Speedwell - Toy Soldiers

Speedwell was a British toy soldier firm. From what I can gather, it seems to have been around in the 70s and 80s, but it was not a major player in the industry. Many of its figures are clones of the Britains Herald modern British Infantry figures, also recast by UNA. They also seem to have made at least one set of their own, which is the one that is depicted in the pictures below. Their figures are not so easy to come by, particularly their original set. Luckily I managed to get my hands on one of them. Let's take a look. 

Speedwell German Infantry - Part I

These are not quite 54mm. They are at the most 50mm in size. They are very rare and therefore a bit pricey. At the same time, the sculpting is nothing extraordinary. The poses are a bit stiff and the level of detail is not quite there. Also in terms of the color scheme that they came painted in, it is also a bit unusual. Perhaps they could be used as Afrika Korps troopers.  

Speedwell German Infantry - Part II

Here are a few more poses. As per one of the comments below, I am still missing one additional pose: an officer with a moveable arm holding binoculars. Note that these guys have different head gear. The man on the right seems to be wearing a paratrooper helmet. Again, the poses are a bit stiff. From what I know, the figures were released on both sand and brown/green, as shown in this picture.

Speedwell Afrika Korps - Part I

Here are the same figures in a desert setting, more appropriate to their uniform.

 Speedwell Afrika Korps - Part II

The rest of the guys. You can be the judge of where they fit better.

Speedwell Afrika Korps - Part III

Here is the man at the far right of the prior picture, this time in the AK color scheme. I think I like him better like this. 

Speedwell Afrika Korps - Part IV

And here is the commander. Unfortunately, missing an arm. You can tell that it was not resting at the waist as there is no hand left behind, but based on the rest of the body, it could not have been doing something very exciting. Or maybe he was doing the nazi salute and that's why someone chopped it off? 

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Blue Box - Toy Soldiers

Blue Box is a firm based out of Hong Kong. Apparently they have been around for about 50 years, however not much is known about them in terms of production. Today they manufacture many different types of toys. In terms of toy soldiers it seems that earlier they made several WWII plastic sets, and today they make die cast figures in metal such as Romans, American Civil War, and of course, WWII. I ran into these guys at a local hobby shop. I bought them thinking that they were plastic, only to discover at home that they are metal. They actually have a nice, heavy feel to them so I should have known from holding the package. This series of figures is called Elite Command and they depict a general along with three infantrymen. The figures are hand painted to a decent standard, but the faces of the characters are not exactly a close match. Let's take a look. 

Blue Box Elite Command British Infantry

This  set represents General Bernard Montgomery and some of his infantrymen. Compared to other metal figures, like King and Country and so on, they are not as nice, but they are still OK. As far as the resemblance with Monty, you can be the judge of that. 

Blue Box Elite Command German Infantry

This other set represents Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and his men. The outfit that he is wearing is actually fairly well done. What I don't like so much about these figures -all sets- is that the weapons are made of plastic and glued to the figures. The result is that in some cases the weapon is resting on top of the hands, particularly the trigger hand, as opposed to being held by the figure. 

Blue Box Elite Command US Infantry

The US set represents General George Patton and a few of his GIs. Again, the resemblance of the main character is a bit questionable and the holding of the weapons is a bit odd. Otherwise, the rest of the sculpting, level of detail and paint job are all fairly decent.

 Blue Box Elite Command US Infantry Generals

These two figures were part of a larger set that contained all the other previous poses plus these two other figures. As far as I can tell, one of them seems to be Eisenhower, and the other, I assume might be Marshall?

Blue Box US Infantry

I stumbled upon this guy by accident. He came in a mixed lot of figures. His base is labeled as Blue Box from Hong Kong so I assume he was made by the same firm who made the metal figures above. I don't really know how many there were in the set. I also wonder if the fact that he comes from Hong Kong means that he is a clone, or whether he is an original. But if he is a clone, which he could be because the sculpting detail is not very sharp, I don't know what the original would have been. A bit of a mystery. But in any case, I do like the pose. It has a bit of dynamism to it, which I always welcome. I hope to someday come across more fellows from his squad. 

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Introducing the British SAS

The Special Air Service is a Special Forces unit within the British military. While the SAS was officially established in 1950, it traces its origins to the second World War, in July of '41. Originally the SAS operated as a commando unit conducting raids behind enemy lines during the North African campaign. After North Africa they fought in Sicily and the Italian invasion. Mid-way through the war they were renamed as the Special Raiding Squadron, and within them they had a Special Boat Squadron which operated in the Greek portion of the Mediterranean. A couple of the SAS units were of foreign origin, including French and Belgian troops. Some of them parachuted into occupied Western Europe ahead of the allied advances. After the war, the SAS was briefly dismantled only to be established again by 1947. From that point forward it has remained an elite unit of the British forces. Operating in land, sea, and air, the SAS are a close equivalent of the US SEALs. 

