Bill Nevins got these Green Army Men and wondered who made them. I feel they are all Chinese production but I maybe wrong. What do you think? If they are Chinese who made them?
Green Army Men Update
Our very good friend Erwin Sell came up with the figures. They were originally made by Ja-Ru.
Erwin said this. The figures were made in 60 mm scale. A few poses are copies of Matchbox GI’s. The rest are all new poses GI’s with late 90’s gear/weapons.
were sold painted with few cannons else and not painted in light yellow,green and oliver.
I will send pictures entire cannon/armor sold with then later.
Yes are cloned down scaled base in late 90’s JA-RU set of poses.
I send pictures to admin already of original set.
The above in pictures from Bill should be from 2012/13 bags sold under Boley ,but not made by them ,unknown maker copiers.
From 2012 Chinese toy figures often are not marked(made in china ) any more.
Even the license products from Hasbro as command set were not marked bellow poses figures in many inside blister pack.
Clarification .
They about 65 mm ,not 60 mm after I correct measure one ,sorry I miss x few. And when sold first under JA-RU (A US company funded in 60’s that imports most toy from China and repack under their name) never were never marked other than made in china.No way to know true maker from China and I do not think matter much by now any ways.
I research this set few years ago all over with my contacts and same info back to me..
I agree early poses have deep detail but not in true firing poses most.
Interesting is from start they mix WW2 poses with the new designed Modern army guys.
The down scaled 50 mm sold in bags now do not have al poses but match well with 1.35 scale US infantry modern ESCI set poses, but detail is more crude than originals.
The 3-4″ version scale are in few poses and crude too, sold at dollar tree, and Yankee dollar leas here in 2010/2012.
THE painted above from me, are the only I got with AA cannon and tank in big scale =1.25 approx. ,another was sold with an armored car in battery running system inside a widow case. Paint was cheap/crude done and felt off easy.
The grey ,yellow and Oliver colors were bagged .They pup up first as far I saw in late 90 and very early 2000s.
When first post here I happen to remember then right away because…
I recently list a partial set poses lot on eBay ,it has a Marx pirate Russian made x scale in pictures compere.
That is all I can said so far base in my recalls..
It’s kind of depressing to see the steady decline in quality of Asian-made cheap toy soldiers. I recall having some pretty decent Hong-Kong knockoff figures as a child in the 70s.
The original Ja-Ru figures these were based on seemed kind of sub-par to me in the 1990s, but the copies in this picture make the Ja-Ru soldiers look like Britains by comparison.
Sadly, now you can go to dollar stores and buy bags of tiny, scrawny, ugly cloned Army Men that even make the ones shown above look pretty good. Where will it end?
The cheap line made in china had decrease because lack of demand from Main buyers in US and abroad.
Retailers do not have interst in umpainted army figures and ask X LESS or not even bother at all.
Also the dollar stores private run business every year are less and only powerful enough are few main big Dollar companies running- carrying all same ;using same US buyers that barely travel and order all online cheap to resupply stores.
If they cross seas and travel inside china they ca see what is made and offered,they do not bother, same way every years Holliday decoration are so cheap and bad quality because consumers do not demand quality ,neither complain. I have stories to share in field in how bad the buyers from here care about WE buyers in the states ,they in most and companies here are the one telling (produce cheap trash) as will be bought and does not matter. If a company tell maker ,”not that product is not good and made it better” ,they will have done it right and good. Makers does and sale what they ask to be done.
Army toys x dollar stores are seen as disposable trash toys or piñata feelers x kids unfortunately.
More better detail lines only are x big chain such TR,Wal Mart and Target.
The Sun Jade line sold under Supreme-else was never carry by those big retailers and only in amazon of hobby stores. Because of that and not big demand they stop line in 2013 after over 28 different sets very well done, detailed and painted x been cheap production.
Same that happen to NEW ray and others.BB line buckets sold well in army set, they did not come back with pirates and BB suspend the fantasy nice BB playset bucket to be release as target close business and line in stores to carry in demand film character action figures.
