The thread on Science Fiction model kits with wargaming use has gotten a bit crowded with toys (and I bare the blame for that) so I'm starting a new thread for toys that have wargaming uses.
Note: If you want to discuss generally how or whether toys can be used in modeling, that's something for general discussions.
There are some 1/48ish trucks at Wal-Mart which are big rigs, semis, transfer trucks, etc, which I own some of. While I was in the store the other day, I saw a Matchbox car hauler. It's intended to carry regular Matchbox which is closer to 15mm gaming.. but the truck itself is pretty close to those 1/48 trucks. Mind you it's big.. but that's the nature of those types of trucks.
Historical kits and Sci-fi kits for 40k deal mostly with new kits. Will this thread follow the same pattern with new toys?
The one I posted is new.. For the most part if it's still on the shelves at major retailers it's probably new. Toys tend to have a very short shelf life in retail.
They are getting harder to find, but the Todd McFarlane Dragons series had some truly excellent dragons.
Seeing this fellow going for $55 is strange, I picked him up for $5.
Not quite as nifty, but still easy to find, are the toy dragons and monsters by Safari Ltd.
*EDIT*Even a quick dip can really help with that model, without needing to repaint the whole thing.
A fair number of terrain pieces can be found in aquarium shops as well - I used to have a pretty nifty ship wreck model from a shop at the mall. (Now long closed.)
Not the one that I had, but one that I could find with a quick Google.
TheAuldGrump wrote: They are getting harder to find, but the Todd McFarlane Dragons series had some truly excellent dragons.
Seeing this fellow going for $55 is strange, I picked him up for $5.
I second the recommendation for McFarlane Dragons. They are great and there some really interesting designs among the various releases. The plastic is a bit bendy, though, so some prep work might be needed to get them up to modeling standards.
TheAuldGrump wrote: They are getting harder to find, but the Todd McFarlane Dragons series had some truly excellent dragons.
Seeing this fellow going for $55 is strange, I picked him up for $5.
Heh yea I picked up these guys a looong time ago for a 8-10 per if I recall. Great scale for fantasy and decent paintjob on them out of the box if youre lazy and dont feel like redoing them.
Damn things are pushing 100$ now. Wish I bought more.
I'm fine with it being in either forum, here we can post more older stuff. I'd stay away from rare & OOP things though, this should be a recommendation thread for stuff you can actually get, not a nostalgic one.
Technically, the Matchbox Models of Yesteryear are 'vintage' and 'collectible' - but they are neither hard to find on eBay nor are they expensive. I was able to pick up several Foden steam trucks for a game at just under $5 each, ranging from colliers to Guinness beer.
Posted this before but it's really useful and widely available in the UK so.....
£6 in Poundstretcher currently available and looks the part straight of the bat.
Would be a good start for some sort of techno war mammoth or something orky. Or as a large patlabour type mech for your anime inspired sci fi skirmish game.
If anyone is interested, I've got a log of my gaming-terrain-suitable resale shop toy finds here:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/688498.page Alot of it is stuff that is no longer produced, but it might be good for inspiration and it has alot of links to finished products using toys.
bantha_beast wrote: Looking for the 'arvus lighter' i ran across this from Fisher Price.
Would be a good start for some sort of techno war mammoth or something orky. Or as a large patlabour type mech for your anime inspired sci fi skirmish game.
I have seen a not-Thunderhawk built using a G.I. Joe toy as the basis. (A Thunderhawk with turbofans?) Mind you, that was in the days of The Big Black Book.
Sorry I don't have a picture, and this is a bit local, but if you're in the US near a Michael's they have a pretty cheap set of kids animal toys, with dinosaurs that easily convert to dragons. I used one in one of my older terrain bits as a "dead" dragon, buried in dirt type thing.
Might be a big small for the Rinco ships but they might work, especially if you use the BFG logic that the model is just a representation and the ship itself is a tiny little dot in the center of the base.
Guildenstern wrote: Sorry I don't have a picture, and this is a bit local, but if you're in the US near a Michael's they have a pretty cheap set of kids animal toys, with dinosaurs that easily convert to dragons. I used one in one of my older terrain bits as a "dead" dragon, buried in dirt type thing.
Yes, that line also had Cyclops (great WHFB giants), Minotaur and a Bridge, as well as Dragons ..
Papo and Safari make my favourite toy dinosaurs. No painting required, indeed some of the paintjobs are really good.
They do tend to be hopelessly out of scale compared with either each other or 28mm figures. The Papo classics - Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops - are HUGE - probably best to avoid those unless you need something to face off against an Imperial Knight. A lot of the "smaller" models are 8" long or less, and will do for generic "dino hunt" models or as a cheap alternative to Lizardmen mounts (if you like building howdahs!).
Also those "excavate your own dinosaur skeleton" kits are OK for making giant undead dinos - again, you may want to fashion your own howdah to carry figures. They're often very cheap, you just have to tap them out of of the block of plaster they come encased in... hammer supplied!
Posted a few funky WWII armored cars. They're 1:43 die cast cars by a company called Eaglemoss (who also do a great line of Batmobiles and Star Trek ships if that's something you'd like).
Apparently they're pretty cheap in the UK, 5UKP, in the US I found a site with them for $20, or y'know, less than half the cost of a Taurox.
Looking at their stuff I see a lot of potentially useful vehicles.
Tamiya 1:35 scale are pretty great. Also, forget the name, but Hobby Lobby sells a lot of 1:35 scale military vehicles that are the perfect size, think it was $14 for a half track I converted into an Ork Trukk?
I prefer the look and price of the Power City sets - but it was known as Girder & Panel when I was growing up.
Be careful as to where you buy the sets - Amazon sells the sets for about $30 - but there are places that sell the identical sets for $120....
The basic structure is made using Girders - some vertical, others horizontal, and then placing Panels onto the pegs that come out of the Girders - there are real world buildings made in much the same way. (I watched them test fitting panels to the university library not far from where I live... it was eerily familiar. )
There used to be a site that had a template for creating Panels to the toy in graphics programs - including some with a familiar Grimdark feel. I couldn't find it with a quick Google, but perhaps someone else will have more luck?
The toy has been around for a long, long time - I first played with it in the 1960s.... Back then it came with a monorail....
I am looking at them as potential terrain for a super heroes game.
Girder and panel is a nice system. A few things to note.
1)It's made of polypropylene so superglue or epoxy is necessary for gluing and basing and Krylon Fusion and Camo paints are by far the best I've found for priming.
