Here is a white plastic Nativity set of 54mm figures and animals (by a German maker?) that I was given by a relative. Some of the white plastic is brittle and the halos on Mary and Joseph had broken.
These did not take paint well. I used Acrylic and these are almost finished. A little work on faces is still required.
It looks like the Shepherd crook has broken? Worth repairing.
Three Wise Men and their giftsThe Holy Family – Mary is unfortunately missing a hand, due no doubt to brittle ageing plastic.
Hello I'm Mark Mr MIN, Man of TIN. Based in S.W. Britain, I'm a lifelong collector of "tiny men" and old toy soldiers, whether tin, lead or childhood vintage 1960s and 1970s plastic figures.
I randomly collect all scales and periods and "imagi-nations" as well as lead civilians, farm and zoo animals. I enjoy the paint possibilities of cheap poundstore plastic figures as much as the patina of vintage metal figures.
Befuddled by the maths of complex boardgames and wargames, I prefer the small scale skirmish simplicity of very early Donald Featherstone rules.
To relax, I usually play solo games, often using hex boards. Gaming takes second place to making or convert my own gaming figures from polymer clay (Fimo), home-cast metal figures of many scales or plastic paint conversions. I also collect and game with vintage Peter Laing 15mm metal figures, wishing like many others that I had bought more in the 1980s ...
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8 thoughts on “Man of TIN Advent Calendar Day 24 – Plastic Nativity Figures”
Hi Mark, they are Marx figures made under licence in Germany by a firm called Heimo, personally I wouldn’t worry about repairing the small amount of damage, it doesn’t detract from the overall look of the whole thing and they make a nice diorama to bring out each year. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Many thanks Brian for the Heimo information. A few missing halos are no bother and a shepherd staff should be easy to fashion or repair. Not yet painted the toy soldier faces – maybe next year! Best wishes for Christmas to you and yours. Mark
You’re right, Ian, it is strange and very few sheep too. Although in Britain we think of shepherding as being a solitary thing, it does mention shepherds plural in many of the Nativity carols.
I looked this up and shepherds plural definitely in Luke’s gospel. One Christmas website says “At that time, sheep farmers were generally seen as having low or little value by other people. The type of sheep the shepherds would have been raising were ‘fat tailed’ (or broad tailed) sheep. They often had lambs in the autumn and winter, rather than in the spring which most sheep in western countries these days ” which explains the carried lamb.
Happy toy-filled Christmas!
A few little things on the paint finish required (eyes, toy soldier pink / red cheek dots). The manger needs a little work to dual purpose (or take away) the chunky gun emplacement feel. Dual purpose – Could save on storage!
Made from scrap chunky wood from an IT colleague who used the blocks for keeping air gaps between server type IT stuff.
Man of Tin blog 
A Merry Christmas to you and yours
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And to you and all our blog readers.
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Hi Mark, they are Marx figures made under licence in Germany by a firm called Heimo, personally I wouldn’t worry about repairing the small amount of damage, it doesn’t detract from the overall look of the whole thing and they make a nice diorama to bring out each year. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
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Many thanks Brian for the Heimo information. A few missing halos are no bother and a shepherd staff should be easy to fashion or repair. Not yet painted the toy soldier faces – maybe next year! Best wishes for Christmas to you and yours. Mark
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It always amuses me, when seeing nativity sets for sale, that although you get the requisite three kings there is usually only one shepherd.
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You’re right, Ian, it is strange and very few sheep too. Although in Britain we think of shepherding as being a solitary thing, it does mention shepherds plural in many of the Nativity carols.
I looked this up and shepherds plural definitely in Luke’s gospel. One Christmas website says “At that time, sheep farmers were generally seen as having low or little value by other people. The type of sheep the shepherds would have been raising were ‘fat tailed’ (or broad tailed) sheep. They often had lambs in the autumn and winter, rather than in the spring which most sheep in western countries these days ” which explains the carried lamb.
Happy toy-filled Christmas!
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A charming nativity set, I agree that no repairs are necessity.
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A few little things on the paint finish required (eyes, toy soldier pink / red cheek dots). The manger needs a little work to dual purpose (or take away) the chunky gun emplacement feel. Dual purpose – Could save on storage!
Made from scrap chunky wood from an IT colleague who used the blocks for keeping air gaps between server type IT stuff.
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