January 2026 Plastic Figure Showcase: New Figures. In this post, we look at several upcoming figure sets. First, we have the long-awaited WWII U.S. Paratroopers from Warhorse Miniatures. Next, we have a new set of figures from a new company, Combat Collectibles. Finally, we will look at some future figures from Engineer Basevitch
January 2026 Plastic Figure Showcase: Warhorse Miniatures
My friend, Mike Pendergast of Warhorse Miniatures, is releasing a set of eight WWII U.S. paratroopers. These figures will be available in 54mm, 58, and 60mm. The figures will be available in green resin and gray resin for those who want to paint their figures. I like that Mike is doing the figures in various scales to match other companies. You can order them here.
Combat Collectibles
Evan Oelrichs has announced the launch of a new company called Combat Collectibles. He said the following: “I’m developing focused on historically accurate, collector-grade figures — designed by collectors, for collectors. The goal is simple: figures that look right, feel right, and hold up next to the best work being done in the hobby today.”
His first project will be Battle for Belleau Wood, featuring 1918 U.S. Marines and 1918 German Infantry. Evan is sharing photos of the proposed figures to get feedback.
If there’s enough interest, this line will expand well beyond the initial release. Planned additions include more poses for both sides, heavy weapons (flamethrowers, MG teams, etc.), stormtroopers and trench raiders, casualties, hand-to-hand combat figures, and eventually other nations such as French, British, ANZACs, Turks, Russians, and more. World War I is just the starting point.
Evan states on the production of figures the following: “One important note on production: the goal is to ultimately produce these figures in rubber, in the same spirit as the exquisite figures coming out of Eastern Europe and Russia. I’ve been actively testing the full mold-making, casting, and pressure-casting process and hope to have it fully mastered before release. That said, in the short term, early releases may be produced as high-detail, extremely durable 3D-printed resin figures, rather than delaying everything — quality will not be compromised either way. The figures will also have bases, plain half-circled edges to allow the collector to showcase their figures however they please.”
We wish Evan well on this project and will keep you updated.
Engineering Basevich
Engineering Basevich is showing a future set: “Korean War 1950-53. The army of the DPRK.” Planned for autumn 2026. The figures are nice, but only five male action poses. What are your thoughts?
Mike set are awesome 👌👏
So are Eban figures as well ,long time.not seen WW1
The commies Koreans looks like garbage propaganda from a communist propaganda film .
Can the Warhorse figures resin handle falling off a table on to the floor intact?North Koreans need more shooters and less “Heroic Propaganda Poses” but he does great figure sets.
The Paratroopers look nice. Lately there have been new U.S. Paratroopers being done by Mars, Toy Soldier Central and Plastic Platoon, hope they sell well. The U.S Marines of Belleau Wood look awesome and they do look like they were sculpted by PP or Publius. Engineer Basevitch has put out some unique well sculpted sets in the past but this? Plastic Platoon is also working on the Korean War and starting with North Koreans. Do you see a trend there?
The WW1 Marines look great.
One problem I would note are the gaping mouths – perhaps alright for an officer giving commands but shouting while you’re trying to aim a weapon is silly.
Same problem with PP figures – too many of the faces look cloned / identical.
Better to create some variety by giving each pose an individual facial identity.
Also some poses with gas masks on would be great for the WW1 Marines. Maybe look to vintage dime store soldiers for inspiration to create some interesting and less common poses?
Ok, one more critique about the WW1 Marines…
The helmets look a bit odd or maybe too large.
Compare to actual WW1 photos you can see that the rim of the helmet has too steep an angle – the actual helmets have a flatter aspect.
I don’t know if it’s the shade of the photo but I noticed the above about the helmets. I also wanted to comment about the old Conte/Russian style rubber material for toy soldiers. I have some Plastic Platoon and Publius figures but I was too nervous about painting them. I gave it a go with some Saxon figures by Publius. I use the Krylon Plastic spray primer on my plastic figures and on these rubber figures it does not take on the swords, spears and leggings that well. I tried hodgepodge but that didn’t work either. Next maybe super glue.
I also noticed in a video on YouTube by James Viola he had the same problem with Plastic Platoon.
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Combat Collectibles is in California.
🎵 DPRK 🎵 the Musical. 🎵
If Basevich is trying to make Mars figures look good, he’s succeeded.
The female figures are the best part of these. It’s nice to see women soldier figures instead of all men, it’s more historically accurate. But these figures are a serious let down from the usual Basevich standard of sculpting.
With all respect. Regarding the EB set, I tend to disagree regarding women’s role in the set as accurate by all accounts.
The set has 3 women in plain, clean uniforms in a clear combat role in direct action . A waste of poses by representing women in combat roll in such amount and unrealistic plus not historical at all.
Out of 12 poses, a squad set or about a platoon unit,3 are women with firearms.
It never happened. Not to count that in combat roll, women dressed as men with pants, not with dancers, clean uniform skirts for logical reasons. Especially in the Korean War, mountain regions were temperatures even in summer, mountains are extremely cold.
This ignoring the fact that most other male poses in this set appear as if taken from a theatrical scene propagandist dance or film .
This level of women’s representation in combat roles is not even made in the Soviet Army toy sets, which were by far the largest and only army that used women in mass in the front line service in 4 years war only, and is often exaggerated as well by propaganda and so often rewritten in Soviet and Russian Histography.
