Well, I hadn't planned to buy more figures, but while perusing eBay I stumbled on a Conte Bren gunner figure which I had not seen before. The price was right (Conte and Britain figures vary wildly in price, even for the same figure, so you have to just wait for one to come along that you think is reasonable - I've seen figures I've purchased for $5 being sold for $99 and as "rare" when they aren't anything of the sort) and the same seller had a rifle figure available.
And by buying both together, I'd save some on shipping. How could I pass that up?
They will join my existing British paratrooper collection. Of course, now I find myself looking at eBay for more bargain paratroops to join them. Hopefully my wallet survives!
I also wouldn't mind adding some more of the Conte or W. Britain SS figures and get both sides up to ten or twelve figures. That said, I can use my Airix / Matchbox / CTS Heer infantry as proxies when necessary.
I could paint some of the CTS figures I have as SS, as that is what they are (they are sold as "elite" troops), but 1) I don't like the idea of painting them - they are the unequivocally the bad guys and I don't want to feel emotionally invested in them (my British paras are the good guys and while I haven't painted them either, I have found that by naming them - usually after Britcom characters - I feel fully invested in them) and 2) I don't like painting camo.
In any case, I picked up the Disposable Heroes/Coffin for Seven Brothers scenario book, Without Fortune: Fields of Battle, Arnhem 1944, in PDF from RatTrap for some ideas for historical scenarios for the figures. A bit dangerous no doubt, as I see force lists that make me think "Oh, I should definitely buy some more figures!" I intend to pickup a related Osprey or two eventually as well, at the risk of ruining my ability to play cinematic/pulp type actions.
Apparently, I'm planning on making this a bigger part of my gaming than I thought.
Beautiful figures John! Persistence pays off on eBay, that's for sure! If you wait long enough and keep looking, you can usually get a pretty good deal on toy soldiers! There are some people though, who really jack up their prices! I don't know how they ever sell anything!
ReplyDeleteOne of the plus sides of those people who jack up the prices is that, when I find it for less, I feel like I've scored even more of a bargain!
DeleteThose are very collectable castings John. My view is, we don't field figures on the gaming table that often, so its nice to think they are interesting and attractive to view off the gaming table, or perhaps one day in a display cabinet. I would still paint the opposition to a fair standard, for the same reason. By the way, one of my uncles used to visit Arnhem once a year, his first visit was quite stimulating.
ReplyDeleteMichael.
"his first visit was quite stimulating" - that's an intriguing statement!
DeleteI try to do my best (such as it is) for all of my figures, but there's something about painting the SS myself that I feel uncomfortable with due to how attached I am to figures I paint - undoubtedly I overthink these things. I don't mind buying them already painted , a la Britain, King & Country, etc. however, provided I can find them at significant discounts. As collector's figures, people tend to want collector's prices, which are too rich for my blood!