WWII Plastic Toy Soldiers

Dedicated to exploring the world of Plastic Toy Soldiers. The focus is WWII figures & vehicles in 1:32 (54mm), although there's also a bit of Vietnam. If you grew up playing with them or simply love to collect them, this is the place for you. The posts are organized by Manufacturer & by Country/Service branch. Use the menu of labels on the right side of the blog to find what interests you. Comments are welcome. Please note that this site uses Google Analytics & AdSense cookies.

Sunday, June 27, 2021

Classic Toy Soldiers - Toy Soldiers

Latest addition: Korean Winter GIs.

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Classic Toy Soldiers is an American company started in the early 90s. They began primarily selling recasts of existing figures -a lot of it Airfix-, that were out of production, and casting their own line of vehicles, often packaging them together into larger 'playsets'. Their early figures and vehicles were not the best. Some of their figures lacked fluidity in their movements and their vehicles were a bit undersized and entirely made of plastic. In recent years they have begun doing their own sculpting and production of original figures. They are among the few manufacturers that offer new WWII sets. The quality of their offerings has consistently improved and I am hoping that they will continue to release new and varied sets going forward.

Classic Toy Soldiers German Infantry - Part I

This is one of the older CTS sets. Four of the guys are scaled down poses of 6" figures that I had as a child growing up in the 70s. This picture has two of them. The rifle man firing while kneeling and the man charging with the bayonet. And you can tell that the other guys were 'bolted on' to the set as they are stiffer. Like the guy on the left marching with the bayonet (which seems repetitive also). Of the guy with the panzerfaust who is standing totally straight. Definitely sculpted by a different hand. The man firing the sub machine gun is probable the best one in this picture. The officer also gets a passing grade.

Classic Toy Soldiers German Infantry - Part II

This picture shows the other two scaled down poses. The rifle man firing while standing and the grenade man. Note how their movements are a lor more fluid. The man with the sub machine gun is as stiff as the one with the panzerfaust. The machine gun team gets mixed reviews. The loader is actually pretty good, and I like that he is helping to direct the firing. Unfortunately, the man firing the machine gun is not great and his legs are very large - not very visible in this picture. The prone sniper guy is actually fairly decent. It originally comes with a tree stump attached to him, which offers him some protection, but at some point I fired a marble at him and it broke off, so not the sturdiest protection.

Classic Toy Soldiers Japanese Infantry - Part I

CTS also came out with their own 6 poses of Japanese Infantry. They are slightly on the larger side for 54mm. My favorite poses are the two guys working the machine gun. The type of plastic is slightly brittle. Somehow I was able to knock off the head of the prone guy and had to glue it back.

Classic Toy Soldiers Japanese Infantry - Part II

These other three guys, have very long rifles which are hard to keep straight and they are standing too straight for my taste.

Classic Toy Soldiers Italian Infantry

CTS released this set about 5 years back. They display a bit more intensity than the Airfix guys, however the sculpting is a bit less detailed. Still a welcome addition after so many years of waiting. These guys could be fighting in the Balkans or in the Soviet Union.

Classic Toy Soldiers Romanian Infantry

CTS came out with this set around the time of the Italians, and aside from the officer, the other five figures are the same. That and the color is also different. The set is actually fairly decent. The sculpting could have used a bit more details, but their poses do a nice job of conveying action. These guys will fit just fine fighting either the Soviets or the Germans.

Classic Toy Soldiers US Infantry Set 1 - Part I

These were released a couple of years back. And here you can already see the marked improvement in the sculpting and realism. The fact that they come with a flamethrower guy and a guy having to fight with both hands, makes them good candidates to paint them as Marines and deploy them on scenes like Pelelliu or Iwo Jima.

Classic Toy Soldiers US Infantry Set 1 - Part II

I like the guy standing with the bazooka. Most of the times they are depicted kneeling. The BAR guy seems to be firing indiscriminately through the foliage at some unseen enemy in the distance while on patrol.

Classic Toy Soldiers US Infantry Set 2 - Part I

This is the second release of GIs by CTS. The guy I like the most is the one on the radio. I like the intensity that he portrays. The prone BAR man is also a good addition to the unit and it shows the weapon resting on its bipod.

