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/amg/ Army Men General - We remember the fallen

Anonymous Sun 10 Nov 2024 23:21:01 No.11228948 View View Reply Original Report

Welcome to the Army Men General!

Previously: >>11200639

>Plastic soldiers, knights and pirates, cowboys and indians, fantasy and sci-fi, cops and zombies, all are welcome here!

>Archived threads:
https://archive.palanq.win/toy/search/subject/Army%20Men%20General/

>Army men wargame rules:
https://combatstorm.com/
https://onepagerules.com/portfolio/one-off-games/
https://www.plasticcommand.com/
https://freewargamesrules.fandom.com/wiki/Special:Search?query=army+men

>Places to get army men:
https://bmctoys.com/ and https://victorybuy.com/
https://www.armiesinplastic.com/
https://www.toysoldierco.com/
https://www.classictoysoldiers.com/
https://www.toysoldiersdepot.com/
https://www.hobbybunker.com/
https://www.michtoy.com/
https://www.toysoldierhq.com/
https://micshaunscloset.com/
http://www.expeditionaryforce.com.sg/

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 11 Nov 2024 06:50:04 No.11229369 Report

Quoted By: >>11229843

>>11228948
Does anyone else remember a playset of army men like figurines that was themed around people in a city?

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO police&fire.jpg, 265KiB, 800x1199

Anonymous Mon 11 Nov 2024 19:06:55 No.11229843 Report

Quoted By: >>11229845 >>11230503

>>11229369
There's certainly been playsets along those lines over the years, though I couldn't come up with one off-hand; always been into the military side of things. I did one of these police sets, not sure if I also got the fire one at some point.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IMG_1786.jpg, 74KiB, 1024x768

Anonymous Mon 11 Nov 2024 19:08:32 No.11229845 Report

Quoted By: >>11230461 >>11230503

>>11229843
Got these second-hand but they were some hunters on safari set originally, with a few natives of course.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 12 Nov 2024 06:30:39 No.11230461 Report

Quoted By: >>11230463

>>11229845

White Man's Burdern.
I suppose you could use one of the Fantasy barbarians as Tarzan.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 20240811_153759adj.jpg, 369KiB, 1600x1200

Anonymous Tue 12 Nov 2024 06:38:15 No.11230463 Report

Quoted By:

>>11230461
I have a few caveman figs for that, heh. They'll come in handy when the Greens decide to remake The Granite Family.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 12 Nov 2024 07:41:43 No.11230503 Report

Quoted By: >>11230521

>>11229843
Thanks. This both look familiar.
>>11229845
It's always nice to see niche subjects with army men

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IMG_15722.jpg, 234KiB, 1600x1200

Anonymous Tue 12 Nov 2024 08:17:35 No.11230521 Report

Quoted By: >>11230522

>>11230503
Packs of these zombies and tombstones came out some years back at the dollar store, Dollar Tree I think?

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IMG_14938.jpg, 332KiB, 1600x1200

Anonymous Tue 12 Nov 2024 08:19:39 No.11230522 Report

Quoted By: >>11230523 >>11234509

>>11230521
Until recently they've been the better of the two dollar store powerhouses for army men (Dollarama being the other); currently both have zilch to offer around here. For a while Dollar Tree offered these, there was a fire one as well I didn't get.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IMG_14940.jpg, 265KiB, 1600x1200

Anonymous Tue 12 Nov 2024 08:21:09 No.11230523 Report

Quoted By: >>11230524 >>11234509

>>11230522
That you could get everything in pic related for a maplebuck was mind-blowing, hadn't seen that kind of value in a long time.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IMG_14946.jpg, 270KiB, 1600x1200

Anonymous Tue 12 Nov 2024 08:22:47 No.11230524 Report

Quoted By: >>11230525 >>11234509

>>11230523
The rubber dinghy is a weird choice for the police but I guess a squad car would've been outside the price point.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IMG_14948.jpg, 245KiB, 1600x1200

Anonymous Tue 12 Nov 2024 08:24:38 No.11230525 Report

Quoted By: >>11230526 >>11234509

>>11230524
The Wild West pack is unintentionally historically accurate in terms of proportionate numbers; the wagon and campfire are easily the best parts of it though.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 20240616_152438.jpg, 364KiB, 1600x1200

Anonymous Tue 12 Nov 2024 08:28:21 No.11230526 Report

Quoted By: >>11230528 >>11234509

>>11230525
All but the military one faded away after a year or so, that one popped up once in a while but hasn't been seen in a couple years at least. I picked up a couple here and there, mostly as a dirt cheap source of armour but I didn't get around to actually opening them until quite some time later. Finally got to them in the middle of a major cleaning and reorganizing project.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 20240616_154233.jpg, 363KiB, 1600x1200