North Korea mobilized women in the Korean War, but primarily in support roles (nurses, admin, logistics) or as political/propaganda figures, though some were integrated into combat support/pacification units and filled roles in overwhelmed regular troops, but large-scale, independent female combat units like those in other armies were not the norm; most were mobilized by the state for production/logistics, not front-front-line fighting, though some individual instances of women in combat situations occurred due to extreme circumstances and shortages base in few records only and more likely on propaganda made .
The active roll of woman in combat was not exploited at all like in the Soviet Army during ww2 .
This a false narrative myth spread by Communists regime after the war .
• The so called “Volunteer Troops of Women”: Established in late 1950, these women were mobilized as soldiers, not just nurses, filling gaps left by men in administrative and rear areas support roles such staff and communication, and serving in pacification squads or troop information, but very well scattered within regular units. Most mobilization happened towards the end of the war or after .
• Then they created the Worker-Peasant Red Guards (WPRG; Korean: 로농적위군) in 1958 .That included many women as well
• While women were mobilized by the North Korean state for crucial war efforts, their roles were generally behind the lines or in support, though the dire circumstances sometimes pushed them into direct combat situations in very extreme situations.
• Only in 2015 North Korea established mandatory female army services and the amount of abuses they suffer is beyond comprehension base in their own testimony ,see links below .
https://www.nkhiddengulag.org/blog/the-horrors-of-being-a-woman-in-the-north-korean-military
The NK films like A Partisan Maiden, to promote the myth of heroic female fighters on the front lines during the Korean War, creating an image of female warriors to bolster national spirit, but the reality was often different, with many women in support roles or facing severe hardships in the military, despite official claims of equality and the later mandatory conscription for women. While women served in various capacities, including some in combat-adjacent roles and support, the idealized front-line fighter was a propaganda tool, often contrasting with the harsh realities of military life and the regime’s focus on traditional gender roles for most women.
The North Korean myth emphasized fierce female combatants for national unity, but the actual experience for many women involved significant oppression and non-combat roles, even as the state used gendered imagery for political ends.
While some women did participate in partisan combat and, more commonly, as nurses, in administrative roles, or in “pacification squads,” the narrative that they were widely serving as equal, front-line infantry soldiers is definitely a fabrication by state propaganda.
Likewise in the South Korean army had several women units created and again in most cases they were relegated to non combat front line units as well as “comfort” women by the ROK and US same way, ironically were used by the Japanese during ww2 .
The amount of rapes and abuses these women suffered was huge and still debated and taken to court cases.
More sources.
https://accesson.kr/rks/assets/pdf/7566/journal-9-2-89.pdf
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17564905.2021.1968762
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ENz93hVkn/
RE:Combat Collectibles,yeah he needs to work on the US WW1 Helmets,these look more like 1940s Construction Helmets but at least some thing new and interesting.I like the plain flat base,I really HATE some of the Mini Mountains,Tree Stumps,Cobble road,etc bases out there.Hope he can expand WW1,would like Kepi French,Soft hat British,Top hat Belgian sets before Helmets were issued,as well as them with helmets.Also can always use Slouch Hat Anzacs vs Turks.Also as they are WW1 need Gas Mask wearers.While I’m at it really want 1939 Polish Army.
I know I’m late to the party but I just wanted to add my 2 cents, hoping that someone will read it.
Starting with the WW 1 figures I’m so glad we have someone tackling this era. Plus, the durability with making them rubber figures is also a plus despite the challenges with painting them. I’m a non painter so it’s not an issue for me.
I do agree with some here about the helmets, but that doesn’t thwart me from buying these.
My only concern is, will they stop cold turkey and not release the rest of the countries’ figures. Will they go to earlier war period such as 1914-1916? Will Austro-Hungarians and Serbs, always overlooked even by AIP who has a decent representation of the period if not complete, be released? After all, didn’t the conflict begin with those 2 countries?
Now on to the EB figures. I actually had foreknowledge of these figures due to a friend from Russia who is plugged in to the toy soldier industry over there. I have several sets from EB and as my writing, am awaiting their 6 Day War Arab sets which are already on their way and going through the postal system.
I was excited at first regarding these Korean War figures until I saw what the actual set would look like. Starting off, the limited number of combat poses vrs how expensive these sets are, is a deterrent for me buying them.
Also, I have to agree with Erwin, these figures do seem to be glorifying Communism. As someone of Cuban descent who has a deep understanding of the ramifications of that horrible political system, I can still appreciate their historical value.
I do have the EB Cuban revolutionary sets which has two murderers represented, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, but at least that has enough combat poses to use in a wargame scenario.
As a side note, I have a familial connection to the Cuban revolution that I found out about a decade ago from a relative. An uncle of mine initially fought and supported Castro. However, when it became clear to him that Castro had a more dictatorial and communistic approach to his policies, my uncle turned against him.
Eventually, Castro had my uncle assassinated as a traitor to “the revolution.” Those of us who love freedom see him more as a martyr. Many Cubans, like the Venezuelans recently, found out that Communism is a failure. But I digress.
Back to toy soldier collecting, I hope a proper Korean war set will be released and am intrigued to see what PP does instead. I believe CTS scratched the surface with their Korean War figures and indeed, I purchased several of their sets, enough to build skirmish sized armies. WW1 and Korean War are a must for collectors.
Very intersting comment , Joe …I agree with most .
Best regards