A picture is worth... well, whatever given the exchange rates... My package of 100 people arrived and here they are: There were 70 single people and 15 pairs for another 30 people, summing to the advertised 100 people (yes, I counted...) While it's true that there are multiple copies of the same figure, what is also not stated in the eBay listings is that they are painted differently! See above "close-up" (somewhat blurry but I hope you get the idea.) That was a very pleasant surprise. Not every scene needs to have the unique WS sets (or others for that matter). The majority of what we strive to model is, in fact, "mundane." These will work just fine. I imagine I'll be ordering more at some point. Two thumbs up!
I've always had a huge problem with figures costing more than $1.00 apiece. It just seemed a colossal rip-off to me. I've probably got at least 500 figures on my layout now, at a cost of much more than $500. And it's very underpopulated in the urban scenes. So now I triple the population for $60? Unreal. These figures have always been produced in China. That someone can sell them for $.05 apiece just makes me feel more ripped-off than ever by Woodland Scenics, Preiser, and all the other over-priced vendors. I rarely get on the soapbox about this kind of stuff, but I can't explain nor justify the $1.00 apiece that I've been paying!
One at a time... but that's true whether they were $1 or 5 cents each There are several different methods, but assuming that the figures will stand on their own long enough to set, I've been using Elmer's School Glue. Speaking of cheap stuff, I stockpile it when the big boxes have their initial back to school sales-- I've paid as little as 10 cents for a 4 ounce bottle. Other choices: rubber cement, Goo, ACC, white glue, tacky glue and WS' own product, the name of which I don't recall.
I use tacky glue. The figures do not stand on their own, so require constant fiddling and pushing back into place. In the past hour, I got 20 figures to stand correctly on one of my ships. So it's about three minutes apiece, given that I had to chop some figures of their suitcases. I stopped because my back was hurting. Let's see, 1300 x 3 = 3900 minutes = 65 hours of fun--boring fun, but fun. Besides cityscapes will be much easier than ship-scapes. In the first 500 pieces, there were far many more females than males. All of the standing figures seem to be shapely--i.e., young and tall. The seated figures are less so, but they seem to be running about 3% of the packages I've opened. Also, a good proportion seem to be naked. Not white plastic, but flesh painted, with only a black blotch of hair.
Let's not go there, OK? Trainboard is a family-friendly forum. If anyone insists on going there, I will use my almighty "Delete" powers to put this thread back on track.
I placed some of the 100 figures on my layout. I wound up using plastic cement on most of these since I was bonding them to plastic. It works fine. In front of Oak Hill Hardware. All three of these are from the package. A chance meeting at the Sinclair station? The shorter person with his back to us telling the fish story (I tell you, it was t h i s big!) is from the new set. The others are from other distributors. Hard to tell the difference at 1:160 (although the everydaygoodz people are advertised as 1:150). At the Miracle Chair Company loading dock. The person on the left is from the new group.
Pete, I definitely have more than 3% seated figures in my 100. (Pausing to count...) Without my glasses, it looks like 15 out of the 100 are seated. But that will really fill up my tourist train! I might even add another flat car or perhaps a gondola now. The cost of the figures was holding me back. Here's one more image from the layout BTW (didn't realize TB limits to 4 images per post): At Red's Bar. The couple leaving towards the right are from the new group. The two closer to the camera are from Model Power.
I could not pass on the deal to aquire a lifetime supply at an affordable price. Here are the Z Scale We Honest Triads in bulk: I cut the legs off a bunch of them, and used Hob E Tack to them into the windows of my Hallmark Christmas Ornament heavyweight conversions: Here is a house (methlab?) that I outfit with the Triads looking ominously outwards: I want to build an old style wooden ballpark, you know, the type with covered wooden bleachers and a tall wooden fence all the way around the field? Then I can pack a thousand triads in there. I would recommend snapping up a lifetime supply while they are available, cause you never know when prices will rise or availability will stop.
