French Revolutionary War

Picture (top): French troops from Armies in Plastic American Revolution series of sets
Picture (bottom): Box cover art 

 I know I have been reviewing Armies in Plastic a lot, but their figures are so amazing and admirable that I have to share them with you. This particular set of figures is the French army that assisted our USA in helping us defeat the British and become an independent country (the only reason they helped us is mostly because they have always had a rivalry with the British).

The top row has one man advancing more or less nonchalantly, while another is steadily advancing with fixed bayonet, the officer is next in line and seems to be holding a map in his right hand and a pistol in his left and has a sword strapped to his left thigh,the next figure is an infantryman jogging or sprinting with bayonet poised, and the last figure is standing and taking a shot with his musket . The bottom row has the first figure charging toward the enemy lines, the next is loading his Charleville musket, the third is standing and firing his musket, the fourth is on patrol or steadily and surprisingly calmly advancing, and the last one is kneeling and firing.

I know that this would be inefficient for business but really all of them should be standing and firing since firing in formation was the way organized armies operated in combat. But that isn't very important and the revolutionary war was strange when it came to battles in its own right.

This set is $15.00 and due to its quality, awesome poses, and details, I give it a 9/10.

Sources:

•   https://www.armiesinplastic.com/

World War 1 Japanese Infantry

World War 1 Japanese Infantry from Armies in Plastic

                                 
  These figures are World War 1 Japanese infantry produced by Armies in Plastic. Armies in Plastic is one of my all-time favorite producers. (If you'd like to check out my previous review of the Cuban Insurrectos set, click here: http://thetoysoldierreview.blogspot.com/).This is one of their newer sets and has really caught my eye, just like the Insurrectos. The poses aren't unique, but are not cliche either. On the top row you have the officer raising his katana to rally his troops while he billows them forward, the next pose is of an infantryman thrusting or firing a carefully aimed shot, then there is another one who is steadily advancing or advancing carefully towards the enemy lines, and the last one is charging (I do not know if I should say banzai charge or not). The bottom row consists of a soldier hitting an enemy with the butt of his Type 38 rifle, a soldier charging with his bayonet towards the enemy, the other one is standing and firing, and the last one is kneeling and firing.

 As I said before the poses aren't the most unique but some, such as the officer, are not common poses and the era and country these figures come from is enough to defeat all that. The quality, I can say, is great (although sometimes the flexible plastic in the guns bends) and the attention to detail is not bad either.

 They all seem to wear and identical uniform with no uniqueness in between, but a fresh European army unit most likely looked like this anyway. This period is usually not available in 54mm as are other periods that this producer makes which is why I treasure Armies in Plastic so much.

 The detail, realism, price ($15.00), rareness of time period, and quality all lead me to give it a 9/10.

Sources:

•  armiesinplastic.com 

(P.S. These can also be used for a variety of wars such as the Russo-Japanese War and the Boxer Rebellion)

How Toy Soldiers Are Made

http://www.toysoldiersgallery.com/toy_soldiers_how_they_are_made.htm

Check out this site on how toy soldiers are made.

Cuban Insurrectos

                                           Cuban Insurrectos by Armies in Plastic

It's me again! I have been eyeing this set by Armies in Plastic for awhile now. These are Cuban Insurrectos from the Spanish-American war. These figures are supposed to be from the war for Cuban independence (Spanish-American war), which lasted from approximately 1895 to 1898 (though this war is said to have officially started during the final three months of 1898). I am sure that Armies in Plastic portrays them in a realistic light.

When it comes to the weapons, it seems that they're holding Gewehr 98's. This was a top-notch weapon at the time made by the Germans. This weapon was a bolt-action operated machine. It was very efficient and could tolerate horrible conditions that would take a toll on other more ineffective weapons. Though not the first bolt-action weapon, this was the first reliable and effective one. Almost every other rifle made by any other nation (this included Japan and even the USA) used this killing machine as a model for their national rifles.

This weapon could hold 5 rounds which could be loaded as a stripper clip, pictured here:

Source: http://gunsmagazine.com/not-just-bullets/

Or the rounds could be loaded individually, though this could take a good amount of time that a soldier could not waste in battle, which led to the invention of the stripper clip. It fired the M/88 round (until 1905, which it then fired 7.92x57mm) and this was used to great affect. The Mauser was an accurate weapon, effective at ranges of up to 500 m (550 yards).

This rifle was absolutely perfect for the guerrilla warfare that the Cubans practiced to gain an edge against their more "proper" fighting enemies, the Americans. It was relatively light, about 4.09 kg (9 lbs), at least enough to allow the troops to be highly mobile. Not only this, but it used non-smoking powder, which helped the guerrillas conceal their positions, appearing to the Americans as almost invisible, with their enemy looking for a rustle of leaves to find their positions. The accuracy of the rifle allowed the guerrillas to hit their mark more often than not.  

As for the poses, they're not out of the ordinary. The top row (left to right) has a man standing and firing with a blanket possibly holding his few possessions strapped around his body, the next man is charging either toward the enemy or making a mad dash for cover, there is another man standing and firing, then there is the officer standing and pointing his revolver at the enemy. The bottom row (left to right) has a man kneeling and firing, the next one is steadily advancing toward the enemy, another is kneeling and firing also but seems to be wearing a bandanna instead of the panama or "cowboy"-style hat, and the last one looks like he is stopping his advance to get a quick shot at the enemy.

