I"ve got stuff sitting at an airport postal outlet from Ali that have been there over a month and it's 9 more days till I can ask for a refund as they are "still in transit"
Canada Post doesn't even deliver these guys it's one of 2 3rd party delivery companies.

>>11475354
They only offer USPS-to-Canada post with shipping a flat $20 USD, though they cautioned that if final costs would be higher they'd bill the difference and vice versa reimburse overpayment for shipping; for my order I got neither, just an exchange of emails with a company rep cuz of the Canada Post strike threat. I deferred to them but a week or so later I was offered the choice of taking the risk. Much as I got some great stuff from ToySoldiersDepot over the years they've been a much less attractive option for me cuz of their shipping costs and diminishing selection; thinking Toysoldierco will be getting more business from me in the future.

That sucks about your order, have had some major delays myself with those last mile carriers but to date just one small order has disappeared on me; fittingly enough it vanished during last year's strike while it was still in transit to the last mile carrier. Canada Post used to do most AliExpress orders, before those new companies appeared more or less out of nowhere and now it's the complete opposite. It's understood that China subsidizes their shipping costs to keep them down so I wonder if this is an extension of that practice.

The above is the only way a lot of their free shipping practices make sense really... case in point, just about every time I order a pile of lego accessories that qualify for the free shipping, they will send out that order spread across a half-dozen or more bubble mailers, each one holding one to three different lots and all travelling independently, sometimes to different last mile carriers even. I've had orders trickle in over the course of a week or longer, just can't understand how all this is cost-effective unless it's an economy of scale so massive I can't see it all heh.

>>11475294
Is those Matchbox soldiers the same kind of plastics as the BMC Japanese?

>>11477505
They look and feel like different plastics. The BMC Japs are a very rigid and smooth plastic, pretty much no give; the Matchbox Brits are softer and feel almost sticky in places.

>>11475376

UPS is fine.. they aren't as rape-y as DSL.
I'm actually tempted by the Civil War dudes -
Which is a bit of a surprise to me.
I want to keep my soldier purchases low just due to setting stuff away (including room) for larger fellas.

Got my ebay buy, turned out to be a pretty good haul

>>11480278
Posting a few highlights, much is fairly typical stuff but there's some particularly interesting ones. These are probably the most unexpected, definitely my favorites - WW1 soldiers in three poses. The marching doughboy means they must be Americans but the other five can pass for British/Commonwealth. Gas-masked army men are pretty uncommon; even more uncommon is the pair of "bomber" figures, with the slung bag of grenades and another one ready in hand.

>>11480310
These four knights are smaller than the average and their previous owner painted them; first time getting that pose with the bow and arrow, have seen it online but I forget who originally produced it and the others. The mounted knight (minus horse) is originally from an add-on for the old Siege games I think; got some many years later from dollar store sets so this might be one of those.

>>11480325
Speaking of knights there was a pile of these guys, far from my favorites cuz they break fairly easily and the pose selection isn't the best; the guys with spiked mace or raised sword and round shield are useful enough but the other guy with sword and triangle shield seems like he was originally a mounted pose converted to dismounted (note the bowed legs) while the guy with sword pointed to the ground is just weak to have in such numbers. The two actual mounted poses are also not great, not least cuz they didn't come with any horses but when I first bought some of these guys years ago they had fewer horses than mounted figures to begin with so it's par for the course.

>>11480332
Three of the swordsmen had paint jobs done, certainly crude but I could hardly do better heh.

>>11480335
Now these red and black men-at-arms are what convinced me to buy the lot, specifically the two Ancient Greek poses; already had them in plain silver so it was a surprise to see they'd been included in some sets of the red-black guys. Most of the figures struggle to stand up on flat surfaces (not counting the mounted guys, also lacking horses) but I wonder if the hot water trick might fix them up some.

>>11480338
Of this little band of pirates the captain and musket-men are quite familiar to me, while the two white figures without bases I've never seen before. Not sure if it was another case of attempted amateur paint apps or those are remnants from when they were new, gives them an interesting look either way.

