Miniature Reviews – Toy Soldier Central https://toysoldiercentral.com The Best Place For Toy Soldiers Sun, 29 Oct 2023 19:26:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://toysoldiercentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cropped-roundversion-32x32.png Miniature Reviews – Toy Soldier Central https://toysoldiercentral.com 32 32 Authentic Taliban Toy Soldiers – A Stunning Review! https://toysoldiercentral.com/taliban-toy-soldiers-review-aip/ https://toysoldiercentral.com/taliban-toy-soldiers-review-aip/#respond Mon, 30 Jan 2023 01:00:00 +0000 https://am.wpferdy.com/?p=57 Hello Commander, welcome back to Toy Soldier Central. Are you interested in unusual modern toy soldiers? Then check out these Taliban army men by Armies In Plastic! These Taliban army men are a rare set of modern soldiers that come from a premium army men company.

If you have any thoughts about these army men, we’d love to hear them. Leave a comment below.

Now let’s jump into the review of “The Afghan Taliban,” set made by Armies In Plastic.



The History Of The “Armies In Plastic” Company

Here’s a brief history of the A.I.P. company.

Armies In Plastic was established in 1998 by toy soldier enthusiast Anthony Ciccarello. Now, the business is maintained by Paul Ciccarello, who continues the business his father started. They’re a United States based toy soldier company, and operate from Ohio. Their production is 100% USA based, as of 2021.

Armies In Plastic specializes in producing high-quality, historically accurate toy soldier figures. They offer a wide range of plastic army men, covering various historical eras and military conflicts. Their figures are always made of sturdy and durable plastic. Although the figures lack exceptional, luxury quality detail, they are still “better than okay.” Armies In Plastic is a prime example of a premium toy soldier brand.

Over the years, the company has gained a loyal following of toy soldier enthusiasts and collectors worldwide.

Without any further ado, let’s jump right into the frontlines of this review!


First Impressions Of The Toy Soldier Packaging

First things first, let’s talk about the box these army men come in.

The box itself is made of durable cardboard. It feels sturdy, and you can use it to secure your soldiers. The front of the box displays the Armies In Plastic logo. The box also shows off original concept sketches used for some of the poses in this pack.

The box also shows us specifics about this particular set of toy soldiers. My box says they’re Taliban toy soldiers representing the “Helmand Province.” There are 3 other provinces, making 4 in total. The only difference between the “provinces” is the color of the toy soldier’s plastic. Armies In Plastic continues the tradition of providing various color options for your toy soldiers in most of their army men sets.

Your different color options for the Taliban toy soldiers are:

ProvinceColor Of Army Men
Helmand ProvinceBlue Soldiers
blue toy soldiers taliban aip

Afghan Province (Out Of Production)
(Sometimes mislabeled as Helmand Province)
Tan Soldiers
taliban tan toy soldiers
Kabul ProvinceRed Soldiers
taliban toy soldiers kabul province
Kandahar ProvinceBlack Soldiers
taliban plastic army men kandahar province
Different color options for your Taliban toy soldiers. Images courtesy of mister original.

The sides of the box tell you the set you’re purchasing, as well as your set number. The Helmand Province is set number 5620. You’re also given details about the soldiers. Those facts include the size of the soldiers, their pose variety, and the total number of soldiers in the set. This particular box comes with 18 figures, varying in 6 poses, all in 1:32 (54mm) scale.

The back of the box has an innovative feature that sets it apart from other toy soldier companies – a transparent plastic sheet. This lets you see the soldiers in the box before buying them!

On the back of the box, you’ll find AIP’s business information, including their website, physical address, and an outdated phone number.

Now, onto the figures themselves.


General Overview Of Taliban Army Men By AIP

The Armies In Plastic Taliban box set comes with 3 plastic bags. Each baggy contains 6 soldiers, totaling to 18 soldiers. You can think of each bag as an independent squad, because every soldier in the bag utilizes a different pose.

The 6 poses you can expect are as follows:

One rocketeer, ready to launch his RPG.

One Commander, holding a handgun and AK-47.

One Soldier aiming his ak-47 while standing.

One Soldier aiming his ak-47 while crouching.

One Soldier advancing at a sprint’s pace.

One Soldier charging into battle, firing his AK-47 from the hip.

Each of these toy soldiers comes with varied details – which are all pretty good.

Keep in mind that Taliban themed toy soldiers are rare and hard to come by. These modern soldiers are hardly ever converted into miniature form. The only other toy soldier companies I know of that produce Taliban army men are Mars with their Taliban Warriors set, and ResinMunitorum from Etsy with their OPFOR set. Both sets are spectacular in their own right, and I own the Mars set.

