Many of us of a certain age are gamers because of Airfix and we owe a lot to them. But even so, there's no denying that some of their figures were total mingers Whats your favourite rubbish Airfix figure (or Matchbox or Esci or any.....) ?

My personal favourites come from the original British Paratroopers box. This promised so much with fantastic artwork, but open the box and you get total bobbins. The 2 best in my view are

Shooting-up-in-the-air-man. The only people to shoot at up there are....... my own colleagues 



Doing-physical-jerks-man. You'll never make the grade at the Arnhem Fat Club if you cant touch your toes while waving a piece of paper

I'm amazed you've still got them - or pictures of them, at least. But rubbish figures weren't confined to Airfix. Who remembers the original Minifigs Napoleonic horsemen with their pistol-grip swords and half-moon faces?

In't the 2nd one supposed to have a container with him. As to first - street fighting on a 60's council estate.

IanS

I cant remember what set but some of the figures were amorphous blobs. However I remember standing for hours just looking at the gorgeous box art
The luftwaffe set has the nice figure from the step aerobics session   
http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=466

Last year my son ebayed about 2000 ww2 and 1500 napoleonic airfix I had given him a few years back from my childhood.

They went for just short of £400 to a chap in france. They might be sh*t but you can always guarantee some mug will want them!

They were great - and really bad too!

The British paras were really bad - its a shame as the 1/32nd ones were great. The British infantry were almost the opposite, in verging on the anorexic.

The DAK and 8th Army figures were pretty good.
http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=363 - though mine were a nice desert yellow


The WWI figures were odd, with 1914 British and Germans, late war French, and the strange US pack who look like they are on pre-war manoeuvres.

I think I had nearly all the WWII sets (and still have a fair few, though I ebay'd a lot a few years ago.)

I remember that the US Paras were really good as well as the German Mountain troops.

Their alleged ancients pushed back the frontiers of pure junk.

Quote from: Steve J on 17 March 2011, 07:34:52 AM
I remember that the US Paras were really good .

Apart from the bloke waving his spade about. 

In my view the figs that were scaled down from their 1/32 sets were generally excellent but the additional poses/figs tended not to be so good are were noticeably smaller in most cases.

HAHA  Goat Major, I literally fell about when I saw the photos of those two Paras you included... my Paula came through to see what I was laughing about, and I had to spend five minutes explaining about Airfix, my youth (aye... a different age back then) and the mingers the different set contained as that inevitable useless compulsory inclusion - haha.

I too, am impressed you still have any left. I wish I did.

I think for me, as far as memory serves, my worst mingers were:
(A )   the WW2 American Marine being shot and half falling backwards with his arms raised like he was falling off a crucifixion cross.
(B )    The second were ALL the ACW Cavalry.... how many of us actually owned plastic cement back then, and how many who DID actually got their plastic riders to stay on their mounts for more than five minutes?

Six  

suppose i must clarify that i havent got any left - i found those pics on the interweb - plastic soldier review i think.

The Mk1 US marines box was a doozy wasnt it ? - lots of men randomly waving their arms around with no weapons. It did however contain a very animated flamethrower man who made up for his otherwise p*sspoor comrades

I think physical jerks man is handing a napkin to the guy behind him.

WWI - the French carrier pigeon, the two BEF blokes with barbed wire, the Americans all in boyscout hats - if only there had been some Mexicans. I mean who were they supposed to fight? All the Germans were in pickelhaubes!

2 commandos carrying canoe over their heads.

Why?

"Right lads, Smudger you rush up to the gun emplacement the krauts can't get to clip together properly, Ginger, you use the scaling ladder to get at the MG nest, Chalky, you and dusty wander around with a kayak"

Quote from: Last Hussar on 16 April 2011, 01:05:18 AM
"Right lads, Smudger you rush up to the gun emplacement the krauts can't get to clip together properly, Ginger, you use the scaling ladder to get at the MG nest, Chalky, you and dusty wander around with a kayak"