2) It can function in different scales depending on what panels you use. The picture that Grump posted above shows alot of panels that are much closer to 28mm than HO. However, some of the power city panels have doors that are somewhere between to HO (1/87) and 1/64
3) The power city structures do not provide enough panels to cover all the sides, but they are just paper so you can easily copy and print as many as you want.
No picture, and an internet search utterly fails to find a relevant match, but 5 Below is selling these drink/snack cups styled after rockets, complete with thrusters on the bottoms, which could be useful.
It's been posted in a lot of terrain threads, but the Generator from the 'Generator Defense' Halo boxed sets is absolutely gorgeous as a massive generator/silo/supercomputer/etc. It's large, about 10" tall:
Kyoto Secunda and her Clone Sister Kyoto Secunda Prime have a 3rd hand one and I keep looking at it going 'super heavy'. They're meant to carry matchbox sized cars like passengers and should scale well with 28mm.
I've ordered a fair number of Plarail items from HLJ and Hobbysearch for my son's Thomas trains which were started from the blue Tomica track system that has since been replaced in the USA with different track.
Maybe it's time to start looking at the rest of the Tomy/Tomica line.
We have 3 different Thomas sets in different scales and mediums, wood, Tomy Prarail and not-Legos.
Japanese kids' magazines come packaged with DVDs of cartoon samplers including tons of ads of course. Kyoto Secunda Prime studies Prarail commercials and pamphlets the way I used to study Star Wars and GI Joe toy catalogs. I remember having dreams about building a whole city out of SW playsets.
Guildenstern wrote: Sorry I don't have a picture, and this is a bit local, but if you're in the US near a Michael's they have a pretty cheap set of kids animal toys, with dinosaurs that easily convert to dragons. I used one in one of my older terrain bits as a "dead" dragon, buried in dirt type thing.
Yes, that line also had Cyclops (great WHFB giants), Minotaur and a Bridge, as well as Dragons ..
I picked up the 40mm wooden disks, some gravel, and brown 99cent paint, and they base excellently. The Greek stuff is absolutely awesome sauce for games. They also have an excellent Dinosaur, and creature line. You ever wanted that Johnny Quest Giant lizard, Spider, or Scorpion? They are just the ticket. Other games to use them in include Pulp City, Warhammer fantasy, Crooked Dice TV series, or any other game that you need some freakish creatures in. 10 bucks or so, compared to 50.... Yeah, its like that.
Another line to look into is old school MARX sets. The Naverone, Battleground, or Porkchop Hill set has plenty of stuff. The old west range as well, works great for games like Blackwater Gulch, Buckshot, or SoB. You find these sets on E bay for a song and a dance, or at your local thrift shops. OR, you might just have some left over from back in the day.
Another Tomica Hyper, this one really has me tempted.
It already has 2 cargo pods on the bottom and if that train is the same size as my kids' train then it might be big enough to mount a Chimera or Rhino under it.
I wish I had a better size shot but it looks good for a 40k transport shuttle.
We have 3 different Thomas sets in different scales and mediums, wood, Tomy Prarail and not-Legos.
Japanese kids' magazines come packaged with DVDs of cartoon samplers including tons of ads of course. Kyoto Secunda Prime studies Prarail commercials and pamphlets the way I used to study Star Wars and GI Joe toy catalogs. I remember having dreams about building a whole city out of SW playsets.
DNA huh.
Ha!
We managed to keep it to two types Tomy Plarail and the die cast metal ones. I convinced him to give the metal ones away to friends with younger kids but I kind of like the Plarail system. He's already begun to leave the Thomas engines asside and use the 3 Japanese style "real" trains I bought him and the PlaRail system is so large with such cool options. Far better than the playset based stuff that Fisher price now makes here in the USA where the Trains are still rougly PlaRail compatible but the track system is completely different.
A 1947 Ford flat bed by a company called Jada. 1:27 scale.
Check out that overbite!
There's a couple of versions on Amazon for anywhere from $15-$60 plus shipping. The scale is completely wrong of course, but it's so, so pretty.
I can see it as an Ork battlewagon, an IG tank carrier, a wastelands truck etc. The main thing would be to cover or obscure the doors since nothing else really give it a sense of scale.
Plastic ants, available in all sorts of toy shops and online (especially close to Halloween) turned into epic scale bugs/alternative nids by a guy on a blog I follow. A whole army for a few pounds.
Generally speaking for 15mm, cars will be out of scale and close to 20mm while trucks and heavy equipment will be perfect. Though occasionally they'll be too small and more appropriate to 10mm. The Rumble Raiders are enormous vehicles with the tires almost as tall as a person, but the doors and general feel of the scale works with current 15mm sci-fi and modern/near future miniatures.
Good suggestions. I've got alot of quite small scaled matchbox vehicles that I've grabbed as civilian vehicles for my 10mm stuff. Sometimes they even have a scale on the bottom. I should really post some pics of them.
Another thing I've started being more intentional about is paying attention to which miniature makers sell accessory weapons in different scales.
The very first time I was exposed to someone using a toy in miniature wargaming was when a local Dark Angels player got a vindicator kit, built a rhino out of it and then took the extra parts and stuck it on a $5 toy tank. He made WW2 german style tank skirts out of plasticard.
Shipping costs to Canada going up as much as they have has caused me to order a lot less parts off of ebay, but anyone in the US or UK should definitely consider toys + bitz when planning their next vehicle project. For 15mm, I wait for seasonal shipping discounts or sales and order a bunch of guns and parts to use going forward.
15mm.co.uk and The Ion Age recently had a free shipping promotion, so I grabbed the guns and missiles from this:
Spoiler:
Since they could be ordered separately from the whole accessory pack. I've got 10+ matchbox vehicles just waiting for them to arrive. In the order I also got some figures that come with weapon options so I'll have extra parts to use on vehicles:
Spoiler:
For 28mm there are so many more options for augmenting toys with bits.
Seems it would provide plenty of bits for an industrial or underhive terrain project. Sure it could be done with PDV pipes but these look easier to work with and for $20 not that much more.
Another take on the idea, with some wheels and cogs as well.
-Loki- wrote: The Avengers Quinjet and Halo Warthog are popular with the Infinity crowd because they look like generic futuristic military vehicles.
Hey, it's my still unfinished Quinn Jet and my old townhome. Sadly I think I've played infinity maybe twice since then (so in the past 18 months I believed). Well, it will get more use once my we start up the infinity RPG next year.
Here's another shot of it, without the end of the wings, if people want a better scale shot.
