Figuras Dunkin

Dunkin is a brand of bubble gum from Spain that seems to have been sold from the 1950s to the early 1990s. The Dunkin name has become synonymous among [Spanish] collectors with toy premiums provided with candy, food, and sundries that seem to have been popular in Europe and Latin America.

A subclass called Dargaud figures is used to refer to Dunkin figures of characters from Dargaud comics.

The figures were manufactured by companies such as TITO in Spain, or Disvenda in Portugal. Various official and bootleg versions were also produced in Mexico, Peru, and Colombia.

The typical Dunkin figures are in the >30mm range, so were not really on my radar, but I recently obtained a bag of figures from Mexico of the Atlantic At The Pharaoh's Court set, that were said to be Dunkin figures.

I'm unsure if they are official Atlantic figures because of the generic packaging and the colors of the figures. All of the Atlantic Pharaoh's Court figures I've seen have been orange (except for green figures in 1/32 scale).

The figures came in a sealed bag containing ~100 pieces in three different colors. I've seen other types of Atlantic figures in the brown and cream colored plastic, but I don't think I've ever seen any in the tomato red plastic. Some of the figures were short shot, and several were broken.

Because the figures are a random assortment, not all the figures and accessories match up with respect to number or color. A full quarter of the figures were mummies; enough to fill the coal tender of a 1/72 steam locomotive.

I think the figures are quite old since many of them seem to have had much of the plasticizer leeched out of them, leaving them without much flexibility and a bit brittle.

Here are some of the figures compared to actual Atlantic branded figures (in orange).

I don't know how accurate the description of these figures as Dunkin are, or even if they are official or bootleg productions for that matter, but it's interesting to think that at one time you could have bought some cans of Knorr soup and received a bag of 1/72 scale figures as a premium.

Arcane Legions Released

Arcane Legions was released today, so armed with a 15% discount coupon from Pair a Dice Games in nearby Vista, I picked up a two-player starter set and a Han booster set. The starter set comes with two sprues of infantry and one commander for each of the major factions in the game. The figures are molded in a very dense gray plastic. Shields come pre-painted, with stenciled designs on the front. I was informed that CA glue works very well for attaching the shields and separate limbs to the figures.

Han Chinese

Egyptians

Romans

Commanders

Boosters come with one rare hero, and two rare/uncommon specialty units. The figures are painted, and come individually sealed. The painting was not quite as awful as I was expecting, though some of the color choices seemed rather questionable.

The hero figure is Zhongli Quan, a real-life Han Dynasty general who was deified as one of the Eight Immortals.


The specialty units I received were the Wu Tou Gui and Goryo. These figures come in linked bags of several identical miniatures. I think I am short one figure, since one of the bags for the Wu Tou Gui seems to be empty. I actually like these figures a lot. I don't know why, but translucent plastic miniatures just seem really cool. The Wu Tou Gui are molded in clear plastic, while the Goryo are molded in translucent green plastic.


I removed the basing pegs from some of the figures to do size comparisons. I'm still deciding whether to do so for each pose or not.

Zhongli Quan, Terracotta Spearman A, and Han Sharpshooter compared to Caesar Qin Dynasty Army.


The standard Arcane Legions figures seem more slender than the Caesar figures, but I think they go well together. I like the fact that there are a lot of infantry with ge-halberds, something that is sadly deficient in the Caesar set.

Cursed Swordsman and Cursed Spearman compared to Eagle Games Mummy.


Very cool, but why are mummies always so tall?

Arcane Legions Egyptian Archer compared to Caesar and Atlantic Egyptian archers.


Arcane Legions Formation Legionary compared to Airfix, LW, and Atlantic legionaries. Also, a Heavy Legionary at the end, in apparently what is some sort of powered armor.



Overall, I'll have to say I'm not disappointed. I like the Han and Egyptians the best. A couple of the poses seem a bit far-fetched (e.g. the Charging Han Infantry), and the sculpting is somewhat simplistic, but the figures are usable, and making them in 1/72 is definitely a plus. Images of all the figures can be found at the Arcane Legions website.