Posted 5 years ago
Toyrebel
(215 items)
All of you know the comic book ad stuff; x-ray specs, Fantastic Sea Monkeys, 2 Man Polaris Submarine, Tank Log Cabin etc. You sent your hard earned money, 2 months later these things arrived and you probably had your first experience of being ripped off!
I posted a partial set in my early days at CW. This is an actual complete set of the 150 Civil War (flat)Soldiers from the Josely Co. Nobody to this day knows what the Josely Co., Helen of Toy etc. were. They were mysterious PO Boxes and strange addresses. Some guy in a trench coat, dark glasses and a hat probably came to the PO box each week to collect the cash, (no checks please). Nobody admits to working for any of these "companies" or manufacturing this junk. I'm sure they're afraid of the grown up kids they snookered.
It took 4 separate purchases, 6 months and 100 times the original $1.50 for me to complete it! Yes I'm crazy, surely you've figured that out by now. I had to transplant/glue sabres, bayonets, forestocks, reins and drivers's whips for the hospital wagons to complete it. It's hard to repair what was crap to begin with. I'll guarantee you no set that arrived in the mailbox was as intact as what you see here.
These were the worst " playsets" EVER made, incomplete molds etc. My aunt's neighbor's son had the Army Set in the "footlocker" card board box about the size of the box checks come in. I only hung out with Andy because he had a hot older( junior high) sister, Robin. Robin had a lot of hot friends that visited her.
I made one box out of two torn boxes. If you find these playsets loose, there will be probably be 75% of the Rebels compared to the Yankee numbers. Just like the Civil War! The hardest group to complete are the Confederate sharpshooters, after buying 300+ soldiers I have only the required 9 reb sharpshooters, no extras. If you'll look closely at the Union nurse in the bottom right corner, you'll see a mole on her earlobe, just like Clara Barton had! Coincidence? I think not!
The last picture shows the left over troops from the 4 sets, then add the 150 from the complete set. That will give you an idea of what it took to complete this set.
Comment on the rip off experiences of your youth. Well I've got back to my troops, as you can see they're battling the Yankee invaders at Shiloh!
Thanks,
General Stonewall Toyrebel
Relive the disappointment of your childhood with these sets. I recall them well but never sent away for one. There was a revolutionary war set and a WWII set too all in full color on the back of the comic books. Also there was the page full of various mail away items like x-ray glasses and a submarine.
Congrats on the completion of the collection of flats. Is the Battle of the Blue and Gray next?
Hey wait a minute Mr. Reb.
I only count 149
Thanks Apache, the army sets are plentiful. The revolutionary war set you mentioned is a little harder to complete because it had Mohawk Indians, Minutemen, Hessians etc. instead of just the same soldiers molded in red or blue. The Roman set is tough to assemble also. My Blue/Gray was my favorite childhood playset, the litho mansion, the shot calvaryman falling backward off his collapsing horse etc. I really want one, I keep looking for a good base set to build from to complete a nice set. I want the cannon/caison horse team and ambulance too. It's in my plans.
Vynil, if you look closely there's a Reb that's a Siamese twin. They both receive pay so they count as two.
Very nice Set
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