The Halo Warthog was from the Wizkids action clix line and you still see them appear from time to time for less then $10 (got my 4 for $5 each)
Anyway, recently picked up one of these 1/48 light rails after seeing one used on the infinity forum.
I understand there's some sort of new Space Battles (I think it's called, it was big in the 70s?) movie coming. Rouge One, I think about intersteller makeup salesmen. Anyway that means MOAR TOYS and that's always a good thing no?
These are all of course scaled for 3 1/2 inch figures (though undersized for them) but there's very little that gives away the scale so they should/could work as 28mm shuttles.
Not much you can do with it, it's obviously a TIE fighter but maybe replacing the front window with some kind of cockpit or prow would make it look like something new. And it is a nice TIE.
Again not much you can do to make incorporate it in other games short of major surgery (and $400 is a bit much to drop for something you'd cut up) but very very nice.
The ATAT Looks like it might actually be near-perfectly scaled for 28mm. I'm not going to pay that, but if someone were running a 28mm SW convention game it might be worth it.
For wargaming, the real SW toy gems are in the Micro Machines and Hot Wheels miniature line. Lots of ships there that -depending on the model- might scale well for X-Wing. With almost every notable vehicle being available in two different scales, you're very likely to find a close match scale-wise.
If you want to do 28mm, check out the Revel model kits. They vary in size and scale, but there are quite a few that are close enough to 28mm to look good as scenery on the table.
Dang, I want that copter! Just the perfect amount of realism and sci-fi mixed.
I got word on another forum that this older snap-tite kit is about to be re-released.
Unlike the newer, smaller, and less detailed Snap-tite AT-ATC, the AT-AT is 1/53 and measures over a foot tall!
Some folks are selling NOS examples from years ago here.
https://www.amazon.com/Revell-AT-AT-Imperial-Walker-Snaptite/dp/B001MDV1MK Prices are way too high right now, but there's some info about the size. Based on the price of other models, this one may go for less than $50 if it gets released in the states!
The chopper I've actually seen in the store. It's big enough for 40k, though a bit undersized from what it should be (if that makes sense). At 28mm it works as a smallish cargo chopper carrying a bike or two or 10 men, while at 15mm or 10mm it would work best.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Matthew wrote: Isn't there an RCAT-AT? I sense a Titan conversion...
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh and update on the Tomica Storm Runner
Scale wise looks pretty good, I mean comically small if you're being realistic, but for 40k looks about right. For $20~$30 it makes a nice alternate flier for IG or Marines.
The chopper I've actually seen in the store. It's big enough for 40k, though a bit undersized from what it should be (if that makes sense). At 28mm it works as a smallish cargo chopper carrying a bike or two or 10 men, while at 15mm or 10mm it would work best.
Good to know. That actually sounds perfect to me. I won't be using it for 40k, but for my mech attack games. IMHO, aircraft need to be smaller-than-scale or chibi-in-proportion to work in 28mm or they usually end up way too big. A properly scaled Skycrane would take up a quarter of the table. It's the same reason I think that trains compressed for 0-27 curves work better than true scale "0" trains.*
I'll do a full review when it comes in. It really doesn't look like there's much to be done to it to make it sci-fi ready.
*Speaking of which I should have an update on the sci-fi train soon....
The Marines are around 1/32 but the aliens look right -if a bit chunky- for 28mm.
THere's a good review of them by INL gameshere:
http://www.inlgames.com/alien.htm From which I stole the pics above.
Being soft plastic, they'll have to be cleaned really well and some plastic-spcific spray paint would be advised as a base coat, but even if you have no use for the marines, less than a buck each for ALIENS is pretty good and they come in 5 different poses!
I've seen alot of "the corps " stuff around here. Generally they're way too outsized or cartoony to work well with 28mm, but the Sub and Dual Rotor Chopper do have potential for spacecraft.
Most interesting to me, that Exo suit could be quite good with a bit of modification to the legs (either mechanisms or just some plasticard to cover it up. How tall is a Knight? The Exo suit probably isn't bigger than 6 inches tall.. Looks like it can be found for a bit cheaper if you shop around and there is at least one other Torso sculpt that looks pretty cool.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/172440770048?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true
Wow! I've never seen those big Corps vehicles. They've been recycling the same handful of vehicles for about the last 20 years, so it's nice to see something new from them. I would've loved the Beast Bomber and the crazy Chinook looking helo when I was a kid.
There are sets of Animal Planet toys that are abundant that include pieces akin to the old Marx kits. The Prehistoric has dinosaurs, the Animals has jungle animals, and BOTH of them include rocks, trees, Cliff outcroppings, and some additional stuff that makes for great terrain fodder.
Second was the buckets of The Core armymen. They had gak loads of add ons, such as cages, fences, statues, odds and ends, and each of the sets has a number of interesting bits that have numerous uses.
I've seen alot of "the corps " stuff around here. Generally they're way too outsized or cartoony to work well with 28mm, but the Sub and Dual Rotor Chopper do have potential for spacecraft.
Most interesting to me, that Exo suit could be quite good with a bit of modification to the legs (either mechanisms or just some plasticard to cover it up. How tall is a Knight? The Exo suit probably isn't bigger than 6 inches tall.. Looks like it can be found for a bit cheaper if you shop around and there is at least one other Torso sculpt that looks pretty cool.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/172440770048?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true
Currently working on figuring out a skirmish game for this.
Another toy line that was a lot of fun- Mega Force. We actually made a 'game' for this when I was a kid. I wouldn't say they were complex, but the rules were that certain vehicles had limited capability and you had to use the vehicles that worked (A tank can't shoot down a jet, etc.). I think we 'resolved' combat by using a deck of cards and playing 'battle', but a capable person could get their hands on these toys and make a pretty awesome game.
Kid Kyoto, you can buy the Marauder Task Force figures directly from Marauder inc.
www.marauderinc.com
They're a bit pricey, but there's a wide variety of bits and bobs, including female figures. If you're really interested, they're running their third Kickstarter right now for articulated dogs, exo skeletons, and PMC mercs.
Related to them, check out Bossfight Studios. They designed the basic figures for Marauder. They're currently doing their own line of 1/18 fantasy figures with modular gear. The first series was Greeks vs Gorgons. Second series is sword & sorcery fantasy and its first wave just released. They're supposed to have conversion sets releasing soon along with generic "blank" figures. Another company partnered with them to do a line of modular zombies and survivors that just finished up a Kickstarter campaign.
