Nice Pictures

The webmaster over at Conte has put up a couple of really nice Civil War pictures. These are of the Iron Brigade in the Cornfield at what I assume to be Antietam. Very Cool pictures.

Several years ago, my reenactment unit was able to portray the 2nd Wisconsin at the 135th anniversary of Antietam. It was early morning, still pitch black, dense fog covered everything, and we started a full on charge into the cornfield...it was great till we actually hit the corn and realized that this wasn't 1860's corn; this was modern, genetically modified, hybrid corn. You can imagine: several hundred tired reenactors, pitch black, trying to bust through this corn that simply would not give. When we finally reached the other side of the field, it was so foggy, we still couldn't see anything. There was SUPPOSED to be a whole regiment of confederates waiting for us... and then BANG BANG BANG. The entire confederate regiment openned up on us from about 20 yards away, hidden by the dark and the fog. I think everyman in the company took a hit. Fun times.

a little rooftop action

21st Century

I picked up a couple sets of 21st Century figures on Ebay today. I've always liked their figures, and ALMOST have a complete set of them. I'm missing the recently released Italians, and a few of the "support" figures that came along with some vehicles and heavy weapons. The ones I picked up today were the British series 2 and the German series 5. I believe these came out at the same time, but never showed up at any stores around me. I'm afraid the Italians will be much the same, and I'll have to scour ebay to find a cheap set.

I remember seeing advertisements for British Paras and U.S. Marines awhile back from 21st Century, but haven't heard anything since. Hopefully they are still in the hopper. The British paras looked especially nice. (I think there is a forum thread about these two sets over at Treefrog Treasures somewhere if you want pictures.)

Recap

First off, I mentioned in a post below that I read on the Conte site that they had actually received the plastic Spartans. whoops. I didn't really read that. My excitement got the better of me. It said they were expecting the shipment, not that they had actually gotten it. my bad. I called, but didn't realize they were only open Mon-Fri.

My Wal-Mart still had the same stuff, 3 packs of 21st Century figures, the Russian mini playsets, and some Airplanes. Didn't seem like much of it has sold.

My wife and I have started the TV show "Lost", starting with Season 1. I think it's rockin', and it has a nice toy soldier scene in it.

It's a slow day around here today, and I'm going to be painting some figures and try finishing up the Hobby Bunker building I bought in Chicago. It's going to be a awesome when it's done, and then I'll need another one to go along with it.

Wally World restock

My Wal-Mart restocked their 21st Century stuff. They had a ton of 1/32 vehicles, a bunch of the little boxed playsets with Russian Infantry figures, and a whole bunch of the three figure packs containing Germans and Americans. Still no Italians though. I'm going back today, and crossing my fingers that they have some more in stock.

Anybody have any word on when the Conte Spartans are going to be "for sale". I might give em' a call today, see how close they are to being able to ship.

Rock on.

Conte Sale, plus new stuff

Praise be the toy soldier gods. According to the Conteco site, they have received shipment of the Plastic Spartans, plus all their older plastic sets are going on sale in a "buy one get one free" deal. PLUS, 25% off of their playsets. No, no, no, I ain't a paid salesman or anything, but that's a heck of a good deal, Conte plastic sets for $10. Can't beat it with a stick.

And did I mention... NEW PLASTIC SPARTANS ARRIVING!!!! dude...DUDE...really... I'm gonna get me some.

Oh, and a big thanks to whoever posted my site on the hatwiki. Rock on ya'll.

New Persians

I was surfing through Ebay, and saw the latest from The Plastic Underground. There are a couple of sets of Persians available to bid on. Both sets look awesome. It doesn't look like they are available from his website yet, so it looks like if you want them, you're going to have to battle it out on Ebay.

Need a Ride?

Over at Ebay, there is a auction going on for 31 Timmee trucks. These are always popular and usually get high bids. But 31 of them? Wow. That was a major collection of Timmee stuff. I don't have one myself. I'm holding out till I find one in a garage sale or the like. I just can't bring myself to battle it out on Ebay and pay usually over $10 for one. But the winner of this auction is going to have a fun time setting all those trucks up.

Waterloo 1815 Japanese

I'm guessing that we won't be getting new 1/32 Japanese from Waterloo. I'm making this assumption on the fact that the Waterloo 1/72 and 1/32 Prussians are coming out at around the same time. Waterloo is listing the Japanese as coming sometime this month, but no mention of a matching 1/32 set. bummer. Meh, we got the TSSD Japanese set awhile back. And a heck of a set it was. Slap it together with your new 21st Century Japanese, along with all your vintage Marx, Airfix, and MPC, add in those slightly oversized BMC, and you've got yourself a formidable island defense.

No sign of 21st Century

I've been keeping an eye out for any of the new 21st Century infantry sets at my local Wally World. So far, nothing. And when I say nothing, I mean zilch. All the Wal-Marts around me don't seem to be stocking 21st Century at all. They used to carry all the 1/6 figures and weapons sets, the 1/16 figures, and lots of the 1/32 sets including infantry, armor, and aircraft. I walked in the other day, and found a lone package of 1/6 weapons. Bleck. I hope this isn't the beginning of a trend. I could always count on Wally World to get me some toy soldiers at discounted retail price. Hopefully it's just a case of them not being fully restocked after the Christmas rush. hopefully....

It's been awhile since I've really dug into my collection and set up any displays. Christmas really takes over around here, and then the New Year hits, and now finally, life can go back to it's normal hectic routine. It also didn't help that I got Call of Duty 4 for Christmas. It's one heck of a game, and I've spent a fair amount of time proving my inadequacy at multi-player shoot em' ups. Here's a free tip for those that might one day venture into an online game. DON'T SHOOT YOUR OWN TEAMMATE!!! They don't seem to appreciate it.

My email... it's still working I assume. I'm simply not opening it. I will someday. I just don't have time to pour through it every day, and the amount of email that comes in is crazy. Most of it is junk. Maybe I just need a new address, but that seems like a daunting task in it's own right. I'll try one day, but not today, and chances are, not tomorrow.