Best 54 mm figures? (1 Viewer)

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wadepat

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Gentle Friends,

It is clear that many forum members have strong preferences and affection for K & C products which are currently being produced in 1:30 (60 mm) scale. Without a doubt, the K & C products are superb. However, as one who collects both the 1:30 and 1:32 scale, I am interested in learning what company you believe presently produces the best 1:32 (54 mm) scale products. Do you believe Britains presently produces the best? Or Conte? Or Beau Geste? Or some other company?

I would also be interested in knowing what factors constitute your choice of the best 1:32 scale figures? Sculpting? Historical accuracy? Painting? Diversity of wars represented within the products? Other factors?

Any and all appropriate opinions will be most welcome!

Warmest regards,

Pat
 
Pat: That would be a hard one to answer. In the Traditional sense I like glossy Britains in certain periods. Highlanders, WWl, Knights and cermonial at times. Very few bands. I like Sudan period in traditional like Imperial, Trophy and others. Beau Geste is nice but larger figures.My favorites are artillery, Maxim and other crew served weapons. On the matte figures I have some nice Conte Romans, special editions, pirates and Rev. war which I find are well done. Britains, I have Rev. War and did not buy Civil War or WWll guys.I think each company has some good sculpts and some awfull ones. Same with painting. Tradition figures keep going up in price but quality is down. Gaps in arms, weapons etc. My friend collects them and showed me all the recent defects. I changed FOV guys and San Diego plastic conversions which is fun to do.I don't have ONW or the new Figarti figures. Frontline is probably the best I like in 54mm size. Napoleonic Cavalry, F&Indian War and WWl. My interest lately is recasting and painting old Britains like early Indian Army, Line Infantry , Sudanese, Egyptian and West Indies Regt.Hard to pick a favorite company. John
 
Hi Guys,

This is a tough question to answer. I am mainly a Britians collector (always have been and probably always will be), however I am also a collector that likes an unusal piece as well and I have several that fit that bill, like a Russian made Winged Polish Hussar that is 60mm and right now is the only 60mm I have. But I also have some really great sets from Marlborough and I am really excited about the Beau Geste Durbar line and will go down that path soon enough. So guess the answer for me would be mainly Britains but if a good set comes along...:rolleyes:

Have a good one guys

Dave
 
I think Britains has the best toy soldiers currently, but I liked Imperial the best. It's too bad they retired. I think the new figures Britains are coming out with are as good as anything in any scale.
I have been thinking about getting some "Edmund's Traditional Toy Soldiers" Civil War sets. Anyone ever see these?
 
If by "best" you mean best at any price then the Russian Aeroart/St. Petersburg figures are far and away the best. Painting, sculpting, historical accuracy make the rest look like "toy" soldiers. These are really pieces of art. Of course they are about 10 times as expensive - so it divides up collectors into those that prefer the less expensive diorama type sets produced by KC and those that prefer individual musuem quality figures. For those of us who collect WWII though, the russians for some reason have not made many such figures so KC fills a nice historical niche in that area.
 
jrsteel said:
I think Britains has the best toy soldiers currently, but I liked Imperial the best. It's too bad they retired. I think the new figures Britains are coming out with are as good as anything in any scale.
I have been thinking about getting some "Edmund's Traditional Toy Soldiers" Civil War sets. Anyone ever see these?
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Edmund is a regular at both the West Coaster and Chicago shows. I finally broke down and bought about 15 sets in Chicago last year. Michigan Toy Soldier Company carries them and has photos.
 
For true 54mm, my vote goes to Frontline, whose matt Civil War, Zulu War and Napoleonics are second only to K&C in quality, except, of course for the Aeroart/St. Petersburg, which I consider military miniatures rather than toy soldiers.
 
East of India.

All their catalogue is great. The scultings and the colours are simply awesome. Look at their new serie about Greece: amazing. Unfortunately, I do not have the money to collect them.

Pierre.
 
I collect WW2 Conte, some Britains, ONTC, and Figarti. But of the above companies my favorite line are the Figarti Iraq series.
In my opinion what really puts K&C above everyone else is the consistant quality with every issue.
Gary
 
ucla1967 said:
Edmund is a regular at both the West Coaster and Chicago shows. I finally broke down and bought about 15 sets in Chicago last year. Michigan Toy Soldier Company carries them and has photos.
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There are 4 sets on eBay. Search under Edmund's to see them.
 
Louis Badolato said:
For true 54mm, my vote goes to Frontline, whose matt Civil War, Zulu War and Napoleonics are second only to K&C in quality, except, of course for the Aeroart/St. Petersburg, which I consider military miniatures rather than toy soldiers.
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I agree with Louis. Frontline's matte finnish Zulu War, Civil War, and especially, their Napoleonics are first-rate. They are my favorites by far. I also like and collect their earlier gloss finnish Charge of the Light Brigade series. Even Andy has acknowledged admiring that series.

