Reader’s Contributions New Plastic Figure News we havesome interesting items and an update or two. First Erwinsell has discovered an unknown China caveman set. We have an update on the Russian flats Roman and Spartacus rebellion. Warhansa has come up with a new set. Finally we have the color on the Chintoys Civil War figures. Finally Markus Lecksheid shares some photos.
Reader’s Contributions New Plastic Figure News China Caveman Set
Erwin stopped at a garage sale and found this unusual set. The set has eight figures four different. Cave figures are in brown and pink.
The figures and card looks like from the 90’s.
The figures are a mix of poses derived from Toy Major,MPC ,Marxand DFC . Scale is about 45mm. The card has six rocks two different.
One other item on the card shows a larger playset with larger rocks. Playset also had catapults
Reader’s Contributions New Plastic Figure News Romans and Spartacus Rebellion
We have gotten more photos of these interesting plastic flats. The set contains five different Romans and five gladiators or rebels.
Here are the five Roman poses
The gladiators included a female archer.
The figures are not available yet so we do not have a price. Alex Erwin’s friend says the figures are being done by the company that did Bauyeux Tapestry. Denitz disagrees and says it is a different company. We will see.
Also No Name company is doing two more mounted knights.
Reader’s Contributions New Plastic Figure News Warhansa
Warhansa has issued a new set of four figures. This time is it ninjas. The four poses are with sword back, kneeling firing blow gun, with grappler hook and ready with shooting star. Warhansa four figures are $26.00
Reader’s Contributions New Plastic Figure News Chintoys
According to Igor Bassevitch the Civil War figures are going to be in brown and grey blue.
Reader’s Contributions New Plastic Figure News Markus Lecksheid.
Markus has sent us two photos on various items we have talked about. The first is Blue Box set sold as Gettysburg.
Our final item is an add for Atlantic. According to Markus. this ad is from Mickey Mouse comic book. He related that Atlantic advertised in the Mickey Mouse comics in Germany. Markus said that he never saw these sets in his town which he was glad. They would have been out of his budget as a child.
WOW!!!,Never see the 4 poses blister BB configuration as that.All i had see were in window box.
The ATLANTIC sets and large playsets were run and done as last year production and not in many quantities as more expensive for dealers /sellers to carry .They often appear once in only one catalog.There severals-4 playset combined in picture there with several c vacuum form set rocks united .The forts sale for $400-600 now ,the western ABELINE town for about same.The river was used x several indians sets .They made nice vacuum sets for HO that can be adapted for big scale as well in some cases .
They made 8 different large vacuum form sets x WW2 1.32 sets with two bunkers but in very limited and often with less not complete set poses included.
Here is a nice HO underwater battle playset made by them too. Note last picture show other samples made too .
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATLANTIC-PLASTICO-SOMMOZZATORI-DITALIA-ATTACCO-BASE-NAVALE-MP206-956521/232295818817?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D47043%26meid%3D146697b85fa94349942493f845918466%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D110341894246&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%253A50bbe45f-9b71-11e7-8e60-74dbd180707c%257Cparentrq%253A8e85753615e0a888f442e36cfffd2c4e%257Ciid%253A1
I’m looking forward to getting more information, when it’s available, on the Spartacus/Roman set. I think it looks pretty interesting, and reminds me of the Gibbs Custer set of flats.
On another note, I ordered the newly-boxed VictoryBuy/BMC Iwo Jima playset from the internet. It was $74.00 postpaid, which I thought was reasonable, since postage alone could have been $20.00. It arrived just 2 – 3 days after I placed the order.
The box itself was a big improvement. It was very well illustrated on all sides — front, back, and all edges. The box was very sturdy — a vast improvement over the original flimsy BMC playset boxes — and was in the Marx style where the top lid opens up and you can easily see and place all the contents.
This particular Iwo Jima set did not suffer from what some of the previous BMC sets (like the D-Day set) suffered from — namely, some pretty good accessories mixed in with poorly sculpted figures. In this set, the figures were all modeled after King and Country figures, and were very well done. The mountaintop centerpiece, coupled with Sherman Tank and Landing Craft, were both creatively well-done, so the landcraft and tank could both be placed on the edge of the mountain/hill hard plastic centerpiece. Several of the smaller accessories (like the U.S. & Rising Sun flags and flagpoles) were definitely upgraded from the original BMC.
All in all, it made a very nice, well-boxed, self-contained high-quality plastic figure playset, reasonably priced considering the contents and well-done sculpts.
I think the colors of the Chintoy Civil War general sets will actually be OK, as long as its the Confederates in brown, and the Union in blue/gray.
