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.

Showing posts with label Maker - Timpo. Show all posts

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Timpo - Toy Soldiers

Timpo was a British firm started in 1938 and in production until 1978. Its name stood for Toy Importers. Their figures were famous for having detachable weapons and parts, aka swoppets. Some were manufactured with similar techniques as the Britians Super Deetail, using plastic of different color on the same figure. Timpo made a wide range of figures but only a small set were focused on WWII. After bankruptcy, its assets were purchased by Toyway.

Timpo British 8th Army - Part 1

As you can see, these guys have nothing to do with the more typical Timpo swoppet figures. I suspect these might have been made before they switched to that stayle. These guys remind me a bit of the Cherilea guys, particularly the machine gunner. They are also on the taller side of 54mm figures. This set contains who appears to be one of three Monty guys in my collection.

Timpo British 8th Army - Part 2

These guys are not my favorite figures. There are two things that I don't quite like. They are standing too upright and their facial expressions could have used a bit more work. Some of their faces look more like skulls.

Timpo British 8th Army - Part 3

Here are a few vintage figures with some original paint still on them. Notice how they were also cast on a darker plastic color, which I actually like better than that of the newer recasts.

Timpo French Foreign Legion - Part 1
A set with very few poses. The poses are actually fairly acceptable, although in terms of detail, the faces are not the best. They seem to have been sculpted by the same hand that made the B8A figures. Not sure wha period they were meant to represent, but I like the fact that they have equipment which could pass for WWII era, including the white kepi. WWII legionnaires fought in the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East. They even fought on opposite sides in the Syrian campaign of 1941.

Timpo French Foreign Legion - Part 2

This is a vintage figure. Apparently they came factory painted and you can still see traces of the original colors on this figure. Unfortunately this legionnaire seems to have lost his rifle, but he is still ready to throw a grenade.

Timpo / Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Part 1

Again, these are not typical Timpo figures. In fact they were originally produced by Lone Star and today you can buy them under the Timpo name. The sculpting on these figures is a bit coarse, but it's nice that they provide a bit more variety and poses. Luckily they are also wearing a tropical uniform. I am sure that once they are painted they will blend in acceptably with the Airfix guys. This set includes an officer with a cap, which looks a bit more official than the Airfix commander that comes with the Australian guys.

Timpo / Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Part 2

This other set contains a bazooka guy, which is a welcome heavy weapon addition, as well as a radio man, which is also not present in the Airfix set. These guys are sold in a blister pack which is branded as both Lone Star and Timpo, so if you look for them you might find them under either brand but as I mentiuoned earlier, they were originally released by Lone Star.

Timpo / Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part 1

These are recast figures of the Lone Star British Naval Infantry. They are pretty much the same poses, except for the fact that they do not have any factory paint on them, and that they are made of a more resilient plastic which does not break. Now that I have found these guys, I will not paint my original/vintage Lone Star figures and paint these newer recasts instead.

Timpo / Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part 2

Out of the original nine Lone Star figures Timpo recast 8 of them. The guy who is missing is the helmsman, however I did not really have much use for him as part of a raiding party, so it's not like I will be missing him much,

Timpo US Infantry - Part I

These are the nicest among the Timpo figures that I have seen. There are quite a few poses for this set -probably close to 20- Unfortunatley I only have a handful. They are hard to find. I found this guy going through a big toy solider bin at a Toy Soldier Show.

Timpo US Infantry - Part II

Here are two more guys that I managed to get by chance when I bought a lot of mixed soldiers. They used to be factory-painted but as you can see, most of the original paint is gone.

Timpo US Infantry - Part III

Here is another batch of Timpo GIs with some more color on them. I find the sculpting quite good in terms of the poses. The level of detail could be finer, but they are still quite well done for their time. For instance, take a look at the man running with the sub mg. That is a very nice pose.

Timpo US Infantry - Part IV

And a few more. Note that the radio man is also featured here. I could have removed the other pic, but since it is a close up I figure it's worth leaving it there. I should also point out that these figures were later reissued but a company called UNA. You can tell them apart because the UNA figures have the company name stamped underneath.

Timpo US Infantry - Part V

The latest Timpo GI. Not a very exciting pose. He seems to be carrying a suitcase with a blanket roll attached to it. The strange thing is that it also has a backpack with a blanket roll on the back, so I am not really sure what the suitcase is or why he would have two packs. The paint quality on this figure is still very good. And BTW, note that this paint color scheme is different.

Timpo US Infantry - Part VI

Here is yet another Timpo guy. He looks like a mortar or artillery crew member. I don't think Timpo made any artillery sets, so most likely he is the former, but then again, I would expect him to he holding a mortar shell in that case. So I am not really sure what he is supposed to be operating. He came in a large batch of mixed figures, so I don't have any other context to guess from. If you know, leave a comment!

