Imperial - Toy Soldiers

I don't really know much about this manufacturer. It's not listed on the O'Brien guides and I only found one reference to it online at Toy Soldier HQ, which has it listed under Foreign Manufacturers without specifying the country of origin. It also says that these figures were made around the mid 70s, which would make sense, given the fact that they copied some of the Matchbox and Airfix poses. Whether they made any other figures, WWI or otherwise, is also unknown to me. So if you happen to have any more info on them, please leave a comment. 

Imperial US Infantry - Part I

This is an interesting set in 1:32 scale. It is a mix of figures based on the Matchbox GIs, Airfix GIs, and the Airfix Australians. The Australians have given up their distinctive hat in favor of the steel helmet. As far as I know there are 9 poses. The missing guys are the Australian Bren gunner who is kneeling, the Australian who is standing/walking on guard duty, the Airfix GI with the bazoooka -he was given a base-, and the Airfix GI who is running with the rifle at his chest. The nice thing is that they have cast them in a way that you can hardly distinguish that they are originally from different sets. The original Matchbox guys used to have baggier outfits, and the Airfix guys were a bit slimmer, but here they look as if they were from the same set. As far as I know, they were made in the mid 70s and they have the Imperial brand stamped beneath their bases

Imperial US Infantry - Part II

This picture includes four additional poses. Two of the men shown were already in the prior picture. Again, these are a mix of Airfix GIs and ANZAC troops, with some slight modifications. Like the bazooka man has been given a much needed base. And the man standing with the weapon slung over his shoulder has been given a helmet. Other than that, they are very mush the same as the Airfix figures. The paint on this guys was added by a prior owner. 

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Jean Hoefler - Toy Soldiers

Jean Hoefler is a German firm started in Furth, Germany in 1923. It was founded by three brothers, George, Leonard, and Johann Höfler - it is not clear to me where the name Jean comes from. The firm had its origins in the manufacturing of sheet metal products, and while the other two brothers broke away to produce other consumer goods and tools, Johann focused on making tin toys. In the 50's, Johann's son Ernst took over and shortly after moved away from tin into plastic. The range of toys that they produced was large, and it's possible that they are better known for their cars, than their toy soldiers, particularly the red, ride-on 'bobby' car. In terms of toy soldiers, they covered a good range of periods, such as medievals -including some nice siege machines-, cowboys and indians, US Cavalry, Napoleonics, Astronauts, and of course, some WWII figures. They seem to have been popular during the 80's when they were one of the few firms making these figures. In terms of WWII figures in particular, I am only aware of their US GIs. Let's take a look at them.

Jean Hoefler US Infantry

These are five out of the eight poses made by Jean Hoefler. I have also seen them in dark green plastic. The missing guys are a bazooka man, a heavy machine gunner, and an officer leading on his men. The sculpting is fairly good, both in terms of the level of detail and the movement in the poses - aside from the guy who is just standing around. I don't know if the figures came factory-painted or if a prior owner painted them. Overall a nice set. It would have been nice if they had made some Germans to go against them. Being a German firm, it's likely that they decided to side-step that land mine. 

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Soviet Cargo Trucks

Logistics is key for every army, but for the Soviets, with its huge territorial expanses, this was a crucial element during WWII, as it was bitterly discovered by the Germans. During the course of the war, the Soviet High Command needed to move huge amounts of men and materiel to replace its losses which were several times higher than those of the Germans throughout the course of the campaign, and in the later phases of the war, to overwhelm their enemy and roll them back all the way back Germany. While much of it was done by rail, trucks played a key role in getting the cargo to and from the railway endpoints, or covering areas where the railway infrastructure was inadequate. In terms of toy soldier trucks, we don't have much, but I recently found one which is a good start. Let's take a look. 

Ural Soviet Truck

This truck was actually introduced in 1976 and saw action in Afghanistan. Its name comes from the fact that it was manufactured at the Ural Automotive Plant. It is a very versatile vehicle, which has been adapted to many uses both within the military and in the civilian world. It is capable of traveling very rugged terrain and has a reputation for being easy to maintain and repair, Given the scarcity of WWII Soviet cargo trucks in the toy soldier world -outside of model kits, I find this to be a very viable alternative to give my WWII Soviet troops some logistical support. As you can see, the canvas has some Cyrillic writing, which makes it distinctively Soviet.

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Elastolin - Toy Soldiers

Elastolin is a brand of toy soldiers produced by the German firm O&M Hausser. The firm began producing composition figures in 1904. Their main line of figures was manufactured in 70mm, although they also made some 40mm, 65mm, and 105mm figures. Production of plastic figures began in 1955 and it included a wide range of eras and themes. From Vikings & Normans, Romans & Huns, to Medievals, Indians & Cowboys, and of course, WWII. Their WWII figures include a wide range of action poses as well as parading figures. German soldiers are particularly well represented across their multiple service branches -Army, Navy, Air Force, Mountain Troops, SS, etc. Soldiers from other countries such as Britain, US, France, Italy, Japan, as well as other minor participants such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary, Romania, Indian colonial troops, and China were also manufactured. Their figures came factory painted most of the time, although some came as plain plastic. In the later years they even made a series of plastic swoppet figures. The good sculpting, level of detail, and attractive color schemes, made these figures quite appealing, even to this day. Unfortunately, the company went out of business in 1983. The surviving molds were purchased by Preiser.

