I imagine you could also purchase the whole
set (with card fort frontage and figures?) from the UK page of the website for
a while-after (link at end of post) as you can order complete sticker sets for
some foreign issues (50-quid-plus for a sticker album!) to this day, but I
don't know how well-developed, or 'international' the site was in the 1990's?
Mounted figures for the cavalry, six
different poses, of which only two are engaged in any sort of fighting, which
may be a clue as to what happened at the Little Big Horn . . . too much
saluting, bugling and carrying of small flags, not enough fighting-back!
Joking aside; I particularly like the
Indian scout while the chap in buckskins could pass for General George
Armstrong, but he'd need a bottle of Grecian2000 'Blonde' first! Am I right in
thinking only the scout is wearing his braces correctly?
The US get eight foot poses, each of which
is numbered (the mounted poses are unmarked), here we are looking at - top row
from left;
23. Kneeling
Shooter
24. Sentinel
25. Soldier
with Gun
26. Standing
Shooter
. . . and the figures are sized to around
50mm or 1:35th scale
Again using the top row, from the left we
have;
27. Standing
Shooter
28. Standing
Shooter
29. Running
Soldier
30. Standing
Shooter
. . . and all the figures are manufactured
from a softish PVC replacement polymer
with decoration mostly done through stencils, although there's some
hand-painting.
Horses are probably the poorest element of
the set, suffering from the softness of the plastic and slightly effete
sculpting. There are three poses, which are also marked on the bases;
A2. Cavalry
Horse
B2. Cavalry
Horse
C2. Cavalry
Horse
. . . two of the poses are very similar
(either end), with only the feet reversed while the other seems to be pacing or
high-stepping in a formal fashion?
The Indians get very similarly-posed
horses, but with blanket saddles;
A1. Indian
Horse
B1. Indian
Horse
C1. Indian
Horse
. . . their decoration is also more muted
with various over-sprays on the same hazelnut-coloured animals. And as they are
numbered ahead of each Cavalry version, I'm not saying they followed, but
probably lead?
They also get six unmarked poses of rider,
three in leggings/trousers, the other trio in just loin-cloths. The figure on
the far right is particularly fine, shooting over his forearm, downwards into
the/an - unseen - mêlée, and they are all more active than their cavalry
counterparts.
The natives get ten foot poses, and just as
the riders are more animated, so too are the foot figures more imaginative.
Again from the left;
13. Indian with
Gun
14. Indian with
Bow
15. Indian on
Ground
16. Indian with
Dagger
17. Kneeling
Indian
The base-titles however are just as lacking
in imagination with these as they were with the US troops, with several having
duplicated text!
18.
Indian/Tomawac [sic]
19. Indian
Lance/Shield
20.
Indian/Tomawac [sic]
21. Indian with
Bow
22. Indian with
Bow
Base marks for - clockwise from top left -
cavalry trooper, crawling Indian, Indian horse and foot Indian; the fact that
the prone Indian is marked (down his leg) makes it all the weirder that none of
the mounted poses have any marking at all? All marked items also have a
'CHINA'.
Thanks to John Begg for these which
scraped-in under the 'small scale' parameter (perimeter!) back some time in
2006-7 and have just slid-out of storage..
A useful link with more information;
While, in numerical order;
Set Listing
Horses
A1. Indian Horse
A2. Cavalry Horse
B1. Indian Horse
B2. Cavalry Horse
C1. Indian Horse
C2. Cavalry Horse
Riders
1-6. (?) 6x different
Indian riders
7-12. (?) 6x different
Cavalry riders
Foot Natives
13. Indian with Gun
14. Indian with Bow
15. Indian on Ground
16. Indian with
Dagger
17. Kneeling Indian
18. Indian/Tomawac
[sic]
19. Indian
Lance/Shield
20. Indian/Tomawac
[sic]
21. Indian with Bow
22. Indian with Bow
Cavalry Figures
23. Kneeling Shooter
24. Sentinel
25. Soldier with Gun
26. Standing Shooter
27. Standing Shooter
28. Standing Shooter
29. Running Soldier
30. Standing Shooter
Other Items
?. Relief Card Fort Frontage
('stage set' in log 'stockade' construction "Fort Apache")
?. Sticker Album
2 comments:
Those look great! Thanks for posting this. I’m a collector of US Cavalry figures and didn’t know these existed.
Glad to have helped Jason.
I think they are commoner on the continent so try searching specifically eBay.it or eBay.fr, perhaps eBay.ge at a pinch? But they were quite popular, and I think there were several iterations, as blind-bag part-work collectables with the sticker album (also very nice), as a single set, and as a mail-away with the fort?
There are better sites on them than my post!
H
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