Every time some maker of Confederates (TSSD, CTS, Accurate, AIP, Marx recasts, etc.) ran them in butternut, I snapped them up. Now I’ve got whole Confederate regiments in butternut, and the Chintoy brown generals will go with them just fine.
On the Atlantic sets – I may have shared here elsewhere about the time I bought my kid brothers the 1/72 sale “Grand Battaglia” (Great Battle?) set for Christmas 1976. It had a lot of neat stuff – but seemed more on the modern side with what looked to be M-60 tanks and M113 APCs. They had the tiny landing craft and a bunch of different figures – but no enemy troops. I supplemented the infantry with some decent troops (just messing with you Erwin) – Airfix Japanese (don’t know why I didn’t get Germans now) and US Paratroops as Airfix hadn’t come out with their second series US Marines yet.
The kids loved it – my problem with the models, that were beautiful was with the tiny fiddly parts that one couldn’t keep attached to the main model. I know my brothers, who were about six at the time had lost all the antenna, headlights and what-not by the time I came home on leave that summer, though the main parts were pretty much intact.
I was unaware of the larger 1/32 (or whatever) scale sets – I might have gotten one or two of those for them as it would have seemed more suitable for their age.
One thing I have noticed about the Atlantic large sets with vacuum-formed bases: The box art showed the bases beautifully and realistically painted.
These must have been special demo models made just for publicity. When I have seen real photos on the internet, the paint job on the actual base a person could buy was very disappointing. This page shows the difference between what you saw on the box art and what was inside: http://www.atlanticmania.com/IT/514.htm
Jean Hoefler also did at least one vacuum formed base, the Grand Canyon, and the paint job on that was just as good on the real model as it was on the box art.
Here’s a couple more pages that show the difference between advertising and reality as far as Atlantic vacuum formed bases go:
http://www.atlanticmania.com/IT/516.htm
http://www.atlanticmania.com/IT/MP-261_E2.htm
http://www.atlanticmania.com/IT/MP-262_E2.htm
Jean Hoefler had a fort vacuum as well not the later plastic fort .
Atlantic demo pictures were for expo at toy fairs and show room ,the colors used were spray paint over at factory .
First link show the top left show room type model in left while bellow the most common sold of Red river sample.
However early models were sold as seen in the showroom models .But they most had been from first early issues runs only.several collectors had show it in blogs and facebooks as part their childhood collection. .
Vaccum form plastic forts ,castles and rocks were first introduced by ELASTOLIN in 60s to the world .They pioneer it in the toy industry world as a way to do larger big castles without need do many separated mold individual sections more costly to any castle/building maker in massive production.
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I never knew Hoefler did a vacuum fort! I still have my BiG/Jean Hoefler Grand Canyon. It had a very nice paintjob, and looked a lot like the show room Atlantic models.
I have a couple of Elastolin castles too, that I use with my 1/72 medieval and fantasy figures. Elastolin vacuum plastic was very heavy duty and durable. The Hoefler plastic was much thinner and mine has some splits and cracks over the years.
I wish we could see some new vacuum formed terrain and buildings in a nice solid plastic. Would that be more expensive than foam, cheaper or about the same?
Expensive as use steel mold system w a lot heat and regulators.But back in time more cheap than multi part s mold castle of course.
Foam is limit run system and could be done w small mavhinery of different type.
I will try post photo of JH fort…
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Jean Hoefler did a vacuum fort name (Fort West) it is very nice indeed as can be used for early US frontier fort as well too.the door and few minor parts are in plastic separated molded part .
It appear to be the early made!?
I had receive permission to share pictures from a collector and another blog .
It is rather large rectangular with nice corner angle bastion towers.
They also did in plastic not vacuum .Fort Arkansas that has a taller nice log cabin quarters compared to later Fort Apache that was last sold as Fort Laramine (the more last better known JH brand fort sold; with JH figures and also cheap w Copied swoppet HK made figures under SEARS distribution as well.
So As far my research goes they did
Fort West-Vacuum form and plastic
Fort Arkansas(tall log cabin) all soft plastic brown
Fort Apache (lower smaller cabin) all soft plastic brown
Fort independence more larger and big with a horse army barn log building and cabin
Fort Laramine (using same cabin and smaller variation if any).all soft plastic brown.
I do not own any of them but had request permission to share pictures soon.
Atlantic did a very small Fort in vacuum format for the US cavalry 1.32 scale but is small and not nice in my opinion.