Classic Toy Soldiers US Infantry Set 2 - Part II

These three poses are what made me get a couple of these sets. I had several Long Tom artillery pieces from 21st Century Toys, but I did not have crews for them. There is a loader, a guy on the phone, and another one that seems to be ready to fire the gun. The caliber of the ammo looks small for this gun, but I guess it's going to have to be good enough for it.

Classic Toy Soldiers German Medical Team - Part I

This is a freshly released set from CTS. It contains a mixture of medics and casualties. It is nicely detailed and when painted they will blend very well with other German figures, such as Conte's. The only thing to criticize about these figures is the shape of some of the helmets, which seem to have a softer edge than expected -like the kneeling guy's helmet.

Classic Toy Soldiers German Medical Team - Part II

Here you have one more casualty -who does not seem to need any more medical attention, a man carrying a stretcher and a presumed prisoner. Not sure what the prisoner has to do with the medical team, but since these are all non-fighting poses, I can see how he fits in in that respect. Overall a nice set from CTS who will go very well with the FOV ambulance.

Classic Toy Soldiers Assault Troops - Part I

The latest release from CTS. A new set of German 'Assault Troops'. Considering that most of them are wearing cammo smocks I am going to paint them as Waffen SS. I like that some of the poses are a bit different from what has typically been done in the past for such weapons. For instance, the panzerschreck is held by a prone guy and the man operating the MG 42 is not actually firing it, but urging on his comrades.

Classic Toy Soldiers Assault Troops - Part II

These other poses are also nice and interesting. Note the guy with the flamethrower on the right, and the guy pulling the cord off the hand grenade. The guy surrendering is not my favorite as I prefer fighting poses, but even that is original. Note that he had been previously released with the medical team, along with the dead guy from the previous picture. That does not make much sense to me. They could have made the set more affordable be leaving them as part of the medical team.

Classic Toy Soldiers Artillery Crew - Part I

Also part of the latest release, a set that was sorely missing: an artillery crew. Italeri had also produced a PAK 40 with crew, but you had to buy them as a set, so you could not really staff any artillery pieces purchased without a crew. Well, now you can. The set comes with an observer/officer and two loaders.

Classic Toy Soldiers Artillery Crew - Part II

Another angle. This crew can also be deployed to serve an 88 gun. They look equally good and the size of the shell might be more in line with an 88.

Classic Toy Soldiers Korean War Chinese - Part I

I got these guys thinking that I will use them as WWII Soviet Winter troops. The level of detail is so good that their faces actually betray them as Chinese. I might still be able to use them as Soviets, if we assume that they came from the Central Asian Soviet Republics. The uniforms and weapons all would pass as Soviet gear. In terms of the sculpting and poses, I am quite happy with this set. All poses are combat poses, which is the way I like them.

Classic Toy Soldiers Korean War Chinese - Part II

The man on the right is actually my favorite pose. You don't often see figures reloading their weapons, and he is doing it on the run. Another interesting detail of these figures is that the base is covered in snow and you actually see the footprints of the men on it. A nice touch of realism, which actually highlights the fact that I should have taken these pictures with a different background :-)

The only thing that some might criticize is that the sets come with 16 figures, but you don't get two of each pose. Three of them come in 3s and 3 of them as singles. Having 2 of each is useful if you plan on painting one set of poses and leaving the other 8 unpainted. On the other hand, if you want to use all 16 together, then, having one officer makes more sense than having two. All in all a nice and unique set from CTS, so I might not even mind buying a second one, perhaps to use as true Chinese.

Classic Toy Soldiers Korean War North Koreans

Similarly as with the CTS Korean War Chinese, my intention is to use these guys as Soviet Winter Troops. The sculpting is nice, and the uniforms and weapons fit just fine. My only wish is that the poses were a bit more dynamic. I don't like is as much when they are mostly standing around. But They do add 8 poses to the pool of potential Soviet Winter troops. Can't complain about that.