Anonymous Tue 12 Nov 2024 08:29:48 No.11230528 Report

Quoted By: >>11230531 >>11234397 >>11234509

>>11230526
...And I was quite surprised to find that some of the packs had entirely different soldiers than had been typical, namely cheap copies of the old Timmee Vietnam War soldiers.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 20240616_154846.jpg, 343KiB, 1600x1200

Anonymous Tue 12 Nov 2024 08:33:50 No.11230531 Report

Quoted By: >>11234509

>>11230528
I haven't found where these guys originated but from the five poses they're clearly pretty modern forces (note the one pose with a SCAR); the pose with the battering ram suggests SWAT but they could also work as Delta Force or any other special forces unit. Wish I'd recognized the alternate figures back when they were still available.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 20240714_173306adj.jpg, 902KiB, 2000x1500

Anonymous Thu 14 Nov 2024 18:26:17 No.11233674 Report

Quoted By:

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 15 Nov 2024 05:02:38 No.11234397 Report

Quoted By: >>11234416

>>11230528
Mutants vrs humans.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IMG_14943adj.jpg, 307KiB, 1600x1200

Anonymous Fri 15 Nov 2024 05:25:05 No.11234416 Report

Quoted By:

>>11234397
A little unnerving when the mutants are packing bazookas and flammenwerfen (which werf flammen, if you were wondering).

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 15 Nov 2024 07:12:05 No.11234509 Report

Quoted By: >>11234521

>>11230522
>>11230523
>>11230524
>>11230525
>>11230526
>>11230528
>>11230531
Thanks for always sharing your finds. I hate how the big toy companies have slowly taken over dollar stores and pushed out most of the cool stuff, like those niche army men. Sorta-kinda related, my dollar store had a bunch of not-Gundams that were really cool along side the army men and other toys.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IMG_1070adj.jpg, 120KiB, 1024x768

Anonymous Fri 15 Nov 2024 07:29:25 No.11234521 Report

Quoted By: >>11234524

>>11234509
Yeah, I sorely miss all the mom-and-pop dollar and more shops that went under to the might of the duolith of Dollarama and Dollar Tree. Much of my collection was built on such foundations, from the dollar stores in Winnipeg to the buck-or-twos out west here. Much of my childhood was overseas where they didn't have dollar stores but flea markets and discount retailers made up for it, with just about every store there having a toy section (and some kind of army men in it too). Wonder if things have changed for the worse there since...

Pic related was one of my best dollar-plus store finds, close to 15 years on now I reckon. It was way on the northwest end of town so going out there was a rare occasion, but one day we happened to be in the area and had to check the place out. I don't remember much else of what they had but for army men they had bagged sets of that big Bradley or a large transport truck, with a few token troops. They were premium-priced relative to a lot of their other stuff as I recall, but even that would just be like 3 or 4 bucks a pop. Got myself all the Bradleys they had, plus a couple of the trucks.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IMG_5583adj.jpg, 194KiB, 1200x900

Anonymous Fri 15 Nov 2024 07:33:38 No.11234524 Report

Quoted By: >>11234531

>>11234521
The Bradleys turned out to be cheap knock-offs of an old MicroMachines playset I once had (and later managed to get a replacement of through eBay); think two out of the three have their top machine guns glued on but they're great all the same. Years later I did find an online toy shop based in Ontario that sold 'em and the trucks, ordered a few of each to boost my mechanized forces and was delighted to find their Green version of the Bradley was somewhat better quality. Sadly that site has also long vanished from the internet and I've not seen those sets for sale anywhere. The Patriot launcher and truck in pic was a TRU find, from a little line of metal military vehicles they had at the time. Guess they didn't sell well cuz I was able to get a number of them on clearance, including the missile truck.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IMG_0401adj.jpg, 164KiB, 1200x900

Anonymous Fri 15 Nov 2024 07:39:29 No.11234531 Report

Quoted By: >>11234532 >>11238668

>>11234524
The Humvee in pic is from that line; as I remember they had a three-pack that included a Humvee, Abrams tank and a truck with multiple-rocket launcher on the back. The Abrams have extendable barrels, useful for storage and I didn't even realize it until long after I'd bought 'em heh. Also in the line were flatbed trucks similar to that Patriot truck, with either an Abrams or a helicopter for cargo (can't remember if I bought one, have to someday dig through that giant tote where a lot of my older stuff is currently stored).

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IMG_13671adj.jpg, 338KiB, 1600x1200

Anonymous Fri 15 Nov 2024 07:43:59 No.11234532 Report

Quoted By: >>11234536

>>11234531
Getting back to dollar stores, there was one in Winnipeg I hit up back in 2002 and let me tell you, that place was special. They had large bins and buckets full of toys and fun stuff that were 3 or 4 for a dollar. Among those treasures in bulk were little bags of army men and ninjas, the latter being a first for me at the time. I raised an entire division's worth of troops from the former, and added a handful of the latter as a kind of curiosity at the time.