The poses may be per usual, but the fact that the figures are centered on a time period many manufacturers overlook is what really caught my attention. Not only this, but the detail isn't half bad either. The price for one set is $15.00. It consists of 8 poses and 16 figures in one set.

Because of the rare time period, detail, superb quality and fair price but generic poses, I must give these figures an 9/10.

Sources used for article:

• armiesinplastic.com
• wikipedia.org

WW2 Japanese Post Update

With this post I would like to list some details about the Japanese weapons I did not list in my first article about the Japanese World War 2 Infantry.

 Type 99 Rifle: A cheap gun that was ridiculed by the Americans unmercifully, bolt-action, stripper clip of 5 rounds.

                                        Source: http://www.war44.com/japanese-light-weapons/588-arisaka-type-99-rifle.html

Type 99 LMG (Light Machine Gun): Another cheap gun that was ridiculed, low rate of fire helped prevent overheating, could be fitted with bayonet, light and portable

                                     Sources: http://www.war44.com/japanese-light-weapons/588-arisaka-type-99-rifle.html

G.I.'s

                                               Image from toysoldierdepot.com


What you see here is Airfix's 54mm  World War 2 American Infantry. This is not one one of my all-time favorite sets, though. The quality of the figures is fantastic, but the detail is low unless you paint them (which I am horrible at). Despite this, this set is an excellent army builder set. Buy 2 or 3 and you have a platoon, more or less.

 Now, the poses are more or less the norm. You have 5 men in both rows that seem to be running forward towards cover. Each one holds an M1 Garand which was the first semiautomatic rifle put into military service. This rifle was a big factor in the US winning against the Japanese in the pacific theater of operations.

Anyway, we also have about 3 men standing and hip-firing (something pretty unusual among trained troops) an M3 Grease Gun. This submachine gun was cheaper to produce than the infamous Tommy gun as it used melded sheet metal. The round was small but became a favorite in the later years of the war (it came out around 1943 or 1944), especially when we were conducting operations in the European Theater.

Another pose I found interesting yet generic was the 2 men standing and firing M1 Carbines. These also came out later in the war and even had a folding stock version for paratroopers. This was a later version of the M1 Garand self-loading (semi-auto) rifle but with a less powerful punch and a clip. It could hold, I believe, 15 rounds which was a lot better than the M1's 8. Another plus was that it did not make a sound when it ran out of bullets. The M1 made a metallic "clang" noise that could alert the enemy that the firer was out of rounds. Then you had to load an en bloc clip (picture below). The M1 Carbine was never the official service rifle as it was eventually replaced by the similar yet superior M14. It was first a light rifle to be carried by mortar teams, gunners assistants, paratroopers, tank crews, and other troops who were restricted by weight from other equipment or had to be fast and highly mobile (though newer recruits were eventually given the new weapon towards the end of the wars).

En bloc ( internal box magazine) clip used in M1 Garand
Source:   jpg-expertwitness.blogspot.com



There are a few other poses in the set. There is the sergeant (at least I am guessing he is a sergeant) holding a pistol billowing his troops forward. There is a kneeling bazooka man ( I always wondered why sets never gave him his loading assistant) and two machine gunners lying prone aiming and firing their M1919 Browning machine guns.

The price of this set is $12.11.

This a pretty good set with high quality. Great army builder and definitely recommended. I'd give it a 9/10.

Sources used for article:

•  http://www.wikipedia.org/
•  jpg-expertwitness.blogspot.com
•  toysoldierdepot.com
• airfix.com 

CTS List For Manufacturers

Hi there! I thought it would be useful to my readers if I put Classic Toy Soldiers's lists of manufacturers for 25mm and manufacturers of 54mm figures.

• Link for 25mm:

               http://www.classictoysoldiers.com/cgi-bin/ctsc6/rtl/cat_dsply.cgi?cat_id=000054&Category=Manufacturers 25mm

• Link for 54mm:

               http://www.classictoysoldiers.com/cgi-bin/ctsc6/rtl/cat_dsply.cgi?cat_id=000053&Category=Manufacturers 54mm

World War 2 Japanese

 These are World War Two era Japanese infantry made by one of my favorite producers: Toy Soldiers of San Diego. As you can see, the variety of poses is pretty good. As I've ordered many sets made by this company I can guarantee that the quality of this set will be superb.

  The poses are ideal and realistic. The top row (from left to right) consists of: infantryman banzai charging with machete, infantryman thrusting with bayonet, flag bearer banzai charging with only flag, infantryman stopping advance or quickly popping out of cover to fire his Type 38 or 99 rifle, and infantryman charging or carefully advancing with fixed bayonet. The bottom row (from left to right) consists of: infantryman firing over cover or stopping and kneeling down to fire, infantryman firing from side of cover or firing from hidden position, infantryman thrusting bayonet, and infantryman firing his Type 99 LMG (Light Machine Gun) also with fixed bayonet. This set is $21.95.

 This set is definitely a great army builder. One of these sets will consist of 16 figures and the 9 poses shown here. I would buy either one or two of these sets and use them in conjunction with other producer's Japanese sets that don't differ greatly in size as Toy Soldiers of San Diego unfortunately has not made anymore Japanese sets. I will give you the link to the Toy Soldiers of San Diego site and a link to classictoysoldiers.com who also sell a multitude of other producer's sets:

• http://www.sdsoldiers.com/
• http://www.classictoysoldiers.com/

I give this set a 9/10 for its quality, attention to detail, yet higher price.