I forgot to add that they had some fairly decent horses in the animal bins there. They're painted in several poses and colors, they even a lying down horse in a separate bin. I think they're just slightly, slightly a bit big for O gauge, but they might be fine. These are a lot nicer than the figures I just spoke about. I think they're about 50 cents apiece, and I thought these were nice.
A company named Safari (I think) makes cows and bulls and all kinds of animals in about the same size too - nice colors, about the same price, though usually I find 'em at a little higher price - about a buck.
I think there's a company that makes a product called Toobs, clear plastic tubes with animals and Egyptians and the like. I'm pretty sure they have a farm Toob with farmers and animals. I'm not sure on the scale, but I think they're closer to O gauge than standard army-men sized figures. Nice paint jobs too.
Good luck on the project - I'll chime in again if I run across anything else!
You could try Archie Mcphee's in Seattle if you're in the area. I was in there yesterday. They have a website, but I'm not sure the figures you are looking for are in the catalog online - you might have to call and ask. They have farmers in their figure bins in 2 sizes, the standard army-man size, and a smaller size, just slightly over o scale - just under 2 inches, so you'd have to specify to them on the phone so you don't get the wrong ones. They also have little bags of 4 frontiersmen in shooting poses in about the same size. The figures are very soft plastic and painted - but they're a bit crude in appearance - definitely not museum quality ! I would put them in the background but not up front if they were on my layout. They'd work ok - not fantastic, and they're cheap, but shipping might make it expensive. They're not great figures, but they're pretty close to O gauge in size, and they might work. I think the frontiersmen were a buck for a bag of 4, and the farmers were about 50 cents, or maybe a little less apiece. But like I said, don't shell out a lot for shipping for these, 'cuz they aren't great figures.
I'm also pretty sure there is a figure of a farmer with a coiled rope and a milkmaid carrying a bucket in one of the sets of figures from Marx or plasticville or one of those boxes of boxed unpainted railroad figures - I have a couple of those figures, but I'm not sure who the maker was. I think they'd fit in.
Try www.hobbybunker.com . And as already mentioned, stick to the 54mm sized figures.
Thanks for your replies and information. I did find a couple of figures in a second hand store that will work. So I'll just keep looking and until I find more, the few I have will rule my little western town.
Thanks again guy's and gal's for your help.
WyoBiker
Try this link. There are some nice figures here. While there aren't a lot of Western figures there are a few that might fit in.
http://www.metalfigures.net/index.html
Enjoying the World's Greatest Hobby
Northwoods Flyer
The Northwoods Flyer Collection
of
American Flyer Trains
"The Toy For the Boy"
Well, they're horribly out of scale for O gauge, but I use 54mm toy soldier sized figures on one of my seasonal layouts. One problem with figures of that type is that civilians are hard to comeby. I have run accross some super cheap (both price and manufacture) bags of cowboys and indians at my local Dollar Tree which are closer to the size of the classic Marx and Plasticville O Scale people. About an inch and a quarter high as opposed to the more traditional 1/32nd scale 54mm figures that are an average 2 1/4 inches tall. But if you go that route, check the bags carefully. A lot of the figures I got in a set of cowboys and indians were made from cut-down molds. That's to say they had a lot less plastic in them so some of the figures were all but flat. But with a bit of paint, and careful selection, they look pretty good alongside my MPC James Gang General.
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Another source for small figuires near O gauge was called Homies, some hobby shops carried them a few years ago. The Homies sold for about $1 a piece, so they were a good bargain to me, they were painted plastic figures.
Lee F.
Hi! Just a "wild" thought......I don't know how detailed you want the figures to be but maybe looking in a "Dime or Dollar" store could work. Sometimes that have racks of party favors for kids' "Goodie Bags" on which they have cowboys and indians. (They may be in one color but most of the plastic figures can be painted) I once found a pack of Civil War soldiers for a project that, with a little paint, worked out great and at little cost. Good Luck.
You mught try to get a copy of the Narrow Gauge Gazzette. The On3 and On30 modelers might could give you a lead on something like that.
George
The availability of people figures from the late 1800s or "old West" has come up a number of times on the OGR Forum. In short, there is very little out there...a few Preiser and Model Power is about it.
I need to add some people and animals to my layout. I'm mostly in the era of the old west so I need town people, cowboys,indians, horses. I have found a few of these but nothing I really like. The selection is pretty limited for these figures it seems in O gauge or I'm just not looking in the right places. Any suggestions on where to look? Don't have a LHS here so I can't just go ask them.
Thanks for any help.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month