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THE ROMANS

The blue, red, yellow & brown figures above were copied from the Marx 60mm WOW series while the silver, green and gold figures are copies of the Britains Herald 54mm Trojan series. Giant called them all Romans. Copies were made and Giant went back and "patented" their figures (which were copies themselves). The old logo was blobbed over and a new one with a P in a circle for patented was added to the molds.

-Knights of the Crusades LIC in keystone the logo used by the Larimi Corp of Philadelphia. As you can see copies of Giant Roman/Greeks which of course were copies of Marx & Britains 54/60mm figures. Circa 1965.

THE VIKINGS -

Carded set photo courtesy Jesse Sanders.

Ships

THE KNIGHTS

Giant made at least four or five series of knights and medieval figures. Weapons and arms were slightly altered to make many pose variations. Other Hong Kong makers quickly copied Giant and when Giant went out of business their molds were keep in production. So who knows what came with what. Below are pictures of what I believe to be the first and second series of Giant foot knights. We recently acquired a large group of these figures and the first six were found in only blue and green plastic while the second group in only red or yellow plastic. I think it is possible that these are two separate molds and that they were eventually discontinued and replaced by the lesser quality knights seen mostly in silver and black. These "first/second edition" figures have been found in HELEN OF TROY "GOLD CROWN" games sold from comic books dated 1974. These figures have the GIANT logo blobbed over which would indicate Giant was no longer in business or had sold the molds. The mounted Giant medieval knights and figures seen in primary colors in the large group scan above are very hard to find. As some are based on Britians swoppets it is assumed they went with the "first" series of foot knights. There are also mounted figures that look like Saracens and foot figures that might be Saxons so it is hard to say what went with what set until some original packaging surfaces. The older mounted figures came on the standard Giant western horse (a copy of a Crescent horse).

Early Foot Knights

The first five poses of "SERIES 1A" are copied from Crescent 60mm Knights while the last pose is a copy of a 54mm Britains Swoppet knight. This pose has a recessed base and the GIANT logo was never placed in it due to the lack of space. The first pose of the "SERIES 1B" knights is a simple modification of the one above it from the first series with the ax head being changed to a large mace. The next four figures are copied from 54mm Britains figures with another ax being changed to a mace to make a different figure (poses # 2 & 4 above). The last figure was copied from an Elastolin 70mm figure. The second series of six figures seems harder to find which is why I think they may have had two separate molds, BUT I could be very wrong. These figures are often found with the GIANT name blobbed over.

SEE ABOVE

Later Giant Foot and Mounted Knights

There are at least 12 different poses in the last series of foot knights made by Giant. We have only seen them with the GIANT P hallmark with a small circle around the P (for patented we think) which dates them as later figures. Original Giant figures did not have the P. As they mostly ripped other companies off, for their figure designs, it is somewhat humorous that they were offended when other companies copied them. These last series knights can be found in primary colors like the earlier knights, but are usually found in black and silver. Some of the poses are based upon the earlier knights and subtle changes were made to make different figures from essentially the same poses.

The later mounted knights and Mongols have a more proper "knight" horse. This horse was never (to our knowledge) marked GIANT. The later mounted knights were made in black and silver and there are at least 6 poses.

Helen of Troy Gold Crown

Many of the above foot knights probably came in a Helen of Troy set after GIANT went under and the name got blobbed over under the figure bases. The Kings Crown game also had small HP accessories.

THE MONGOLS Picture courtesy Jim McGough.

Mongol Cannon.

THE NAPOLEONICS

The Giant Napoleonics are usually found in red and blue although yellow and dark brown exist as well. Copies were made in yellow and green.

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

The Giant ACW figures were mostly based upon the Marx 54mm figures. All poses were made in both blue and gray. The caisson and cannon was included in both Napoleonic and American Civil War sets.

THE PIONEERS

AMERICAN WILD WEST ITEMS

WORLD WAR II ITEMS -

Carded set photo courtesy Jesse Sanders.

The kneeling GI is a copy of an Eldon Marine the others are based up Monogram model kit figures. Giant made 10 different WWII Germans. All 10 are copies of Marx 54mm figures.

SPACE ITEMS

NONE.

We have found three variations of the space missile tank as seen above. All have the ability to "tow" something. Has anyone got a space item they tow? How about a picture of packaging?

The astronauts, space tanks and the above accessories were included in one of HELEN OF TOYS games sold out of comic books in the 1960s. The silver and red pieces are not marked, but are assumed to be made by Giant who did not hallmark everything they made.

OTHER ITEMS MADE BY GIANT

Pee Wee Boats, MIB/C -

Balloon Boat Race. NONE IN STOCK

ARCO - Giant reorganized and changed their name in 1970. Using initials of family members they became ARCO.

- 15.00 ARCO farm header card bag.

MAYBE FROM GIANT MOLDS

28mm Copies of Elastolin ancient Romans. Made in Hong Kong. Some flash and some weapons molded short. Circa 1960s-70s we think.

Circus set.

Circus Train I NONE IN STOCK The figures seem to be copies of Crescent of England 1/32 figures although some of the animals may be Tim-mee copies.

Laramie Antique Cars.

Copies of Britains Herald western figures or perhaps of the Giant copies of the Britains Herald figures were given away as cereal premiums. They can be found in brown or white. The horses are solid.

20pc Header bag, bag has tear but contents are all there.

Fort Cheyenne -

Loose fort -

Wigwams.

Figures in picture are ORION pirates and ARE NOT INCLUDED in purchase of a ship.

The pictures show the 12 foot poses as well as the 1 mounted pose, horse and cannon found in the later comic book mail away offers. Crude in detail the manufacturer is unknown but they could possibly have been early figures made by Giant. They were made in both blue and red colors.

- NONE - MATCHBOX Hunter & dog, white. Came with a truck.

American West

- NON E IN STOCK - MPC Multiple Toys #621 200 Cowboys, Indians, Horses. 1/72 "HO" scale copies of Giant brand figures who had copies Britains 54mm figures down to 1/72.

Chase Carriage (Anchor Copy), 1960s.

- Copy of Anchor Coach.

Cannon pulled by two horses, MIB.

Hong Kong Frontier Days wagon.

LIDO Fire wagon.

TRANSPORTATION

- NONE.

Mini sailing ships, with green hulls (1/72 scale figure in picture to give an idea of scale and is not included).

USA company Lido made mini wagons and ships.

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