Matchbox Vintage Plastic Toy Soldiers 1/32 British 8th Army

Did Bill Farmer knock this one out of the park?
13 different figures in a box of 15 is pretty darn impressive.
As always the Matchbox figures are fun and with great details.

[@dfjtobin]

I had this set as a lad, The soldier getting shot was very cool, but he wasn't very playable, all the other soldiers you could move around as the battle progressed, this guy just gets shot and that's it. I had him on a shelf to look at like a sculpture rather than part of my playing set.

[@ewmhop]

GOOD VIDEO SIR,THE FIGURE NEXT TO MONTY IS SIR BRIAN HORROCKS. THE SET COMES IN 1/72 SCALE ALSO BE WAITING FOR THE NEXT ONE.

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

Yes the 1/72 scale sets are great as well (maybe better). I have all of them :) The with Horrocks is he didn´t have a mustach. That´s I went with Wimberly. I like the idea of this being the 51 Highland divison and their CO.

[@davidrendall7195]

The solider's with the berets are wearing Scottish Tam 'o' Shanters or bonnets, not berets. You can tell the difference by the addition of the bobble and the cap badge on the side. Back then most units wore fore and aft caps, called Glengarry's in Scottish service, while armour and cavalry wore berets. This set and the British Commando's were by far the best sets.

[@damienszabo2260]

Glengarries were mostly only worn in garrison or behind the lines, in the field it was the helmet or balmoral bonnet with the tourie (pom pom).

[@davidrendall7195]

@@damienszabo2260 Most (British Army) units wore fore and aft caps (which) were called Glengarries in Scottish Service. The fore-n-aft cap (Universal Field Service cap, side cap or Austrian Cap) was the standard headwear of the day for the whole British Army. Other ranks got a khaki one, but officers and SNCOs had brightly coloured ones in Regimental traditions. The Royal Artillery and a few cavalry units are the only ones who still use it today. They were for use in the field when helmets weren't required - usually set as outside observation of the enemy and out of range of pre-registered artillery fire. Scottish regiments used it for ceremonial and band dress, and a simpler ToS for a field cap. The ToS, Balmoral bonnet and Glengarry are all derived from the original Blue Bonnet, the traditional woollen headgear of the North of Britain (very popular in old Northumbria too) They were even dressed in full with black feathers for the bandmasters head.

[@MIKEArmbruster-h6z]

Picked up a couple bags of soldiers at a good will store it had some pipers wearing tams and a couple that had been shot i put them away on a tall shelf Now i have to get a ladder to check out the rest of the uniform

[@kellysnipe9586]

YEP, the "Airfix" brand is pretty much synonymous with high-quality toy soldier production worldwide. But "honorable mention" should be given to the OTHER British manufacturers too; Matchbox, Timpo, and Lone Star. Matchbox did a great Afrika Corps set, and Timpo has a really nice Eighth Army group complete with heavy machine-gunner and flamethrower ( includes the flame actually shooting out of the barrel!). As for Lone Star they are the only Brit co. I know of that has a Royal Navy set, with sailors on land in fighting positions. They also did a great "Anzac" (New Zealand) set of figures in a very interesting light green jungle color, complete with "Mills Bomb" man, standing Sten gunner, and walking radioman. Although a bit toyish looking as opposed to Airfix, Lone Star should get an award just for doing the often-forgotten but very valiant and often heroic ROYAL NAVY!

[@doejon9424]

Can you imagine landing on Gold Beach or Sword Beach.. blaring the 'ol bag pipes.. while Germans fire at you. Unreal that the British had dedicated bag pipers for morale boosting. Those beaches were not as bad as Omaha & Utah.. but still.. it's crazy to think people would willing land onto a "hot beach" in enemy territory playing bag pipes. Just unreal hahaha

[@brianartillery]

Private Bill Millin, or 'Piper Bill', the 'Mad Piper' on D-Day. German troops were asked afterwards why none of them shot him, and the answer was that they thought he was mad, and felt sorry for him. I have used that figure in a diorama as Bill.

[@doejon9424]

@@brianartillery I'll have to do somw research on him. What an absolute legend. And apparently he was told stop but didn't because thr British War Office didn't apply to Scottish troops attached to British & Canadian forces haha. I can't say that I would be able to shot an unarmed enemy, playing an instrument. I would think they completely lost it too.. going mad because of battle. What diorama did you do with him ? Landing on the beach ?

[@brianartillery]

@@doejon9424 Yes, for a workmate in 1994, for the 50th anniversary of D-Day. My eyesight's not good enough nowadays to do detail work. (sigh). 😆😆😆

[@doejon9424]

@@brianartillery You should look into some lasik surgery bro, mayne get back into modeling. Sounds like you were good at dioramas! It's scary, I know. But you'll have near perfect 20/20 Hawkeye vision afterwards. It's crazy. I know several people who say they wish they did it sooner. Just a thought. So do you know about any other crazy / one off / unique soldiers like this Bill Millin fellow ? I'm very surprised he survived thr war, with honors too ! I'm diving down the rabbit hole with this guy. I'm going to buy a book on the Scottish in WWII now.

