Petite Guerre Toy Soldiers a Review a Comparsion Erwin Sell looks at these new figures from Italy. In this article Erwin gives his opinion and shows how these figures match up with other figures.
Petite Guerre Toy Soldiers a Review a Comparsion Erwin Sell a Look at the Figures
I had received the figures from Nino over two weeks ago. I will do a compare them versus Barzso Collectibles. As Barzso uses resin extensively. Also they cover same or close period before as well.
In overall my general view they are superior to Barzso in many aspects. Yet I do not want it be interpreted as a critique to other brands. It is just my personal observations.
Petite Guerre Toy Soldiers a Review a Comparsion Erwin Sell A Look at the Figures.
The soldiers and figures,soldiers and warriors are made of very light nice odorless resin. (They are more light weight than Barzso type resin figures.)
Nino’s figures are in the skinny body proportion style design very alike 1960s Marx figures. Not more the bulky body feel of AIP or others.
Scale is traditional old 54 mm approx and very match alike with many Barzso (not all )in perfect blend of design.
The flat bases are a generic flat plain. A plus for any terrain surface in my opinion. Contrary to already made rough terrain bases by many makers that complicate when trying use then in forts,ramparts or else.
The material is very stiff, yet not brittle as old resin Barzso .I was able with cautions and fear to bend enough two bayonet muskets and they did not suffer any mark ,crack at all to my surprise. I did repeat the same action 3 times and observe with magnifier not damage to it.
Yet of course they are not typical bend toy figures. I did my bending only as a test. I do not not encourage it at all.
In Barzso if you do same you will definitely break it at once .
Another good detail I notice is the lack of missing-defect in skin/flesh clothing else in figure surface because of bubble/else effect in resin plus material exes else used and observed by Barzso and other brands.
Petite Guerre Toy Soldiers a Review a Comparsion Erwin Sell More Thoughts
The historic and detail is well taken in making then and could be used much more correct as independent infantry regiment/units as those used in 1755-1763 wars in America and in Europe as well
The use of what appear generic faces and heads could be a negative. Yet not much negative in my personal opinion that I have seen so far. Indians heads and racial-facial recognition are very well done .
The poses are in action poses mostly. Some of course not definitely firing but are action moving and well done .
So is the anatomic proportion and gesture depiction.
See all photos I did with Barzso ,CTS and other brands to compare scale blend and match so far .
Please note that Barzso scale figures sets often in production and in some were 52/54 while other are 56/58 mm and much more thicker.
I try position with close alike pose however Nino’s figures have a different legs kneeling pose that make then looks a bit taller some times.
Petite Guerre Toy Soldiers a Review a Comparsion Erwin Sell Negatives
The down size or negative facts I see.
Use of generic head/faces in figures that may or could be improved .
Facial recognition/detail are a bit blurry because of color used in resin material possible.
Stiff material but not fragile as others yet not playful too much. Figures may incur damage in transit-shipping if not well protected .
Color choices in making then for US market are not typical choices like for American collectors.
Amount poses per army set or force is limited.
Few poses in hand to hand combat (special Indians).Yet maker is working in new hand to hand poses soon.
Price is high, Still accepted/understand as very limited run production home made project. Lower in cost compared with other much high mark priced recently short run productions.
Petite Guerre Toy Soldiers a Review a Comparsion Erwin Sell Good Points
Pro and good points.
Excellent sculpting.
Well done historical research.
The ingenuity of making these figure even though it is time comsuming is incredible amazing .
Better type Resin I had seen so far to archive these figures.
Great choice or armies/era interest poor represented in this scale.
Well choice of match scale(54 mm) for same era wars in market figures. A plus versus new high scaled 1/30 more common new production by most now.
The historical detail in uniform is much more close well observed for later Indian/french wars in English soldiers versus Barzso that appear were base in early 1740s uniform era.
The detail in finger, position hands near trigger and weapons is far above any see in resin before. The length of musket is much correct as well.