>>11480342
The right-side guys are from a classic set of Rambo-style figures that I have never found new, always getting them in second-hand lots but have well over a hundred from over the years. The left-hand were originally Airfix US paratroops, many years ago I found packages of them in green, tan-yellow and grey and raised a battalion of each and have only gotten more here and there in random finds like the Rambos. These are in a slightly lighter shade of green than my original guys but are the same in every other way.

>>11480350
An assortment of oddballs and lone figs, with a trio of reddish-brown soldiers from a set I've got a few armies of in different colours. The most intriguing one for me is the figure of Osiris, no idea where that could've come from.

>>11480356
I've got plenty of these astronauts and the rest of their poses but none are as good quality, making me think these could be originals.

>>11480358
Last highlight are these oversized figures, with the giant fireman as the centrepiece but not the most interesting one I'd say. That honour goes to the tan and brown duo flanking him - game pieces from the Small Soldiers board game I had no idea existed until today. They are Butch Meathook and Archer, Emissary of the Gorgonites respectively and now I kinda want to get the game itself, even if just for the cool army men-esque figs.

>>11480358
These guys have less NASA looking spacesuits and more like Destination Moon and it's like.

>>11480437
Pretty sure they're based on earlier parts of the space program, also the lack of enclosed helmets/visors so they can show the astronauts' faces gives that impression.

>>11480437
>>11480443
On that note there's a couple guys in this group of Marx Air Force figures I got in the Toysoldierco lot that are giving off those vibes.

>>11480464
Ground crew for fighters.. interesting.

>>11480853
Also Biggles!

>>11481696
These guys look really good. Nice shot.

>>11481528
Shhhh.
Charlie.

>>11481917
Thanks, whats surprised how well that turned out, should've brought more of the red-blacks for depth. Interesting story about this one, had just sat down and set up the four Germans when I noticed a veritable stream of ants heading right for them, and for me. Got up and out of the way and watched hundreds of them troop by, several carrying larvae or pupae, all headed with purpose to some destination further down the yard. Tried to backtrack the column to see what was going on but the tangle of vegetation and lawn furniture concealed the possible source of this exodus.

There's at least three species of ant jostling for yard control and I'm guessing one raided another and prompted an evacuation, felt like the column, large as it was lacked the numbers of a full-fledged colony so maybe these were the survivors. Either way, never seen that in person, was neat.

>>11482278
https://files.catbox.moe/5z35al.mp4
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah

Still don't know what the deal is with this Osiris figure

>>11482279
nice shot

>>11486440
Thanks anon. Those are some cool-looking men-at-arms, implying a very impressive castle setup with that little corner there too.

Conte's new Vikings (based on the Kirk Douglas film) are now out. I missed out on the older Conte sets but I love his Romans and barbarians so I grabbed a couple sets.

>>11487487
Just looking I"m guessing they are pricey.

>>11486507
Thanks, it's just an Italeri battle set they put out in 2020.

>>11487487
What is the boundary between Army Men which are are fine to play with with just the plastic and models that you are suposed to paint like Airflix?

>>11487487
Can I possibly get a link?

>>11487806
$35 a set but cheaper in bulk. Definitely expensive but worth it for the sculpt quality and the customization you get out of the bag. IMO, of course.
>>11488093
People do paint figures like these but I don't as I think they look good enough on their own. Airfix's old army men were great, nice soft plastic and durable but their newer releases are unfortunately hard, brittle plastic that can break in shipping as they decided to cater more to the model crowd. Plastic like that is for me the line between play and strictly display.
>>11488115
4chan keeps marking my post as spam, Google conte collectibles and it should be the first link. Put Einar in the search bar and it should bring them up. Site is (unfortunately) barely functional, search bar is the best way to navigate.