Do you agree with this post so far? Share your thoughts in a comment below!

As far as the variety, I was pretty satisfied with the poses of the figures. We’re getting 18 soldiers, with 6 poses, and 3 of each pose. The only thing that could have made this set better was if EVERY soldier used a different pose, but hey, a hobbyist can dream, right?

For those reasons, I give the variety and uniqueness a solid 8 out of 10.


Quality Level Of These Taliban Toy Soldiers

At first glance, you can tell these toy soldiers are something special. And that’s what I expect from a premium toy soldier company. Each soldier has individual details ranging from subtle to complex. All those qualities add up to make a marvelous toy soldier.

Every molding line and crease makes sense on the figures, and brings out the characteristics of their equipment and uniforms. You can even see the toes in the sandals on some of these miniatures!

You also get some slight variance in the general appearance of the army men in each squad. Some of the soldiers are sporting turbans, while other soldiers are using Taqiyyas. Some soldiers are wearing a robe and pants, while others are also wearing a vest over their robe. Some soldiers have more creases on their robes than others.

You get the idea – every squad member has a distinct look.

Upon closer inspection, you can even see the buttons near the robe collar, and on the ammo pouches. That’s incredible attention to detail!

The faces are also crafted with the beginning stages of intricate detail. Remember, they aren’t luxury miniatures, but they’re still pretty good. Every miniature has a well formed nose, prominent cheekbones, lips that fit the scale, and divots for their eyes.

Now, I have to say something about these toy soldiers. The miniatures are simple. They have a weapon, a face, some equipment, hair, headwear… and that’s about it.

And I wouldn’t want it any other way!

Their simplicity is historically accurate, and adds to the charm of these miniatures. It’s the perfect medium between Tim Mee’s straightforward soldiers, and the complicated miniatures of Games Workshop.

Finally, the bases of each of these toy soldiers all come pre-textured with a sort of sandy and desert theme. They have rough patches, humps and bumps, which you can convert into a marvelous base.

Additionally, each base is wide and firm – you’ll have no problem standing these soldiers up. The bottom of each base is also stamped with “Armies In Plastic” branding. That stamp has no effect on the toy soldier’s standing ability.

Unfortunately, no toy soldiers are without downsides.

Upon closer inspection of these soldiers, you can find subtle plastic flashing lines. They usually run right down the middle of the figure, from the top of the head, all the way down to the left and right sides of the arms. Don’t worry though, you can clean the plastic flashing by using a hobby knife and some patience.

These plastic flashing lines are obvious on some figures. You can almost imagine how both halves of the toy soldier were molded together to make the full figure.

If these artifacts touch the mini’s nose, it will unfortunately cause a slight deformity. Also, the soldiers have the classic plastic toy soldier molding circle pin mark on their backs, and other places on their bodies. Sometimes it looks a bit ugly.

But, like the plastic flashing, you can remedy this with a hobby knife and a little bit of green stuff to fill in the cracks.

Some of these toy soldiers have unfortunate flatness in their beards. It’s like they had trouble texturing this soldier’s sideburns. But hey, at least the rest of the beard is bushy!

A few of my soldiers also had some chipping on their eyebrows. I can’t say if this is true for every Taliban toy soldier set, but that’s what I got with mine.

I have to say this: I was grasping at straws with these negatives, because these minis are wonderful.

Back to the bright side of these miniatures – the unpainted figures look great right out of the box, flaws and all. But, I know from experience that when they change from unpainted to painted toy soldiers, they jump to life.

If you’re curious about learning how to paint toy soldiers, and if you wanna pick up the techniques we used to paint these Taliban toy soldiers, check out our guide about how to paint these Taliban toy soldiers. After you learn how to paint these figures, they’ll pop right into the next level of awesomeness!

Let’s wrap up the quality and detail assessment of these toy soldiers. Armies In Plastic did a wonderful job wtih the detailing. The equipment, the ammo vests, the weapons, the clothing, and the soldiers themselves are all top notch.

I give this set a 6.5 out of 10 in terms of quality and detail.

The features on these army men are impressive, and they become even more remarkable when you remember that this set only costs $10-$18!


How Much Do Taliban Plastic Army Men Cost?

It’s critical to remember, Armies In Plastic is a premium quality toy soldier brand. If you aren’t familiar with the term, I recommend refreshing your knowledge on the premium toy soldier brands page.

But here’s a brief recap to save you some time. Premium toy soldier companies produce high quality soldiers, and are usually more costly as a result. However, they aren’t at the quality and cost level of luxury toy soldier brands.

