MPC Ringhands - MP115 Slot Butt & MP132 Peg Butt Seated Figure - Blue

For the next umpteen days we're gonna take a look at MPC's ubiquitous and iconic ringhand figures.

What can I say about MPC Ringhands? They were fun and they were frustrating as hell. All those little accessories that came with them meant that your toy soldiers weren't static mold shots but ever evolving play things. But all those little pieces were a damned nuisance to affix! It had been something like 50+ years since I had messed with these but all the good/bad memories came rushing back when I started to outfit these critters! Add to that the lack of dexterity which has crept into my old bones and you have a recipe for disaster LOL

The 'MP' numbering system I'm referencing here has it's origins back in the early '90s with the publication of "GEPPERT'S GUIDE For Non-Metallic Toy Soldiers of the US" by Timothy J. Geppert. This was a home grown effort done on mimeographed paper before PC's became prevalent in the hobby scene. Although there had been addendum's to the original, there was no attempt to integrate them into the guide and were simply add-on sheets. I have a copy of the guide somewhere out in The Cave but for the life of me can't find it, so instead, I've been relying on Kent Owen Sprecher's excellent website Toy Soldier HQ (see the link on the sidebar to the right) which utilizes Geppert's numbering system.

I've decided to post two sculpts with different numbers today. The series numbering kicks off with MP115 but it made sense to also cover MP132 because they don't really lend themselves well to my standard 12-pics per figure coverage so lumping them together in one post works better for me.  On Kent's site these two are actually covered in the section on American Civil War figures and accessories, and that's an indication of how MPC cross-utilized these figures for different eras and I have in fact shown these seated on one of MPC's Old West Covered Wagon (Prairie Schooner) Apparently there were three variations of the seated figure: slot butt, peg butt, and normal butt. I don't have any normal butt guys so will only cover the other two. While most toy maker's were content to just make regular figures, MPC probably figured kids would have more fun if the GI's didn't always fall out of their vehicles and so designed two variations of attachment. The Peg Butt is 2 1/4" (5.71cm) H and the slot butt is 2 3/8" (6.03cm) H. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

(L) MP132 Peg Butt (R) MP115 Slot Butt

In this picture the peg butt looks larger but when you're holding the two side-by-side IRL you can see the difference

You'll notice the small MPC Jeep has accommodations for two peg butt figures while the larger Jeep only has a tab on one seat to accommodate a slot butt. That being said, because the slot butt doesn't have any protrusions another like figure can easily sit in the other seat - but he better hold on for dear life LOL