>>11488319
>Einar
All I find is
"WE MUST HAIL RAGNAR'S BEARD
HAIL EINAR"

Clicking the "online store" sends me to a blank "redirecting page"
Could you possibly include the link in an image file (with Pic of *something* to get it through the filters. (Do they scan images?)

>>11488484
You want the shopify page, on my browser it was the first link but maybe that's because I'd visited it recently or something, idk. But yeah, none of the Conte sites are great. Web design is not his forte.

>>11488530
Ya it's pretty terrible.
These are a bit to pricey for me to justify - I feel bad.

>>11488093
I'm of the camp that painting is always optional, even if it's a model kit rather than army men intended for play; my crude painting skills and lack of patience attest to the futility of such exercises. Comes down to personal preference, I'd say.

>>11482278
I think even the oldest of the army men veterans that pre-date the napoleonic wars would be horrified by ant warfare

>>11488614
I find that the time I like to go out is also sadly prime ant time.
So many bites despite wearing "bugproof" clothing and off.
I saw one guy carrying 2 ants locked in a deathgrip.. No idea what they were planning.
This guy is from when I was visiting my Mom.
He apparently has some battle damage himself.

>>11488640

sorry about the blurr.

>>11488640
down but not out

Does this count as armymen? Would go great with my pirate set

>>11489273
How big are they? Nothing wrong with game minis as army men, most would be on the smaller end I'd reckon though.

>>11489282
No idea about the scale, I'm not that familiar with minis. I just saw these on BBTS frontpag. I just checked again and they said 28mm - so I guess these would unfortunately be way too small

>>11489311
Yeah, kind of the middle ground between 1/72 and 1/35. On the plus side they'd be roughly in scale with the classic Timmee Patton tank.

>>11489311

I actually think these guys are slightly BIGGER than the small knights I"ve been posting.

Which for some reason I can't find right know - but I do know I have 7 or 8 pics on my camera.

These guys

>>11489601
Those knights are about 1/72 yes, typically 20mm.

>>11489611
Something about seeing large groups of soldiers really activates my almonds

>>11489826
Epic-scale plastic battles can be a real test of patience (particularly on windy days) but the payoff is worth it.

Feeling like I should step back from the story-telling format for a bit and do some larger vignettes with so much going on that a picture taken from any angle or area of it will tell its own piece of a bigger story. It's been fun coming up with story ideas and fleshing them out but that also requires significant time commitment and resource management; making sure every animate object does something between shots can get old fast with bigger setups and the ever-present capriciousness of prairie winds.

Rewatching the old Plastic Apocalypse episodes always leaves me impressed with how much work must've gone into them, lots of patience though there were a few guys doing those together. Don't have it in me to graduate to stop motion but I'm ok with where I'm at.

This one comes from such a vignette, 15 years removed now and far from exclusively army men in nature but remains a source of inspiration.

>>11490558
Different part of the battlefield, giving an idea of what I mean by smaller pieces of a larger whole.

>>11490560
Terribly blurry zoomed out overview, was at the very early stages of amateur photography, the lighting was poor and the camera was a cheap canon powershot that would go on to serve as my main tool for almost a decade after.

I have a question. While I know 1/72 scale is allowed based on previous thread comments, what about civilian figures? I'd like to create a wagon train or cabin scene featuring pioneer settlers, possibly a western town, maybe a church scene, or any other setting related to early American history.

>>11491021
I'm all for it, would be interested to see stuff like that.

>>11491493
ditto

Thoughts on these Atlantic guys? I've never heard of them before watching this video.
https://youtu.be/xSq2h5GpSAo?si=ckVLEzDvtCsN4Oee

>>11494065
I've seen them online a few times, don't think I've ever had any and never knew that's how they were packaged, pretty neat. That Japanese "tree guy" is very recognizable, wonder if I could get a few for my growing Jap army.

>>11495424
>check toysoldierco for Atlantic
>instant regret
Fug they're expensive, a box of 13 Japs is 60 burgers. Guess my soldiers of the Rising Sun will be without human-plant hybrid warriors.