But, Armies In Plastic stands out as a diamond among premium toy soldier brands.

This box set, and many others like it, are sold for bargain prices ranging between 10$ and 18$. For that small cost, you get 18 well detailed, one of a kind toy soldiers from the modern Era.

This price summary is so short because you can’t beat the value you get from these toy soldiers at that price. Because of that, Armies In Plastic earns a solid 10 out of 10 in the pricing category with this army men set.


My Personal Opinion On Armies In Plastic Taliban Army Men

These figures are something I adore. I have nostalgic feelings for these toy soldiers. When I was a young hobbyist, I was so used to playing with Chinese knock-off army men from the dollar store.

That all changed when one day, I was doing my daily curiosity-fueled search for “plastic army men” on eBay.

I scrolled and scrolled until I stumbled upon some toy soldiers more unique than anything else I’ve yet seen!

I begged my dad to buy me a box, and I painted them up instantly, then sold them for 5 times what my dad paid for them.

I love every set from Armies In Plastic. Especially their modern toy soldiers! But, this set holds a special place in my heart, and I give this box set a solid 10 out of 10 on my personal score.

What’s your personal opinion on these blue army men? Share your thoughts in a comment below!


Conclusion Of The Armies In Plastic Taliban Toy Soldiers Review

Let’s recap the scores so far.

CATEGORYSCORE
Variety & Uniqueness8/10
Quality & Detail6.5/10
Price10/10
My Personal Rating10/10
TOTAL SCORE34.5/40

The total score of this set is 34.5 out of 40, or 86%, earning this product a solid B grade.

The attention to detail and accuracy of the figures makes them look very realistic. Plus, the numerous poses and accessories available make them great for customizing and creating unique displays. Even though they aren’t luxury miniatures, I always look forward to seeing what Armies In Plastic releases next. In fact, they’re one of the most affordable premium army men brands, and one of my personal favorites.

This set should be part of every toy soldier collector’s army!


Where To Buy Armies In Plastic Taliban Toy Soldiers

Armies In Plastic On eBay

Armies In Plastic On Amazon

The Armies In Plastic Store Page

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Revolutionary Review Of Forbidden Fallout Toy Soldiers Made By Nanoforce https://toysoldiercentral.com/review-of-nanoforce-fallout-toy-soldiers/ https://toysoldiercentral.com/review-of-nanoforce-fallout-toy-soldiers/#respond Sun, 22 Jan 2023 19:00:39 +0000 https://am.wpferdy.com/?p=55

“War, war never changes.”

Ulysses S. Grant

Welcome to the review of the “You Will Emerge” Fallout Video Game toy soldier bag set, from the Nanoforce line of Emce Toys. This bag of toy soldiers proudly features a diverse variety of creatures and characters from one of the most beloved video game series out there – Fallout. We’ll be going over their quality level, the pros and cons of the figures, and highlighting all the details of these fallout toy soldiers that you need to know about before you buy them.

But before you get started, it’s important to know just what the Fallout series is all about. Our friend Andrew at Tangible Day can give you the run down on the fallout video game series through this link!

Table of Contents

The figures found in this bag set are modeled specifically to look like characters from the series’ most recent entry – fallout 76. The company that made these figures are called “Emce Toys,” and these fallout toy soldiers are a prominent feature of their nanoforce line of miniature soldiers.

Emce Toys was founded by “Paul ‘Dr. Mego’ Clarke,” and “Joe Sena” of Spherewerx Micromedia. Their toy production philosophy differs from other companies, and according to an inside source, they are quoted as “not simply wanting to bring back cool toy soldiers, they want to bring back toy soldiers, period.”

Emce Toys has a vast product lineup, including night of the living dead toy soldiers, Star Trek Toy soldiers, Aliens & Colonial Marines toy soldiers, and they even have a collaboration agreement with Mattel toys. Although the Emce Toys website is currently defunct, they are still actively producing these fallout toy soldier bag and box sets under the Nanoforce line.

You can grab these sets from a couple, reputable resellers, and I’ll be linking these sets throughout this review to help guide your search, if you decide to pick up a bag of these apocalyptic bad boys for yourself.

I personally prefer the bag sets, because although the box sets come with some unique one-off characters, like Liberty Prime and Super Mutant Behemoths, they also come with plenty of bloat figures, like the Vault-Boy minis, and molds of the plasma gun.

If you want to get a second perspective on how cool these miniatures are, I recommend checking out what our friend Andrew from Tangible Day had to say about this set!