Production insurance is another killer x toy makers. With today all hands in product stores shelf merchandise. Retailers demand products 25-50% warranty ,forcing makers to invest in over protected seal pack to avoid being open and destroyed that cost makers a lot and increase sale to retailers in return.
When buyers are in China warehouse are offered different option packing ,but when sold abroad from online ordering ,they only get the more costly packing.
Lack of demand ,poor sales turn manufactures to change production to other lines.Those still making cheap line, only do recycle wasted trash x disposable purchaser.
Sad but true.
These figures are about 65-70 mm and the detail is excellent.
They reminded me of Atlantic sculpts.
Bill admin got the original set photos( and will post later), were the poses were extracted from, the original are better detailed, it has 6 original designed(modern 90’s uniform gear/weapons) in china poses and 4 extracted from matchbox GI’s WW2 set .
The same figures had been cloned in 45/50 mm
also in same scale as original but less detail-those above and in 4″ tall scale but not in all poses.
Here are some poses sets sold of them in down scaled pack links.
http://www.sears.com/juvoice-plastic-army-men-2-toy-soldier-figures/p-SPM3683701921?prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4
http://www.shop.com/Jumbo+Bag+U+s+Soldiers+1+Pkg-1444940906-p+.xhtml?sourceid=298&gclid=CLHB3aXU2s0CFcgfhgodqAMPqw
I will be putting the photos up shortly.
They are also “chunky” figures, like some of the Conte WW 2 stuff.
i always check out the local dollar store, supermarket, and pharmacy toy aisles just to see if there is anything at all worth getting. for the past 20 years or so, almost nothing. other than some timmee/PP stuff, i don’t think there has been any decent mass market stuff for a long time.
at one time you could at least get decent airfix or matchbox clones. (you can still see the matchbox influence on at least four of the poses.) but now the poses are bad, the quality worse. it’s like the sculptors never saw a real human being hold a weapon.
I agree in resent.
Still once in wile some come out.
Such these,boley brand,some pirates.new ray sets been sold at dollar general.
I got in 2009/10 a set of elastolin else nice painted indians at dollar yankee stores.
Family dollar had carry some other sets.
Pharmacy stores genneraly carry less
Kmart till 2012 carry some nice sets.
Target had come w few pirates sets and new BLUE BOX army set and pirates buckets in great poses.
Walmart and TR with some nice bucket playset from various era and brands.
But since 2013 I had not see much new in dollar stores other than the BMC down scalled BMC ,the painted new cawboys bags and some pirates.
Rest all junk cloned wasted.
Is not much interest x children.
Today kids play too few and x short w toy soldiers.Electronic game era is the winner.
Interaction w small figures is just a passing learning but not last x most kids today because the media advertise all buy army or toysoldiers figures in toys x long now.So every year less.
That was a stock photo that I saw on the internet that I put up. I was searching for the maker and saw the photo.
I will take pix with the figures and some bench mark size figures, for scale.
Erwin, your earlier point about the consolidation of retailers is dead on. Back when there were a variety of independent dollar stores, I found all sorts of decent figures – and sometimes very interesting ones; what immediately comes to mind is a now defunct place in New Haven, Indiana that had a large supply of bagged Marx WOW Spanish American War recasts. Dollar Tree in recent years has been a disaster for people looking for cheap toy soldiers. They used to carry acceptable toy soldiers, but in recent years they have gone for the lowest common denominator – first shrunken, flash-ridden, brittle clones, then the cheap, semi-flat stuff, and now they have loaded up on the awful Imperial TimMee/Processed Plastic clones where the detail is getting so vanishingly bad you would think someone would be embarrassed to make or sell them. But Dollar Tree owns the market. As you observed, about the only good Chinese stuff now comes in bucket sets at the big retailers. I am always amazed that the garbage in Dollar Tree sells out – instead of inspiring the Dollar Tree honchos to expand their offerings or look for something better, I guess they just say – its sells – so more of the same!
Yes, sad but true ,but is happening .IF I go on I will go off the toy ,so I better not continue too much.