The percentage seems to vary by package. By count, after opening 6 packages, I have 5% seated--30 of 600. I have had no couples so far.
I had 15 couples in my package of 100 so I think I got all of yours! No worries, though, I will definitely use all of them. My next question on this subject is "How many more do I think consistutes a lifetime supply?"
Okay, I sent for my 100. (I won't be making any stadiums!) At that price, how could I not order? Getting the paintbrush and the dissecting scope ready...
UPClark - do you have any photos of the pine tree changes you made? I bought a set as well and they are 'bright'... UMTRR-author- your photos of the new people, did you do something to tone down the brightness and colors or were these just out of the box. I got a pack of both the 150 and the 160s; figured that the variation in height with the Prieser and WS folks would indeed add eye appeal and fill up the 'bleachers'.
All of the photos are of the figures right out of the box (literally-- they are shipped in a poly bag which is in turn placed into the smallest snap lock "food container" I've ever seen-- a bonus!). I didn't think I needed to tone down the figures, but I did choose carefully among the 100 I had to avoid "clashes" (i.e. purple shirt or green pants at the Miracle Chair Company). When I populate the Robeson Process Company chemical plant, which is the next thing on the agenda, I may consider toning down some of the colors. But your mileage may vary!
Had a great experience with 'everydaygoodz'. Items are as advertised, well packaged, priced great and quick delivery - came faster from Hong Kong than some ebay from contiguous 48. Anyhow, my especially great experience came from a mistake by the vendor. He mailed me some fencing instead of the people I had ordered. He fixed this problem post-haste. So I ended up with some cars, people and unplanned fencing. The fencing is remarkable. The style is what we in So Cal call white wrought iron. It is Italian made from white ABS. The detail is remarkably good. It is labeled as suitable for TT, OO, or HO. The web site says HO, TT, N. That's quite a range. I measured it and doing a 1/160 conversion it comes out to just under 10' high in sections just under 30' long. Pretty big for a residence - but just about right for a city park, cemetery or large estate up on the hill. Here's the link to the fence if you are intested: M10- 2 Meter Scale Train Model Fence Fencing HO TT N - eBay (item 260227994675 end time Apr-16-08 21:00:00 PDT)
Two different sets. There are two different sets. Set Two is the set that included couples, while the other does not. Set Two also has more seated people. This set is the one with the wording "19 different styles" & couple count as two people. It may only comes as a set 1000 people... at least from what is currently on Ebay. Set One: http://cgi.ebay.com/1000-x-Train-Mo...Z016QQcategoryZ69810QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem Set Two: http://cgi.ebay.com/1000pcs-Train-M...hZ025QQcategoryZ69811QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem
I just received my package of "everydaygoodz". I ordered both styles of HO and N so I have them to compare. I got 100 packs of each 1:160, 1:150, 1:100, 1:87 as a trial. I was ordering mainly the HO people for gentleman I am helping with an HO layout so I tacked on some N people for me while placing the order. I also got a sampling of most of the trees. Oddly, the 1:150 people are smaller than the 1:160 people. The 1:150 people appear to have an eating disorder compared to the more stout 1:160 people. They average about a half mm shorter and a lot thinner. The 1:150 pack have what looks to be about 10% seated people and no couples. The 1:160 pack seems to have a few more seated people by percentage. I haven't counted either to see for sure. The "HO" people seem to be very similar. The 1:100 people are about the same height as the 1:87 but are almost anime in proportions (skinny with really long legs). The 1:87 package seems to be the same assortment as the 1:160 in a larger scale. The trees are are pretty good, espcially for filling in a forest in a hurry. Some look better than others. The larger (4-5") trees look really good. The weeping willow style could use a little filling out. The pines are cheap little plastic cake topper armatures with flocking on them. The larger trees have a texture paint sprayed on the trunk for a bark look. The colors are a bit intense but a touch of fine ground foam sprinkled over them should tone them down.
Some of you larger scale modelers might like this example of fitting these little people into tight spaces--Z scale! Cheers, Jim CCRR