Now, without any further ado, let me show you why this bag set in particular is worth your hard earned money.


First Impressions Of The Nanoforce You Will Emerge Fallout Bag

You’ll first notice the classic Fallout themed cartoony art style on the bag decals, which features some of the creatures and characters you can expect in your set.

Nanoforce Fallout Toy Soldiers Cover Art

 

The art decal for the Nanoforce Fallout Toy Soldiers Cover Art is spectacular! It really nails the Fallout aesthetic.

The Emce Toys army men come in zip lock bags!After you rip off the bag’s art cover, you’ll realize this is an unusual toy soldier bag, because unlike any other bag of toy soldiers I’ve ever purchased, these Fallout toy soldiers are sealed in a zip-lock bag! I commend Emce Toys for this additional, nice touch.

 


General Overview Of The Nanoforce Fallout Toy Soldiers

This bag set comes with a generous grand total of 24 figures, and my bag in particular came with 10 different poses, from 5 separate Fallout factions.

I can’t guarantee you’ll receive the same soldiers I got in my bag, however, this is a general overview of the type of soldiers you could expect to find in your particular bag of plastic toy soldiers.

My figures & factions included:

Robots Cryptids Super Mutants Brotherhood Of Steel Vault Dwellers

3 Mr. Handy Robots

Fallout Mr Handy Toy Soldiers

3 Protectron Toy Soldiers

Fallout Nanoforce Protectron Toy Soldiers With Grey Plastic

2 Wendigos

Fallout Wendigo Toy Soldiers With Green Plastic

2 Mole Miners

Fallout Mole Miner Toy Soldiers With Green Plastic

1 Jersey Devil

Fallout Jersey Devil Toy Soldier With Brown / Red Plastic

2 Super Mutant Overlords

Fallout Super Mutant Overlords Nanoforce Toy Soldiers With Green Plastic

2 Super Mutant Berserkers

Fallout Super Mutant Berserkers Nanoforce Toy Soldiers With Green Plastic

3 Brotherhood Of Steel Paladins

Fallout Brotherhood Of Steel Paladins Nanoforce Toy Soldiers With Grey Plastic

3 Male Vault Dwellers

Fallout 76 Male Vault Dweller Toy Soldiers With Blue Plastic

3 Female Vault Dwellers

Fallout 76 Female Vault Dweller Toy Soldiers With Blue Plastic

I love the variety of the factions included in this little bag set. You really get a lot of diversity and bang for your buck with these soldiers, and you really could create your own little piece of the wasteland with what you get from this set. However, I do wish that we got to see some more pose variations within the different factions. But, for the fair price I’ve seen people pay for these bag sets, I certainly can’t complain.

To top this all off with a cherry on top, I also rarely ever see any official Fallout toy soldier sets out on the market! The only other ones I can think of are the “power armor battle set,” by Shield Wall, all the cool fallout sets coming from Modiphius and their “Wasteland Warfare” sets, and some independent etsy 3d printing companies.

Based on the rarity factor alone, I give this set a 9 out of 10 for their variety and uniqueness score.


Quality of the Nanoforce Fallout Toy Soldiers Plastic Material

The plastic over-all is soft and malleable, yet strong and firm. I applied a decent amount of force to these figures, and they did bend, however, none of them snapped, which is amazing! Especially considering the lower-end price point. That malleable plastic should make modifying these figures really easy.

These Army Men Have Soft Plastic Which Makes Toy Soldiers Bendable

When handling the figures, you’ll recognize that the minis have a weighty feel to them! They feel strong and sturdy – you won’t have any trouble standing these roamers of the apocalypse.

Side By Side Size Comparison Of Fallout Army Men

Emce Toys also did a spectacular job with the scaling and thickness of these Fallout toy soldiers – they match the actual characters from the video game series. The vault dwellers are the smallest and thinnest out of all the figures in the set, but they aren’t frail and aren’t comically dwarfed by any of the bigger characters. They also feel just as strong as the bulkiest figures. These are really well made miniatures. You can watch an in-depth video on the Toy Soldier Central YouTube channel that showcases their quality, by clicking this link.


Scale Breakdown Of The Fallout Miniatures

Each of these miniatures stand at a height ranging between a minimum of 4.5 centimeters (1.75 inches) tall, to a maximum of 5.5 centimeters (2.25 inches) tall. These measurements were taken from the bottom of the base to the top of the head. That would place these miniatures squarely in the 45-55 millimeter range, and between the 1/32 and 1/40 range scale.