Another little tidbit, Marauder said that they are planning to make an actual tabletop RPG to go along with their figures which will incorporate the toys' customizability.
Obviously a lot of sites with full reviews out there so I'll just hit what I think works for wargaming.
The ships... the A wing and new TIE with extra EVIL are gorgeous but a bit hard to un-Star Warsify. The other two are speeders and might be useful as some sort of flyer or landed ship terrain.
These two are play sets that fold into a BB-8 toy, potentially useful but pricey.
On the whole I don't see all that much that looks useful but we all know more will come and if there's an appropriately sized version of the Gorilla AT-AT I'll be all over it.
It's a reissue of an older kit, but it's a pretty good looking set. I'm not sure if it's a regular release in the US and the price is solid, or if it's an import and a US release would be lower in price
It was only $25 at WalMart.
It's essentially one sided, but has alot of potential for placement in the corner of a small Frostgrave or Mordheim board or for an RPG encounter.
I'll do up a proper review of it this week. Also wouldn't be a bad way to display some fantasy figs.
Kid_Kyoto wrote:That does look useful, how bad is the back? Would paint cover the unfinished nature?
Look forward to seeing it with some figures for scale.
Unfortunatley it's half-hollow plastic. I'll take lots of pics when I do my blog review.
As an estimated scale comparison, the figs in this picture with their thin bases are just a smidge taller than heroclix on their bases.
Anpu-adom wrote:Glue 4 of them together? Leave out a wall or two on each side?
possible, but the two walls are different sizes. Maybe with some filling. It really is best I think as a corner of a table or with an entire second wall built behind it.
One thing though is that it is really sturdy. The pieces fit together so nicely and snap so tight that I don't think I could take it apart without breaking it a bit.
Kid_Kyoto wrote:That does look useful, how bad is the back? Would paint cover the unfinished nature?
Look forward to seeing it with some figures for scale.
Unfortunatley it's half-hollow plastic. I'll take lots of pics when I do my blog review.
As an estimated scale comparison, the figs in this picture with their thin bases are just a smidge taller than heroclix on their bases.
Anpu-adom wrote:Glue 4 of them together? Leave out a wall or two on each side?
possible, but the two walls are different sizes. Maybe with some filling. It really is best I think as a corner of a table or with an entire second wall built behind it.
One thing though is that it is really sturdy. The pieces fit together so nicely and snap so tight that I don't think I could take it apart without breaking it a bit.
Hmmm,,,,now I want to buy that kit and put my Mantic DungeonSaga furniture in it. I can use it as a ruin so hopefully the exterior façade won't require too much work to look like broken stone walls.
I have seen them in person and they are the perfect scale for 28mm figures. Good for Frostgrave, Of Gods and Mortals, Song of Blades and Heroes, etc, etc.
Kid_Kyoto wrote:That does look useful, how bad is the back? Would paint cover the unfinished nature?
Look forward to seeing it with some figures for scale.
Unfortunatley it's half-hollow plastic. I'll take lots of pics when I do my blog review.
As an estimated scale comparison, the figs in this picture with their thin bases are just a smidge taller than heroclix on their bases.
Anpu-adom wrote:Glue 4 of them together? Leave out a wall or two on each side?
possible, but the two walls are different sizes. Maybe with some filling. It really is best I think as a corner of a table or with an entire second wall built behind it.
One thing though is that it is really sturdy. The pieces fit together so nicely and snap so tight that I don't think I could take it apart without breaking it a bit.
Seems like id be nice to rip up for parts and or recasting, like the book case window arches and those sick sofa chairs.
Yeah, aquarium/terrarium stuff are often good finds for terrain.
From alien foliage to giant idols to huge pieces of dead trees... all for fairly inexpensive at the pet store.
I have seen them in person and they are the perfect scale for 28mm figures. Good for Frostgrave, Of Gods and Mortals, Song of Blades and Heroes, etc, etc.
Just saw on the news that Toys R' Us (large US commercial toystore chain) is considering declaring bankruptcy. While in many cases this doesn't result in a chain shutting down (somehow), it's very likely you could be seeing some major stores closing....always worth keeping an eye on for discount stuff if they have going-out-of-business sales.
Elbows wrote: This is vaguely related. (US players only)
Just saw on the news that Toys R' Us (large US commercial toystore chain) is considering declaring bankruptcy. While in many cases this doesn't result in a chain shutting down (somehow), it's very likely you could be seeing some major stores closing....always worth keeping an eye on for discount stuff if they have going-out-of-business sales.
The rumor comes around every few years, but apparently this last year or so has been really bad for retail so this might be it.
Walmart and the Internet are just killing them, they make all their money on Babies R Us.
I got the best armyman set for 40K ever for $10 at Reny's (I fear that is only a Maine, USA thing). It was called "River combat, and featured vaguely USA and East German forces, but everything had tons of rivets on it. Scale varied but lots of it will be usable. Four Jeeps, truck with radar dish, truck with MRS, two paper fold buildings, quonset hut (a little small, but convertable), sandbag enclosure, two quite detailed artillery pieces, two highly convertible stealth bombers, two bridges, two missiles on wagons. Some other stuff out of scale but great for making junk piles when cut up. Amazing value. Just goes to show it pays to look closely at what might be in the bag!
That could easily be done up into some kind of Rogue Trader or commercial flying vehicle --- with some grime and gribbly bits it's easy to see it in 40K.
As close to a titan as real life is likely to get.
I've seen one of these once, in real life. It was surreal, at the time I didn't know such a machine even existed or could exist. I was on a high school excursion to an open cut coal mine in Eastern Germany (for no particular reason), and as we turned a corner, looking down one of those deep, kilometre long corridors into the ground, there was one of these beasts towering above us. The size of a city block, maybe 30 stories high and rigged like a huge, steel galleon. It was just incomprehensible.
Also Lego, for most types of buildings and fortifications. And you could play skirmish games, like Mordheim using lego men, because changing equipment would be really easy.
Elbows wrote: This is vaguely related. (US players only)
Just saw on the news that Toys R' Us (large US commercial toystore chain) is considering declaring bankruptcy. While in many cases this doesn't result in a chain shutting down (somehow), it's very likely you could be seeing some major stores closing....always worth keeping an eye on for discount stuff if they have going-out-of-business sales.
The rumor comes around every few years, but apparently this last year or so has been really bad for retail so this might be it.
