Greg Liska has sent to me and others his review of the new Hing Fat figures and has given permission to share his thoughts with others.
I just received the new WWII figures made in China. They come in tubes of 15 figures with a 2 piece flag set. There is not clear marking as to any company name, but on some of the bases, printed in ink is “DGN,CN”. For convenience I’ve been calling them DGN figures.
The concept was wonderful. They made figures from the following nations: USA, Japan, USSR, China, Italy, Germany, UK and France. This fills some important holes in many plastic collections. The tubes do not contain an even or complete pose break out. For example, in 4 tubes of Italians, there was only one of a certain pose to be found. Much like how Timmee did it in the old days, you’ll need to get multiple tubes to get them all. I am still uncertain of how many poses there are supposed to be. Most had 12, but the Germans had 14, Japanese 13, British 10, US 10.
The sculpting is comparable to Gulliver who used to make knock-offs of Atlantic and Airfix figures, slightly smaller and a bit cartoonish with exaggerated, oversized weapons. The figures are mostly 50mm, though some are a bit smaller. The figures are cast in a dense plastic with no flash at all. All stand well on good solid bases.
The colors are generally pretty bad. The best of them would be the Russians / Soviets which are in a sort of milk chocolate brown. The French are in a good ‘Horizon Blue’ if you like that. They will definitely fit in with the Marx recasts or originals in blue. The rest are in nasty, bright colors. I should also mention; the Chinese are just the Soviets cast in lime green.
Special Notes on Each Figure Group:
The Russians- Some of the best poses, still a few with stuck out straight arms waving weapons. The radio operator is a first in plastic, as far as I know. The light mortar is great. The figures are a good 50mm and thickly built, so they will fit in with 54mm guys. The brown is nice and I see them going in with my Atlantic guys, especially since the sculpt style is so similar. The Chinese are the same but in a terrible lime green. The plastic seems it will hold paint well so I’ll salvage these guys.
Germans – All have open collars as if in Afrika Korps uniforms and many poses are definitely adapted from the Airfix and Matchbox sets, but changed significantly. The helmets are badly sculpted and the hands are huge. They are cast in a slightly violet grey. The one saving grace pose is the radio man handing off rolled up papers.
Japanese – These figures are small. Some as small as 45mm. The poses are mostly reworked China Japanese seen in buckets in toy stores. The good news is they are cast thicker, more sturdy. The MG on tri-pod is way better and the radio man adds a nice touch. The color is the same sort of moss green. Not bright, but not quite desirable to me.
US and UK – These seem to be reworked ‘bucket soldiers’ as in the case of the Japanese. No new poses as far as I received. The sculpting is a retrograde in quality, though. The ‘bucket soldiers’ were mostly copies of Matchbox figures and fairly true to form, less so here. Colors are too bright.
The French – The heads are a bit small on them and some of the figures under 50mm scale. Still, with so little choice for WWII French, they are worth it. The Bazooka man is interesting. Most of the poses are adapted from Oliver Foreign Legion. Many of them are carrying what could well pass for the Hotchkiss LMG and since Marx had no MG’s in their line-up, this is a great thing. The color is great for those of you who still use blue for your French soldiers. Mine are getting Khaki uniforms tomorrow!
The Italians – With so few Italian soldiers to choose from, these guys are welcome. The sculpts are cartoonish, weapons over-sized but not terrible over all. A few poses are copies of Airfix Italians. All but 4 have either a Fez or a helmet with the cockerel feather adornment (both used by Bersaglieri troops). The size is a good 50mm. The color is a terrible Kelly green. The mortar is a great addition. These guys are getting medium grey uniforms tomorrow.
Would you mind linking this to the discussion on this over at Treefrog?
I was comparing the pictures over at Treefrog with whats on Toy Soldies Depot, and between them see 15 poses for the Germans. 12 for Russian, Chinese, Italian, French, Japanese, and 10 US, British. But could be more (?)
There were 13 Japanese poses from the 2 tubes I bought. I only had 14 German poses from the 2 tubes I’d gotten. Since I’d gotten 4 of the French, Italians, Soviets and ‘Chinese’, I’m pretty certain about the 12 count being correct there. I have no connection to ‘tree frog’ and don’t even know what it is. If anyone wants to move my comments there, that’s fine.
