Paragon Alamo Defenders Batch #9 Set #00209

Here's another header bag of Paragon Alamo figures in gray and tan. There's simply a dearth of defender sculpts to be had out there and these figures from Paragon are filling the bill nicely. This particular set has twocompleted finished figures and the rest have plug-in heads and arms. I just don't have time at the moment to do complete photo essays on the figures but hopefully I can get to it sometime this year! :-)  Enjoy! Opa Fritz 

Paragon Alamo Mexican Soldiers Set #00213

I've been so immersed in toys of the past that a lot of new companies have started up that I've had no clue about. One of these is Paragon who has a series of Alamo related figures with some unusual features like swappable heads, hands, and arms. Swappable parts is not a new concept of course but hasn't been a staple of Little Green Army Men for some time. The sculpts are essentially 54mm but are - what's the right word? - 'clunkier', than what we're used to with Marx or BMC type figures. These match up well with Conte sculpting though and for me I don't care because quite frankly, it's tough trying to flesh out an Alamo scene with the relatively few sculpts that have dominated the market for so long. 

This set was kind of important to me in that it had several ladders and ladder climbers - a pose of which there is little variety in the toy world. Paragon offers quite a few sets and I've only gotten a couple to-date, so without furhter ado here's my set of Alamo Mexican Soldiers. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Twelve figures

Four different style heads (18 heads total)

Three right hands holding pistols

Three left hands holding pistols

Three right arms holding swords

Three left arms holding swords

Three axes

Three pick-axes

There's enough extra parts for battlefield carnage and debris

Here's a few of the poses available with the various head/arm parts. The biggest shortcomings to this set are:

-That guy holding the pick-axe. The holes in the hands don't line up so that it's impossible to just slide the axe in stratight

-The ladders are so crooked they don't sit square on the surface

-The ladder climbers do not stay on the ladders well enough without gluing them. Their hands are designed to slip over the the top rung but the sculpting isn't good enough for them to actually get a good grip. There's a peg on one of the rungs that fits into a hole in the bottom of the right shoe but it's not at all a tight enough fit for the foot to stay in place.

Four different heads are included