Looking Through Junk Figure Boxes, Etc., I love going through junk figure boxes to find little treasures for myself and resale. Sometimes I like how a person painted or converted a figure. I may also get samples to show history of the hobby.
Looking Through Junk Figures Oh What Treasures
Somtimes I will find in a junk box a figure that its previous owner did a great paint job. an example of this is the Ideal King Arthur. You can see the person took a lot of time painting this figure.
The person made a cardboard shield for the back of the figure. I wonder if the person had done any other figures in this series as it was the only one I found.
The figure on the left I am not sure if it is a conversion. It seems to be a mix of plastic and metal. The AIP figure is to give you a comparision on height.
Hong Kong copied many different companies. It is always an enjoyment to find something different instead latest copy of Airfix. I believe this figure was copied from an Elastolin figure.
In one box I found an accessory from the Tom Corbett Space Cadet Playset. Tom Corbett was one of several children’s shows related to space. Marx made a playset for this show and also Space Patrol. Marx also did generic sets Rex Mars and Captain Space by removing the figures related to the show.
More Figures
I picked up this Starlux figure as the tip of the rifle is gone. It does not upset me as Iiwill keep it for myself.
Auburn did a Noah’s Ark set using their existing animals and adding Noah and his wife. According to Kent Sprecher on his site Toy Soldier Headquarters the playset was out in 1958 came with Noah, his wife, and 80 animals for $2.89!
This was in with a group of Atlantic Tanks. Is this a real tank? Whatever, I am keeping it for a science fiction idea.
It had never occurred to me to put a larger scale weapon onto a HO scale tank chassis. This would be a great way to represent modern inroads into “autonomous ground vehicles” like those emerging on today’s battlefields, or to expand on the concept of the WWII German “Goliath”.
My thoughts exactly.
The ACW figure looks to be a conversion using a Marx Centennial stabbing guy’s legs with another figure on top. You say he’s a mixed metal/plastic guy.
The Centennial figure has had its arms changed & is holding a metal musket.
The backpack has been added – I think I read somewhere that soldiers did not
go into battle with full gear on – can anyone confirm this?
The upper torso is the original stabbing pose, you can see he is still faced downward.
The pose might look better if his head were reoriented so he is looking forward rather than downward.
The last thing you need in a battle or firefight is fifty-plus pounds of backpack dragging you down or sticking up when you’re lying low trying not to reveal your presence.
The general practice in the case of an expected skirmish was to “ground” your heavy gear – i.e., packs, etc.; anything not needed for combat before moving to contact. The expectation was your unit would return to get it after the fight or support personnel would bring it up to you later after the battle. A detail might be sent to retrieve the company/unit’s gear. It didn’t always happen, but that was the plan.
Now in an unexpected battle you might have to fight with full gear, but you want to get your pack off your back as quickly as is practical. Mobility might not be as urgent in the Napoleonic style warfare that persisted to the Civil War, but from my readings the SOP was to ground gear when possible before battle even in the Napoleonic era.
That system continued up to my time in.
When I was in the 82nd we carried or jumped our backpacks with a change of uniform and absolutely necessary gear (would ground it once established) and had A bags (with other necessary gear but not practical to carry) and B bags with other not so urgent gear.
When I deployed to Grenada as an artilleryman, we rigged with our rucksacks, our A bags were on our prime movers (vehicles that towed our guns/howitzers). When we linked with our vehicles on the island we discovered someone had removed our A bags from our trucks before rigging them for heavy drop or air landing (our jump was scrubbed at the last minute) for weight purposes. They were put on pallets for transport to the island later on where they’d catch up to us.
They never did. My unit stayed on the island ten days (first in-first out policy). I remember passing the pallets with our bags on them (they were stenciled with our names) as we loaded the birds taking us home. A couple of the guys suggested we pick them up and take them with us.
As it turned up we were home two weeks when they caught up with us. Reading the World War 2 GIs and ACW soldiers’ stories I have to smile. Somethings never change.
Wayne, thanks for relating your first-hand military experience.
It doesn’t get more real than that.
You’re welcome. Glad to be of service.