Walmart and the Internet are just killing them, they make all their money on Babies R Us.
kestral wrote: I got the best armyman set for 40K ever for $10 at Reny's (I fear that is only a Maine, USA thing). It was called "River combat, and featured vaguely USA and East German forces, but everything had tons of rivets on it.
Local store had about 5 of these. Painted up they look great AMAZON has them for 13$ each. On my work blackberry right now (I know lol), can anyway link the jpeg?
Really fun and affordable stuff for those wanting to try HP wargaming and willing to do it in 38mm (aprox 1/43).
AndrewGPaul wrote:There are LEGO wargaming rules floating about the Internet already.
There are, but if it's Brikwars you're talking about, they're more fun to read than to actually play. I've had alot more fun using Song of Blades and Heroes for LEGO battles.
8" long, 3" wide, so too narrow for most 40k vehicles (great for Epic!) but decent enough for infantry. 2 for $10.
Nice.
I have one or two of those. They originated in army men playsets. They're nice, but they are made of polyurethane so be sure to use some krylon camo (with "fusion") to prime them.
If you play Gaslands any Hot Wheels of Matchbox cars will do. If you get the Hot Wheels Ultimate Garage Kid showed, you have stuff for more than one game!
One of the kids in my Kids of War group found what looks amazingly like a cheap ripoff of the old GW Ork Battlewagon - the original open topped one that looks like a steam powered dune buggy with metal wheels... he is using it for a dwarf Steel Behemoth.
He found it used in the cheap toys bin of the local Goodwill.
And I have no idea what company made the thing.... It is an obvious ripoff of the battlewagon, and was made in China.
The Auld Grump - so danged jealous of the kid's luck....
We just bought two Hot Wheels Imperial Speeder Bikes at Walmart for $3.97 apiece on closeout. Probably not cool for Legion, but the scale looks just about perfect for Star Wars Miniatures Battles. And the price was right!
Just spent a whopping $3.50 at Goodwill for these bad boys. Looking forward to breaking them down into component parts and repurposing into grungy wargaming terrain.
Skirmish Wargames wrote: Just spent a whopping $3.50 at Goodwill for these bad boys. Looking forward to breaking them down into component parts and repurposing into grungy wargaming terrain.
Excellent finds! I recognize the launcher but what are the other two?
If you need some inspiration for what do do with the power launcher, here's what I did with a very similar example.
Your repurposed Hot Wheels launcher is crazy good. Thanks for the inspiration.
The big purple and orange thing I got at Good Will is actually a ShrinkyDink oven. The blue robot is marked Tomy and Disney (in very small type), but that's all I know about it.
Skirmish Wargames wrote: Your repurposed Hot Wheels launcher is crazy good. Thanks for the inspiration.
The big purple and orange thing I got at Good Will is actually a ShrinkyDink oven. The blue robot is marked Tomy and Disney (in very small type), but that's all I know about it.
Thanks for the info. Two more things to look out for at Goodwill!
US Toys R Us stores are likely to close in the next week or two. So um... good time to shop for bargains?
I guess?
Beyond losing a store I really liked, and however many thousands of people losing their jobs there's the fact that TRU is going under largely because of a $7 billion leveraged buy out that hamstrung its ability to invest. Before people mutter about Amazon or Walmart or whatever try imagining running a business with a $7,000,000,0000 millstone around your neck.
US Toys R Us stores are likely to close in the next week or two. So um... good time to shop for bargains?
I guess?
Beyond losing a store I really liked, and however many thousands of people losing their jobs there's the fact that TRU is going under largely because of a $7 billion leveraged buy out that hamstrung its ability to invest. Before people mutter about Amazon or Walmart or whatever try imagining running a business with a $7,000,000,0000 millstone around your neck.
The Washington Post really is something special, not just excusing risky corporate behaviour, but doing so by gaking on people who lost their homes in a financial crash that resulted from risky corporate behaviour.
porkuslime wrote: I wonder what scale those robots, monsters and fairies are in...
Hey Porkuslime, long time no see!
I wonder also. $17 is probably a good deal, but just a bit outside of the impluse buy range for me. If anyone does pick these up I'd love to see some scale shots. Especially the robots, I'm loving that turtlebot!
Yeesh, those must be veterans because it looks like most of those marines already got covered in Xenomorph blood
Automatically Appended Next Post: I should probably add something useful. I picked up 3 of these at my local dollar store a few weeks ago for $10 each. Some kind of crappy hologram mind control silyness that you download an app to your ipad and slide it into the roof. I'm sure some executive though was a great idea...and only he thought was a great idea. Looks like they originally retailed for over $100, they're online for around $25. Worthless for their original purpose (as emphasized by the dozen left on the shelf I DIDN'T buy for $10), but it's absolutely awesome for Star Wars bunkers/buildings
They're pretty big, that Jedi Order symbol on the front is about 40mm wide. The white top glues down to the white base to make an awesome looking bunker/building, the dark grey cap that the plastic "glass" pyramid sits on has a lot of nice panel lines and will make for a great landing pad/storage pad. There's a big "Star Wars" logo on top that'll need to be covered by plasticard, but that's no big deal
And with some WotC Star Wars Miniatures for scale:
The Washington Post really is something special, not just excusing risky corporate behaviour, but doing so by gaking on people who lost their homes in a financial crash that resulted from risky corporate behaviour.
We also call it The Washington Compost. In days of yore, it was known as Pravda on the Potomac.
porkuslime wrote: I wonder what scale those robots, monsters and fairies are in...
Hey Porkuslime, long time no see!
I wonder also. $17 is probably a good deal, but just a bit outside of the impluse buy range for me. If anyone does pick these up I'd love to see some scale shots. Especially the robots, I'm loving that turtlebot!
Robots - "The figurines are between 2.5-7 cm tall, the biggest being 6 cm wide." according to a reviewer.
Monsters - "each 2-3 inches high"
Fairies - "Most of the fairies and unicorns are just under 2 inches tall. The dragon figures are taller--closer to 3 inches tall."
I know Kyoto Secunda and Kyoto Secunda Prime are getting the fairies when we go back to the US.
Kalamadea
That SW Trainer/Building is kind of amazing. I'm going to look around here for one. My kids can wear the headsets and run around with their lightsabers.
Red Harvest,
The fairy/pony set for playing fairy meat is actually a pretty brilliant idea. I seem to remember someone here or TMP or LeadAd was asking about Fairy Meat last year and though the rules are available the figures are OOP.
'Kyoto,
Thanks for that. That does make the robots bit more tempting.
There are some usefull toys in the Power Ranger lines. Two of which I'm at-this-time finishing turning into spacecraft for an Adepticon "Mech Attack" Scenario.
