Review of the Week

It would not be fair to start December by not reviewing the new 2021 Christmas piece by King and Country. After all, we only have new releases in this collection once a year! So let’s be festive and take a look at the XM021 - Santa & His Polar Bear.

The beginning of a new collection is always something exciting. However, it can be hard to decide whether or not to collect those new figures when you only have 2-3 pieces produced so far. It takes a bit of time to understand where a collection is going and when you finally have a good grasp of the situation, the earlier pieces are gone and you regret not getting them when you had the chance. So, to inaugurate the new Trojan War collection by John Jenkins, let’s ask him a few questions and look at the JJ-TWG-05 - Odysseus.

I know that I recently covered the Franco-Prussian War, but with the release of the new Algerian Tirailleurs by First Legion, I have to dive back into this conflict. Especially as this regiment paid dearly the price of this war when it was decimated at Frœschwiller on August 6th 1870 by the outnumbering Prussian troops. So let's look at the FPW034 - Algerian Tirailleur Regiment Officer, but first let’s recap a bit the zouave history...

In peacetime or during a war, interactions between soldiers and civilians are impossible to avoid. This is why many displays will eventually find themselves in need of a non-military character. Within many of its major collections, King and Country produced several of those civilian figures. However, there are some collections that are a bit forgotten when it comes to this specific range. Fortunately, there are sometimes clever ways to combine pieces from different collections to achieve a nice result. With that said, the recent LoJ050 - The Donkey Boy Set will surely be quite appreciated to complete various desert displays!

Amongst all the aces in the world, one is at the top of the list and known by almost everybody: Manfred von Richthofen. Often called The Red Baron, this German ace obtained 80 official victories in total. According to some sources, he even fought against Snoopy, although this last point is a bit controversial. In the last weeks, John Jenkins released a figure based on the greatest of all aces: the JJ-ACE-01NP - Baron Von Richthofen.

Earlier this month, King and Country released two versions of the same Vietnam figure. One of them has one of the most fancy camo patterns ever produced by King and Country. This figure is none other than the VN139 - Green Beret Colonel In Tiger-Stripes.

This month, First Legion released a new vignette for the Battle of Stalingrad collection. But this time, there is a woman! King and Country produced several female characters in the past for its Red Army collection, but this is the first one for First Legion’s soviet forces. So let’s look at the RUSSTAL066 - Russian Wounded Assisted By Female Nurse and the story that goes around it.

Few years ago, First Legion released an extraordinary figure of a USAAF seated passenger. But this figure is weird. The pilot has a generous beard and this would never be possible because of the oxygen mask required to fly in high altitude. So, for most people, this toy soldier makes no sense. However, for those who watched Kelly’s Heroes, the NOR052 - USAAF Pilot Passenger is a masterpiece.

During the XIX century, an occidental artistic movement called Orientalism reached a peak and had an impact on various creative spheres, from architecture to painting, litterature and music. This month, King and Country announced a figure that can be considered as a tribute to XIX century orientalism: the AE079 - The Egyptian Harpist.

In the world of toy soldiers, most of the pieces are related to more or less violent themes. However, there are some toy soldiers that are not following this trend. Such is the case with the new group of voyageurs by John Jenkins Designs. Of course the voyageur had their share of conflicts with other voyageurs, first nations and wilderness, but this new collection is all about partying. So let’s look at the first piece of this new series: JJ-WSP-50 - Jean-Claude Clymer And Didier Dupont.