Perhaps one reason is that, comparatively-speaking, the German kit of post-1943 is often more-varied than the Allied kit. There ARE subtle differences between say, US paras landing on D-Day and those in 1944 (mostly slash pockets on their blouses), while Germans, especially in Winter, have an abundance of gear, both issued and "field modified." These chaps pictured on the new box art have fleece "hoodies," puffy pants, and Winter boots. Very different from the standard Fall or Summer clothing issue. MiniArt is at the forefront of a revolution in styrene figures, and should be commended for their out-STANDING quality. This set needs nothing except slings (plus a little modeling removing the seam lines ).

You mean these from MiniArt? I swear, Dennis, you're never satisfied. [/quote] Hi, Bill! !!! Seriously ( ), I like to use all caps when I refer to the different model manufacturers and I also like to use them for EMPHASIS. When I said "ACCURATE" GIs and Tommies, I MEANT "accurate" in appearance, because there are so many GIs and Tommies in plastic AND resin that aren't COMPLETELY ACCURATE- Are we all confused, yet..? Disclaimer: I in no way meant ACCURATE ARMOUR, the resin model manufacturer, or the now-defunct ACCURATE MINIATURES, nor did I intend to single out MINIART, (the way THEY spell it), as the sole contender in the 1/35 WWII US/Allied Figure Market... ALL 1/35 Figure-makers are EQUALLY GUILTY in not giving us more GIs, Tommies, Diggers, Kiwis, Desert Rats, Ghurkas, Poles, Danes, Norwegians, Free French, Maquis, and yes, Russians as well. Even the availability of 1/35 WWII Russian Soldiery, who fielded THE largest numerical Armies, are ECLIPSED by all of the HIGHLY REPETITIVE pointing German WWII people, Tigers and Panthers in 1/35 scale... I'm never satisfied..? There are reasons why I'm never satisfied, all of them valid. Didn't I say that I'm an old curmudgeon..?

Perhaps one reason is that, comparatively-speaking, the German kit of post-1943 is often more-varied than the Allied kit. There ARE subtle differences between say, US paras landing on D-Day and those in 1944 (mostly slash pockets on their blouses), while Germans, especially in Winter, have an abundance of gear, both issued and "field modified." These chaps pictured on the new box art have fleece "hoodies," puffy pants, and Winter boots. Very different from the standard Fall or Summer clothing issue. MiniArt is at the forefront of a revolution in styrene figures, and should be commended for their out-STANDING quality. This set needs nothing except slings (plus a little modeling removing the seam lines ).[/quote] Hi, Bill! While I'll admit that there is quite a variety in German post-1943 equipment, the same can be said for pre-1943 equipment, as well. I, for one have built quite an array of pre-1943 German equipment- Personally, of all the German WWII Tanks, I prefer the earlier types, namely the Pz.Kpfw.I Ausf.A right on up to and including the very last Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.Js and their derivatives. Also, I put a lot of my stock into the Pz.Kpfw.38(t) and anything that was built on that chassis. The Pz.38(t)-types and their derivsatives and the Pz.III and THEIR derivatives are my favorites in German WWII Armor. You'll have to admit Bill, all of THAT stuff covers a PRETTY BROAD area. German Half-Tracks, Motorcycles and Soft-skins? I have at LEAST one of every type, and in many cases, two or three of them. Not to mention a whole BOATLOAD of the little men in Feldgrau. I DON'T just build Shermans and GIs... I'll have no inhibitions in admitting and agreeing with you that MINIART is ABSOLUTELY THE LEADER in the 1/35 PLASTIC Figure market. Now, having said that, I feel that my huffing and puffing about the comparative LACK of WWII US/Allied Soldiery IS ENTIRELY WARRANTED... Now folks, if you will go back to your references and LOOK CLOSELY, US GIs, British Tommies and our various other Allied friends WERE NOT all cut out of the same cookie cutter and sprayed US Olive Drab or British Khaki. These men were ALL individuals, and EACH ONE of them looked a little bit, (or a lot), different from each other. There are a GREAT variety of shades to work with when we're only speaking about Olive Drab. For instance, NO TWO M4s were ever seen in EXACTLY the same shade of OD or loaded up with exactly the same stowage or other like trash- Now just take another few minutes to take a look at the different British and US camouflage schemes that were applied to M3 Lee/Grants, M4s & M4A1s, Sherman Is, IIs, IIIs, Valentines, Matildas, Crusaders, M3 Stuart/Honeys and all the rest of the US/Allied Equipment IN NORTH AFRICA ALONE... Then, we have the MTO/ETO color schemes... That US/Allied "color-sameness" B.S DOES NOT WASH WITH ME, because it is nothing more than a contrived fallacy, and IMO, entirely too many individuals have swallowed that rotten old fish "hook, line and sinker"...

Excellent set that is very useful for the winters of 44 and 45. Lots of different camo options with these. As for everything else here, if you're so invested that you find yourself having emotional reactions to these news posts, you're suffering and will likely continue to do so. Breathe. This is scale modelling.

Dennis, if my choice on Allied FIGURES is about shades of OD, then you've lost my interest (and I suspect the interest of 80-90% of most modelers). We're talking FIGURES, not vehicles. That's another thread I'm afraid.

These are nice if only for the fact that they're wearing heavy winter clothing. But with all the cries for more Allied sets, I think troops from other armies get lost in the shuffle. What I'd really like to see is for MiniArt, Alpine, Paracel, Stalingrad, etc., to offer French, Finns, Chinese and especially Japanese IJA/IJN sets. After all, the war in the Far East & Pacific had been well underway before Sept 1939. So for six years of conflict, we probably have only six sets of IJA figures, and that includes those ancient ones from Tamiya. The recent increase in the releases of Japanese armor would seem to warrant some crews & troops to go with them.

Jack, good points. Why don't you or Dennis start a thread about this topic? While the publisher will like the traffic these threads generate, I don't think it's fair to MiniArt to hijack partially the thread about their new offering. Feel me?

Geez, I'm almost reluctant to mention anything on this one for fear of unleashing a wave of condemnation, but hey, what the heck! I like them as they're relaxing and not a single one pointing or using binocs. Perhaps the business is biased towards the German forces when it comes to releases but they wouldn't do this if it didn't sell like gangbusters. Remember when Dragon released their very first Tiger I kit back in, what, '05? I was looking after orders for a small though successful hobby store at the time and I couldn't get any for love or money for the simple reason, according to our Dragon/Mikerian rep, the Asian market completely absorbed the entire existing production run! We didn't get decent stock until the FOLLOWING YEAR! It seemed that the Asian market, in particular, had an almost-unhealthy interest in all things Tiger. That spilled over to all things German and it never let up. The market dictates, and while I too would like to see more and varied figures they come out only as the manufacturers feel the market will reward them for doing so. I was one of those crazies who long hounded these pages bemoaning the absence of a really good Bergepanther and now I've got TWO. Keep belly-aching but don't take the silence personally.

I know we need more Allied troops but these being what they are, still command respect for the level of detail and sculpting levels. The figure poses are great with again no pointing dudes. The weapons look great as well I just hope the flash is kept to a minimum as some of the past sets seem to still occasionally have this issue. I like them.