Timpo US Infantry - Part VII

This is an interesting pose. It seems to have been made in slightly different variations over quite a few versions of the Timpo GIs, boing back to the day in which they were still made in metal. This one is one of the more recent ones. Unfortunately I do not have the stretcher bearers.

Timpo US Infantry - Part VIII

Here is the rest of the stretcher team, with a good amount of the original paint still on them, which is nice so that we can still see the armbands designating them as medics.

Timpo US Infantry - Part IX

A couple of heavy weapons guys a kneeling rifle man. I was lucky enough to find the mortar to go along with the figure.

Timpo US Infantry - Part X

Two infantry men and an MP guy (in the middle). Note how some of these poses are repeated in the Reisler figures, like the guy on the right. He's actually one of the Timpo guys displaying the most movement, which I always like.

Timpo Divers
Not sure what nationality they represent. These type of subs were mainly used by the Italians, but it's possible that they also represent British divers, after all, Timpo was a British firm. A decent set. The mini sub is made of a pretty light plastic, and it is hollow, which makes it feel even lighter. The oxigen tanks are removable, but the rest of the figures is one piece. The colors are not painted, but is the plastic's original color, which suggests that this was an item made in their later years.

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Click here to see a post about the UNA Toy Soldiers

Click here to see a post about the British 8th Army

Clik here to see a post about the ANZAC Infantry

Click here to see some Timpo Swoppet figures

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Lone Star - Toy Soldiers

Lone Star was a British manufacturer of die cast vehicles and plastic toy soldiers. It was founded just before WWII and was in business until the early 80s when it went bankrupt. While its main focus seems to have been the vehicles and trains, it also produced a few interesting WWII sets. The sets came factory painted and the sculpting is of varying degrees of quality from one set to the next. The original figures are a bit hard to find and I have found it an interesting challenge to collect them. At least one of the sets -the ANZAC figures- has been acquired by Timpo and they have released new production figures using the original molds.

Lone Star Afrika Korps - Part I

This is a rare set. Out of production and not easy to find. The poses are acceptable considering when they were made (50s or 60s). As far as poses they offer a good mix of fighting/non-fighting figures. The guy on the left is the only one I've ever seen waving a white flag.

Lone Star Afrika Korps - Part II

This other picture has the guys going on the offensive. It also shows the only flamethrower among all the poses across all manufacturers in this post, which is another reason why I am glad I finally got my hands on this set.

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part I

These are two figures that I stumbled upon on eBay. They are standing a bit too straight for my taste, but they are also old, so we can give them a bit of a break. Anyhow, once they are painted they will be a good addition to the unit, providing their specialized services. I wonder what the guy on the right is supposed to be carrying on his back. Does not look like the usual field pack. Is it supposed to be his parachute? But if he is already operating the mortar, doesn't that mean that he already jumped?

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part II

Here are some more guys from this set. They are not in the best shape. A couple of them have broken weapons but they still give an idea of what the original poses looked like. The guy on the right is an interesting pose. I am not sure what he represents. Is he supposed to be pulling his parachute? or maybe he is supposed to be in the air, in the middle of a jump?

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part III

A couple more guys that I recently got in a mixed lot. The guy who is crawling is interesting. He seems more like he is doing some push ups. I would have made him with at least one knee on the ground. The man with the binoculars is fairly decent. Too bad it has lost all its paint.

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part IV

A few more guys in much better condition. The bazooka guy seems to be based off the same figure as the standing man aiming with the rifle, or most likely the other way around, which explains why the rifleman is holding the rifle that way. The flamethrower guy is just a better version of the one in the previous picture which has the flame missing.

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part V

Three more figures from the set. Well actually the guy on the left showed up already in one of the earlier pictures, but the weapon was broken, so I included him again since I just got the same figure in better shape. The other two are nice additions. I like the guy who is crawling quite a bit. The MG is also a good addition to the uint, giving it a bit more firepower.

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part VI

And yet one more guy who I found by chance, without knowing that I was missing him, in a large batch that I bought, also without knowing what exactly was in it. I guess every unit needs a good grenade thrower, and here he is. He does not seem to be winding up much for the throw though... let's see how far he manages to throw that.

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part VII

This is one more guy I just ran into. He is just sitting down, as if he were riding on a plane waiting to jump. To setup such a scene, you would need several of them and they are not easy to find, so I doubt I'll ever get around to that. I should clarify that I did not see any manufacturer marks on him, so I am just assuming that he is a Lone Star figure because he really resembles the other ones.

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part VIII

So I think I found the set that the sitting para belongs to, or at least one where he can be used more appropriately. This is a Willys Jeep made by Lone Star. Presumably issued to the British Paras through Lend Lease :-)

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part IX

Here is one more British Para. This guy happens to be the machine gunner for this Bren gun carrier, although his MG does not really look like a Bren gun. If he's not the actual gunner, then it's a big coincidence that he fits so well on the seat that has the MG opening...