I have exclusively Frontline's Napoleonics line and their Civil War line with the exception of some Edmund's sets. I also have Frontline's Zulu War line, but also have glossy finnished sets from Imperial and Trophy which are completely different in their own right which I display separately.
 
I agree with previous posters that "best" needs to be narrowed down a bit. Some brands do much better than others in certain areas. You might also want to discuss the media - metal? plastic? resin? How about painted or unpainted? Some manufacturers do fine with one era and "blow it" on another. The same guy who makes fine knights might suck at WW2 infantry. Plus there's personal taste - I like matte finish WW2 combat figures, another likes glossy "traditional" figures in parade poses, another wants the proper regimental uniforms for Napoleonic era, etc. Each supplier has strengths and weaknesses.

Personal favorites - 54mm painted metal - Conte's new GIs. They're "large" 54mm, but still close to that scale. Not as nice as K&C, but 1/30 scale is becoming a market of its own. 54mm unpainted metal - Valiant, primarily because they have a number of WW2 items that I have done. Detail is not as sharp as when they were cast in lead alloy, but not bad. Andrea does some VERY nice metal figures, I just don't have personal experience with them yet.54mm unpainted soft plastic - TSSD. Nice sculpts and detail, plus useable with Conte. 54mm unpainted styrene - Airfix MultiPose. Again, generally well-sculpted and very adaptable. Lots of fun! If I was into Napoleonics I probably would have responded Historex for the same reason. 54mm unpainted resin - again, not a lot of experience but Michael Roberts has some nice WW2 figures available. That just covers favorites from a very limited era that I spend money on.

Gary
 
I can see this one will take off! We certainly have a lot of "best" opinions and I am always interested in these opinions since I like to have a lot of different soldiers on display. I too have a lot of old gloss Frontline and think they are very good and would mix well with the Britians if I ever got around to collecting more Zulu War or Sudan War figures. I only have one set of Imperial from the Crimean campaign but they are top notch too and would love to add some more some day. Dreams!

Dave
 
I think Gary makes an excellent point. The "best" is always a matter of opinion when it comes to something as subjective and artistic as Toy Soldiers. Further, as Gary also points out, it is difficult to compare "apples" and "oranges", i.e. matt painted metal, glossy painted metal, unpainted metal, painted plastic and unpainted plastic. Each different type of figure is produced by dozens of companies, both large and small. My interest runs only to painted metal, matt for modern subjects (which for me includes the U.S. Civil War), glossy for the more colorful subjects from the Victorian Era and earlier. So my opinion naturally spoke only to these subjects. By the way, the earlier glossy Frontline figures, including the Crimean War, Zulu War and WWII Pilots, are among my favorite 54mm glossy figures (alongside early glossy K&C, my absolute favorite glossy 54mm figures, as well as Trophy of Wales).
 
My choices based on time periods in 1/32 , not 70mm KC.I do think KC are probably the best available but of limited use to me personally.
Also, I do not collect glossy Traditionals.Painted metals in Matte for me please.

ACW, Conte ,New Britains followed by Frontline.

WW2 ONWTC, Conte, New Britians look like perfect companions.I have a few Frontline German guns and crews but dont care for their Infantry much.

Napoleonics, Frontline -Great variety splendid paintwork , followed by Niena, lastly the OOp Britians.Again, a limited amount of KC , I think they are top notch , just limited in variety and HUGE for my tastes . Hope to see some new Britains soon .

AWI / FIW Frontlines now OOP Woodland Indians are superb,KC British Redcoats are also top notch, I have x 1 20 figure unit but have passed on their Americans.Conte AWI and FIW Indians are very good and Britians AWI are nice as well.

Thats all I have the room or $$$ to collect in painted metal. Actually, I have run out of room and my indulgences have been , well rather indulgent but I keep buying anyway!



Plastics, Conte hands down.

FuBArRrrRrrrrRRRrr
 
I too am solely a Britains collector and only collect their Rev War items. I don't like the glossy look at all and find the Britians Rev War stuff to be really great. The other companies don't even hold a candle to the detail, the painting and the quality of Britians, at least on this scale. That is the reason I don't collect any other 54mm figurines by the other manufacturers. I go with Britians all the way.

Mark
 
I am pretty new to this, but being a former 1/35 modeler, I think Conte's new WWII stuff has a feel similar to what I was used to in 1/35th. Although I don't seem to see many members of the Forum talk about Conte much. I don't like toyish stuff. The new Conte stuff has a flat, somewhat weathered realistic look. It goes without saying the K&C figures are fantastic, and they will form the bulk of my collection. But the Conte stuff fits better with the many Forces of Valor Vehicles I have.
Alex
 
TGrimm said:
War Park
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I think you win the award for revival of the oldest thread! I had fun reading through collector's responses from 2006, some of whom are still here. I guess we're lifers! As far as my current favorite 54mm....I have to think on that and will circle back. But we should update the question to 60mm.

Joe
 
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