Really interesting look at the history of these figures - I think these comparisons and finding out about who produced the art work and the changes to the boxes and sometime the figures themselves is great. Thank you.
I have had the Guards and band since about 1960, but I can never remember playing with them and I never had a train set to put them in a diorama. The Infantry combat group and the German infantry, on the other hand, got used to death. I once dropped my Germans in the grass in Kenya in about 1961,. I rescued almost all of them (and still have them). However, one officer had the indignity of the mower later going over him before he was retrieved and to this day he has a cut under his arm.
Very nice video, and great comparison. It is amazing, and for some reason moving, to see that figures moulded in 1959 are being released in 2025... especially to someone (me) born in 1965.
I got these when they first came out, they got me into 1:76 and subsequent releases actually soldiering got me hooked. These days I make up sets of toy soldiers to give away and the kids seem to like them as much as we did (and in terms of toys suitable for imaginative play they are probably the cheapest option).
Yes kids these days like all the same toys we did. I did the same like you with my son and his friends and they always played outside with soldiers, cars or dinosaurs. He`s 17 now so this is only 8-10 years ago.
@@toysoldiernostalgia It’s more important than most people realise. We are still trying to understand ‘play’ (turns out it is a lot weirder than we had thought) but there is evidence to suggest that ‘imaginative play’ in particular is important for child development and adult mental health. Toys are a tool for this kind of play, but a toy is actually a very sophisticated tool. Psychologists now classify them as ‘closed’ (does one thing) and ‘open’ (essentially can be used to create stories and develop them) and open is definitely the most valuable. Toys are a lot more complex than replicas (which are in essence decorations), worryingly the trend has been to release ‘merchandising’ rather than toys, harnessing the popularity of the original source to reduce advertising and marketing costs. Merchandising tends to have several problems; It is made to ‘fits the box scale’, so different elements cannot be used together, and it has a short shelf life so finding more can be impossible (unless you access the ‘collector’ market, with all the added costs that entails). Toy soldiers are one area where things remain available for a decade or more, they favour standard scales (I use 1:32 for youngsters and 1:72 for kids older than seven, it’s all to do with ‘second order reasoning’) and the prices remain in the pocket money bracket. The wargame scales such as 25/28/30mm are a lot more expensive (one lad got ten Warhammer figures for £100, most toy soldiers are sold in boxes of 40-50 figures for about £8), for 1:72 we can also tap into the model railway scales (1:87 and 1:76) for extras. Model railways themselves have become prohibitively expensive (at least in the UK, although the Japanese seem to be addressing that). One big problem I have found is sourcing women, or rather finding female figures, for younger girls and older kids of either gender. I got lucky and caught the 1:32 scale SCS Direct Humans vs Aliens while they were still available (disarming the ladies for some sets such as ‘The village in the enchanted forest’ recently completed for a little girl) and I stocked up on the Strelets Tudors (currently out of production) for Knights and Knaves, Fantasy and Sci-Fi (I also use various ancients for Sci-Fi sets, Linear-A The Silk Road in Ancient Times makes for a nice Star Wars meets Conan the Barbarian set). I live in hope that Ukraine will survive Putin’s hissy fit and continue to produce figure sets and that someone like HaT will release a set of ‘camp followers/medical staff/settlers’. Making up sets to give away helps the kids and allows me to make all the stuff I would have liked when I was ten (and I don’t have to find somewhere to keep them). I recommend it as a pastime. For the moment the only two problems I have seen are space and rich kids. The most common complaint I get is ‘I want my dining table back’ and rich kids have a lot of ‘entertainment’ available to them so they prefer not to put the work in to actually ‘play’. Give a set to a less well off family and the effects can be life enhancing for all concerned. We actually have to learn how to play so for the best results it helps a lot if the parent(s) or siblings of the recipient join in, at least at the start,.
I'm surprised about how much flash the 1959 figures have. The 1960's figures were the first Airfix figures I got. I remember putting the band together and making the sounds of the various instruments.
Great video! You have had me thinking more and more about going back to plastic toy soldiers instead of the metal ones. I did find Beach Head Assault on eBay and almost pulled the trigger- there's just something about pounding that missle launcher and blowing everyone up ha ha- still gotta score some of those SWEET T shirts of yours too!!!
Nice comparison with the old and the new there. I always thought the pink figures were red ones that faded over time, interesting that they were made that way. I’m loving the 1/72 figures videos, thanks for doing this
Nice video. Just wondering how the plastic from the 60's and 70's have held up on the HO/ 1:76 figures? Are they anything like the 1:32 figures where they've gone brittle?
All these sets I have are nice and soft and no broken of peices. Pretty much all my 1/32 is the same way. Both all the boxed sets and all the loose I have bought over the years have been fine.
The 2024 mould holds up very well concerning their age. The new art on the boxes is a bit fuzzy because Airfix had to use the 'trannies' for them as the original paintings used in the day aren't available anymore to use, they were or lost or sold off as Airfix went bancrupt in those days.
I some fragile remnants in red, creame and white. Airfix should rerelease all these old sets, preferably in new colours. Ancient Britons in blue, anyone? And finally a set in black...