 Scale Measurement Of Nanoforce Fallout Army Men

 

Scale Measurement Of Nanoforce Fallout Super Mutant Berserker

 

Scale Measurement Of Nanoforce Fallout Mole Miner Toy Soldier

Scale Measurement Of Nanoforce Fallout Super Mutant Overlord Toy Soldier In Inches, Centimeters, and Millimeters

 

Scale Measurement Of Nanoforce Fallout Brotherhood Of Steel Paladin Toy Soldier In Inches, Centimeters, and Millimeters

Scale Measurement Of Nanoforce Fallout Protectron Toy Soldier In Inches, Centimeters, and Millimeters

Scale Measurement Of Nanoforce Fallout Mr Handy Toy Soldier In Inches, Centimeters, and Millimeters

 

Scale Measurement Of Nanoforce Fallout Wendigo In Inches, Centimeters, and Millimeters

 

Scale Measurement Of Nanoforce Fallout Jersey Devil In Inches, Centimeters, and Millimeters

 

If you’re interested in replacing the bases for these minis, I’d recommend using circular bases of either 25mm, 28mm, 30mm, or 32mm, depending on which figure’s base you’d like to replace.

 

Detail Level Of The Fallout Army Men

If we focus on the quality and details of the figures themselves, we’ll find they have simplistic designs, but still boast enough detail to get you to appreciate the figures. Even looking at them in their unpainted form is so satisfying. Although they’re far from being games workshop level miniatures, they are still a large step above classic toy soldier brands like Tim Mee, Woman Vault Dweller Toy Soldier And Tim Mee Toy Soldierand they have an above satisfactory amount of detail present to give you a certain level of love for the figures.

However, there are some downsides to their detail level too. Just off the gate, you’ll see some of these miniatures have minor plastic flashing lines.  Male Vault Dweller Toy Soldier Nanoforce

Not only that, but both the male and female vault dwellers have faces that lack depth and detail. They almost give that flat faced, no detail impression you might find on some dollar store soldiers.

And this baby faced super mutant definitely isn’t doing this set any favors either.

Baby Fallout Super Mutant Toy Soldier

Overall though, I am satisfied with how clean and cool the majority of these figures look. Even the 1 year old, baby face super mutant looks intimidating… from a distance!

Still, when you see the figures up close, you can appreciate the details they do come with. The super mutant has apocalyptic armor, with battle damage. The vault dwellers sport those classic American hair-cuts from post-war America in the fallout video games. 

Because of everything I said in the last couple sections, on a scale of 0 to 10, I give the nanoforce fallout toy soldiers a 6 out of 10 in terms of their quality and detail.

 

 

The Price Of This Miniature Set

From a cost standpoint, I have to be honest…

I got these plastic army men for free from a good friend of mine that lives down the road. However, I’d pay the $20 for a bag of these toy soldiers in a heart beat!

For the fair price of about 20 bucks, give or take an extra couple for shipping, you’ll get 24 spectacular, one-of-a-kind fallout themed toy soldiers. That’s a solid deal on your hands!

If you want to buy this exact bag set from eBay, click here.

On the scale of 0 to 10, I give them a solid 7 for their price.


My Personal Opinion On The Nanoforce Fallout Toy Soldiers

These guys are just f**king cool, commander. Just look at them all side by side!

I absolutely love these figures. For me, they look awesome, and just having them here in my posession brings me back wonderful childhood memories of playing Fallout 3, and Fallout New Vegas, for endless hours, without a care in the world…

Wow, okay, now that was a trip down tranquility memory lane. Yeah, I love these toy soldiers. They may not be the most super high quality, intricately detailed figures out there, but they definitely hit the sweet spot for me, so, I’m giving this set a straight up 10 out of 10 in the category of my personal opinion.


Conclusion Of The Fallout Toy Soldier Bag Set By Emce Toys

Let’s recap the scores so far.

Variety & Uniqueness Quality & Detail Cost My Personal Score Total Score
9 / 10 6 / 10 7 / 10 10 / 10 32 / 40

These toy soldiers scored a solid 80% with the total score of all their categories, earning The Hobbyist’s, and Toy Soldier Central’s, official “B Grade Endorsement,” making this set of fallout toy soldiers, a pretty darn good set of plastic army men.


Where To Buy Nanoforce Fallout Toy Soldiers

If you’ve recognized the value and awesomeness of these toy soldiers after reading my review, and wanna buy a set for yourself, check out these helpful links.

To buy this exact bag set from eBay, click here.

To buy similar Fallout Toy Soldier bag and box sets by Emce Toys from eBay, click here.

To buy similar Fallout Toy Soldier bag and box sets by Emce Toys from Amazon, click here.

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