I sold a ton of my Airfix and other soldiers on ebay last year. I had them since I was a kid I am now 59 and they had been in storage boxes for decades. The nostalgia is real and every now and then I will see something like the Airfix Waterloo set on UA-cam and I will relive the joy that I had from opening the box back in the day.
That was a brave move. I don't think I could ever get rid of mine. I'm 65 and retirement looms. I've got all the paints and brushes and reference books and I'm going on a paintfest. Mine are mostly Napoleonics and not all Airfix. I've an awful lot fron the 60s onwards when I began collecting them!
@@nicholascarrington7912 These days I have my guitars and World of Warcraft to fill my spare time. Though I was thinking about revisiting model making in the future.
The Commandos had my fave 'crawling' soldier, A Sten and a knife...what a sneaky hero to my 8 year old self...plus the canoe and a decent radio op made it memorable...
I loved those type 1 guys. Heroes all as they lost many men capturing the Pontoon bridge and the Costal Defense Fort. Poor lads had to do it many many times!
I think I boought nearly all the 1/76 figure when I was a kid. I don't know how many miles I walked as a paper boy to earn the money to buy them. Lots of happy memories of massed campaigns carried out on my bedroom floor, many insoired by war comics and war movies from the period.
Nice video, it brought back some memories of battles past. FYI your comment about the recoil of a bazooka made me smile. Bazooka's don't recoil, they are recoilless 🙂
Great video again Jerry and though I really enjoy the 1/32 stuff, 1/76 remains my fave,amazing detail in tiny figures,best sets,prob Afrika Corps,followed by Imperial Guard and 8th army,but have to say they were all great and great fun!
On holiday in the Lake District in the 1970's, I remember a lot of the souvenir shops were selling mini dioramas of rock climbers. These consisted of a lump of local rock, on to this were glued some airfix type one ho-oo commandos with their bases and weapons cut off and painted in bright colors to represent climbers anorax. They were tied together with fine cotton usually three or four figures to a rock. Quite a novel use for toy soldiers. Of course I was too mean to buy one, I took home a piece of rock and made my own.
In the begin of the 2000, I Sold all my Airfic, Matchbox, Esci, Atlantic Stuf. At the Moment only I have the Matchbox "Vervollgungsjagd" the race court and one Soldier of the Bofors Modell from Airfix, the Officer 😂. I dont' know why only one man 😅. Thx for your Seite your Chanel. I love it ....
I love your reviews and had all the WW2 figures starting in about 1968, lead to my lifelong interest in WW2. The bayonets for the mk.3 SMLE (Enfield) are long at 23" overall with a 17" blade.
FROM 1973 TO THE 80S.MY BROTHERS AND I COLLECTED TOY SOLDIERS OF ALL SCALES FOR WARGAMING.I STILL HAVE MOST OF THEM,MOSTLY AIRFIX AND ATLANTIS AND OTHERS,ABOUT 25,000 OF THEM.GOOD TIMES BACK THEN TAKE CARE JERRY
The SMLE Mk3 has a really long bayonet, and the Lee Enfield he is carrying looks consistent with that model, vs. the No. 4, which had a short bayonet. I think the guys running with their hands over their heads are there to carry a ladder.
I didn’t realise they updated the 1/72 figures with 1/32 sculpts. They should have done that with the British Paratroopers too. Thanks for this video Jerry, please do more 1/72 scale reviews 👍🏻
Estos los cuando yo era pequeño venian en sobres de papel, todavia los tengo, desde entonces hasta hoy con 56 años sigo coleccionando soldaditos pero de diferentes marcas y epocas, me paso buenos ratos con ellos😂
Nowadays Caesar Miniatures works in the same HO-00 scale of Airfix, but their miniature sets are more neat and detailed. Basically they look like modernized Airfix miniatures.
Ah I had these, I'd forgotten about them.. Had some Japanese as well, I wasn't being historically accurate in my battles it seems 😂 also I think some germans of some kind. Great memories That grenadier and guy with the knife, great poses.
I think I kinda mixed units that wasn´t fighting each other in reality as well. I like to think that I cared about historical accuracy but if I´m honest I was just playing to have fun.
After clearing out my late mother's house, I found hundreds of my Airfix soldiers in the attic, including tanks, etc. All from the early 70s. Maybe I'll get in touch with you about this. I can't keep everything as a souvenir.