Pic has one of each pose intermingled with some ninjas I got much later from ToySoldiersDepot online, might not be able to tell very well from pic but the shinier, less detailed figs are the dollar store ones.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Panzergrenadier Division.jpg, 506KiB, 1600x1200

Anonymous Fri 15 Nov 2024 07:51:00 No.11234536 Report

Quoted By: >>11234542 >>11236215

>>11234532
These are the army men from that same store, a representative sample of the poses. They're clones of Airfix German Infantry, with the interesting modified officer pose where his cap has been replaced with a stahlhelm, more realistic for combat situations really. My records indicate the division strength to be over 200 effectives, almost all of them from that original dollar store visit. Despite being designated a Panzergrenadier unit their battle record is somewhat lacking; they've routinely been overlooked while the more glamourous Afrika Korps gets the nod for violence and action. I intend to rectify this in the near future, though whether it will be in the context of the Colour Wars or something else remains to be seen.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Green Small Rebel Battalion.jpg, 309KiB, 1600x1200

Anonymous Fri 15 Nov 2024 08:01:06 No.11234542 Report

Quoted By:

>>11234536
Before I pass out there's one more store (and army men find) I wanted to talk about. Also in Winnipeg, also around the same time, there was a large discount toy store called BJ's that I imagine had much in common with the KBs south of the border. Among their seemingly countless products were packages of these Matchbox US Infantry copies, slightly smaller than the average plastic soldiers but I didn't care. Because I had relatively few numbers of true "enemy" army men (mostly WW2 Germans) I designated this group as a "Rebel" division and they fought with distinction across many battlefields.

In the early 2010s I had to downsize my collection for reasons and ended up selling a hefty amount of soldiers through kijiji, though I made sure to keep a fraction of each army (a platoon here, a company there). The Rebel Division was no exception and I elected to retain enough for battalion strength; and then they seemingly disappeared. For years I was at a loss; even in my great clutter I could account for almost all other armies but those remained MIA. Was starting to believe I must've just sold all of them, until I randomly looked through a stack of containers that had been sitting right behind me all these years, having assumed they were all various lego pieces. One of them had the lost battalion, another a missing company of blue soldiers.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IMG_9141radj.jpg, 733KiB, 1600x2306

Anonymous Sat 16 Nov 2024 22:12:37 No.11236135 Report

Quoted By: >>11236136

Going back to that big kijiji downsizing, 10 years on and I have more army men stuff than before it heh. Was helpful to re-house hundreds of troops that were never going to see action anyway though; a decade prior to the downsizing I'd gone on a bit of an army-building spree and could sometimes clear out a dollar store's stock in the pursuit of raising new divisions.

I remember finding at one store literally dozens of packages of the re-imagined Timmee clones, each pack containing about 50 men in green and tan, plus bunkers, barbed wire and trees. In hindsight I'm most thankful for getting all those trees heh, is hard to build a substantial plastic forest when you get maybe two or three for every company of infantry. At their peak the Green and Tan divisions of those troops easily numbered over a thousand for the former and above six hundred for the latter.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IMG_9144radj.jpg, 740KiB, 1600x2314

Anonymous Sat 16 Nov 2024 22:14:42 No.11236136 Report

Quoted By:

>>11236135
If I regret giving up anything, it'd be the Red and Blue troops, not easily replaced when the Big Three colours (Green, Tan and Grey) tend to dominate the army men scene.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 16 Nov 2024 23:57:24 No.11236215 Report

Quoted By: >>11236405

>>11234536

That just makes me sad.
I realized I haven't hit up any of the stores in Toronto in Chinatown.
We HAVE found some useful guns for S.T.A.K.E.R cosplay.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 20240714_182826cadjc.jpg, 249KiB, 1426x726

Anonymous Sun 17 Nov 2024 05:04:55 No.11236405 Report

Quoted By: >>11239227

>>11236215
Get out of here, stalker.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 19 Nov 2024 07:21:29 No.11238668 Report

Quoted By: >>11240149

>>11234531
Your pictures are so inspiring.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 20 Nov 2024 00:15:11 No.11239227 Report

Quoted By: >>11240149

>>11236405
You have me beat. :)

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 20240525_160802adj.jpg, 706KiB, 2000x1500

Anonymous Thu 21 Nov 2024 01:50:05 No.11240149 Report

Quoted By: >>11240394

>>11238668
Thanks anon. Crazy how long it's been since that setup in particular, on a cheap digital cam I barely knew how to use.
>>11239227
Heh nah, we're all friends here... unless you're a T*n

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 21 Nov 2024 07:13:14 No.11240394 Report

Quoted By: >>11240400

>>11240149
That's what is endearing about it to me. Your older pictures have this old internet, "kid just fooling around in his grandparents house and posting to Imgur or some forum" kinda vibe.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IMG_0467.jpg, 61KiB, 800x600

Anonymous Thu 21 Nov 2024 07:21:55 No.11240400 Report

Quoted By:

>>11240394
That setup was heavily inspired by the Believe ad campaign for Halo 3, even made a video along those lines.

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