Classic Toy Soldiers Korean War Winter GIs

Classic Toy Soldiers Korean War Marines - Part I

I debated with myself a long time whether I should get these guys or not. On the one hand, there are very few US troops wearing winter long coats. As far as I know, only the ones from TSSD. So I thought these would complement them well. What made me doubtful is that the sculpting feels a bit coarse. Not just in terms of the details, but also because the figures seem quite bulky, particularly the legs and mittens. In the end I relented, and convinced myself that the reason why they are bulky is that they must have a lot of padding inside their boots and gloves. Anyhow, without further ado, these are the CTS Korean War Winter Marines, which I will use as US Winter GIs.

Classic Toy Soldiers Korean War Marines - Part II

In terms of the poses, I like that all of them could be used in battle scenes and there's enough variety in the weaponry as well. Even the outfits have some interesting details. While most of them are wearing long coats, one of them is wearing a poncho over it, which reminds me very much of the sculptures at the Korean War Memorial in Washington DC. And then there's the guy who seems to be a sniper with what is most likely a white cammo suit on top. The figures are on the larger side of 1/32 (probably more like 1/30), but they will still go well with the TSSD Winter GIs. So all in all, I am not disappointed about having bought them.

Click here to check out US Toy Soldiers

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Click here to check out other Recent and New Makers

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Click here to see more German Infantry

Click here to see more GIs

Click here to see more Italian Infantry

Click here to see more Japanese Infantry

Saturday, June 19, 2021

Introducing the Soviet Cavalry

Many of us think that WWII was a war that was entirely mechanized. While tank units and motorized units did play a key role in the front line and also logistically, the horse was just as important. Germany used them abundantly to pull guns, field kitchens, supply wagons, etc. The Soviet Union however, also used horses for mounted cavalry units. In reality, they were used to provide faster mobility to the troops, and were rarely used to ride into battle. Machine guns made that too costly, or rather suicidal. Occasionally when the enemy had been routed, the cavalry might have pursued and fought on horse, but most of the time, they fought as dismounted cavalry. The Soviet Cavalry Corps during WWII were really a combined arms unit. In addition to the core component of men and horses, they also contained tanks, armored cars, howitzers, anti-tank guns, anti-aircraft guns, mortars, machine guns units, making a mobile force with quite a bit of punch. Having men on horses enabled them to keep up and protect the tanks, and together they were used to exploit gaps in the front line, as was done when the Germans were stopped outside of Moscow, or at the end of the Battle of Stalingrad when the German 6th Army was encircled. The Soviet Union had 13 Cavalry Divisions when Germany invaded in June 1941. By year's end, it had expanded them to 82 divisions, each division consisting of 3000 men. Throughout the war, they ended fielding 26 Corps, with each Corp having a minimum of 2 divisions. Some of these units were made up of Cossacks, which had a tradition of being skilled riders and fierce fighters. By the middle of the war, shortages of horses led to the disbandment of many of these cavalry units, but a few remained in place through the end of the war and even participated in the battle of Berlin. In terms of plastic Toy Soldier figures representing this branch of service, there weren't any until recently. Let's take a look.

Engineer Bassevich Soviet Cavalry

Finally a Soviet Cavalry set. Unfortunately, we only got 4 figures. Three of them seem to be on the march or on parade. One of them is charging at some imaginary enemy. The level of detail on the figures is nice and the sculpting and detailing is good. For example, the medals on the officers gives them a very nice touch, and I also like the mustaches on them. My main criticism about this set is that the choice of poses doesn't really allow to create a real fighting force. It almost feels like it might have been better to not have the charging man and at least have another man riding in formation. In terms of the horses, they come in two varieties. The two larger horses are galloping. The other two are shorter and trotting. Going back to the poses, I think one galloping horse would have been adequate for the charging man. The other three riders just needed the trotting horse. The second galloping horse ended up getting a rider who seems too relaxed for the situation. Anyhow, It's good to finally have some representation for these figures. Hopefully we'll get some more sets / poses in the future, but I am not very optimistic about that.

Click here to take a look at WWII Toy Soldiers by Country

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Click here to check out more Soviet Troops

Click here to see the Soviet Infantry in action.

Click here to see a post about the Maxim MG.

