I thought I had a pretty good handle on the inventory of the local Hobbytown, but I found something new there this week. To be honest, I haven't spent a lot of time in the plastic model section of the store, as many of the models are civilian vehicles. Well, I happened to wander through that section and on one of the back shelves I found a pile of boxes containing 1:72 scale (from what I can tell, it's a little smaller than true 25mm figures) plastic soldiers from various periods in history, including Vikings and the American Civil War. What really grabbed me was the price point for the figures. Each box contained 40-50 figures for $8.00-9.00. That's a pretty good value. I'd read about some of the virtues of plastic figures in my copy of Battlegames #5, but hadn't really made any connection with my own hobby plans.
My initial excitement centered around the Vikings, but after spending some time thinking about my plans and going over the pictures on the Plastic Soldier Review website I decided that I'm really set on using Foundry's figures for my Dark Ages armies. But there are projects that I don't have figures chosen for that I may use plastics for. The American Civil War is one of those periods that I don't have figures chosen for, and plastics would be a great way to get into the period without breaking the bank, leaving cash in the budget for higher-priority projects. It may be an option for WWII gaming as well, but I'd have to do some research. I like the potential for plastics to act as a cheap way for me to build armies outside of my "core" interests, but I still need to look around before making any final decisions.
My initial excitement centered around the Vikings, but after spending some time thinking about my plans and going over the pictures on the Plastic Soldier Review website I decided that I'm really set on using Foundry's figures for my Dark Ages armies. But there are projects that I don't have figures chosen for that I may use plastics for. The American Civil War is one of those periods that I don't have figures chosen for, and plastics would be a great way to get into the period without breaking the bank, leaving cash in the budget for higher-priority projects. It may be an option for WWII gaming as well, but I'd have to do some research. I like the potential for plastics to act as a cheap way for me to build armies outside of my "core" interests, but I still need to look around before making any final decisions.
...the price is hideously tempting, but I just can't get over the (irrational??) fact that they don't weigh as much as their little metal brethren... and I'm also reminded of my early wargaming where I could only ever afford plastics, and always wanted metal armies.... :o))
ReplyDeleteB.t.w - congrats on baby - whatever you do, get the miniatures in now, as the $'s will disapear after nugget makes an appearance!
You should check out the new Perry miniatures plastic ACW!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the baby!
cheers
David
I've only been buying figures for a couple of years now, and the majority of my figures are plastic. I tend to prefer the plastic figures because for me they are easier to work with. For that feeling of heft, I fill the bases of some of my figures with small shot that I got from Cabela's; the kind that reloaders use for packing their own shotgun shells. I think I got 50 pounds of it for $20.
ReplyDeleteI've heard a lot about the Perry ACW figures, but I haven't actually made any real plans for an ACW project yet. I've got too much backlog in my Fantasy/Sci-Fi armies.
I'm doing my best to pick up figures before the baby comes along. As it is I've probably got a couple years of painting lined up already.