I have not opened a box of toy soldiers since the 1960s. I was not aware of the differences or that HO and OO scale were not the same thing, I always thought they were all 1/72nd like the model aircraft.
We used to call them 1/72 back in the 70s as well. Just because we used them with 1/72 armor and aircraft. They are also now listed by Hornby as 1/72. I guess UK model railroads have the same track with even though they are different scales.
Let me guess, they shrunk in scale, but still cost the same price to buy? Is that about right? I still remember, when I was a kid, about 7, being able to buy entire bags of army figures. They had everything in them, from commando's, to guys with RPG's and Jeeps. They only cost a few quid to buy. When I got older, we used them as target practice for Air Rifles, back when Air Rifles were still legal.
I never paid enough attention to these to know that there's two types. Turns out mine are type 1. Probably got them in '87. It was real hard to get soldiers for years before. I had the Matchbox sets and they smoke everything else in existance. Bill Farmer FTW. The only thing I like in the Airfix sets is the canoe.
When the type one set came out it was refreshing as they were better, fuller sculpts compared to the type 1 German Infantry and infantry combat group. My favourite sculpts were the 'Tommy' gunner and the figure running low with the rifle across his legs. Those and the grenade thrower and the knifeman were the main poses used in my games. The Type 2 sculpts are great and I am lucky enough to still have some in my collection. The loss of the mould is disappointing.
Hi Jerry, thank you for this video, about one of my favourite 1/76 Airfix sets. I think the type 2 is far superior to the type 1, every figure. It is a pity that Airfix did not release a second version of the british paratroopers too, based on the 1/32 scale figures. Although I saw back in the day some paratroopers made in metal at 1/76 scale that are very much like their 1/32 counterparts, so maybe I am wrong. I have to disagree in your final selection, though. I think that mostly the canoes/canoeists but also the guys in ladders add a very unique touch which make the british special forces a very unique topic, so they are a must, especially the canoes/canoeists.
Hi Gerry. I had the Pontoon set in the 70s. I'm pretty sure the Commando 1:76 came with 2 conoe's. Infact I'm sure of it. Looking at this video the box would have Been the 2nd version. Can you confirm this please ?
were those sculptors interested in toy soldiers or militaria before they worked for toy companies or were they art sculptors that happened to be contacted by Airfix and other companies?
I think Niblett was more of a toy soldier sculptur and Cameron was mainly a "regular" sculptor. Cameron also stopped doing toy soldiers eventually and went back to art.
@toysoldiernostalgia Of course you have (a better set) - it's finding them in your massive pile of the same figures thats the problem!!! 😂 Seriously, always nice to see the quality of the initial releases - I've just bought the Airfix E Boat from '75 rather then wait for the new re-release as it has ZERO flash!
With your incredible knowledge, I would be delighted if you could write a book about Airfix figures. I would definitely buy it. Wouldn't that be a good idea?
The 1/76 British paras were a very early set. Gerry will probably know but I think they were initially marketed as allied paratroops, or at least there was sufficient ambiguity about who they were actually meant to represent that they could pass as generic allied troops. Some weird poses too. Like the guy firing a rifle up at the sky who looks like he's taking a pot shot at his fellow paras and the officer who looks like he has indigestion. Not to mention the guy doing stretches with a square.... thing in his hand.
@ those Paras is a weird one. Like you said it`s very hard to tell if they are supposed to be WW2 or early cold war. Same with the early 60s Infantry Combat Group. More early cold war than WW2.
This is wrong! as any Railway Modeller will tell you H.O. and O.O. aren't the same. H.O. is 3.5mm to one foot and O.O. is 4mm to one foot! However both surprisingly use the same track gauge of 16mm whereas O.O should be 18mm 'at least.'
HO=1/87 OO=1/76 If you compare these figures to classic 1/87 they are a bit bigger. That´s why I call them 1/76. On the box Airfix call them ho-oo to appeal to railway modellers of both scales (they did that with all their toy soldier sets all through the 60s and 70s) but the are 1/76 i.e. oo gauge. Check any Airfix small toy soldier box.
1/76 and 1/35 are a Bad bsd Scale...ans Airfix did not realise it..... 😡... Everinthing in army scake has to be in aircraft scale too... 1/72....and tanks EVERYWHERE, except airfix, are 1/35!