Saturday, January 23, 2021

Marx - Toy Soldiers

Reposting after adding the US Navy Sailors

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Louis Marx and Company was an American manufacturer of a great range of toys. Founded in 1919, by the 50s it was the biggest toy firm in the world. Its success rested on quality and affordability. While many of its toys were not military at all, it still produced a nice range of WWII toy soldiers, many of them sold as part of larger 'playsets'. Louis Marx and Company was in business up to 1972 when it was sold, after having been in decline for a while. Some say that its decline was brought upon by the advent of the electric toy. Its molds have changed hands several times since the original sale and even today you can find new production figures made from some of the original molds. Today Marx toys in general and toy soldiers in particular are valued across the collector community, helped in no doubt, by the nostalgia that baby boomers feel for them.

Marx British Infantry

A classic set, although on the smaller side with only 6 poses. These guys are a bit slim and stylized for my taste. What do I mean by stylized? For instance, take a look at the grenade thrower. He looks more as if he were posing for a picture (please ignore the fact that he actually is!). But the firing rifleman, the radio man for instance are really solid guys. Another small thing to criticize is that they are also fairly light on equipment. But otherwise a decent set of action poses.

Marx German Infantry - Part I

Another classic set. A bit slimmer and taller than Airfix and Matchbox, and a few of the poses are a bit less fluid, but a good set nonetheless. Even if you are not a huge fan of the poses, the fact that you get 13 poses is something to be happy about. These are also the guys who came with the battleground playset so for many collectors, there's also that association and sentimental value. Out of the guys in this first picture, I like the man on the left, firing while kneeling, the officer with the binoculars, the guy walking with the MG, even though I'd rather have him firing it, but I like his rugged look, and then I also like the officer with all his medals and insignia. Makes him look good when painted.

Marx German Infantry - Part II

In this other batch, you get a couple of standard poses: the man firing while standing and the grenade thrower. The former is pretty decent. The latter may not be able to throw that grenade very far based on how he is standing. Then you also get an officer leading an advance with his side arm unholstered. You also get a man carrying a panzerschreck -why carrying it and not firing it? and lastly you also get a man charging with fixed bayonet (mine has the tip broken off in this picture).

Marx German Infantry - Part III

I don't have much use for marching poses in battle scenes, but I do like this guy. I actually plan on painting him and about 99 other marching guys that I have been collecting to make a nice parade scene at some point. To this day when I go to toy soldier shows I enjoy sifting through bins of soldiers just looking for a few more of his peers for the parade scene. Luckily, Marx soldiers were plentiful in their day and there is no shortage of them.

Marx German Infantry - Part IV

To round up the set, here's a casualty figure. A nice sculpting touch is how they were able to include his helmet in the figure, even if he is no longer wearing it. I have to say that I do find it interesting that he held on to his MG until the end.

Marx German Motorcycle with Sidecar

This is Marx's representation of a Zundapp I suppose. For the 60's this was probably a highlight of the Battleground set, and I am sure that once it is painted it looks fairly decent. The only thing that I find amusing is that the feet of the man riding on the sidecar actually reach the ground. It reminds me of the Flintstones!

Glencoe / Marx Japanese Infantry - Part I

Now, here are some of the most dynamic poses in the WWII plastic figure world. A bit on the slim side, but fully action-packed. Definitely Banzai material! Glencoe has reissued some of the Marx sets, including the Japanese.

Glencoe / Marx Japanese Infantry - Part II

Other than the prisoner guy, who would be a very rare case since Japanese were not known to give up easily, these are also a very dynamic bunch.

Glencoe / Marx US Marines - Part I

The Marx Marines were for many years the only figures of their kind that you could find. They seem to be meant for a beach landing scene. There are a couple poses in the set that seem a bit awkward, but they are actually a very nice set if you compare them to other figures released at the time. You can definitely tell that they were sculpted by a different hand as they are not as slim and tall as some of the figures in the other sets.

Glencoe / Marx US Marines - Part II

In terms of the poses the two guys on the right are slightly odd. Maybe it's the way they are leaning, or maybe how the flamethrower guy is bending his knees. On the other hand, the two guys on the left seem just right.