The original pink ones from 1959 ( I never had in hands 😢) are looking dry and breakable like some other old Airfix figures. Is it really so between your fingers ? Have you tried to stretch one a little ? For me, it has to be a sandy thing cause of the dried out plasticizer. In case of Timpo Toys it’s sadly a big problem to handle and play with this old stuff.😉 I think it should be like that 😢
@ Maybe they had never seen sun and water on sprue and inside the packs or Airfix used their plasticizer later ? I‘m speechless about the fact. What is here the real reason in case of dried out figures than bad plasticizer ?
@@adrianaustralia9135 I thought the Originals from 1959 had to be breakable after all those years cause of the plasticizer but i failed 😉 Without Konstant sun/heatkontakts they‘re still in Good shape , Papa told me so 😅 And the sun is hot in Australia, so keep care of your old 1:72 Airfix Outdoor 😂
I've seen several of those recently. I had one of those many moons ago. I remember they were all that cream yellow colour. I don't buy any 1/72 anymore because my bad eyes except for large scale Aircraft 1/72 kits and bigger if I can. However I have the modern version model of a Queen's Royal Guard and a British Police Officer. Both 1/16 scale. I ordered those from Ukraine. Good to see your video again. I seem to loose contact with some videos here and there. I have lots of lists so it's a little hard to find. All the best.🙂✌️🇭🇲🦘👍👋
Really interesting look at the history of these figures - I think these comparisons and finding out about who produced the art work and the changes to the boxes and sometime the figures themselves is great. Thank you.
I am always vicariously happy seeing you enjoy your hobby. So important to have a good diversion in these insipid times.
So true!
Great video. I would love to see these painted
Me too! You do it 😀
I really look forward to these videos. I can’t get enough of this channel
Thanks dude 😀
I have had the Guards and band since about 1960, but I can never remember playing with them and I never had a train set to put them in a diorama. The Infantry combat group and the German infantry, on the other hand, got used to death. I once dropped my Germans in the grass in Kenya in about 1961,. I rescued almost all of them (and still have them). However, one officer had the indignity of the mower later going over him before he was retrieved and to this day he has a cut under his arm.
Those figures held well an look better than some of the other early airfix sets.
Nice Video 👍🏻
Thank you 👍
A nice piece of history
This is rad thanks for sharing. Nice haircut, Jerry!
It was about time to have a wee bit of a mowing of the lawn :)
Another great video.
I really look forward to seeing your new videos and drop everything when I see the notification.
I appreciate that! 😀
Very nice video, and great comparison. It is amazing, and for some reason moving, to see that figures moulded in 1959 are being released in 2025... especially to someone (me) born in 1965.
I got these when they first came out, they got me into 1:76 and subsequent releases actually soldiering got me hooked. These days I make up sets of toy soldiers to give away and the kids seem to like them as much as we did (and in terms of toys suitable for imaginative play they are probably the cheapest option).
Yes kids these days like all the same toys we did. I did the same like you with my son and his friends and they always played outside with soldiers, cars or dinosaurs. He`s 17 now so this is only 8-10 years ago.
@@toysoldiernostalgia It’s more important than most people realise. We are still trying to understand ‘play’ (turns out it is a lot weirder than we had thought) but there is evidence to suggest that ‘imaginative play’ in particular is important for child development and adult mental health. Toys are a tool for this kind of play, but a toy is actually a very sophisticated tool. Psychologists now classify them as ‘closed’ (does one thing) and ‘open’ (essentially can be used to create stories and develop them) and open is definitely the most valuable. Toys are a lot more complex than replicas (which are in essence decorations), worryingly the trend has been to release ‘merchandising’ rather than toys, harnessing the popularity of the original source to reduce advertising and marketing costs. Merchandising tends to have several problems; It is made to ‘fits the box scale’, so different elements cannot be used together, and it has a short shelf life so finding more can be impossible (unless you access the ‘collector’ market, with all the added costs that entails).
Toy soldiers are one area where things remain available for a decade or more, they favour standard scales (I use 1:32 for youngsters and 1:72 for kids older than seven, it’s all to do with ‘second order reasoning’) and the prices remain in the pocket money bracket. The wargame scales such as 25/28/30mm are a lot more expensive (one lad got ten Warhammer figures for £100, most toy soldiers are sold in boxes of 40-50 figures for about £8), for 1:72 we can also tap into the model railway scales (1:87 and 1:76) for extras. Model railways themselves have become prohibitively expensive (at least in the UK, although the Japanese seem to be addressing that).
One big problem I have found is sourcing women, or rather finding female figures, for younger girls and older kids of either gender. I got lucky and caught the 1:32 scale SCS Direct Humans vs Aliens while they were still available (disarming the ladies for some sets such as ‘The village in the enchanted forest’ recently completed for a little girl) and I stocked up on the Strelets Tudors (currently out of production) for Knights and Knaves, Fantasy and Sci-Fi (I also use various ancients for Sci-Fi sets, Linear-A The Silk Road in Ancient Times makes for a nice Star Wars meets Conan the Barbarian set). I live in hope that Ukraine will survive Putin’s hissy fit and continue to produce figure sets and that someone like HaT will release a set of ‘camp followers/medical staff/settlers’.