Greg- Heres a link to the posts at Tree Frog about the Hing Fat figures being discussed there. Between the pics on both sites (Depot/Tree) you can pick out the 15 different German poses. I have only seen 12 of the Japanese poses so far from the two sites. I have not seen these figures at other sites yet, so can’t say for sure on all poses yet for all the sets. Take a look. And thanks for a great detailed overview. http://www.treefrogtreasures.com/forum/showthread.php?47119-Hing-Fat-originals
It didn’t link up exactly, but look upper right for “page 2” that will take you to the pictures
These sets could be used to depict the Tunisian campaign (the first time US troops fought the Axis in WW2)
The allied armies consisted of the British 8th and 1st armies, with Gurkha, New Zealand Austrialin, Indian , Paratroopers andBritish troops
US Armoured Infantry and Combat troops
French French regiments
Foreign Legion detachments
Against were the remnants of the Afrika Korps, German troops from Italy and Italian forces.
The Hing Fat sets all contain figures suitable for this, added to Airfix,Matchbox and Marx you get quite a sizable army.
Conte and TSSD are too large at 60mm to match in
Not just Tunisia but all through Italy, as well. Those same armies fought in the Italian Theater through the end of the war in Europe.
I looked at the Tree Frog pic of the Germans. There are 2 poses there that I did not get and there are a few poses I have that they do not show. Seems like the total would be 15 now like you pointed out, Chris.
Wait, it’s 16 German poses, so far!
Greg – Not to beat a dead horse, I see 15 German poses between the two sites pictures, what is the 16th pose? And if this means anything, the tripod machine gunner at Toy Depot does not have a base, while the one pictured at Tree Frog dose. A heads up for your completist.
I realised I should have added Toyway Timpo/Lone*Star 8th army Foreign Legion and Anzacs to that list.
The Timpo FL are post 1930 uniform.
I’m not taking it as beating a dead horse. I think we all would like to know how many poses there are. I had 14 in my pic, but the Tree Frog pic had the officer and mortar guy in their pic that I don’t have, making it 16.
And the “Treefrog” Germans have a prone figure with a ‘Bren Gun’??that is not pictured at Toy Depot.Greg did you get that figure in your set?
Yes Brian, I got him. Remember, the Bren is the Brit licensed copy of the Czech Zb-26 made in Brno and under contract with Enfield. The abbreviation on the receiver:’Br.En.’, gave it its name. When Germany marched into Bohemia and Moravia, they took over the weapons industry and the Zb-26 was used in some units until they could get MG-34’s. When things got desperate, the Zb’s made a reappearance in 2nd tier type units or worse. So, it’s not far fetched to see a German solider with this weapon.
*FIRST OFF, someone needs to post a DEFINITIVE PHOTO of ALL THE POSES,
lined up, so we can clearly see them.
*SECOND, Thank You for an honest review of these figures.
In this small knit collecting community, everyone seems to be afraid to give honest, constructive and critical reviews of each and every set as they are released.
No one wants to make enemies,
but critical opinions will encourage a higher standards for our hobby.
I know that these are mostly Chinese knockoff toys and don’t apply to hobby standards, but I will buy these figures and induct the figures I feel can be absorbed into my collection.
Christian – Thanks for that. I sent pics with the review but I guess there is no place for them on this site. If anybody is interested, here is my Yahoo email: thefoxlair@yahoo.com I’ll send the pics of the stuff I got off to anyone interested. Clearly, there are 13 Japanese and I have 14 German poses. Add the Tree Frog pic and you’ll see 2 more poses I don’t have. There are no poses that I don’t have showing in the Toy Soldier Depot pic.
Greg
You did sent photos, but I did not put them up because my monitor went on the fritz. The color balance is off on the monitor and some pictures are dark. I hoping to get a loaner monitor today from a friend but it did not happen. I have put some of the pictures up. Let me know how they turn out.
The pics look fine, except they are Germans, not Japanese in the third pic.
I agree with Mr. Aldo. These Hing Fat figures are nothing compared to the composition quality and sculpting of TSSD, Conte, Paragon, CTS, Barzso, AIP, and Austin. But face it, the aforementioned are crafted for us adult collectors, a different market than that of Hing Fat. Nevertheless, some of the figures can be integrated into WWII dioramas quite well. And based on Gregg Liska’s honest and thorough review, and the accompanying photos, I plan on at least acquiring the French, Italians, and Russians, just as soon as Rick Berry’s local shop starts carrying them.
A little update on these figures – Now that I’ve got them painted and putting them with their ‘units’, the Russians/Chinese and Italians are definitely closer to 54mm. I suppose the thicker base puts them right there. Some of the French are, a few are smallish. I’ve sent pics of the Italians in grey, Soviets in OD and French in khaki. They take paint pretty well, as I’d thought. I’ve done nothing with the others. As before, if anyone wants to see pics, I left my Yahoo address in an earlier message.
Greg
I have place the two painted pictures you did on the web site for everyone to see.