Glencoe / Marx US Marines - Part III

Back to the point about a beach landing, the running poses and the Mae West would be well suited for it. Even the prone guy trying to determine the best route to get off the beach. Although I really wonder how many Marines actually wore life jackets during landing operations. Maybe this is a rear echelon officer coming ashore once the beach has been secured?

Marx US Infantry - Part I

The Marx GIs are also 'classic' figures which go back to the 1960s. Most of these guys were part of the Battleground playset. I have not been able to determine exactly how many poses were part of the set, but it seems to be somewhere between 25 and 31. With that many poses, we actually get a pretty decent variety, including some heavy weapons like the bazooka guy and the two machine guns above. The marching guy is OK, although I am not a big fan of such poses unless you can get your hands on dozens of them to create a nice parade scene. Lastly, the guy on the right is displaying more action, but there's something about his stance and how he is leaning forward that seems a bit off in my opinion.

Marx US Infantry - Part II

Here you get a few more 'standard' poses such as a firing man, a grenade man, and a guy firing his sub machinegun at the waist. The guy engaged in hand to hand combat is a bit more unique as is the mine-sweeping guy is interesting. One thing to note is that most of these Marx figures are not wearing a lot of gear besides their belts, some ammo pouches, and canteens.

Marx US Infantry - Part III

In this batch we see the commander, rallying his men forward, a nice done radio man ready to defend himself., a kneeling rifle man, as well as a guy charging forward with his bayonet fixed. Lastly we have a mortar man without a mortar. Now, I don't know if the playset used to have such a mortar but I have a few free standing ones from other sets that he might be able to borrow. But he is also nicely sculpted. I do have to say that for its time and given that these were actual toys, meant for children, these guys are pretty good.

Marx US Infantry - Part IV

Out of these three guys, I like the two on the ends much more than the man in the middle. The way he is leaning forward and the way his body is turned sideways while running forward with his feet so close to each other bugs me some. The guy on the right. holding a knife looks ready to engage in some close quarter combat, as is the guy on the left.

Marx US Infantry - Part V

Normally I don't like casualty figures because I feel that they come at the expense of more action poses, but in this case, I have to say that these 4 guys are well worth the space they take in the set. The guy carrying the wounded buddy resembles the figure in the Atlantic British Infantry set, but the Marx guys came first. Definitely a nice coupling. The guy on the right is one of the most realistic wounded guys out there. He reminds me of that famous picture by Robert Capa of the guy taking a head shot during the Spanish Civil War. Lastly, the wounded guy who is crawling impacts me due to its realism. You can really feel this guy's pain.

Marx US Infantry - Part VI

Another 3 good poses. The stretcher bearer is missing the stretcher, but that should be easy to manufacture. Of course he will need another guy to help him but I have a few of these already. The wounded guy will go on the stretcher. I just laid him vertically for the picture so that you could get a better view of him. The crawling guy is a nice variation to the prone poses who are usually entirely on the ground.

Marx US Infantry - Part VII

Here is another less common Marx pose. I actually found the raft a few years back without knowing what set it belonged to, and it was only recently that I found the rower. I have to say though that the raft feels quite a bit under scale. The man is actually pretty nicely done.

Marx US Infantry - Part VIII

Here is the larger version of the Marx raft. It comes with two rowers. Feels better proportioned relative to the size of the crew, although the raft still feels a bit wimpy if you had to go into combat on it.

Marx US Infantry - Part IX

These are some marching GIs. The flag bearer was apparently sculpted by a different hand as the marching guys, but they are still close enough in scale and detail that they can be combined into a scene together. Now I just need to find an actual flag for the guy in the middle.

Marx Gallant Men US Infantry

The Gallant Men, were 5 figures modeled after the characters in a TV series. They were released in 1963 as part of a 'Gallant Men' playset. They are a bit hard to get and there seems to be a strong emotional attachment to them from the folks who grew up with them, which makes them a bit pricey. From left to right they are Lt. Kimbro, Pvt. D'Angelo, Sgt. McKenna, Conley Wright (the war correspondent) and Capt. Benedict. All very well sculpted, probably better than the rest of the Marx GI figures, although unfortunately, they are not in the most active poses. The Gallant Men were notable for being able to take on large number of enemy forces and defeat them with minimum casualties; the Gallant Men obviously not among them.

