It's Sunday morning in my part of the world so I spent the last couple of hours enjoying a few cups of coffee and re-reading my Mar/Apr 2009 issue of Playset Magazine featuring the MARX "tin litho" Captain Gallant FFL Fort to get some ideas.

Playset magazine has been around for years and has featured many photos of the long gone famous toy company MARX. It seems there were almost no subjects MARX didn't cover. From soldiers and warriors to civilians. Subjects of men and women, boys and girls, and even space martians. There are even some pretty gals posing on a beach or next to a swimming pool.

What occurred to me this morning is an important similarity between Strelets and MARX. That being that Strelets, being a relatively newcomer to the hobby, and MARX now part of our history, both factored in "fun figures." Not just soldiers but in the case of the Medieval Era, Strelets has made a set of fun-loving castle dwellers enjoying a major celebration. Many customers have positively boasted about this set.

And now some new figurines gathering to send off some soldiers headed off on campaign, or maybe even welcoming them back home after campaigning. I'm looking forward to buying these figures to use for my Colonial British / The Four Feathers movie theme collection.

MARX used to do this for the larger scale sets and now Strelets is doing this for the smaller scale collectors.

I just want to say "Thank you!" to Strelets for giving us also these fun figures. Thank you for putting "Fun" into the 1/72 HO OO hobby.

I totally agree with you!. The character poses in some of the sets add a new flavor and touch that the old manufacturers sets lacked. It spawns that creative soul that's in all of us collectors and opens a whole new world to our gaming hobby!

Garrison/Chuck,
I agree wholeheartedly. As someone who likes to mix figures with various poses (and often different manufacturers) within units I have always enjoyed and appreciated Strelets' figures. The recent figures (last two or three years or so) allow even more complementary matching for the likes of me. Factor in Strelets' rate of production and I'm operating on an entirely new plane!
James

Another factor is that Strelet is prepared to do different sets rather that churning out the typical 'Waffen SS tank riders (set 56) eating sausage and sauer***** on the Russian front' etc so beloved by certain manufacturers.

Pity that the plastic model cannot follow Strelets example and be more adventurous. Look back at what was produced by the likes of Revell, Matchbox, Heller and Frog and its amazing what you could get.

I'm going to disagree with GC's proposition.

This is not me trying to be contrary or to challenge GC's wonderful enthusiasm or even to denigrate Strelets, but because I think the "fun" has never been missing - at least for me.

It's a hobby so by definition it is fun. The various plastic & metal manufacturers over the decades of my interest in the hobby, have produced figures that overwhelmingly added to my enjoyment. And, as figures last forever (I hope....) that's "fun" that's never gone away.

I freely admit Strelets are currently the best manufacturer of 1/72 figures. Their past performance also delighted me. As did HaT, Zvesda, Caesar et al.

So kudos to Strelets. And to all the others as well.So I say the "fun" isn't back. It never went away.