One of the big news in the toy soldier hobby for 2013 was that King and Country was going to do plastic figures. This came about when they were commissioned to do an Alamo Diorama. They did some of the figures for diorama in plastic due to the number of figures involved and the weight would be too much for the display board. Pleased with the result they came out with the figures for the regular collectors. In first wave they released various foot figures, a three man cannon crew with cannon and a mounted Santa Anna. Word is they will be also doing some of their WWII figures in plastic. The figures are not cheap two foot figures are $29.99 and a cannon crew and cannon is $49.99
Looking at the pictures of the plastic King and Country figures, I can see that the plastic figures are painted to the standard of King and Country metal figures and there is the problem. They are not geared toward the plastic collector, but to the metal King and Country collector. They are for the collector who is doing a diorama and needs lots of figures or someone who war games. A regular metal King and Country foot figure is between $30.00 to $40.00, so for someone to get figures at half the price is great.
For the plastic figure collector the price of the King and Country plastic figures is a shock. Use to buying their figures at cheap prices, they now have the dilemma of buying these figures at unheard prices for new plastic figures. Next the collector has the problem that these figures will be painted, while some collectors paint their figures, most collectors do not. They like their figures to remind them of the playsets they used to get at Christmas. The plastic people who buy these figures will be limited. Some may buy a sample or do a mini- diorama for their display shelf. If they are hoping for King and Country to release these figures unpainted that is a wishful dream.
So in 2014 we will watch if this project by King and Country is a success or failure.
I have a few King and Country Alamo figures, but for the most part I find there poses too stiff, they seen to lack any fluidity in motion, some manufacturers have great action poses, I just find King and Country’s don’t reflect that action.. As far as the paint jobs, while they look nice on a shelf, they are too clean, many of the Texans look like they have their fancy go church duds on complete with fancy bead work, they certainly don’t look like guys that have been shut up in an old mission for 13 days. Likewise, the Mexicans don’t look like an army that has marched up from Mexico City and spent the last 2 months sleeping either on the ground or in tents, they look like they are ready for a parade. Anyway, never been a big fan, but I’l probably end up with a few.
The uniforms for battle worn by armies were not the same uniforms in camp and in travel. This was true for Santa Anna’s Army as well. The white fatigue uniforms would have been used and most likely they would have shown the wear, however, they were generally made with a tougher material close to canvas.
The additional problem of the new King & Country plastic figures (after you get past the price and the fact that they come pre-painted) is that they are hard plastic, rather than soft. Hard plastic figures suffer disproportionately from broken bayonet tips, broken sword & spear points, and broken, missing, rifle barrel ends. After that, in my humble opinion, the figure is a piece of junk that no one wants.
Look at what happened to the Ideal Revolutionary War/Alamo/War of 1812 reissues. The original soft plastic were beautiful figures. But they had gotton so expensive as to be unaffordable. One dealer at OTSN had a big bag of them for $7.00 per figure back in the 1990s. It takes quite a bit of money to build an army or big battle scene at $7.00 per figure. Since the molds were still available, it was a figure line that cried out for quality, soft plastic reissues. Instead, some bozo (I truly do not know who it was) reissued them in a cheap stiff, rigid, brittle plastic which, when you opened the bag, half the sword, bayonet, and rife tips were already broken off. I would have purchased at least 10 bags; instead, I stopped after the first purchase.
I note that IMEX has done the same thing with their 1/32 scale figures — gone to a cheap, rigid, brittle semi-hard plastic, like they did a few years back with their otherwise excellent, well-sculpted mounted Zorro-type Mexicans. IMEX’s choice to give up its nice soft plastic completely ruined the set. I’ve vowed not to buy anymore IMEX until they quit using the cheap, crappy plastic, although, if I’m not mistaken, it was probably this poor decision which caused them to cease production when no one would buy their new releases anymore.
As an additional thought, however, I recognize that King and Country do not intend their hard plastic Alamo Mexicans to be a product for plastic collectors. Rather, as Paul points out, K & C is offering this simply as an extension for persons who already collect their metal Alamo line, and wish to have one half price add-ons for their massed Mexican infantry formations, typically in static, long-term dioramas. Since the paint jobs are totally up to par with their metal figures, the casual viewer won’t be able to tell the difference. Viewed in that light, the new hard plastic Alamo Mexicans are perfectly understandable. But isn’t it possible for K&C to issue the same figures in unpainted soft plastic, using the very same molds? I really don’t know if that’s technically feasible, or not.
That’s a food question, I would think the plastic needs to be injected into the mold and whether it’s soft or hard plastic the process would seem to be the same.
Speaking of new concepts or new figures, Paragon just came out with foam dead horses ( sleeping if you are sensitive) and dead cavalry figures which I just picked up on Friday. It’s like a form tech terrain piece except they are figures. They look good, but they are really light, I don’t think it is the wave of the future, but they are nice looking.
Don, totally agree with you on what Imex did. I bought their 1/72 scale Alamo figures, the Texians were in good plastic but the Mexicans were in that new stiff plastic. Several pieces were broken before I got them off the sprue. I sent what I considered to be a polite message to them about this and received what I considered to be at best a curt, at worst a rude answer. Figured last time I’d spend money on their product; there was so much out there of better quality made by folks who were polite and even friendly to their customers. Sad as I was a big fan of their stuff.
Mrs Santa made sure I had the new Paragon offers under the tree Christmas morning. Agree the new horses and dead guys seem light, but gave them (careful) stress tests – they seem sturdy if one doesn’t press it. Time will tell. I agree with you, I don’t think we have to worry about foam replacing plastic (at least I hope not) but this might be a way for a manufacturer to produce special pieces at a minimal price where it might not be cost-effective to produce by injection molding.