M is for More - Polski Zwiazek Gluchych . . .

 . . . et alia.

Chris Smith has kindly sent a pretty comprehensive follow-up to the recent PZG posts, with nice samples of a lot of the missing figures in both sizes from the WWII and early Cold War eras.

These are the PZG tank/AFV crew with their distinctive, padded, head-protectors, looking a bit like a cyclist's helmet (and doing a similar job, but protecting the crew from 'braining' themselves on lumpy pieces of metal AFV interior!) and dating from before the Second Worlds War, they are still in use across ex-Soviet, formally Soviet-aligned and/or Soviet-supplied states.

I believe they depict characters from a Polish TV series of the 1960's. The TV crew had a little dog, which PZG didn't model as part of the set?.

Chris reports there is one pose missing; a chap holding his rifle across his chest. As seen they are the hollow-based 50/54mm range.

A further selection of the WWII figures, most of which come under the 50/54mm heading, but the second guy from the left is heading for 60mm, and seems to have been given a thinner base to compensate . . . you call him 'Lurch' (or Lurchski!) and keep him back until Rambo or 007 are played by the other side!

Chris added that the officer in the centre is unmarked but seems to fit.

In Chris's own words; "Polish copies of the “unknown/Kentoy?” lying firing MG figure, nicely factory painted over a hard white plastic. Again attributed to PZG but I’m not sure that’s right."

Another shot. I think I've tried to ascribe the originals to/as Trojan on the Khaki Infantry page, but it's only a theory and still up-in-the-air/open to interpretation, nobody knows for sure and nobody seems to know the Polish maker of the copy for sure either!

Chris also has two of the question-mark-maker figures but feels; "...the marching figure in Puttees does depict Polish troops from the start of WWII." . . . and provides an image (below) of the soldiers so attired.

I suggested these weren't PZG and while the figure on the left is - like mine - self-coloured, the one on the right is painted over the same re-grind PZG are known for, however this seems to have been a feature of a lot of Polish production, and may well be another reason for so much stuff being so casually attributed to PZG, I've seen unpainted pencil-sharpener tanks in the same stuff on feebleBay, sometimes with coloured plastic turrets or tracks.

In defence of my theory; Chris also notes; "Very stick like weapons." . . . which does distance them from PZG's other production and ties-in with my lone example, if nothing else; the work of another sculptor?

The picture Chris sent. It wouldn't blow-up, so I had to enlarge it in Photo Viewer on the desk-top, take a screen-capcha (.png) crop it and save as a .jpg to get it large enough, so it's lost some resolution!

I'll leave the last shot's blurb to Chris; "Two bigger 60mm'ish WWII soldiers both wearing the polish Rogatywka hat. Officer has tall boots but the running guy is again in puttees. I know of 3 more poses . . . all have puttees. Always seem to be attributed to PZG but the bases are unmarked."

I've always been told they're PZG, and I think the solid 60mm versus marked-hollow base 54mm 'rule' is similar for the Northern War, streletsi, medieval and other PZG (or believed to be PZG!) stuff to?

Known Polish Makers of Vintage Plastic Toy Soldiers

Andrzej Kawecki - PVC 1:76th copies of Airfix for 'Ruch' Kiosks

Centrum - unpainted flats, 50 & 70/80mm

CZZP - unpainted 40mm modern semi-flats/demi-ronde (and full flats?)

Globus (Global) - HO-OO piracies of Airfix and Roco-Minitanks

PZG - Wide range in 50, 54, 60mm and larger scales, the trouble being they are so common they have become the generic title for anything which looks Polish

Spojnia - Small scale copies of Esci figures and 1:35th'ish  AFV's (PZG crew? Now a kit manufacturer)

Uniwersum (Universal) - As per Globus

Wyrob - Pestana via Garret credits them with the 54mm Polish winged hussar often credited to PZG, may also be responsible for some of the thick-based figures credited to PZG

WZUP - Pestana via Garret credits them with 54mm equivalent to Britains, might be responsible for some of the larger (3, 4 & 5-inch) statuettes sometimes credited to PZG?