[@brianartillery]

@@doejon9424 You might be interested in General Adrian De Carton Wiart - fought in both wars, despite multiple serious injuries - he really seemed to be unkillable. His real life exploits make James Bond seem an amateur. Oho! Then we have Lieutenant Colonel 'Mad Jack' Churchill, who went into battle with a broadsword (photographic evidence exists of this), and is on record as being the only soldier in WW2 to have attacked, and killed, German troops with a longbow. He was also fond of playing the bagpipes, too. Finally, there's Major General Orde Wingate, who formed the 'Chindits' in Burma, to fight the Japanese. A brilliant soldier, but very eccentric. He once went to inspect his troops. Nothing wrong there - but Orde Wingate was stark naked, except for his boots. I'll say no more.

[@conorduggan6682]

As far as I know both the SMLE and the No.4 MK1 were in used extensively in WW2. The rifles shown on these figures look like the No.4 MK1. The British were a bit behind the times by not introducing a self loading rifle, but the bolt action on the Lee Enfield is so smooth that a good rifleman could almost match an M1. The figures are pretty cool from the point of view of a kid and I had some of this set in both scales from swapping and hand me downs. Though the kneeling Bren gunner is amusing considering the Bren is bottom ejecting, that brass is hot enough to give a nasty burn to his knee cap or worse still a casing could get caught in the leg of his shorts. I've fired both the Bren and the No.4 MK1.

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

Could you fix the earlier bayonett from the SMLE to the No.4 or just the spike bayonett?

[@davidwong4]

The 2nd officer, I thought maybe it is General Harold Alexander, Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean Theatre (Monty's boss). I've seen photos of him in the same uniform as the figure.

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

Yes that´s a possibility. He has a a mustach so that would be correct. I just like the idea of this set or a few soldiers being from the 51 Highland divison with the berrets and the kilt. That could make this figure Wimberly that commanded them in operation Lightfoot. He also has a mustasch. But the great thing is that the figure is not a true facial sculpt of any of these gentleman so you can make it into either or :)

[@scottthornley4287]

I think the other officer is general O Connor,I've seen photos of him dressed like that,he led western desert force of 6 British,6 Australian,7 armoured,and 4 indian divisions,was captured,escaped,and led a second army corps in normandy

[@paulofreire7520]

Great set of models. You gotta love the Monty model and the piper 👍🏻

[@rickylarsen8320]

The other officer may resemble General Richard O'Connor . He commanded the Western Desert Force in the early years of the Second World War.

[@SouthPark333Gaming]

I prefer Airfix, but Matchbox did make some pretty good sets. I loved their German Afrikakorps set as a kid. Their faces do look a bit odd though.

[@brianartillery]

The 1/76 set is even nicer - there's even a German prisoner (the Afrika Korps set has a Desert Rat prisoner).

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

Yes I think all their 1/76 was better.

[@johngreen-sk4yk]

You were correct with your original statement on the rifles, the British army in North Africa and Italy generally used smle,s the no.4 was more often seen in nw Europe although there are always exeptions . The figures seem to have a mix of I'll defined smle, & no 4s .the ones with bayonets looking slightly smle like. Great review btw

[@vanpallandt5799]

Bizarre that someone corrected him with wrong info..not seen a Western Desert photo with a No.4

[@johngreen-sk4yk]

@@vanpallandt5799 neither have I 🤔. Although I have seen a picture of South African troops in the western desert armed with Pattern 14,s

[@madlenellul3430]

Nice program. Just a point the Art work for Matchbox was done by the Artists who prepared the work for War, Battle and Commando picture library comics in the 50’ - 60’s (70’s)..👵🇦🇺🇺🇸

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

Ah ok. Cool I have a few Commando comic books.

[@FrédéricDumondelle]

Je possède cette boîte de soldats au 1/72 depuis que j'ai 10ans ils sont très bien 👍

[@monkeysa43]

Fantastic toys , especially for adults that haven’t grown up 😊

[@zaynevanday142]

No they still had SMLE No3 in 1942 and the grenade guy has a No4 😂

[@SuperOthello2]

I always thought Matchbox had better designed soldiers than the Airfix- this is a good example of a brilliant set with so many different designs.

[@susiduo3438]

This is true and showed extremly in the 1/72 ones imo.

[@josmoify]

just the massive head necks ratio to the rest body took away from those pose

[@josmoify]

nah ,maybe in amount of poses but not the airfix 8th in looks

[@FritzVonMoltke]

Do the boxes come unpainted?

[@andrewbirch5738]

Its not a beret, but clearly a Tam O'Shanter, and the SMLE No.1 MKIII Remind in service throughout the North African and Italian campaigns

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

Lol had to Google that headwear. Looks like your right. Thanks.