It's on OOP toy, and you have to scratch a roof of some kind for the middle cargo area but you can find used ones for around $35 shipped on ebay.
Pyramidas.
Review and pics here:
http://www.collectiondx.com/toy_review/deluxe_pyramidas_carrier_zord Wierd looking I know but imagine it without a head lying on it's back. In that position it has a nice downward swept nose awesome starting point for a big blocky spacecraft or sci-fi bunker. As-is incomplete versions on ebay go for about the same price as the Response Vehicle.
I'll post finished pics to my blog and project log after Adepticon, but for now let your imagination run wild...
Are there others you guys can think of? I am sure I missed tons!
Those are some very good suggestions. For toy gaming I often recommend looking at simple wargames that are well proven even if they aren't listed for "toys". As an example, Brikwars is designed fo LEGO and is a really funny read. However in play it is rather klunky. Song of Blades and Heroes on the other hand is written for miniatures but is an excellent choice for skirmish gaming with LEGO which I've done on a couple occasions.
-If you have Robot toys, Mech Attack is a good option. http://armorgridgames.blogspot.com -The Panzer 8 series of free games are wonerfully simple and versions exist for many different genres.
Anyone looking at any kind of toy gaming needs to look at Sean Patten's free wargame rules at http://www.ironhands.com (aka Necromunicon) They are almost all quite simple and many blur the lines between games created for toys and games created for simple wargaming He's got games for
-Star Wars Galactic Heroes (or any other kind of SW toys)
-Gundam
-Votoms
-Toy Cars
-Spaceships
-and others...
I've used the "Starcrashers" rules to play with toy spacecraft several times with my son and we've really enjoyed it.
I've been pondering that exact thing, Barzam! Nice chunky figures that are nearly indestructible when it come to kids' handling. Slap some flat plates you der their feet, and you have poseable game minis that have swappable weapons and armor and can be removed from bases to be put on vehicles. Probably use the Brikwars rules, but with Megablox figures.
This display is 11 1/8" tall, 10" wide and 7" deep approximately
The sculpture is made of designer composite resin, hand painted and polished
Use this castle display stand to showcase your miniatures. We have many miniature sets in our store that is compatible with this display stand.
Those Nano Metal Figs are also good for Superheroes.
I went to the local Toys R Us that was closing and was EXTREMELY disappointed by the clearance prices. ONly 10% off and all the Big G stuff was gone all ready. :(
Halo Nano MetalFigs (plus Desert Batman with a rifle). Just 97 cents apiece at the local Walmart vs. $6 apiece on Amazon. (Huh? Weird.)
Very cool to see Halo getting a Nano line. I had no idea there was such a thing! No surprise about the prices though the same thing happened with all the other Nano Metalfigs lines. One buck each at Target or Walmart (Walmart seems to have a deal to get them a couple months before anyone else) and 4-6 bucks or more at various resellers.
Could you give us a sole to eye measurement on the Nanos? The HP figs were pretty solidly 38mm which made them bigger than most figures, but the line is big enough that you don't necessarily need them to compatible with other lines and you could also fudge it a bit with some 34m+ miniatures lines. If the Halo figs are that height it would probably be just fine as you expect guys in futuristic armor to be a bit bigger than average.
A height on a couple of the transformers would be cool too if you can.
Thanks so much for that compairson shot and measurement!
I was ok with the HP figs being big but if theHalo figs are 38-40mm I'll probably skip them as all my sci-fi figs are aroun 28-30mm. Still it's a cool toy at a good pricepoint and there's alot of potential there for wargaming with kids. A batch of Halo Metalfigs and a bag of plastic aliens and you've got a wargame!
Robots look look to be in the 60-80mm range. I haven't been following the movies, but the new style of transformers look pretty cool even perhaps as non-transformer battlemechs. I may keep an eye out for that at resale shops.
Eilif wrote: Thanks so much for that compairson shot and measurement!
I was ok with the HP figs being big but if theHalo figs are 38-40mm I'll probably skip them as all my sci-fi figs are aroun 28-30mm. Still it's a cool toy at a good pricepoint and there's alot of potential there for wargaming with kids. A batch of Halo Metalfigs and a bag of plastic aliens and you've got a wargame!
Robots look look to be in the 60-80mm range. I haven't been following the movies, but the new style of transformers look pretty cool even perhaps as non-transformer battlemechs. I may keep an eye out for that at resale shops.
If the halo Spartans are 38mm tall they would be spot on for 7 foot tall supersoldiers to fit in with your 28-30mm minis.
( 28-30mm scale being about 1/56, and 7ft in 1/56 is 38.2mm)
TheAuldGrump wrote: One of the kids in my Kids of War group found what looks amazingly like a cheap ripoff of the old GW Ork Battlewagon - the original open topped one that looks like a steam powered dune buggy with metal wheels... he is using it for a dwarf Steel Behemoth.
He found it used in the cheap toys bin of the local Goodwill.
And I have no idea what company made the thing.... It is an obvious ripoff of the battlewagon, and was made in China.
The Auld Grump - so danged jealous of the kid's luck....
They found it... it was by Fisher Price Imaginext, for six inch tall orc and ogre toys (how that is supposed to fit in a vehicle that is shorter than the orcs...?)
Finding the orcs pretty easy, less luck on the battlewagon.
The Auld Grump - pricey - the orc is $54 on Amazon....
Eilif wrote: Thanks so much for that compairson shot and measurement!
I was ok with the HP figs being big but if theHalo figs are 38-40mm I'll probably skip them as all my sci-fi figs are aroun 28-30mm. Still it's a cool toy at a good pricepoint and there's alot of potential there for wargaming with kids. A batch of Halo Metalfigs and a bag of plastic aliens and you've got a wargame!
Robots look look to be in the 60-80mm range. I haven't been following the movies, but the new style of transformers look pretty cool even perhaps as non-transformer battlemechs. I may keep an eye out for that at resale shops.
If the halo Spartans are 38mm tall they would be spot on for 7 foot tall supersoldiers to fit in with your 28-30mm minis.
( 28-30mm scale being about 1/56, and 7ft in 1/56 is 38.2mm)
Good Point. I didn't realize that HALO soldiers are so tall.
I picked up some Nano Supers figs for Super System games after looking at the price of Knight models Batman miniature game prices. Adam West Batman was like $20!
Looks like it would be twice the size of a GW model. Might work if you do more damage to hide the door and height of the windows.