Britains Super Deetail British SAS

These guys are the same figures as the modern British Paras. The only difference is the uniform that they are wearing. The paras wear a green uniform with red berets, and these guys have a browner suit and a grey beret. The poses are all well sculpted and display a nice level of action. Unfortunately there are only 4 poses in the set. The paras released an additional 4 poses, but those are really hard to find, not to mention that they are terribly expensive. Probably not something I am going to get to add to my collection ever. 

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OWN - Toy Soldiers

I don't really have any info about the manufacturer of the OWN figures. The figures are made in China, but nowadays that does not mean that the firm behind them is Chinese. From what I can tell, they have also manufactured a couple other sets, all related to Chinese conflicts, so maybe they do have a strong Chinese connection. I have not been able to locate a web site or any ecommerce presence. I bought these guys through eBay, but my impression is that the guy who sold them is a reseller. So if you happen to have any more info about this firm please go ahead and let us know in the comments section. 

OWN Chinese Infantry - Part I

These figures are actually fairly nice. They represent the early divisions which were equipped with German equipment and were overall better trained and more effective. The sculpting is fairly good both in terms of the poses and the level of detail. There are only two things that I did not like that much. First was the price. At $2.25 a piece they are above the average for new production plastic figures. The second was that they come in multiple sections and you have to spend a good amount of time putting them together and finding the right glue for the job. 

OWN Chinese Infantry - Part II

The advantage however of how they were manufactured is that you can avoid the solid blocks of plastic that other figures would otherwise have in between their arms when holding a weapon across the chest. So I suppose that also justifies a bit the higher price. They actually come in two sets. The firs set contains the 8 poses above, and you get 16 figures. 

OWN Chinese Infantry - Part III

This are the poses in the second set. You also get 16 figures, which means that you end up with 4 poses of each, whether you need that many or not. So setting aside the packaging, I still think that the OWN figures do add a badly needed variety to the Chinese Infantry units. And BTW, looking at their uniforms, made me realize that I can use some AIP WWI Germans to reinforce them as the heltmet shape and the use of puttees give them a strong resemblance. These guys by the way, wore a kahki uniform, so they won't match the other Chinese troops with the light blue outfits.

OWN Chinese Infantry - Part IV

Another thing which was a bit of a pain was how much flashing and extra bits of plastic came attached to the figures. Even before you got to the part about gluing them together you had to spend a good chunk of time just trimming off all these extra bits of plastic left over from the injection process.

OWN Chinese Infantry - Part V

Here are a couple more shots of how they come preassembly.

 OWN Chinese Infantry - Part VI

 OWN Chinese Infantry - Part VII

Here is add-on set. It contains three nice artillery crewmen plus four of the infantry poses already released in the previous set - actually it contains 6/8 of each for a total of 14 figures in the set. In reality, I would have preferred to be able to buy just the artillery guys. Again, the figures require assembly, but with the right glue, that's not much problem and the result is well worth the effort. Here I have displayed them with a German PAK 36, which the early Chinese army might have had, given the close relationship that they had with Germany at the onset of WW2.

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Introducing the British Naval Infantry

The British Naval Infantry, most commonly known as Royal Marines, is an elite light infantry unit of the British military meant to support maritime operations. They trace their origins to the mid 17th century when the first 'Maritime Regiment on Foot' was established. Throughout history they have been deployed in many conflicts, often fighting next to the regular army ground troops. Their fighting tradition includes the Sever Year's War, the Napoleonic Campaigns, the Crimean War, both World Wars, and more recently conflicts like the Falklands, the Persian Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan.

During World War II, they saw considerable action. From early landing missions on Norway, Dieppe, and Tobruk -in which they suffered heavy losses-, to later operations such as D-Day, Sicily, and the Netherlands. They also saw action in Singapore and Burma. Initially they operated as Royal Marine Infantry Battalions, part of Royal Marine Divisions, but later on the battalions were reorganized into Commandos and merged with the Army Commandos into Special Service Brigades, each with 4 to 5 Commandos (former Battalions). One peculiar fact is that the Royal Marines also provided infantry detachments to war ships and as part of that role, they were also responsible for operating some of the ships' guns. Royal Marines were also in charge of manning the British Navy's landing craft. In terms of toy soldier figures, we have a couple of options to consider. Let's take a look.

Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part I

An interesting and unique set, even if the sculpting is not all that detailed. The poses are still interesting and less ordinary with some poses being quite specific to the service branch. Unfortunately the plastic used by Lone Star became brittle over time and today many figures are broken. For instance, one of the men in the middle is missing part of his rope and the man next to him was supposed to be holding a signal flag. As far as I know, thanks to Brian, one of our readers, there were 9 figures in the set. Missing are an officer and a helmsman. The man in white I've learned, is part of a set made by Charbens.

Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part II

These poses show a bit more action, and would be better suited for a fighting scene and is more to my liking. 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. I will continue to keep an eye out for additional poses in this set, just in case. BTW, we've got another Charbens guy who snuck into the picture. 

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

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.

Then we also have a good number of Commando Figures from several other manufacturers such as Airfix, Matchbox, Atlantic and Crescent. Considering that Commando Brigades contained Royal Marine Battalions, I think we can also count those as potential Royal Marine units. 

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