I sold a ton of my Airfix and other soldiers on ebay last year. I had them since I was a kid I am now 59 and they had been in storage boxes for decades. The nostalgia is real and every now and then I will see something like the Airfix Waterloo set on UA-cam and I will relive the joy that I had from opening the box back in the day.
That was a brave move. I don't think I could ever get rid of mine. I'm 65 and retirement looms. I've got all the paints and brushes and reference books and I'm going on a paintfest. Mine are mostly Napoleonics and not all Airfix. I've an awful lot fron the 60s onwards when I began collecting them!
@@nicholascarrington7912 These days I have my guitars and World of Warcraft to fill my spare time. Though I was thinking about revisiting model making in the future.
@@thegoat11111Do it - but one kit at a time - best wishes from a model kit hoarder 😊
Phew, i was worried! Go for it!
I was divorced and had to make a choice of what was worth shifting. But I ended up getting the Warlord Epic range at the new premises
The Commandos had my fave 'crawling' soldier, A Sten and a knife...what a sneaky hero to my 8 year old self...plus the canoe and a decent radio op made it memorable...
I loved those type 1 guys. Heroes all as they lost many men capturing the Pontoon bridge and the Costal Defense Fort. Poor lads had to do it many many times!
I think I boought nearly all the 1/76 figure when I was a kid. I don't know how many miles I walked as a paper boy to earn the money to buy them. Lots of happy memories of massed campaigns carried out on my bedroom floor, many insoired by war comics and war movies from the period.
I did a lot of missions with them in the 1970s
Nice video, it brought back some memories of battles past. FYI your comment about the recoil of a bazooka made me smile. Bazooka's don't recoil, they are recoilless 🙂
Lol I wasn´t sure if old bazookas work like the AT4 we use in the swedish armed forces.
Great video again Jerry and though I really enjoy the 1/32 stuff, 1/76 remains my fave,amazing detail in tiny figures,best sets,prob Afrika Corps,followed by Imperial Guard and 8th army,but have to say they were all great and great fun!
Great stuff Gerry. Thank you for putting this content together.
On holiday in the Lake District in the 1970's, I remember a lot of the souvenir shops were selling mini dioramas of rock climbers. These consisted of a lump of local rock, on to this were glued some airfix type one ho-oo commandos with their bases and weapons cut off and painted in bright colors to represent climbers anorax. They were tied together with fine cotton usually three or four figures to a rock. Quite a novel use for toy soldiers. Of course I was too mean to buy one, I took home a piece of rock and made my own.
Lol what a great story. I would have done the same thing as you as a kid.
Commando is one of my favorite toy soldiers from the Airfix series. Once again,it was an interesting video👌
Thanks bud :)
Great video, I wasn’t aware of the differences in all these sets. Your videos always inspire me to get painting
Thanks man.
In the begin of the 2000, I Sold all my Airfic, Matchbox, Esci, Atlantic Stuf. At the Moment only I have the Matchbox "Vervollgungsjagd" the race court and one Soldier of the Bofors Modell from Airfix, the Officer 😂. I dont' know why only one man 😅. Thx for your Seite your Chanel. I love it ....
Thanks man :)
I love your reviews and had all the WW2 figures starting in about 1968, lead to my lifelong interest in WW2. The bayonets for the mk.3 SMLE (Enfield) are long at 23" overall with a 17" blade.
I just realized the length of them a few days after making the video. Like a small sword.
Great information 👍
Thank you mr jerry i enjoyed it!
FROM 1973 TO THE 80S.MY BROTHERS AND I COLLECTED TOY SOLDIERS OF ALL SCALES FOR WARGAMING.I STILL HAVE MOST OF THEM,MOSTLY AIRFIX AND ATLANTIS AND OTHERS,ABOUT 25,000 OF THEM.GOOD TIMES BACK THEN TAKE CARE JERRY
Great stuff! 👍
The SMLE Mk3 has a really long bayonet, and the Lee Enfield he is carrying looks consistent with that model, vs. the No. 4, which had a short bayonet. I think the guys running with their hands over their heads are there to carry a ladder.
I didn’t realise they updated the 1/72 figures with 1/32 sculpts. They should have done that with the British Paratroopers too. Thanks for this video Jerry, please do more 1/72 scale reviews 👍🏻
Yes those 1/76 paras were not great.
