As mentioned preciously, much of my childhood wargame recruits came from the cereal packet. The orangey tan and dark green cereal GIs were copies of Marx (not that I knew any of that when i was a boy as we did not see Marx figures in the Australian stores). The orangey tan troops invariably served along side the Germans, especially the Lone Star Africa Corps.
Some decades later I painted one of them to see how it would look. I think it looks nice except that these men always look like their rations have been cut.
I also had some 'pineapple' helmeted GIs. These guys could be bought in the corner shop and had the simulated helmet netting. They were an American company - someone can tell me the name, which i have forgotten -, although mine would have been HK copies. I couldn't locate my collection of unpainted ones but here is one I painted decades later.
I have a special nostalgia for these Timpo WW 2 Germans and American GIs. Most have lost their pot helmets, that were identical shapes for both sides. What was nice about them was the removable equipment and the nice heads, I thought the faces attractive, actually oddly peaceful for the bloody business they were about. The only disconcerting thing was the flesh colored hair, although this would be hidden if the helmets were not lost. The helmets were frequently removed so that the Germans could fill in as Confederates. As Germans, they frequently ambushed the British metal and plastic red coated guardsmen as they escorted a tin plate car, which supposedly held the Royal family.
As a child I missed out on the later range of Germans with the more accurate shaped helmets, although I obtained some later.
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