[@vanpallandt5799]

Who was ignorant enough to correct the channel owner with inaccurate info🤦‍♂️

[@gregcoker4527]

Matchbox really took it up to Airfix in the late 70s with their 1/32 scale. Have not seen a matchbox 1/32 set that is not great.

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

Yes they are all top notch.

[@davidcassels7312]

Yippee pocket money day in 1977.

[@eltenda]

Great set indeed! I had these too....I liked the esci version too

[@iangreen4572]

In the North African campaign they were still mostly equipped with the SMLE and sword bayonet

[@Stoner075C]

Could be Horrocks, that figure.

[@dunc0127]

Superb figures and great video

[@ThePlasticGeneral]

Bill Farmer's work is Classic! I love his work, but he had annoying sculpting habits too.

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

What were those habits?

[@ThePlasticGeneral]

@@toysoldiernostalgia Running with rifle out and arm out. Oversized Chins and Faces. Stiff poses. Dollish style of sculpting. I used to think he was "The Shit" till I discovered Airfix.

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

@@ThePlasticGeneral I agree and I disagree. Like you say they are much more toy like in their body and facial features. But like in this set the prone soldier crawling I think is one of the most natural prone poses of both Matchbox and Airfix. Also I´m comming at this from as much of a kids perspective as an adult scale modeller or figure collector angle. The bigger features and the exaggerated webbing and equipment I think realy spoke to kids. So to me it´s a give and take and I can realy see your perspective on them. I like it when people have different opinions.

[@ingidraws]

All of these reviews are bringing back happy memories! -- Think I had pretty much all of these WW2 sets. Thanks for sharing your interest with the world :)

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

No problem man. I´m having fun with this so it´s a win-win.

[@Emdee5632]

Two Thompson smgs but three Bren guns seem a bit weird. And in a set of 15, there are two officers and a bagpiper? I think I'll stick to my old 1970s Airfix set.

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

Lol I know it´s kinda weird. But I think that´s why so many kids back then liked the Matchbox sets. Lots of firepower.

[@stuartmiller8053]

Forgot how good the poses were in this set. Cheers Stu

[@pbeccas]

My favourite set.

[@anastasios4415]

Beautifull art box of matchbox !!

[@johnmccormick7579]

Absolute top set of figures

[@johnbarnes6832]

Not only do I like the figures, but the use of Erik Satie on the closeup segment is a nice addition.

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

Thanks man. Classical music is so strongly connected to my childhood so that`s why I use it for the close ups. Cranks my feeling of nostalgia to eleven.

[@WarmasAsunnedcat]

Never had matchbox figures has a kid but this set would have been amazing! Picked up all the matchbox figures from the carboot years ago don’t see them so much now!. You see some interesting Hong Kong variations like the German firing a bazooka ( I stand too be corrected if he actually was a figure made by matchbox but I don’t think the Germans had them) great videos enjoy them you deserve more subscribers!

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

Thanks. My channel is fairly new and I think I will get more and more subscribers :)

[@WarmasAsunnedcat]

@@toysoldiernostalgia it takes time too build an “army” of subscriber’s you’ll get there.😁

[@КостиныСолдатики]

How sad that the countries of Europe have stopped the production of historical soldiers.

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

Sure is.

[@КостиныСолдатики]

@@toysoldiernostalgia Why?

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

@@КостиныСолдатики it´s sad that there´s no market for toy soldiers for kids anymore.

[@КостиныСолдатики]

@@toysoldiernostalgia It's very hard for me to understand this

[@Emdee5632]

Not sure if it started in the 1980s but I definitely noticed it in the 1990s. All sorts of computer games took over. I think most kids have indeed just stopped to like to play with toy soldiers. I still have almost all of the old Airfix 1/32 scale WW2 sets with on average 29 soldiers I believe, and the two ''modern'' (1980s) British and German army soldiers. Only couple of 1/72 scale sets. My main interest is building plastic model kits of all scales. In the past, where I live toy shops always had a department where they sold model kits and soldier sets. However first the computer games department became larger and larger, and then the model kit section became smaller and smaller. I think kids just started to prefer (war) computer games over playing with real hard and soft plastic toys. Since the early 2000s, if I want to buy a model kit I have to go to shops that specialize in model kits only (and small drones, paint and glue etc.) And even these are becoming less and less. Two shops closed down because the owner retired and could not or did not want to find a successor. The last couple of years I have started to make use of online shops.

[@scottthornley4287]

I've seen photos of general O Connor in that pose

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

Cool I´ll Google it and see what I can find.

[@scottthornley4287]

I swear to god I've seen O Connor the co of 6 Australians,6 British,7 armoured,and 4 indians,the original 30 corps/wdf,in that exact pose in a picture with Wavell in.1941

[@DENBOY_UA]

As always amazing video! Keep up the good work!

[@toysoldiernostalgia]

Thank you very much.

[@goldmanjace]

Cool! I still have mine!