Lone Star British Modern Paratrooper

This guy came with some of the WWII paras. At first I did not notice that he was from a more modern set. As you can see, the only thing that stands out is the weapon. So if you are not too selective, you can include him in your WWII unit. I probably will.

Lone Star British Red Berets - Part I

These guys are post WWII figures, but if you overlook the automatic weapons, they could fit well with the rest of the guys. The flamethrower is a good complement to the other sets. I don't know exactly how many poses were produced. First I found these four and later on I found two more (see below).

Lone Star British Red Berets - Part II

I recently got these two other poses. The plastic is a bit brittle as they arrived in multiple pieces. Note how the arm holding the grenade is reattached as well as the head of the other guy. Too bad because there aren't that many of these figures left around. One thing that the figures in this set have been criticized about is the size of the beret which is certainly on the bigger side.

Lone Star British Red Berets - Part III

And here is one more guy that I was missing from the set. The guy firing from a kneeling position. A classic post in most sets. Fairly well executed in this case.

Lone Star British Red Berets - Part IV
Here is one more guy who I was missing. Also, one of those that I was not aware of and who came in a larger batch of figures, so I guess I got lucky. He is displaying a good degree of movement, which is how I like them. BTW, this is almost the same pose as the modern para a few pictures earlier. Initially I thought all they had done was change the helmet. I think I'll let you find the rest of the differences!

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Part I

The sculpting on these figures is a bit coarse, but it's nice that they provide a bit more variety and poses. Luckily they are also wearing a tropical uniform. I am sure that once they are painted they will blend in acceptably with the Airfix guys. This set includes an officer with a cap, which looks a bit more official than the Airfix commander.

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Part II

This other set contains a bazooka guy, which is a welcome heavy weapon addition, as well as a radio man, which is also not present in the Airfix set. These Lone Star guys are sold in a blister pack which is branded as both Lone Star and Timpo, so if you look for them you might find them under either brand, however my understanding is that they were originally released by Lone Star.

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Originals - Part I

I got lucky and found some original figures in a large batch that I bought. I only got 5 of the poses, but I think they give a good idea of how the set used to look. Several of the guys still retain their original paint. It looks like the commander got a bit of a 'touch up'. Also, note how they were issued in tan uniforms. Compared to the green, new production figures, I think I like the originals better, even with some of the paint missing.

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Originals - Part II

Here is one more pose in the original color scheme. Again, much better than the recasts.

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Originals - Part 3

Two more down. Unfortunately, with the weapon tips broken off.

Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part I

This is a bit of a rare set. I am not sure how many figures came with it, but it is one of the larger ones. I have found 9 so far. Note that the two white figures are actually made by Charbens -I found this out after I had taken the pictures-. The poses are quite diverse and fairly well done for their time. The only thing that I don't like is how brittle the Lone Start plastic becomes over time. Out of all these figures, only 2 of them arrived in one piece. All the rest had broken limbs or weapons and had to be patched up. In fact, look at the man with the rope. He is missing a couple segments, which is quite unfortunate.

Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part II

These poses show a bit more action, which is more to my linking. Even the prone man with the Bren gun is lifting his foot to make him look more 'into it'. The man on the left however is taking what seems like a very odd step. Usually when a leg moves forward, it is the opposite arm that moves forward along with it, but what do I know. Maybe he is getting off a boat in which case I can see how he might be stepping off and reaching with his free hand at the same time.

Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part III

Here are two of the less common guys. The officer, which happens to have a movable arm that allows him to look into his binoculars and the helmsman. I actually don't have much use for the the helmsman without a ship to place him in. I would have preferred another raiding pose in the set.

Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part IV

Here two of the poses already depicted in the first picture, however this time I found them without any pieces broken off, which is hard given how thin and brittle the rope and flag poles are. Note also that the man on the right is painted in a different color scheme.

Timpo / Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part 1

Timpo / Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part 2

Lone Star Frogmen - Part I

A nice and interesting set from Lone Star. I don't know what country they represent exactly, and whether they are meant to be WWII or post war figures. As was the case with Lone Star, they were on the generous side in terms of the number of poses in the set. I don't know however if I got them all already.

Lone Star Frogmen - Part II

Unlke the Atlantic divers, these guys don't have any bases to keep them 'off the ground', so they must lie flat on their bellies on the sea floor when diving!

Lone Star Frogmen - Part III

As you might suspect from all the different colors, these actual figures are not originals. They are clones of relatively decent quality. Once they are painted it won't be that noticeable.

Lone Star Frogmen - Part IV

I believe the original frogmen from Lone Star came with factory paint as did their other sets. Interestingly enough, the paint scheme that I have seen shows them wearing only a bathing suit, instead of a full diving suit. If so, I guess these guys would have to be used in the Mediterranean only! I am planning on giving them a full body suit when I paint them...