Army Men!! Pt. 3 The Civil War Set

 Oops, I goofed!

This post was supposed to come before the last one.   Senior moment...

Anyway, here goes. 

The Civil War Value Pack from Hobby Lobby has been opened and is ready for examination.

In a nutshell, the set consists of 34 soldier figures (17 each Union and Confederate), 2 horses, 2 cannon and 2 caissons.

At first glance this is an awesome little set.

There are enough individual poses to make things interesting.  It is my understanding that these packs are populated with random quantities of the various poses. It's very cool that the the poses of the soldiers are not duplicated between the two armies.

Viewed from a few feet distance, the soldiers and features are quite representative of the typical Civil War soldiers.

Here are photos of the two opposing sides all set out:

And the artillary:

There were no missing or broken pieces in the bag.  The only issues are that some of the muskets are bent. 

A quick, careful hit with a hair dryer gun can take care of that.

Overall, this set is not a bad buy at the $7.99 price point. I will likely head back to Hobby Lobby and purchase a second bag.

This will give me enough soldiery on each side to comprise a 'Company' unit.

In Civil War unit hierarchy, a company was supposed to be a group of 100 men. The majority started out with those numbers.

10 companies made up a regiment (1000 men). As the war progressed, most companies that were combat-ready at any given time typically numbered between 30-50 individuals. This was due to attrition from battle casualties, enemy capture, illness, and desertions.

Companies were given designation letters A through K. The letter J was not used, as it was easily confused with the letter 'I'.

Companies were typically led by Captains, their subordinates being the non-commissioned officers - sergeants and corporals.

So now that I've given a short history lesson, here is a fun fact:

If I wished to set up a somewhat historically accurate diorama of Pickett's charge at the battle of Gettysburg, it would require 706 of these Value Packs at a cost of $5,650.00 before tax.

General Lee sent over 12,000 men on that ill-fated assault on the Union center.

Next post: A closer look at the soldiers in this set and why a lot of it is not historically accurate.

Cheers!

Army Men!! Part IV

 In today's post, I will focus on a number of the individual pieces in the Civil War Value Pack.  This assessment will be through the lens of historical accuracy.

I'll start with the soldiers of the rebel army.

It doesn't take a close scrutiny of the Confederate figures to notice a number of problems.

First, all of the figures are clad in what I call 'Senior Officer' garb. These are supposedly rank and file infantrymen, but all of the figures are wearing long officer-style clothing, riding boots, and narrow-brim slouch hats.

All of the figures also have a knapsack strapped to their backs.

In reality, the typical Confederate regular infantry soldiers wore a huge array of different clothing. Jackets, usually shorter in length, were in various shades of gray or butternut, many being home-spun. Same thing with trousers - there were many different variations - some soldiers wore gray or light blue army-issued, others wore loose trousers in butternut, brown, red, blue, pretty much what ever they could get ahold of. 

Headgear consisted of a mix of slouch hats and army forage caps, again, in various colors and forms. The slouch hats were not the prim officer style, rather wide-brim farm-type affairs that could be bent down to provide better shade for the soldier's face.

High-top boots were definitely not a feature of the typical rebel soldier. The vast majority wore whatever shoes they could acquire. As the war dragged on, many of the Confederate troops had to settle for no shoes at all, instead resorting to wrapping rags around their feet, or even going barefoot.

As for the knapsack, this would not have been a common feature of the Confederate soldier. At the beginning of the war, Southern units were issued packs in many forms, but as time went on this practice stopped as the army supply resources dwindled. Rebel soldiers largely resorted to wearing blanket rolls around their necks, in which they carried whatever extra clothing and personal effects they had. These were affectionately called 'horse collars'.

In both armies, backpacks were virtually never carried into combat, due to their weight and bulk. Officers commanded that backpacks be left piled in the rear before soldiers were moved into battle formation.

Doubtless, many of the packs were lost, stolen, or never retrieved after a battle.

One final issue I have with the Confederate soldiers in this offering is that every single figure has the exact same facial features: a long mustache and beard!

Overall, this group of so-called infantry soldiers has the appearance of a company of clones of some brigadier general!!

It is definitely obvious that the mold designer(s) for this set had no clue of what the rank and file Confederate soldier looked like.

Hint: the bottom of the figure bases are stamped with "Made In China". 

That might be a clue.

This is, after all, a $7.99 Value Pack....

Anyway, next post will be all about the Union troops.

Stay tuned...

Army Men!! Part II

 It frequently seems that interaction with my grandkids tends to spark new or renewed interest in toys and activities that I either did as a kid or have never encountered before.

That's exactly how my involvement with LEGO building got started a little over a decade ago.

Since I have recently been enjoying spending time with my youngest grandchild immersed in army man play, I've sort of rekindled an interest in that particular subject.

Yesterday, I ducked into the local Hobby Lobby and was delighted to find a 'Value Pack' of American Civil War plastic soldiers.

