"Need some very simple marching AWI figures..." Topic

Hey, can anyone out there help?

I am doing a small painted army for my three year old for Christmas… But I want to find some marching figures that do not have huge guns sticking out (ie something to bend!)

Can anyone make any suggestions?

Thanks!

Any scale in particular?

My suggestion for a three year old is plastic 54mm soldiers either Marx or Timpo. There are plenty of plastic manufacturers out there perfect for a three year old.

I'd suggest 54mm plastic and not paint them. I think painting is wasted on a 3 year old. Wait till they're 7 or 8.

Thanks,

John

Could you maybe use All the King's Men?

They are 54mm, fairly rugged, but still metal.

Dude. A three year old is going to chew on his toys. Count on it, they're like puppies. No metal, no paint. Give him some nice soft polyethylene toy soldiers.

Hey all!

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Thankfully my three year old boy is the most meticulous, careful little boy that has ever been born. Doesn't chew, doesn't throw, doesn't bend… He carefully lines up his toys, brushes dust off them, sits and quietly looks at them… It's pretty nuts. He has had these in his room for three years…

And no harm has ever come to them. Nuts, but hey, perfect for a kid who needs toy soldiers!:)

Thanks for the manufacturer suggestions… It is just so far out of my realm that I don't even know where to look:)

Accurate plastics are perfect for what you want. They make both sides and the sculpts are excellent. They are cheap and available everywhere. And they come in 1/32 and 1/72.

Here's a youtube video.

YouTube link

Risk figures are simple, bendy plastic and marching at high port and available cheaply as spares. Only about 13mm scale though.

Have a look at these

link

Lord Ashram;

Since you posted this on the Plastics Figures board, I will assume that you have thought about this and would prefer plastics, either for cost or safety, or perhaps both.

The only choices in plastic are going to be 1/72 sets from a variety of makers (see plasticsoldierreview.com and look at their period index); 28mm hard plastic kits from Wargames Factory and the Perry Brothers (a lot of assembly for what you seem to be wanting, and fiddly if he handles them at all); and any of several 54-60mm plastic play sets for the AWI.

If you open your search up to metal then you add 40mm which you already have some exposure to and 54mm from All The Kings Men and Irregular.

Your Mileage May Vary, but I believe the "best" alternative are the 54-60mm plastic sets, best bang for the buck if you will, IF you intend for the Young Lord to actually play with them. If, however, you intend for this set to be the next step in his "collection" and possibly something that he will have years from now, then I would go with the metal from Ken at All The Kings Men.

If you go plastic, the first "adjustment" to your plan is that the playsets that you would be interested in all contain multiple poses, usually action poses, very few marching poses like you mention. The only exception that I can think of are the now OoP HäT SYW Prussian sets that did have a full box of marching figures and a box of command. These are/were wonderful figures that feature separate headgear allowing you to make any combination of musketiers, fusiliers and grenadiers. SYW Prussians aren't exactly AWI, but they can be painted as Hessians and be accurate, or just paint them as you choose for a 3-year old (future ImagiNations army?).

From this:

You can make these:

If you go with metal you can buy separate poses which makes the "adjustment" to your plan unnecessary. If you opt for plastic you can still find the HäT sets here and there, for that matter I could sell you 2 boxes of foot plus 1 command that I have in my plastics pile. This would allow you to make 3 17-figure "companies" each with 12 rank and file and 5 command figures (sergeant, drummer, fifer, officer and standard bearer). I'm not trying to make a sale, just trying to offer you some assistance.

Whichever route you choose, good luck on your project and congrats on wanting to start the Young Lord out right!

Bill

I appreciate all the references to ATKM and my products in this thread, but they definitely would not be appropriate for a 3 year old. They're lead and cadmium free, but there are pointed parts everywhere. I echo Major William, above, and advocate Hat's Prussians in 54mm for a simple marching pose in a safe material. Lord Ashram, you know your criteria best. But IMHO you couldn't go wrong with unpainted plastic in 1/32nd or 1/72nd scale. Both have a proven record of getting young historians into the hobby.

If you are looking for metal figures try Foundry AWI continentals marching in state uniforms.