The length of musket is far superior and very correct versus those made by Barzo,AIP and CTS .
Petite Guerre Toy Soldiers a Review a Comparsion Erwin Sell Final Thoughts
As a side note; the figures and some first poses review were done in the Toy Soldier Collector Magazine by great plastic figures reviewer Mike Blake from UK
I encourage in behalf of Nino to post any critique- comments that may help improve the quality of products.
Till now and for long the figures could be easily bough direct from Nino by contacting him with quotes for shipping please
Mine arrive in perfect well pack in a small case and well individual care protected packed.
Time making then as per request depend in amount figures you order.
Really nice figures and its nice to see someone doing the old 54mm scale for a change which is my preference, And good quality plastic which is also good. This isn’t my era of collecting however so I would love to see this company have a go at Ancient or Medieval figures.
Glad he didn’t go for the “Mini Mountain” bases that ruin a lot of good figures!!
This manufacturer’s use of longer muskets is in and of itself a big improvement over other French & Indian War figures.
Muskets used in the F&I war were often cut down and not regulation length.
The detail and the sculpting are fine, the weapons look really good. However, the poses seem stiff and contrived to me. Even the Indians that are moving look unnatural to me. The heads on the Indians are just ugly. This is just my opinion and I am entitled to it despite some peoples thoughts on the matter. You can take it for what it’s worth it. You are allowed to have your own opinion, if you like them buy them, I will pass.
The color issue could be readily remedied as I imagine they take paint very well, being resin casts.
The material could be painted easy as showed in magazine sample and Ninos website.
Best.
Hello Paul and Erwin,
I wish to thank you for Erwin’s comprehensive review of my figures on Paul’s blog.
I have trluy appreciated everyone’s comments, both positive and negative. This is the kind of stuff that encourages me to keep on going with my toy soldiers project, and to improve my work if I am able to.
I am glad that most participants liked the accuracy of historical detail, particularly with the weapons. I put a lot of effort to achieve this… I am also happy that the flat, unintrusive bases have met with approval.
On the negative side, I do agree that my figures look somewhat stiff. I originally designed them for wargaming, and wanted to avoid excessively dynamic poses. But now, seeing them next to other figures, I also find that maybe a little more dynamism would have helped, as well as some characterization of the faces (I find faces to be the most time-consuming thing to sculpt, so I tried to economize a bit…).
I wanted my Natives to look “ugly” (or rather “different”) because I tried to convey the way they were decribed and depicted by early European/American observers and painters. But then again, my Europeans are a bit ugly-looking as well!!
Nino, thanks for taking time to explain that figures were designed primarily for war gaming rather than collecting – that clarifies quite a bit. Good luck with your endeavors. For me personally, I collect American Civil War and Wild West figures and like different, interesting poses that include merchants and townspeople vs. strictly shoot ’em ups.
Andy, thanks for your comments and whishes. At some future time I would like to add some civilians to my range, and maybe farm animals…
Sounds good, Nino. I’ll be looking out for your new figures.
I actually think the slope-headed depiction of your Indians is, as you say, consistent with the descriptions given by early European-American observers, who did in fact describe the Hurons and some of the other tribes as having high, sloped foreheads, which feature was accented by their propensity of shaving or pulling out hairs up past where their foreheads would normally end. This was also depicted in the Daniel Day-Lewis version of “The Last of the Mohicans”.
Admittedly, by modern standards, it’s not an overly attractive look.
But overall, I think your new figures are very well-done.
Interesting observations Don.I think i see your point …
Also agree with most
I myself a fan of today depiction of races .
I yet think Ninos features of heads faces in natives are quite correct or better versus others .
After been in recanmente at Fort Ticonderoga ,Saratoga else in my region i notice those dress/painted as natives Mohawk,hurons else of north east america tribes when compared to actual real natives few of whom do reenactment still with whites paint as then too along shows differences very clear at field and close look.
In other makers only CTS and AIP w few Barzso come close to then in my view ,while most did not.