Elastolin 70mm German Infantry

The three figures in this picture came from three separate batches. Note that the tone of the colors changed across releases. The officer on the left is actually the conductor of the marching band.

Elastolin 70mm German Flag Bearer

Nice figure to lead the parade. All it needs is his Wehrmacht flag. I wonder if I can get one, or if I may need to scratch build it. 

Elastolin 70mm German Marching Band - Part I

The percussionists.

Elastolin 70mm German Marching Band - Part II

The man on the left is also playing an percussion instrument. It just happens to be ornamented quite a bit that makes it resemble the standard on the right, which happens to be quite elaborate.

Elastolin 70mm German Marching Band - Part III

The horns section. 

Elastolin 70mm German Marching Band - Part IV

The wood winds section. 

Elastolin 70mm German SS on Parade

Officer and enlisted man.

Elastolin 70mm German Infantry on Parade

Two German Army infantrymen. Note that the man with the backpack is the same as the SS man, in the previous picture. He is just painted in a different color scheme.

Elastolin 70mm German Mounted Officer

Elastolin 70mm German Army on Parade - Part I

These are the same figures shown in the previous pictures assembled in a parade scene.

Elastolin 70mm German Army on Parade - Part II

Elastolin 70mm German Army on Parade - Part III

Elastolin 70mm German Army on Parade - Part IV

Elastolin 70mm German Army on Parade - Part V

Elastolin 70mm German Infantry - Part I

These are some combat/action poses. Note how even though they are supposed to be action poses, many of them tend to be standing fairly straight. 

Elastolin 70mm German Infantry - Part II

The two guys in the middle are the ones displaying the most movement. Other than the straight bodies, the figures are fairly nice. The fact that they come factory painted/molded in colors is a nice plus. I certainly hope I can get my hands on a few more. 

Elastolin 70mm German Infantry - Part III

BTW, you can tell that they were sculpted by a different hand than the parade poses as they are a bit thinner. I tried placing the marching guys from this picture next to the parade figures and you can certainly tell the difference. 

Elastolin 70mm German Infantry - Part IV

The spotter will make a good complement to either the machine gunner or the sniper, as the sniper does not have a scope on his rifle. 

Elastolin Swoppet

I found this guy by chance. I did not know that Elastolin had released a line of swoppet figures. Unfortunately, I don't have his original weapon, but I hope I can find him something that is not too undersized for him among my assortment of 1/32 weaponry. Also, the colors could be better, but compared to other swoppet figures from other manufacturers, they are not any worse. Anyhow, an interesting and unique figure. I hope to run into the rest of his squad at some point. 

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Pech Hermanos - Toy Soldiers

Pech Hermanos was a Spanish firm based out of Barcelona. Started by the Pech brothers, Jose and Manuel in 1945, they started out by recasting and cloning metal soldiers in 50mm. Towards the mid-50's they began casting figures in rubber and later on in plastic. This is also when they began to sculpt their own figures. These plastic sets are bigger in scale, in the 60mm range. They cover a wide variety or periods and nationalities, as well. In terms of WWII figures, they produced sets for most of the participating nations, each with about a dozen poses. And then they also produced complementary artilly sets and heavy weapons sets. They seem to have had a great, and very productive run while it lasted. The following linksshow more of their sets:
Pech Hermanos Collection Page 1
Pech Hermanos Collection Page 2
Pech Hermanos Collection Page 3
Pech Hermanos Collection Page 4
In the sixties, the business was dissolved, allegedly due to family difficulties, and some of the molds got sold to the firm Oliver, known today for their reproduction of the Pech Japanese. Other molds apparently ended up in the hands of BUM who still manufactures several of their WWII heavy weapons sets of the GIs, and some Spanish soldiers in parade poses. Today, the original Pech figures are a much sought after collector's item in Spain, fetching top Euro for a complete set. Unfortunately I only have one Pech Hermanos figure to show, along with several recasts from Oliver. Let's take a look.

Pech Hermanos Japanese Infantry

This guy is part of an artillery crew -the officer in charge-, but it is basically sculpted in the same style as the rest of their Japanese infantry figures. He is also 60mm in scale. Note also the size and shape of the base and compare it to the bases of the Oliver guys below. As you can see, their soldeirs came factory painted.

Oliver Japanese Infantry (Pech Recasts) - Part I 

The first half of the set. Note how they have much larger bases and Oliver did a poor job embedding the smaller base within the larger one. On some cases, like the man on the right holding the binoculars, the inner base sticks out higher than the outer one. Overall, the figures show quite a bit of dynamism and action. I bet the originals were even nicer. Another thing to note is that Oliver apparently replaced the grenade thrown by the man on the left for some type of pole or stick. 

Oliver Japanese Infantry (Pech Recasts) - Part II

The rest of the set. Again, a good set of action poses. I also like the fact that even though the figures are large in size, they are not bulky. They have nice thin lines. 

Pech Hermanos US Infantry

This is a group of 7 figures that I was lucky to come across. If there are as many poses as there are for the Japanese, this means that I found about half of them. In general, I like the dynamism of the poses quite a bit. I am sure that at the time that they were released, they must have been very well received. I particularly like the officer, rallying his men to move forward. The only odd figure is the bazooka man who is standing up straight. Forget about offering a smaller target, he is not even bracing himself for the recoil by placing one foot in front of the other! 

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