Hmm - depends what you mean. Agreed that these were cutting edge for their day and we've all played with them as kids, but the two boxes you illustrate are not great figures and Airfix figs are tricky to paint, rather the soft plastic means the paint doesn't stick too well. That's why modern manufacturers are going down the hard plastic route... including Airfix now.
They were soft plastic back then because they were mostly sold as toys, and we know the immense grief it used to cause "us". unfortunately the toy market is closed to these military/aggressive figures, so we're stuck with the hard plastic we always wanted. At the price of not being able to see our figures in toy shops any longer as we used to.
Za - that may be true in Spain but Airfix is in a resurgence here in the UK. My local toy store sold out of all their 1/72 and 1/32 figures in the lead up to Christmas and there are whole ranges of 'war toys' on sale now. The re-released Airfix 1/32nd range is produced in hard plastic now (actually it is a type of resin, I'm told).
Spain? I think I've heard the name before Mrs. Van Schuyler: You perfectly foul French upstart! Hercule Poirot: Belgian upstart, please, madame. Here's a nice site to visit 28 year wait almost over Airfix made their last new figures in 1982, and some thought the range would never be expanded. Then in 2009 Airfix released the old Esci/Italeri WWII British Infantry as set 01762 because they no longer had the moulds to either of their earlier British Infantry sets. Now Airfix have let us know that they are working on a brand new tooling, set 01763, named 'WWII British Infantry Northern Europe', to replace the lost moulds. When it is released, sometime in 2010, they will no longer sell the Esci/Italeri set. It has been a very long wait for something new from Airfix, so expectations are running high, and we will of course let you know as we hear more news.
Nice links lads. Looks like something to look forward to. I remember cursing the soft plastic figures years ago when trying to paint them.
There is really no point in waxing nostalgic about this subject. Never has the outlook been so rosy for 20mm plastic soldiers with all the producers active today pouring oodles of new boxes every month. 20 years ago we had what, Airfix, Matchbox, Italeri perhaps? Now just count how many there are today! As Stalin said in the 17th Congress of the CPSU: "Life has become betterl life has become merrier!"
Never has the outlook been so rosy for 20mm plastic soldiers with all the producers active today pouring oodles of new boxes every month. You aren't kidding! Though I don't game any more, I occasionally ply the old paintbrush on some of the Ancients sets to keep my hand in. Some of the Zvezda sets are AMAZING, and some of the Strelets', especially the Medieval items... And when the guy next door wanted a cheaper plastic set of orcs for his kid than the hugely expensive Games Workshop stuff, some of the short-legged Strelets Romans worked GREAT! I'll have to see if I've got any pics to hand. Here you can "try before you buy"... Plastic Soldier Review - Home
The first packs will be available from Tuesday 6th April 2010, News : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce They will be at Salute, according to website so will have to look for them there. But looking at the list of traders on in the guide to Salute in Miniature Wargames I can't see what stand they'll be on.
Happy days... No?... Happier days!! Somtime around 1964. Tom. Thanks for posting that. It was trip down memory lane. I had both of those sets as a much younger person!
I see this company Perry Minatures also do a hard plastic range but in 28mm. Perry Miniatures I like the look of these.
There's a couple of firms starting to do hard plastic 28-20mm figures....thank god!:p I might be able to get back into gaming before the only hard plastic I need are new hipjoints! :mellow: Wargames Factory Online Store: Hard Plastic Multi-Part 28mm Miniatures
And for those who like Yahoo Groups there is De Bellis Ludis Cum Homunculus Mollibus , which from Latin gives On Wars with Little Soft Men Well worth the visit. You can look at the posts without logging in, which is a rarity.
I've got a six year old son and i have to say, i feel sorry for him as the only soldiers i can find in Adelaide are in the $1 shops and they live up to their price! I was lucky enough to have a good 'hand me down' collection of airfix ones in the late 70's. (Mind you, with 2 older brothers my action man was ready to collect his war pension by the time i got him!) I looked at buying him some on line from the UK but the postage was about 4 times the price of the soldiers. Anyone out there have any idea where i can get decent quality WW2 ones in Oz?
Yep, I've come across them before, via a link from fanaticus.org the DBA/DBM forum/site. Quite a few plastics buried in here...Fanaticus Eye Candy
DBx? Snakes and Ladders? Ludo? Throw a die and move so many squares as PIPs? Now I've started a Flame War!
