Some of this information has been posed on other forums, I am putting the information here for those who have not heard it plus I will be posting it on the French Forum for them as well.
TSSD has gotten their new Mexican Lancers and WWII Germans. The Mexican Lancer will be sold in light blue or a medium blood red. Each set will have eight figures in four poses with eight horses. The suggested retail price is $29.95. The new set of WWII Germans will come in German gray Each set has 8 figures in four poses for a suggested retail price of $16.00.
TSSD is hinting about the figures and playset coming from John Stengel Jr. These sets are related to the Vietnam war. The first set do out this year is Viet Cong vs. Green Berets. This set will be out either late September more likely October. The next set NVA (North Vietnamese Army) vs. U.S. Marines is slated for 2015.
The news that everyone seemed to miss is from Scott of Expeditionary Forces. In a letter that Nick posted on his web site Scott said that his next offering Zouaves will be out in August or September of this year. There will be four sets:
1. ACW ZOUAVES WITH TURBANS/FEZ
2. ACW ZOUAVES WITH FRENCH KEPI
3. ACW WESTERN THEATRE INFANTRY IN SHELL JACKET AND HAVELOCKED-KEPI
4. ACW WESTERN THEATRE INFANTRY IN SHELL JACKET AND ROUND-PEAKED CAP
The figures will be in blue or gray. The figures are designed to fit in with their existing figure range The figures will be ideal for conversion for those that have the skill.
Next up after this from Expeditionary force is a 60mm Medieval range starting at the 14th century. There will be 30 variants to the uniforms, poses and weapons. Scott is hoping for a late September or October. After that will be World II figures with the Germans and Americans already done. He is working on machine guns, mortars etc. Scott hopes to have these figures out at the end of the year.
In the year 2015, Scott is planning Napoleonic figures based around Waterloo, once the medieval is done. Scott also has a limited quantity of painted Greeks available. A busy schedule we wish him well.
All this is welcome news for plastic collectors. A few comments:
1. Even though my favorite periods are pre-20th Century, I still think its nice that John Stengel Jr. will be doing Vietnam, with a distinction made between Viet Cong and NVA. Now that I’ve finalized reservations for OTSN, I can only hope that he can get his producers running on an expedited schedule so he can actually release them at OTSN. But I know from past conversations with Ron Barzso it can sometimes be hard to push the manufacturing subcontractors along so that releases can coincide with a big show.
2. Expeditionary Force new Zouaves are also welcome. Of course, the scale Scott uses for his previous Civil War figures doesn’t go with either the Marx or Conte Civil War figures, but goes very well with the Marx 54mm Fort Apache pioneers, which is where I use them. They are all very well sculpted, and I especially look forward to his 60mm miedeval figures when they come out. But I prefer a finished figure, not one that I have to spend several minutes on assembling and gluing together.
3. Finally, I think TSSD’s new Mexican Cavalry figures look great, especially on TSSD’s already excellent horses. Even though they are now available in limited quantities, I’ll resist the temptation to order them just yet, and will patiently wait until OTSN arrives and acquire them then, since Nick and Deena are always so pleasant to talk to.
Combined with Barzso’s new Roman Coliseum and other little surprises he likes to spring on us, it should be a pretty exciting OTSN. I’m rooming with Bill Skinner again, and had a short conversation with Don Pielan who assured me Bill and I would be placed on 4th Floor. He mentioned in passing that from the main show floor, with the Ivory Room, and the large downstairs area, there were now only two table spaces still available. So, despite the ever present concerns with the slow decline of our toy soldier hobby from the heydays of the 80s and 90s, it looks like this year’s OTSN will still be a good strong show.
Now that’s a lot of exciting reports!