Making up sets to give away helps the kids and allows me to make all the stuff I would have liked when I was ten (and I don’t have to find somewhere to keep them). I recommend it as a pastime. For the moment the only two problems I have seen are space and rich kids. The most common complaint I get is ‘I want my dining table back’ and rich kids have a lot of ‘entertainment’ available to them so they prefer not to put the work in to actually ‘play’. Give a set to a less well off family and the effects can be life enhancing for all concerned. We actually have to learn how to play so for the best results it helps a lot if the parent(s) or siblings of the recipient join in, at least at the start,.
I'm surprised about how much flash the 1959 figures have.
The 1960's figures were the first Airfix figures I got. I remember putting the band together and making the sounds of the various instruments.
Great video always Great information 👍
Thanks 👍
Great video! You have had me thinking more and more about going back to plastic toy soldiers instead of the metal ones. I did find Beach Head Assault on eBay and almost pulled the trigger- there's just something about pounding that missle launcher and blowing everyone up ha ha- still gotta score some of those SWEET T shirts of yours too!!!
Love 1/76 scale, but in this case i would like to have them in 1/35...
Nice comparison with the old and the new there. I always thought the pink figures were red ones that faded over time, interesting that they were made that way. I’m loving the 1/72 figures videos, thanks for doing this
Thanks for watching!
GOOD VIDEO JERRY,HAVE THE OLD RED AND YELLOW ONES .GOT THEM BACK IN THE MID-70S.FOR WARGAMING AFTER SEEING THEM IN A FEATHERSTONE BOOK.TAKE CARE
Saw those in the Airfix catalogue for 2025. Nice rerelease, along side a lot of other out of production kits such as the German and British MTB's.
Nice video. Just wondering how the plastic from the 60's and 70's have held up on the HO/ 1:76 figures? Are they anything like the 1:32 figures where they've gone brittle?
All these sets I have are nice and soft and no broken of peices. Pretty much all my 1/32 is the same way. Both all the boxed sets and all the loose I have bought over the years have been fine.
🧐 Dr. Google said to me like THE STRANGLERS: It‘s Always The Sun … in case of plasticizer problems 😂
The 2024 mould holds up very well concerning their age. The new art on the boxes is a bit fuzzy because Airfix had to use the 'trannies' for them as the original paintings used in the day aren't available anymore to use, they were or lost or sold off as Airfix went bancrupt in those days.
I even saw in a video that Hornby threw away molds when they got new management a few years ago.
@@toysoldiernostalgia Mmmm.. some even were thrown outside in the back and recuperated by scrap handlers...can you imagine 😞
@@airfixer9461 🥲🥲
The look like regular blokes to me......😊
I some fragile remnants in red, creame and white. Airfix should rerelease all these old sets, preferably in new colours. Ancient Britons in blue, anyone? And finally a set in black...
The original pink ones from 1959 ( I never had in hands 😢) are looking dry and breakable like some other old Airfix figures. Is it really so between your fingers ? Have you tried to stretch one a little ? For me, it has to be a sandy thing cause of the dried out plasticizer. In case of Timpo Toys it’s sadly a big problem to handle and play with this old stuff.😉 I think it should be like that 😢
The sets I have on sprues (pink, red and cream) are pretty nice and soft.
@ Maybe they had never seen sun and water on sprue and inside the packs or Airfix used their plasticizer later ? I‘m speechless about the fact. What is here the real reason in case of dried out figures than bad plasticizer ?
Hey man! Cool video my first set...??? Mmmh Atlantic ho carabinieri band and a polistil die cast leopard 1 a1
Did Atlantic make a band as well?
Not sure what's more rare nowadays- a set of Toy Soldiers still packaged from 1959 or the term "Made in England" :(
Same with made in Sweden.
The latter!
Just a sad piece of old dried out plastic ? ? ? 😳😉
???
Just a sad comment???
@@adrianaustralia9135 I thought the Originals from 1959 had to be breakable after all those years cause of the plasticizer but i failed 😉 Without Konstant sun/heatkontakts they‘re still in Good shape , Papa told me so 😅 And the sun is hot in Australia, so keep care of your old 1:72 Airfix Outdoor 😂
@@dieternowatius5062 as you say, it all depends on the conditions they're kept in. 😁
@@adrianaustralia9135 I have a dark and dry German cellar down under me in Düsseldorf 😂
I've seen several of those recently. I had one of those many moons ago. I remember they were all that cream yellow colour. I don't buy any 1/72 anymore because my bad eyes except for large scale Aircraft 1/72 kits and bigger if I can. However I have the modern version model of a Queen's Royal Guard and a British Police Officer. Both 1/16 scale. I ordered those from Ukraine. Good to see your video again. I seem to loose contact with some videos here and there. I have lots of lists so it's a little hard to find. All the best.🙂✌️🇭🇲🦘👍👋