Problems is indian race faces characteristic varied by regions all the way from west to east and south north in north america ,not counting caribbean and central south american natives tat have differences as well.
Definitely many do not share same similarities as typical whites person in general.
At last of mohicans film indian(Uncas) show a big difference versus the huron(Magua ) caracter indian actors and same time their face heads differ from whites as well.
I do not think has any to be with ugly or discriminatory but been realistic of real features when making figures like OWN brand maker did by correct depicting chinese facial characteristic versus AIP did not .
This link talk a bit more simple about some data .
https://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/native-american-anatomy.htm.
Just a matter of thoughts and comments ,nothing to be a fact point please.
best
Don, I wanted my Indians to look different from my Europeans, and tried to reproduce the facial features depicted in the sketches made by G. Townshend, an English officer serving with Wolfe. Admittedly, Townshend was not a master in portraiture (and neither am I, for that matter…), but also Rindisbacher, Bodmer, and Catlin painted similar faces with low, sloping foreheads, prominent brow ridges, and broad noses. The same features are found in many early photographs of native Americans. Not all Natives looked that “different”, of course, but I believe this is at least how most 18th-Century Europeans saw them!!
Nothing personal you undertsand, just how I have learned through feedback.
Of course, Ed. I do appreciate your feedback, even more so as it directs attention to week areas that I may need to improve.
Erwin, thanks for introducing us to this exciting new producer. Once again, you’ve done the hobby an invaluable service.
I think comparing Nino’s figures (which are quite impressive) to Ron Barzso’s is comparing apples to oranges – even though they are both made of Resin.
Ron Barzso was a pioneer in this area and some here who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s with Louis Marx as did I might remember the excitement when we learned about Barzso’s playsets. How long had it been since we’d had a new playset of stuff that wasn’t “recasts” of old Marx or MPC? And as I mentioned on another forum just a few days ago even my wife was impressed with the attention to detail Ron paid to his accessories (I mentioned the coyote chasing the road runner in his Cherubusco playset – and love the coiled snake). It’s true there were some hits and misses with his poses, and there was the occasional bubble in figures, and the early resin wasn’t as sturdy as the plastic we used to play with – I always chalked that up to the fact he was “blazing new ground” in the hobby.
As to sizing and scale, I don’t really remember thinking much of it until Conte blew the scale up with his series.
Nino, congratulations on producing some great figures. The fact that you are pretty much at the beginning of your journey and already at such a high level of quality is exciting. I can’t wait to see what’s next as you learn and improve. If your product is this good now…
Wayne,
Thank you for your encouraging words.
I will keep Erwin regularly posted with the progress in my toy soldiers venture, and look forward to receiving more feedback and suggestions from all of you guys…
Any idea what’s up with Barzso these days? I thought he had new production figures coming out for sale this past Winter. Steve Weston had some available, I’m guessing in the form of leftovers from Barzso doing an English show, recently. His website is “expired” last I checked to see if there was any news.
http://www.barzso.com/
I see what you mean about the Barzso website. It doesn’t seem to exist anymore, even though it was up last week. But Ron & his wife are both scheduled to be at the Midwest Toy Soldier Show in Indiana next weekend, as confirmed dealers. I’m going to ask him then about his status. Just as a guess, however, I suspect Ken Ciak of LOD is going to handle the marketing & actual sales of the upcoming Siege of Yorktown playset.
But yes, it seems like an ominous sign that the Barzso website has come down.
I hope he makes it to Texas; it’s always a pleasure to see them.
I noticed that also, I am hoping that maybe they are going to update the site. Ron was supposed to get some of the older sets restocked this year.
I also got some of Nino’s figures. I got about 20 of the his Native Indians and Canadian Militia. I love them, I am in the process of painting them now. I also did a review of his figures on my site. Thanks Erwin and Paul for alerting me to Nino’s figures. I am glad that Nino has shared his work with fellow collectors and I’m looking forward to seeing Nino’s future work.