BMC Bombed French Farm House
Colors: Tan with Gray Roof and Floor
Size: 8 x 5.75 x 7.25 inches tall
Scale: Approximately 1:32 (54mm)
Packaging: Polybag with Header Card
Yeah, I saw the scale. A bit expensive to ship to here in Aus to test it, but there's always a chance that someone on Dakka has tried one out or has a scale shot.
Azazelx wrote: Yeah, I saw the scale. A bit expensive to ship to here in Aus to test it, but there's always a chance that someone on Dakka has tried one out or has a scale shot.
Ah OK, eyeballing it most 28mm models will come to about halfway up the door, the base of the window. So you could easily hide a squad on the first floor with no shots in or out. They might be able to look out the windows on the second floor.
In Australia something like Miniature Scenery might be a better resource to check out.
chromedog wrote:Anyone mention the "Tech deck" toy skateboard terrain yet?
I use it on my infinity table. Got a stack of it when a local chain store had a clearance sale (2 for 1) and they were marked down, too.
The boxes are stackable storage boxes I got from a $2 shop ($2 for 6 of them).
I have some of the Tony Hawk "Circuit Boards" version which is similar but has a metal look for the walls that is VERY necromunda. I think I showed some earlier in this thread. I'm using some right now on a comission job.
I have some of the Tech Dech stuff but haven't used it yet. Looking at how you have it, I might stop over thinking it and just give it a quick-paint job. It looks great on your table!
I have one, it' is BIG.
If you cut one centimeter off the bottom ege and moved the second story floor up about a cm it might work. Would probably still look big, but if you glued a 28mm'ish lattice over the big windows to scale it down a bit it could probably pass as a ruin of a grander sort of home that might have very tall ceilings.
Here are some (poorly) re-painted Nano Metal superhero figs to be used in Super System games.....
They were pretty easy to simply paint over with no real stripping required. Plus, they work out to about $1 a figure. I am not sure how that translates to re-painted Heroclix.
I don't know when I'll get to it but two contenders for a heavy landing craft. Take the toy, glue or magnetize some Armoured Containers or even tanks to the bottom and Bob's Your Uncle!
The miniature gaming police did not knock down my door and drag me away for committing heresy..... yet. These were super fun to re-paint and I all ready have two more figs on the painting desk.
I have a sector imperialis board at home and while it is vary nice, the roads are completely clear firing lanes. I’ve been checking the toy aisles for some chunky vehicles to break up the shooting gallery. So far I've found this thing that looks like it will work as some kind of ad-mech garbage truck.
@Destroyer_742: That's a very cool conversion! Awesome to see, how some subtle alterations (painting and adding some small iconography) can change the whole appearance of an item.
I already love this thread and hope to see many more conversions of toys into wargaming pieces!
That Paw Patrol vehicle is pretty good. I just checked Amazon and there are a lot of them with different loadouts. Tug boat, different trucks, etc.
Can we see a scale shot with some minis?
I've got a bunch of Paw Patrol rings with the shield shape I was planning to use (with some plastic wings) on some Arbites-inspired terrain. Do you want some of them?
Ratius wrote: How did you paint it up? Was the plastic difficult to get the paint to adhere to?
Really really lazily. I just sprayed them with silver spray paint, then applied one coat of khorne red for the red, one coat of Retributor Armour for the gold and a heavy wash of apple barrel black paint thinned down with water and a bit of flow aid. No issues with paint adhesion so far.
No pics as on my phone but Playmobile have stared to sell there gladiator arena again.
These were going for daft money on eBay so they have released them as a direct only order on there webstore. They are perfect for arena rex or anything that need a a roughly 2ftx2ft arena.
The official Arena Red convention display is a converted one of these and looks great.
They don't come with any of the figures or other stuff anymore and are just bagged rather than boxed almost like somebody at the company plays Arena Rex and knows what they were being bought for.
I still have a lot of the large airplanes and bits so I may try making them into ork cruisers.
The Ork Hulk is more like a ship, it actually has some control over movement etc, I had a lot of fun so maybe I'll do one as 'terrain' next which doesn't need to be as linear.
I just picked up some super cheap toy vehicles for their payloads to be used in my Necromunda scenery. A couple of pounds each from Amazon. I might be able to reuse the wheels as well, but it's the tanks and movable platforms I'm.interested in.
Flinty wrote: I just picked up some super cheap toy vehicles for their payloads to be used in my Necromunda scenery. A couple of pounds each from Amazon. I might be able to reuse the wheels as well, but it's the tanks and movable platforms I'm.interested in.
Spoiler:
Do you have any scale pics for those? Or can you give a rough estimate of size?
Flinty wrote: I just picked up some super cheap toy vehicles for their payloads to be used in my Necromunda scenery. A couple of pounds each from Amazon. I might be able to reuse the wheels as well, but it's the tanks and movable platforms I'm.interested in.
Spoiler:
Do you have any scale pics for those? Or can you give a rough estimate of size?
Yup..here you go.
The mewp trucks convert down to a reasonable personal.mewp for 28mm, while the tank will.work nicely for.cover in Necromunda without fully blocking LOS.
I picked up a bunch of these humvee toys at the local dollar store. Seems like a close size match for some 40k vehicles. Might be good fodder for Ork Trukks or Battlewagons, civilian vehicles, or terrain. Take the wheels off, prop it up on blocks, etc.
Annual reminder, arts and crafts stores have their Halloween stuff out. So if you're looking for skeletons, skulls, haunted houses etc this is your time!
They'll be cheaper in November but you'll only get.the dregs then
I've FINALLY tracked down what I consider the right Train for 40k.
WOW Toyz (the z is important on searches), "Classic" line. They make two engines, four styles of cars, and tons of track. Cost is maybe $25 a set on Ebay or Amazon, or $10 a car. Though they are actually a little small really, they are plenty big enough on the table and I think will look fine if you redo the doors on some of the cars.... Armored Train, here I come!
Kid_Kyoto wrote:Annual reminder, arts and crafts stores have their Halloween stuff out. So if you're looking for skeletons, skulls, haunted houses etc this is your time!
They'll be cheaper in November but you'll only get.the dregs then
Nice, I hadn't noticed there was a construction pack! There's a military pack available right now that comes with a toy tank and a really nice fuel tank on a base. I hadn't seen one in years but some time ago I used one on this piece of terrain.
I'm fairly certain it's the same piece I used for the fuel tank on the right. as a size comparison the fuel tank has about the same length and width as a Hot Wheels vehicle.
kestral wrote:I've FINALLY tracked down what I consider the right Train for 40k.