I will be posting a lot more 1/76 all through winter and spring :)
Estos los cuando yo era pequeño venian en sobres de papel, todavia los tengo, desde entonces hasta hoy con 56 años sigo coleccionando soldaditos pero de diferentes marcas y epocas, me paso buenos ratos con ellos😂
I found a carded set of WW2 leaders from both sides which for some bizarre reason included 2 x Goerings, very happy with that find
Nowadays Caesar Miniatures works in the same HO-00 scale of Airfix, but their miniature sets are more neat and detailed. Basically they look like modernized Airfix miniatures.
Hi , nice video here ! 👍 Thank you for sharing . I still believe the Matchbox British Commandos in 1/76 scale is SO MUCH BETTER in everything
As canoeists would paddle on the same side, and I had two boxes, I made put matching figures in the canoes.
Ah I had these, I'd forgotten about them.. Had some Japanese as well, I wasn't being historically accurate in my battles it seems 😂 also I think some germans of some kind. Great memories
That grenadier and guy with the knife, great poses.
I think I kinda mixed units that wasn´t fighting each other in reality as well. I like to think that I cared about historical accuracy but if I´m honest I was just playing to have fun.
After clearing out my late mother's house, I found hundreds of my Airfix soldiers in the attic, including tanks, etc. All from the early 70s. Maybe I'll get in touch with you about this. I can't keep everything as a souvenir.
Top man!
Extremely interesting video...I think i had the matchbox ones,esci too
..not sure about airfix I was born in 73
I have not opened a box of toy soldiers since the 1960s. I was not aware of the differences or that HO and OO scale were not the same thing, I always thought they were all 1/72nd like the model aircraft.
We used to call them 1/72 back in the 70s as well. Just because we used them with 1/72 armor and aircraft. They are also now listed by Hornby as 1/72.
I guess UK model railroads have the same track with even though they are different scales.
Let me guess, they shrunk in scale, but still cost the same price to buy? Is that about right? I still remember, when I was a kid, about 7, being able to buy entire bags of army figures. They had everything in them, from commando's, to guys with RPG's and Jeeps. They only cost a few quid to buy. When I got older, we used them as target practice for Air Rifles, back when Air Rifles were still legal.
I never paid enough attention to these to know that there's two types. Turns out mine are type 1.
Probably got them in '87. It was real hard to get soldiers for years before.
I had the Matchbox sets and they smoke everything else in existance. Bill Farmer FTW.
The only thing I like in the Airfix sets is the canoe.
I'm 67, I'm buying more Toy Soldiers than ever as I play with my Grandson. Most of what I am getting is Artillery and Air Power.
Sounds like fun :)
The type 2 figures are now incredibly rear
It would be cool to see them photos
Photos?
The photos of them in the rented uniform. Posing.for reference.
@@applehead6179 I think I´ve seen one that someone showed in a Facebook group. In that magazine he talked about that.
Nice
Thanks, I didn't know that the 1/32 Commandos were ever sculpted in 1/76-HO-OO.
I remember the first type of figures being very disappointing when I got them.
The second type are much better and more action-packed
When the type one set came out it was refreshing as they were better, fuller sculpts compared to the type 1 German Infantry and infantry combat group. My favourite sculpts were the 'Tommy' gunner and the figure running low with the rifle across his legs. Those and the grenade thrower and the knifeman were the main poses used in my games. The Type 2 sculpts are great and I am lucky enough to still have some in my collection. The loss of the mould is disappointing.
Yeah these were so much better then the early 60s sculpts.
Hi Jerry, thank you for this video, about one of my favourite 1/76 Airfix sets.
I think the type 2 is far superior to the type 1, every figure. It is a pity that Airfix did not release a second version of the british paratroopers too, based on the 1/32 scale figures. Although I saw back in the day some paratroopers made in metal at 1/76 scale that are very much like their 1/32 counterparts, so maybe I am wrong. I have to disagree in your final selection, though. I think that mostly the canoes/canoeists but also the guys in ladders add a very unique touch which make the british special forces a very unique topic, so they are a must, especially the canoes/canoeists.
Maybe you´re right. Only having fighting poses when you have this many figures is overkill.
I still have my best youth friends. I will never sell them or give them away. Best boxes were the British Infantry Support and German Mountain troops.
Nice to have your childhood toys left.
