Happy May Day Comrades!

Let's join our little one-of-a-kind Fisher Price Commie Young Pioneer as she takes us out back to the Toy Soldiers Forever! workshop to review the latest offering from the plastic mines of the PRC; in this installment a new offering from a new company by the name of Cunnyngham.

Sculpted in a solid medium Gray, this grouping of twelve figures comes in six 54mm poses, representing the 44th Tennessee.  The poses are the always handy postures of infantrymen on the firing line, three in the act of aiming and firing and three in various stages of loading.

I'm surprised that I'd not heard any buzz regarding this particular release as the overall sculpting, anatomy, and animation of these figures are nearly superb.

Let's settle in for a closer inspection as these little rebels line up to pass in review.

Standing shooting guy

Standing shooting guy typifies the outstanding animation and balance of these figures as well as the superior attention to (sometimes fanciful) detail on each of these gray-clad riflemen.

The slack rifle sling, which is a feature on several of these figures, is a nice touch that provides some real animation to the figure.

As he takes aim upon this 54mm foes sixty yards distant, let us take aim on some of the details of this fine figure.  His short, shell jacket is, as was the common practice, open toward the bottom, revealing both his shirt front, as well as...

the sculptors well-executed vision of a Confederate belt plate and the not-altogether-accurate belt, and loops, holding up his trousers.

Perhaps these britches were the work of a futurist seamstress back on the homefront.

Although this error may cause this tiny Tennessean terror to not pass muster among reenactors of the "authentic campaigner" stripe, he surely will hold his own on your firing line.


Ron Perlman sitting shooting guy

With a cross-legged posture that makes him appear nearly comfortable in combat, this well-sculpted visioning of Mr. Perlman is a pose quite unique among all those in my toy box.  If you enjoyed him in Hellboy,  The Tick,  and Sons of Anarchy, you'll love him as this dauntless disciple of disunion.

And when it comes to drawing a determined bead on his plastic foe, just take a gander at the squint on this fellow:

One glance at this mug and any doubt of Perlman's participation on the toy soldier skirmish line vanishes forever!

Possibly the best such sculpting of an aiming soldier I've ever seen.  After this it's easy to forgive his Beauty and the Beast turn, ouch!

Crouching reenactor guy


In this figure, I think we have the Red Chinese manufactures trying to appeal to their customer base, as this infantryman looks like any red-neck one might encounter in the local Wal-Mart.  With the badass biker cap and sleazy facial hair, bubba here looks like he'd be as "at home" in the auto floor mats aisle as on the firing line.

None-the-less, this miniature reb in a patched frock-coat is capping his gun prior to sending an opposing reenactor down-range some faux lead.  Still, the scruffy beard and snazzy hat, though beautifully sculpted, simply make this guy look like some true believer on a reenacting weekend.

Though, again, the animation and sculpting are fantastic!

Jaunty hat kneeling shooting guy

With a stance wider than Senator  Larry Craig in an airport men's room,  this plastic rebel is a serious contender on the firing line!

Anatomy and sculpting are superb, and whoever the Cunnyngham artist is who designs these figures, major kudos must be assigned for the animation of this one.

Just look at the convincing fullness and weight of that haversack, some local plow-jockey is doubtless missing the better portion of a smoked ham.

Standing loading guy

Another solid figure, and one that's always welcome in the rear rank of the plastic firing line.  This marksman is loath to take his eyes off his target as he rams that next round home.  Makes one believe that there shall be another "vacant chair" in Yankee-dom tonight.

Finally,

Crouching loading guy

An excellent rendering of a dough-foot in a very tedious position, always overlooked in the toy soldier realm, that is, having to load his muzzle-loading weapon without the benefit of gravity to drop that next round down into the breech.  Wishing for a breech-loading Sharps, he none-the-less perseveres with the gun he was issued.

All-in-all these figures came as quite a surprise to me.  I've not heard of the company, nor any trumpeting of this release.  One can only hope that with this quality, craftsmanship, and pricepoint, we see more from Cunnygham, and I particularly pine for some Yankees.

See you on the 15th, until then, Soldier On!

Mannie