WOW Toyz (the z is important on searches), "Classic" line. They make two engines, four styles of cars, and tons of track. Cost is maybe $25 a set on Ebay or Amazon, or $10 a car. Though they are actually a little small really, they are plenty big enough on the table and I think will look fine if you redo the doors on some of the cars.... Armored Train, here I come!
Those are great. Some of them are closer to 1/56 though the passenger train is closer to 1/64. I agree that it's actually quite good for wargaming. A true-scale train on a wargaming table is just HUGE. A scaled down toy like this or a length-compressed O-27 scale (close to O scale but intended for sharp curves) train is much better. If you poke around on Ali Express you can find individual cars from the WowToyz/Fenfa trains for around 5-8 bucks each.
kestral wrote: I've FINALLY tracked down what I consider the right Train for 40k.
WOW Toyz (the z is important on searches), "Classic" line. They make two engines, four styles of cars, and tons of track. Cost is maybe $25 a set on Ebay or Amazon, or $10 a car. Though they are actually a little small really, they are plenty big enough on the table and I think will look fine if you redo the doors on some of the cars.... Armored Train, here I come!
I just scored these bad boys on eBay for £6, scaled against some random models.and a chimera.
I'm not sure what I'll.do.with the hulk mobile but the iron man driller thingy will become a semi-abandoned mining machine for my Necromunda table. I just need to replace/build up the crew compartment at the top and add s9me searchlight and maybe a weapon mount for self.defence.
You could probably gin it up as a Termite with minimal.effortif you were so inclined.
While at California Adventure/Disneyland I encountered the Precision Series playsets for Cars. They had a picture of a mock Radiator Springs which was pretty cool. But the buildings themselves scale fairly well to be used in 28/32mm gaming and they light up. They can be a bit expensive, given the details, lightup and brand but you can also find decent deals on them as well. The top comes off, inside has decorations and usable terrain internally as well. The cars themselves aren't the right size but the terrain itself seems to match up decently.
OK so for a while now I've wanted to do a WWII Landing Barge style shuttle big enough to hold a Chimera or Rhino or two. I've looked at different kits and toys but never found the right size. I finally gave up and figured I'd either have to scratch build it or just file it under never.
And then my girls started watching something called Paw Patrol...
$30 and the cargo area is supposed to be 4"x12", so big enough for two Chimeras.
Dark Severence,
That playset looks great. There was a series of Cars playsets sold in normal stores a while back that had some great potential for a retro-50's look. They were spot-on for 28mm. I had a V8 Gas station that was perfect but I gave it to a buddy for his terrain. They also show up used from time to time.
Kyoto,
Paw Patrol, Ha!
That landing Craft is briliiant.
I almost kept my kid's paw patrol VTOL when they grew out of it but I gave all that stuff to a friend's kids.
There was an earlier red and blue one and it can often be found cheap online or at resale shops.
I bought this tank from Walmart for about $6. For the same price, it is larger than the Bronekorpus and about as well detailed, although it probably needs some stowage bits and some hatches or sensors (MEdge terrain sprue?) to look better next to 28mm miniatures. The other two minis were $5 each at the 99c Store, the basis for a walker and a flyer or BFG ship.
I chuckled at the Terminator "fleshinator" set. I had that way back when. We did end up using the grey plastic portion as Necromunda scenery in high school.
I am really digging on the Nano Metal Super figs lately. With the Batamn: Miniature rules available online, I have no end of cheap figures to use for it such as Batman- Many versions, Scarecrow, Killer Croc, and more for about $1 each. I can even use some of the Street Fighter and other variants as goons.
I bought a Schleich "Eldrador" giant bear with crystals sticking out from him. The fur is really nicely done even compared to many real TT minis, the prepaint is as good as the usual Schleich stuff outside some garish bright green scars or whatever(so, pretty damn good) and the size is pretty close to the Giant Chaos Spawn or Slaughterbrute I might run him as. The teeth and claws could be pointier, but I once sculpted over another Schleich model (of a house cat) to more resemble my cat, so I know for a fact that can be improved. And painted over.
At 9€ I might actually get *another* one and keep the current one on a shelf - I really DO like it
They have a lot of "mythical" stuff in that range, including a scorpion roughly the size of a shoe, a frost wolf, Cerberus and this sweet burning feline that the store I bought mine did not have, sadly.
I am really digging on the Nano Metal Super figs lately. With the Batamn: Miniature rules available online, I have no end of cheap figures to use for it such as Batman- Many versions, Scarecrow, Killer Croc, and more for about $1 each. I can even use some of the Street Fighter and other variants as goons.
Spoiler:
Just give them a wash and you are set.
At 38/39mm sole to eye the Nano Metalfigs are a bit big compared to 28/32mm stuff, but the price is certainly right and there's nothing wrong with gaming in a slightly larger scale. Further, the size of the nano figs makes them spot-on for scale with 1/43 die cast that are generally available quite cheaply. Also, IMHO they are close enough to be used with many Heroclix which lean towards 34mm
I've collected the entire Harry Potter line in hopes of someday doing HP gaming. Here's a pair of scale comparison shots
Emma Frost is about 34mm and the Chronosocope figs are 31mm
Y'know I keep thinking how great Rogue One was, then I realize I can't remember anyone's name. I think the chick was called June, then there was Frenchie, that guy, ED209 and um... Lord Evil?
Oh and cyber Che Guavera, who can forget Star Wars' second best wheezer.
Anyway yeah, lot off the head, remount in the center of it's chest, find an appropriate turtle back, add some leg armor, lop off the arms at the elbows, add nerf guns and bob's your uncle.
It's my favorite non-OT Star Wars movie. I remember many individual scenes, but that's probably because it was just an okay movie with a few really good scenes.
Speaking of the duo, I spent too many days imitating Donnie Yen's line "I am one wih the Foce and dhe Foce ih wih me." Got some pretty intense glares from people who may have thought I was imitating an accent rather than a specific performer. Haven't had that problem since Last of the Mohicans and Wes Stusi...
I found these on Amazon as well, 1/32 Soviet/Red Chinese trucks. I got a few back when I was in China and, assuming they're the same (they look the same) they're oversized but can hold a 10 model squad in the back and provide good cover.
I'll try and take something tonight or this weekend for scale.
I think that the ones I have do not have lights or pull back and go thing-y.
I actually think there are some in a dollarama bag in my car - haven't even made it into the house yet.