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Erwin, I’m not clear on “getting permission” to share pictures/info. As far as I know, anything on internet is public domain and can be shared as long as it’s not for selling it or making a profit?
Not is not Andy ,personal blogs and personal pictures require permission from owner to share .You can be easy sue if a picture is post in other blog without consent or license.It happen all time.
You can post a direct blog link here if admin allowed or not .A photo from collector and his personal collection require personal approval to be share .Once i have those i can and will .Best..
Not everything is in public domain on the internet. I get permission from on many of the pictures you see. Many I have prior approval.People are ready to sue at a drop a hat.
To me, those “actual” models actually look pretty good, however. I had the Red River Valley one, long ago, and I regret selling it at one of the shows.
Don If you know, how many makers did Butternut colors? Besides who you mentioned:
Accurate
TSSD
CTS
Marx recasts
AIP
I know that HAT did Zouaves.
I have some IMEX (infantry and Artillery crews) in Butternut and some Ragged Rebs and Fighting Feds, that Stengel had test shots of. I don’t know for sure if he ever ran them in those colors.
Any others?
Bill, the only other ones I can think of are:
1. Imex, that you mentioned;
2. Timpo recasts
3. Replicants
I always thought it would be nice if Conte released his own Condederates in butternut, but unfortunately he never did.
Curious to know if “butternut” is a specific color or just a range of various light or medium brown shades. I know the dye was made from some part of the butternut tree, maybe the husks. I know walnut husks can be used to make a dark brown dye.
More than you ever wanted to know re: “butternut”:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butternut
Thanks
Looks like is a lot that can be call that color and not specific at all.
Just like “red”, “blue”, “green”, etc., etc… Ever try to match “white” paint??
Well white and black are not colors..
A matter of opinion
Like “blue” bluejeans. Color always depends on the dye lot, the age, weathering, and the number of times they’ve been through the wash.
I had red this many times and is widespread around …
Old hunters and Indian fighters of the pre-Civil War era wore blue or light gray so they would not stand out at a distance. This tradition was carried over into the selection of army uniform colors. Because the United States (Union) regulation color was already dark blue, the Confederates chose gray. However, soldiers were often at a loss to determine which side of the war a soldier was on by his uniform. With a shortage of regulation uniforms in the Confederacy, many southern recruits just wore clothes from home. When cloth became scarce in the South, the principal source of Confederate uniforms became captured Union uniforms. The dark blue uniforms were boiled in a solution with walnut hulls, acorns, and lye. The resulting color was light tan, which the southerners called “butternut.”
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At the beginning of the war some of the northern milita units wore their militia uniforms and some of them were gray.
Correct
This gets interesting (to me, anyhow), but all kinds of info on uniforms such as CSA wearing captured USA belt buckles upside down:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniforms_of_the_Confederate_States_military_forces
The CSA ended up with a lot of grey uniforms because that was the accepted color for militia. The southern states started training their militia more seriously after the Nat Turner Rebellion and really amped it up after John Brown’s seizure of Harper’s Ferry. The explanation for butter nut is the same I’ve read. Examples I’ve seen ranged in shade from tan to paper-bag-brown to slightly yellow-brown. I fully realize the shade may be affected by the age and amount of wear. I’m sure, just as in the shade of grey for the CS uniform, there were many variations. Just a slight change in how long the material is left in the solution and how strong the solution is will account for that. GEN Longstreet was wounded by his own men in the Wilderness battle. One of the potential reasons (but not the most prominent) was that his Corps was returning from the western theater and stopped in Richmond to get re-outfitted. The uniforms they received were described as ‘A shade of grey so dark as to be mistaken for Federal blue’.
Iron was also added to the dye vats. Union had gray clad units in the first year or so of the war. Rebs didn’t fire at one such unit and paid for it at bull run they claim
It was just the opposite. It was confederate units wearing blue that were not fired on. They captured CPT. Griffin’s Battery. Griffin was the inventor of the 3in. Ordinance Rifle. The Federal units in grey were militia. Grey was the standard militia color. At the Battle of Chippawa (sp?) the regulars were insulted that they had to wear militia grey when stocks of blue uniforms ran out. It had the effect of making the Brits believe they only faced part timers.
There is a new run of Tehnolog soft plastic figures on eBay right now. A lot of sets that have not been done in soft plastic at ridiculously cheap prices compared to other Russian makers. Mostly SF and Fantasy but there are some Napoleonics and other historical sets as well. I’m finally getting the Wolfhounds, and they are in red to match my Tehnolog Varangians and Marx Viking recasts!
They are sold x less dollar in bags at Russia stores.
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