Definitely the insanity of cheap consumes has created a cheap mentality in all retailers and they get along with less quality every time.
Even action figures and supposedly high quality electronic toy products come more often with defect and big brand license companies do not force producers in China to improve at all. I had several time got talk by superiors in my past job because being critique of this, I often got in big argument but end in the end of line as CEO just want fast money flushing and not quality.
Dollar tree, general dollar and family dollar are the strongest if so call retailer today(dollar tree) been only of the three” true dollar store”
They all uses same suppliers an often swap buyers. No competitions or diversity.
To save money send their buyers to CA.NJ ports were Chinese unload all cheap trailers full of impulses trash ,they buys most there in big bulk with out looking at all.
They barely sent buyers abroad .Is very disappointed.
Another fact is the mentality that $1.00 today is not what means 20 years ago at today income and cost living by value of the money specifically.
That had affect what is sold x a product in the dollar range.
Couple of questions for Erwin.
One: You don’t seem to have the kneeling machine gun pose, as I do. Also none of the figures I have are (or were) painted. Could these have been a bagged set?
Two: I got 16 figures. Would that be a complete mold shot? I’m curious because I got 3 machine gunners and 3 of the standing shooting pose. That’s 6 out of 16 figures. I know that Marx used 16 figures molds, so is that standard?
Thanks.
Answers.
Yes I do have the machine gun plus another pose with rifle , but both are direct extracted from Matchbox WW2 US infantry GI’s as well the poses of bazooka , grenade thrower plus officer with binoculars, but not interest showing as every body know them. I just quick pull the most interesting poses out the box I found when dig x quick shot. That was all.
I also list a partial lot x sale on eBay no long ago, I think still listed.
Original set as I recall and bought then has 12 poses consisting of 5 cloned Matchbox WW2 US GI’s with WW2 weapons and uniform and 7 in (total new modern gear and weapon style) =all shown above.
The painted figures come in box with cannon and armored car and I have those too.
I bough plenty ,sold most figures out years ago and kept one armored car, one truck and 12 AA cannon because are nice WW2 BOFORS 40 TWIN style type and nothing to be with New ray. I can provide pictures of those as well of course w get time.
The not painted come in bags and I do not recall how many or mold shot else info as I do not follow much that detail in Chinese bags sets. I sold most I had unpainted.
In picture above I show few samples from box sets painted or partially crude painted and one samples each in gray and yellow/green mustard type color belong to bags sets.
After they start pupping in sets made in 54 mm ,missing few poses and molded a bit varied in arms pose and also in the big 3-4″ scale bags of 6 figures in less poses ,not correct even poses per bags.
the 54 mm scale are the one cloned DOWN SCALE to 45/50 mm and wasted mold sets all around ,the big 65 mm scales as mine picture shows were done in late 90′ sold till mid 2000 probably then gone..
I can not recall not more .
Sorry.
Sorry till early 2000 I mean…
is all I can help with.
I got better info in other brands as FISHEL ,TOY MAJOR,NR AND US toys modern soldiers sets because kept full packing sets.
I actually did a work on then x one day be show with pictures and data
Bill one clarification, Chinese tube and bags sets are machine factory funnel feel assorted .
Mean a big pile run and enter a big funnel (like cookies/serial/pretzel factories)
and feel the bags, the way they are feel are complete non regular.
The pile before come to funnel should be sorted in 12 pieces same each time amount poses or variety.
Blister pack, box sets and others are manual feel but very sloppy some time as they use the less trained employees on it
That is how I had seen x years in China. Least since 2001.
here are samples of lasts set base on original using slight varied poses in down scaled crude copies
http://www.ebay.com/itm/301888434430?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Here is an interesting set-NOT RELATED , that come couple years ago, they are 52/54 mm max and are most crude copies of British 8th army and us infantry from Matchbox brand plus few copied from New Ray Chinese brand and some other odd variation base in ACKERMAN two original poses and NR swat team police pose.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/302005976489?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Thanks for the information, Erwin.