Louis Marx and Company Toys - Confederate Ambulance

With the COVID-19 restrictions and the resulting shelter-in-place orders now in place in much of the U.S., I find myself with time to cull through my collection and resume posting. I recently got the recast of the Civil War ambulance originally released by the Louis Marx and Company as part of the "Giant Blue and Gray Battle Set sold by Montgomery Ward in 1961". Not sure when the re-casts were made, but I got mine from Amazon from a 3rd party seller.

I was a kid in the early seventies, which was kind of the tail end for the Marx playsets. I don't remember having any of the Marx playsets as a kid, but I remember my friend across the street had the Guns of Navarone playset and the Comanche Pass playset. What I remember clearly was the detail in the castings, and the number of parts that came with the playset that added realism.

Close-up of horse team

UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter

I'm calling this a Blackhawk, because it's clearly based or inspired on the Army Helicopter.

For the price - $3 or $4 bucks if I remember correctly - it's not too shabby. Based on the figures I would put this around 1:48 scale. I love the landing gear - gives it a "tricked out" vibe. It's got a friction motor, which explains the mag wheels. I would have preferred a color scheme that more closely matches the US Army markings, but it's a toy and would never look realistic. The plastic wing and undercarriage are reacting poorly to the lighting and are becoming discolored. The pilots are molded in a realistic shade of silver. I'm keeping it - at least it might look good with some toy soldiers.

Hasbro Star Wars Command - Arena Assault

asbro sold a series of sets of toy soldiers featuring Star Wars characters and vehicles. The figures are around 1/32 scale, and the vehicles just vary in scale. I was able to snag a fair number of these when they started being sold at 1/2 off. You sometimes still see them in discount stores, but at closer to retail prices. I have seen examples painted up - I haven't tried that yet.

Micro Machine military First Gulf War sets

Micro Machines released a series of vehicle to coincide with the First Gulf War. Had these for years, but never really displayed them, so sold off. About 1/144 scale, they are fair representations of the actual vehicles, but are clearly more toy than model.

Patriot Missile Launcher

Tiger Tank by ToyMark

Another piece of the collection sold off. 1/32 scale King Tiger by ToyMark. I have also seen it sold under the New Ray label. The model is battery operated, with the tracks being motorized. Turret moves, but isn't powered. Not a bad toy for it's price, going for around $18 to $25. The marking appear to be from schwere Panzer-Abteilung 505. The color scheme seems fanciful, but I claim no expertise as to German markings. Panzer grey just seems wrong for the time frame when the King Tigers became operational. Would definitely recommend for those interested in 1/32 scale armor, as the toy is quite robust and has decent detail. Came with 3 figures of marginal quality.

Hot Wheels Planet Micro Military

More items from the collection that I'm shedding. Hot Wheels, in response to Micro Machines by Galoob, released its Planet Micro line. Didn't seem to last too long.

Here is the complete set (I believe - it's been some time since I bought it).

The figures aren't that impressive, with the center bloke holding what I assume to be a ground to air missile.

More Military Toys - Micro Machines

I had picked up a couple of sets of the Micro Machines. I liked the detail on the small scale toys, and liked the subject matter (still do). But need to free up space, so again, off to eBay.

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 Got rid of the packaging years ago.

This set came with 2 figures, a FT 17, Fokker Dr 1, and Sopwith Camel.

21st Century Toys Flakpanzer IV Mobelwagen Anti-Aircraft Vehicle

I am going through my stuff and am trying to "right size" my collection. While this is a great display piece, it no longer fits my current interests. So off to eBay it goes. It is a 1/32 scale diecast Mobelwagen by 21st Century Toys.

Lucky Products, Inc. "100 pc Toy Soldier Set"

One of the first set of toy soldiers I remember playing with as a lad was a set advertised in comic books, as above.  My friend had gotten a set after responding to the ad. The ad didn't make mention of the fact that these were flats, so it was a little disappointing once received. Also, it was a strange mix - 8 officers, 8 WAVES, and 8 WACS, but only 4 tanks and 8 machine gunners. Don't remember wishing I had more Wacs when I was setting up a battle scene. But I do have fond memories of the set, and I was pleased to pick up a few at the Toy Soldier Show. Lose bag of figures for only $3. And at this point I like the facts that they did do figures of the WACS and WAVES

Bazooka, sharpshooters, infantry man, and officer