Pirates of the MPC

In the late 50s and early 60s, the Multiple Plastics Corporation (known as MPC) produced 60mm soft plastic figures known as "ringhands" because their hands had holes to accommodate a variety of accessories. Each guy was about 2 5/8 inches tall. There were cowboys, Indians, frontiersmen, Civil War and Revolutionary War soldiers, African warriors, G.I.s, cops, firemen, space explorers, and probably others that are slipping my mind. My favorites were the pirates.

Each figure also had a hole in the base, to slip over a peg on other accessories. For cowboys, these pegs were in wagons, for Indians they were in canoes. GIs had tents and rafts. The pirates had ships.

This jolly fellow is pictured with a row boat and oars, shovel and anchor.

At the bow of the blue ship there's a plank, in case anyone needs to walk it, and a red lantern. 

This peg-legged guy, no doubt inspired by Long John Silver, has a parrot on his shoulder. Near his right leg is a treasure chest.

I know it's hard to see, but the guy steering the red ship has a cat-o-nine tails. Nautical trivia: The cat, a short whip tipped with nine knotted strips of leather, was normally kept in a bag when not in use. When the time came to flay some unlucky transgressor, the cat came out. This was the origin of the saying - yep, you guessed it - "the cat's out of the bag."

This dangerous looking dude has a pick in his left fist. The yellow guy visible behind him is preparing to bop somebody with a belaying pin. It was non-stop fun for the Pirates of the MPC.

Toy Soldier Saturday: MPC WWII JAPANESE

These 2 1/4 inch soldiers came a little late to the war, showing up sometime in the early '60s, but they've made up for it by fighting ever since. And unless some future kid bites their heads off or takes a cigarette lighter to them, they'll probably keep on fighting until the Crack of Doom. 

More small plastic armies HERE.

Toy Soldier Saturday: MPC WWII Germans

We were visited by a platoon of MPC WWII Russians a couple of weeks ago. Now it's equal time for the Germans. They're not up to Marx quality, of course, but the detail and facial expressions are pretty dang good. And a couple of them have rifles with stocks made of tree bark. How cool is that?

The Toy Soldier line-up is HERE.

Toy Soldier Saturday: MPC WWII RUSSIANS

We've seen three examples of MPC Ringhand figures (Pirates, Spacemen and GIs), but the Multiple Plastics Co also did more traditional toy soldiers. In this field, they were sort of a second-rate imitator of Marx. Their figures sometimes looked awkward, and always less realistic. And sometimes, as with the figure below, they clung to their Ringhand roots. Somebody ought to hand this guy a rifle.

More Toy Soldiers HERE.

Toy Soldier Saturday: MPC RINGHAND GIs

I mentioned these GIs when I posted the MPC Spacemen a couple of weeks ago (HERE). Those spacemen figures were made from these same molds. They were just cast in different colors and given different accessories. 

MPC accessories also sometimes did double duty. The pick and shovel seen below were carried by the Ringhand Pirates too (HERE). 

More little plastic guys HERE.

Toy Soldier Saturday: MPC SPACEMEN

Toy soldiers made by the Multiple Plastics Corporation were always inferior to those of Marx, but while Marx merely toyed around with the use of separate accessories, MPC went for it in a big way. 

This line of MPC soldiers is known collectively as Ringhands, because many of the early figures had holes bored through their hands to accommodate weapons and other tools of their trade. Later figures, like these space explorers, had empty, grasping hands rather than true rings. (For a look at true Ringhands, check out the very cool MPC pirates HERE.) 

MPC saved a few bucks on these space guys by using molds made for their WWII soldiers, then casting them in colors other than olive green. A kneeling figure, designed to wear an army helmet and aim a rifle, was also included in the spaceman set, but he wasn't fit for missions because none of the space accessories fit him. 

More Toy Soldiers HERE.