Since I am an avid student of Civil War history, this set is square in my wheelhouse!

Can't wait to tear into this bag.

Jeez, I'm becoming a 70-year-old 8-year- old!

A review of the set will be the subject of my next post.

Cheers!

Army Men !!

Recently, my wife and I have been spending Mondays watching our soon-to-be 4 year old grandson at our home.

It turns out that this young lad is quite interest in playing with toy plastic soldiers.

As soon as he enters the house in the morning, the first thing he asks is to play with army men.

So, to accommodate this request, I have pulled out my shoebox of vintage green U.S. army soldiers. These date back to the early 1970s and are the typical green guys that every kid from that era had.

The soldiers of my collection are all solid veterans of many battles! Over the course of the past several decades, they've definitely been knocked over countless times by rubber bands (small arms fire), and heavy artillery (Nerf gun bullets)!

My own kids and grand-kiddoes have also played with them over the years, but I'm usually around to insure that they don't get treated too roughly or lost. 

The soldiers, that is.

So, just the other day, my youngest grandson and I built a large fort out of many-colored Mega-Bloks and spent the entire morning setting up and knocking down my beleaguered vintage green army!

Cheers!

Concerning Musical Talent

Today's post revolves around this little sign that I have pinned to the wall of my music studio.

At first glance, it seems to appear as a lament that God didn't give me enough talent to be a virtuoso musician.

That's not the point of the message at all. 

In reality, it's a reminder that He gave me a certain level of musical acumen and ability that is a basis on which I must be diligent to practice and hone my skills.

To a large degree, I have accomplished much of that. I may not be a virtuoso musician but I can hold my own in most band situations on violin, guitar, bass, and mandolin.

This sign reminds me that I still must be humble. It reminds me that there is still much to learn in my musical journey.

It teaches me that I still have the capability of messing up and making a train wreck of any given performance.

I thank God daily for giving me the ability that I posses, and in seeing that I put it to good use as best I can.

Cheers!

My Other Awesomely Cool Blogs!

 In my last post, I mentioned that, among my many interests, are model rocketry, LEGO building, and woodworking.

I happen to write blogs on all of these subjects.

If any of you readers of this blog have an interest in any of those subjects, feel free to check out my ramblings on those sites.

Even if you don't have an interest in those subjects, the blogs are a great read anyway.

In my opinion.

The links appear on the top right of this page.

One note: the woodworking blog is integrated into the Lumberjocks woodworking website.

Over the last few years they have re-done their site, And I have found it very difficult to navigate to my blog.

The posts do appear, but they are not in chronological order, and have some of my forum posts mixed in with the blog posts.

Just have to work through it.

Anyway, enjoy...!

SEVEN - OH !!

 "The world needs more people who refuse to act their age."

Last week I completed my 70th trip around the sun, a journey that started way back in 1956.  (Jeez, that was when silver dimes, quarters, and half dollars still circulated in our pocket change!)

The above quote is more relevant to me than ever before.

Remember when you were growing up, your parents would scold you with the ""Act your age!" line?

I do.  Now that I have transitioned across the numerical threshold of being 'middle-aged' to the status of 'old', I want nothing to do with acting my age!

That being established, I think it's safe to say that, not only do I not feel like I'm 70, I certainly don't act like it, either.

After I hit my retirement era five years ago, I worked through all the difficulties associated with 'I don't have any place to be today' and 'what do I do with my empty house' and 'where did all my work friends go?',etc, etc, etc.

Now that I am into my 7th decade, my focus has shifted to prioritizing my own activities, and spending more quality time with the missus.

First and foremost, more attention has recently been paid to exercise and diet.

Every early weekday morning is spent at the local rec center engaging in a rather rigorous 'cross-fit' regimen consisting of a large variety of weight, cardio, and core exercises.

Diet changes consist of the increase in protein and vegetables, and much less in the consumption of carbs, processed foods, and sugar.

In addition, I make sure that I get a full eight hours of sleep every night. That's more important to mental and physical well-being than many people realize.

Needless to say, I look and feel in much better shape than when I was half my age.

In addition to that, I stay physically and mentally active during the remainder of the day.

Recently, I've been on a binge of de-cluttering the house, ruthlessly getting rid of things that I no longer need or ever will use. 

There's definitely going to be a substantial yard sale this coming Spring!

Also, I have many hobbies to keep my grey matter busy:

Model rocketry

LEGO  building

Music performance, practice, study, and writing

Woodworking

Philatelics and numismatics

Gardening

Journaling

Reading

My wife says I have too much, but I think not!

Even though I own a La-z-Boy chair, it sees very little use. Most days, none at all.

Another important thing is that I limit my media intake, both social media and televised stuff.  I don't even have a Facebook account.  And I'm better off for it. I tend to view most media content as 'clutter  for the brain'.  And since I am in de-cluttering mode right now, well, you know...

With all this said, I am greatly looking forward to the next decade.

Lots to do and accomplish!