Would have been better to base them on the Movie Where Eagles Dare and have more conduct poses in section commands
I whisper I never gave mine away when I moved 😂
Hi Gerry. I had the Pontoon set in the 70s. I'm pretty sure the Commando 1:76 came with 2 conoe's. Infact I'm sure of it. Looking at this video the box would have Been the 2nd version. Can you confirm this please ?
Yes you`re right. The type 2 came with 2 canoes. Type 1 with only 1.
were those sculptors interested in toy soldiers or militaria before they worked for toy companies or were they art sculptors that happened to be contacted by Airfix and other companies?
I think Niblett was more of a toy soldier sculptur and Cameron was mainly a "regular" sculptor. Cameron also stopped doing toy soldiers eventually and went back to art.
8:40 But he’s not holding his weapon in the other hand. I’ve acquired your pet peeve 😂
Yeah neither of the grenade soldier or the soldier with the knife have that. Not good :)
Cheers Jerry - I remember the type 1 from back in the day. A lot of flash on these - how do they compare with the earliest examples you have?
I realized after making the video that I have another set with better casting and less flash. Still not on par with the type 2 though.
@toysoldiernostalgia Of course you have (a better set) - it's finding them in your massive pile of the same figures thats the problem!!! 😂
Seriously, always nice to see the quality of the initial releases - I've just bought the Airfix E Boat from '75 rather then wait for the new re-release as it has ZERO flash!
Many of my Commandos paid the ultimate price on those covert missions.
Sad seeing this now as my troops are MIA
please can you show diecast tanks love you
I don´t have that many yet.
Honey I Shrunk the Commandos
😂😂
With your incredible knowledge, I would be delighted if you could write a book about Airfix figures. I would definitely buy it. Wouldn't that be a good idea?
Peter Williams already wrote the best book ever on Airfix toy soldiers.
@@toysoldiernostalgia I think the book is out of print, so you have to write a new one. 😆👍🏼
British Army hade big bags during ww2 as they whare for bren magasins
That´s the ones the type 2 commandos have.
I had some of these as a kid. They were no fun at all, too small to play with.
It' s a great pity that Airfix didn't reduce the British Paratroopers in the same way as they did the Commandos.
I agree. The 1/76 paras are pretty terrible.
@@toysoldiernostalgia And the 1/32 ones are so good!
The 1/76 British paras were a very early set. Gerry will probably know but I think they were initially marketed as allied paratroops, or at least there was sufficient ambiguity about who they were actually meant to represent that they could pass as generic allied troops. Some weird poses too. Like the guy firing a rifle up at the sky who looks like he's taking a pot shot at his fellow paras and the officer who looks like he has indigestion. Not to mention the guy doing stretches with a square.... thing in his hand.
@@pathwaystomodernity7716 Yeah, they were strange set all round- and really big if I remember right.
@ those Paras is a weird one. Like you said it`s very hard to tell if they are supposed to be WW2 or early cold war. Same with the early 60s Infantry Combat Group. More early cold war than WW2.
This is wrong! as any Railway Modeller will tell you H.O. and O.O. aren't the same. H.O. is 3.5mm to one foot and O.O. is 4mm to one foot!
However both surprisingly use the same track gauge of 16mm whereas O.O should be 18mm 'at least.'
HO=1/87 OO=1/76 If you compare these figures to classic 1/87 they are a bit bigger. That´s why I call them 1/76.
On the box Airfix call them ho-oo to appeal to railway modellers of both scales (they did that with all their toy soldier sets all through the 60s and 70s) but the are 1/76 i.e. oo gauge.
Check any Airfix small toy soldier box.
@toysoldiernostalgia Thank you, looks we Brits owe everyone apology for getting the track wrong and now the scale figures! Oh boy!
@@billmmckelvie5188 HO/OO is absolutely correct. As Jerry points out , that's exactly the way Airfix itself defined the scale of these figures.
We called the 1/76 soldiers "Mosquito Men" since they where irritatingly small. The 1/32 soldiers were more fun to handle and to play with.
1/76 and 1/35 are a Bad bsd Scale...ans Airfix did not realise it..... 😡... Everinthing in army scake has to be in aircraft scale too... 1/72....and tanks EVERYWHERE, except airfix, are 1/35!
Yes it would have been nice if they had been 1/35 and 1/72.
How did they make them smaller I’ve always wondered
I was a machine called a Pantograph. There´s one in this video on Matchbox.
ua-cam.com/video/-DRbgYLhc4Y/v-deo.html