Figure Poll

Zvezda won my poll as the best maker of soft plastic figures, with HaT a close second. This is surprising to me because the range of figures that Zvezda makes is rather narrow. Most of their kits are Napoleonic or before, with no 2oth Century figure sets at all. They are also a rather new company. Airfix is the granddaddy of them all, first making plastic figures in about 1960 and I would have suspected a few more votes from them just for old times sake.


Imex has made up most of my figures purchases in recent years, their line coincides nicely with my focus of the US Army and enemies since the first muster of Militia at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in December 1637. Most of their figure sets work for that time period and most of their figure sets cover topics never done in one inch figures before, like the Alamo and Pilgrims.


My single favorite set of all time is the Pegasus Germans in Berlin set. I helped Larry Pegasus design the set and it won a Model of the Year award from the German model magazine Modell Fan. It is a great set with lots of character, many new figures types, more women than most sets, and many figure options too. The extra arms and weapons allow for many conversions and modifications and just swapping around of gear. The lack of bases in the set is seen as a negative by many but I just whip out a little sheet styrene and crank out a few.


HaT makes more sets than anyone else and their Napoleonic and Ancients are very popular. I would have thought they would win. With the number of people buying their models and the constant excitement their website and forum bring to the hobby I was sure they would get top honors. HaT is now making British Colonial sets. I am sure these will be a big hit. That has aways been popular with larger 54mm size Toy Soldier sets, and I am surprised Airfix did not make these kinds of sets in the 1960s.