I just did a picture of three of the four Timpo solid kepi figure Confederates. I remembered when I got my figures long ago as a child. My parents and I went to New York and on the way home in the New York Port Authority I got the Timpo union and confederate kepi figures. The box one each of the four poses done in gray or blue. I found the above figure odd was he charging or was he defending because of the out stretched leg. Timpo also did wide hat brim confederates where the charging and ready poses were combined.
What do you think?
I had these guys too, were some of my favorite Civil War soldiers as a kid; I think I bought some replacements from you a few years back. My favorite was the fellow standing with his foot on a stone. I named my Union figure in that pose after a relative who died at Gettysburg. Anyhow, I always thought that this particular figure was in a defensive position.
I’d say can be either ,what anybody wants or maybe he is just stretching before the big battle,wants avoid straining a groin muscle in the middle of the battle ! ( hate when that happens !)
He was doing yoga exercises after being for so long seating in a trench.
Any ways I like the pose too!!
What comes to mind when I look at this guy is he’s slowly going to ground as he sees enemy approaching. It’s not a great pose and I don’t like the Timpo ACW guys much at all, but that’s all I can think of that saves that pose. Weapon oriented forward, looking at where possible contact is and slowly getting lower to the ground so as not to be seen and reduce his profile facing the enemy. This was more of a later war practice. Earlier in the conflict, everyone stood upright because it showed your bravery. A few years of appalling casualties changed that.
These were the first figures that I discovered existed outside of US made Civil War figures. I had plenty of Marx. Other US makers didn’t cut it for me. Lido were not really round and fell over constantly. Ideal (later discovered to be Andygard) were out of scale, even within the set.
I recall first seeing these Timpo’s on John Boyle’s table at Schutzen Park many moons ago. Yes, the poses were a bit goofy and the Confederate hats were just awful, but they matched my beloved Marx Civil War figures. They were the first reinforcements to enlist in my ACW armies. I bought about a dozen, which was probably all that he had and spent the rest of the day tracking down more. I immediately envisioned head swaps with heads from damaged MARX figures and one color painting for the Union, who would look just fine painted gray. I hooked up with George Cushman and we did a trade. I seem to recall that it was a set of Marx Sports Figures that he wanted. George had some painted examples which were included. They were factory paint jobs that Timpo sold in boxes sets. Lo and behold, the Union poses that were painted were in gray plastic! A pint of brake fluid later, I had a nice set of all gray Union poses.
I still have those figures. They hold a special fondness for me. They were my introduction to European plastic. I never thought of Airfix as foreign, because they were being made in Texas back then.
Part of the fascinantion of this hobbyare the memories that return to you, when you pick up a certain figure or accessory. Some things come back as clear as day.
Funny how that works.
That is SO true. My best little jolt into memory lane was when I went back to visit my father, still living in the house I was raised in. I went into the back yard and all the trees had grown so large, they choked out any grass growth. My father seemed rather relieved that he didn’t have a lawn back there to mess with. As I carefully walked, I looked down to avoid tripping on the huge roots that were half exposed in the bare soil. Somehow my eye caught a familiar shape. I reached down and confirmed that it was what my mind immediately perceived it to be. A Lido German! My VERY FIRST toy soldiers were Lido Germans and GIs. Here was a lone sentry still on duty over 30 years after I’d left. He had a small knick in his helmet where he had a near fatal brush with a lawn mower. The rest of him was just fine. I have him to this day. I’ve repaired his helmet and he looks as good as any of my other Lido Germans.
My first Timpo were the Foreign Legion, actually some of the nicer figures I have seen by Timpo. The Confederates in the floppy hats and the Cowboys are terrible. I had some Indians but they crumbled and fell apart from just touching them.
Ed
Timpo Indians crumbled?? Where these swoppets ?
PJR
Ed was talking about the early Timpo solid figures not the swoppet style figures. The early solid figures had talc powder used in producing the figures which caused the figures to dry out and break.
Special memories of these guys. My dad travelled a lot and each morning, after he returned, there were some toy soldiers at the foot of the beds of me and my older brother. Although I am a Canadian, and live in Canada now, we lived in Houston at the time, and each got a 4 soldier box of these guys one morning. My brother got the rebs , I got the union (Dad always liked him best!!). Nevertheless, I loved these, partly because they were factory painted, partly because they were the ‘right’ size. They did eventually get brittle, but I still have them. (Along with tens of thousands more plastics of all types) I am in the stages of sorting before I can decide what to keep/ sell, etc. It will take a year I am sure. Fun though.
Thanks for the memory jog.
Stad is correct, they were the solid Timpo Indians.
May I add something
If you look at the Confederates you’ll notice that they are all lefties.
This was a sales ploy by the late Norman Tooth, because in the UK painted figures were lined up on shelf’s and display cases and he didn’t want figures to have their back turned to the buyer.
The Blue and grey versions were produced for one year and then the Confederates were introduced with the four mounted figures. Timpo was the only firm to make different uniforms, until the advent of Britains Swoppets , as all the other UK firms – Herald, Crescent, Charbens made the same figures in either blue or grey.
The Confederates in the floppy or campaign hats were not all lefties, for sure the standing firing a rifle pose was right handed.
I recall have the figure & the other Union Timpo figures. They worked well with the Herald Union & Confederates. I had 4 sets & they were bought in Gettyburg. (my dad was a on civil war exploration & we checked out as many sites as possible on family vacations )
I bought various Timpo solids at a Washington DC toy store known as Lowens,never considered the Timpo figures as good as Marx or Airfix but Marx did not make any 1/32 Waterloo figures either so that made up for the rather crude foot soldiers,I loved the Waterloo cavalry ! !