Marx Sitting GIs

This is basically a single pose of a sitting GI that you can use to fill up a truck or half-track. The figure is actually quite plain and I think slightly on the larger side of 1/32. Also, since it is a single pose, once you put more than a couple on the same vehicle, it does look repetitive. And they come with a backpack which makes them lean away from the seat more than you'd like them to. On the other hand, there are not that many figures that you can use as passengers, so I am glad I got some of them, and I guess they are going to have to be good enough for now.

Marx US Paratroops

These are some old production US paras. They might be among the first ever made to represent this service branch. Unfortunately I do not have the canopies that came with them originally. They were hollow semi-spheres made out of hard plastic. I'd say the fully extended parachute would be more appropriate for the man on the right who is still floating down, than for the one on the left who already landed and you'd expect his parachute to be mostly crumpled up. Anyhow, It's probably not too hard to make some cloth parachutes for them and they would probably look more realistic. A couple of good guys to add to the unit in case you want to represent a drop/landing scene.

Marx Soviet Infantry

The bottom of the base of these figures actually says 1965. These figures were cast more recently, but the mold was made that year. Probably among the earliest WWII Soviet figures to be made. Several of these were also made in 12" size.

Marx French Infantry

These are also reissued figures based on the original Marx molds. They are wearing original French Infantry outfits. Sometimes when you see them listed online, they are referred to as Free French Infantry, but then they would be wearing British or American outfits, which is not the case with these figures. Faithful to the Marx sculpting style, these figures are slim yet well proportioned and with a nice level of detail.

Marx US Navy Sailors - Part I

I'll start by remarking that I am not a great fan of this set. I don't collect ships, and certainly not in this scale. So I don't have much use for sailors. On top of that, many of these poses are not really that usable for the type of scenes I like to setup which are mostly action/battle scenes. So why did I get them? Well, apparently these guys are considered by many in the hobby among the 'holy grail' sets. Very hard to find and very coveted. So for the sake of filling an important gap in my collection, I recently let myself get drawn into a crazy bidding war on ebay for them. The sad part is that even then, I only got 6 out of the 7 poses in the set. On the positive side, the sculpting and detailing of these figures is actually quite nice, with the distinctive tall/slim style of many Marx figures.

Marx US Navy Sailors - Part II

And here is the last pose, courtesy of my friend Christian, the Plastic General. This guy seems more useful for an action scene. Even though he is not hyper active, you can always use an officer guiding the troops through the heat of battle. Now, why would he need to draw his side arm is he is most likely on the deck of his ship? Is he maybe dealing with some insubordination? Or is he taking symbolic pot shots at a Japanese Zero? I've recently come to know that these figures were part of a training Center Playset, so maybe he is 'motivating' the recruits?

Marx 40mm US Infantry - Part I

I recently bought these figures without really knowing the manufacturer and scale, but I knew they were old and worth collecting. They turned out to be smaller than I expected and it took me a while to figure out who made them, but I finally figure out that they are an early Marx set.

Marx 40mm US Infantry - Part II

The figures are made out of hard rubber, heavier and harder than plastic. We can tell from the weapons that they were made after the war. While the poses are not the most exciting or well sculpted, I like having such an old item in the collection.

Marx 60mm US Infantry - Part I

I bought these guys as Lido, but even if they are Lido, they seem to be recasts/clones of the Marx GIs. Note how they do not have any bases, and yet they are quite stable.

Marx 60mm US Infantry - Part II

These guys have a smooth helmet, without netting, and are slightly taller.

Marx 60mm US Infantry - Part III

Here are three original Marx 60mm US Infantry figures. Note that the kneeling rifleman, is also present in the 40mm set. The bazooka guy is a very sturdy one, and one that I remember fondly from my younger days.

Marx 60mm US Infantry - Part IV

I am not 100% sure, but I think this is an early 60mm Marx guy. He resembles the 40mm version of it quite a bit. He is a bit bulky, but other than that he looks fairly decent. We'll have to find him a gun to pair him up with.