About Me

My photo
No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Friday, January 20, 2017

U is for Unknown ACW Army Men


This is the last of these posts for a while, we'll have a break for other stuff and look at the nappies who turned-up the other day, in a month or two.

They look 'old school' and (given some of the comments I've now seen on the earlier posts) vaguely Minifigs, but the bases are thinner and there's no marking on either surface? A little bigger than Airfix, but they'd fit in if mixed together and painted the same, so not the 25mm giants of some makers?

Again from earlier posts I guess the trio at bottom-left (with an AWI interloper!) are minifigs? While the backwoodsman (2A) could be, but he has a nice chamfered base edge with 45º corner-cuts, can anyone ID him?

Top right (2B) has rounded corners to his base and again is Airfix compatible while the gunner looks to be a factory painted figure, possibly from the AHI / Minikins debatable sets we looked at yesterday, but without a 'Japan' - smaller base?

A huge, crawling chunk of probably quite recent 28/30mm who's been shot in the face and lost his [separate] arm and some 6mm lumpettes; I've no real love for any of them but I'd like to put maker's names to them nonetheless!

Are these Little Lead Soldier? If so the James Bond stuff (which may have an answer by the time this publishes) from the civilian posting is all the more of a mystery? Very small; an almost HO-gauge compatible 18mm or so (allowing for basing I guess), simple sculpts in simple poses (designed to be bent - which was a LLS trope, no?) and with an AWI (4B) type in Tricorn who seems to be just as small and blobby?

Again these have something of the Minifigs about them, but maybe a tad taller and with nice ogee edges to the bases? Also they have DS Figures on them, but I can't find a DS Figures?* Are they more commonly known by a full name and only abbreviated on the figure bases Dark or Darkest Star or Sword??

Assuming (yeah! I'm living on the edge Erwin!) U is for Union and C is for Confederate, would A be for American [Civil War], it seems to be all staff types who can be used by both sides? Or: 'Artillery'

And further assuming (well - if I'm gonna be hung by a cock-wacker-  might as well make it for the whole mutton) GG is for a General Grant character figure, who does that make Z, who looks to be artillery or is he a Zouave? And aside from the make - does anyone know the full code of the other sword-waver?

*My DS's include:

DSC Showcases
DSI
DSG

D Sebel (Mobo)

Daniel Smith Art Materials
Dan the Sign Man
Darkest Star Games
Dark Slave Miniatures
Dark Sphere Games
Dark Star
Dark Sword Miniatures Inc.
Darr's Scale Models
Data Source Inc.
Davies-Spark (Wend-Al)
Dave's Slides
Debes & Sohn
Decal Star
Deep Strike
Denis de'Saint
Dennis Storzek
De Sanctis
Design Studio
Deutsche Spitball
Diamond Select Toys
Dick Simmonds & Co.
Dinosaur Studio, the
Diorama Shop
Diorama Solutions
Disney Stores
Distinctive Scale Models
Diversified Specialists Inc
Dollparts Supply Co.
Dongguan Silverlit
Donald L Squire
Dorset Soldiers
Dregeno Seiffen
Dreschel & Stroebel
Dri-Slide
Dummitt, Scott
DUR et Solide (Durso)
Dynasty Scale Models

The likely candidates are strangely all in a group highlighted in purple above

3 comments:

The Good Soldier Svjek said...

Figures in photo 1 are I think very early Minifigs (1970ish) , Photo 5 are Standden Figures - still sold by Tradition Toy Soldiers of London , Tony

Hugh Walter said...

Thank you Good Soldier! It's funny how Stadden varies in style, these must be early work of his maybe?

H

---------------------------

Tim writes....


1 Hinton Hunt

5 NOTHING like Minifigs -Tradition 25mm http://www.traditionoflondonshop.com/index.php?cPath=221&cPath=221&page=6&page=6&page=10 I THINK they were designed by Don? Sanderson

2A, Minifigs - IM 21 Sepoy Infantry - Advancing (Service Dress) (I think?? I can't see details)

2C Minifigs
ACW29 Confederate Artillery Officer
ACW 44 Federal Marine Officer
AWI124 Oneida Indian

---------------------------

Thank you again Tim, and everyone who's commented on these posts, i will sort the 'Wellingtonians' out for later in February, but I will filter out the HH's and any others who's 'rules' have been laid down in the last week or so!

Thanks all

H

Hugh Walter said...

A few days latter and Tim adds another DS to the mix!

--------------------

From http://www.vintagewargamingfigures.info/rblack/
VINTAGE20MIL
www.vintagewargamingfigures.info
Vintage20Mil is our tribute to the men who designed those miniature armies. Vintage20Mil concentrates only on metal figures not because ...


Certainly this explains a number of things about the Tradition range, it’s slightly variable quality, for example (though good, Scheinmann’s figures are no match for those of Stadden) and the fact that some early North American Indians in our collections have the initials D.S stamped on the bases. While the Figurines range included figures not on the Tradition lists that may be explained by the fact that they were sold painted — with "conversions" effected simply by a change of colours. They may also have been individually animated.

-------------------

Cheers again
H