Monogram Merite figures 54mm

[RonW]

Just for fun I thought it would be nice to show a collection of figures that has been growing steadily over the years.....
A good number of years ago I was taking a break from 1/35 military scale modelling and went over to painting figures. During that stage I scoured the internet on the lookout for cheap figures in the 1/32 (54mm) scale mainly and I stumbled across a line of figures produced by Monogram, called the Merite series and they were produced throughout the 60's. Production ended sometime in the early 70's, if I am informed correctly. And for some reason I took an instant liking to them.
Why? No idea. They are solid cast figures, often with arms and weapons separate, they lack detail like we are used to today. In fact some of them are downright poor with some looking like they have birth defects or something like that.

Still.... over the years I gradually bought some more and now I have to admit I have become a collector of them, hunting them down whenever I can and I had some good scores over time. Yet I try to contain myself and not pay high prices for them. They are simply not worth that to me. Maybe for the last 1 or 2 I might..... And it is not that I collect just to have. I do use them in the way they were intended (I guess); I paint them and put them on display.

Unfortunately I have no box for the German Panzercrew man

The poor quality I mentioned...​

Anyway...
The figures themselves were being released in series of 6. The ones marked in red I do not have... yet.
The first serie being:

• 801 Prussian Guard infantry, Germany 1914
• 802 U.S. Army Special Forces, Green Baret 1966
• 803 German Luftwaffe paratrooper 1941
• 804 Berdan's Sharpshooters, Union Army 1862
• 805 French horse artillery of the Guard 1810
• 806 Roger's Rangers 1757

The second being

• 807 German shocktrooper 1944
• 808 German tank officer 1943
• 809 Viet Cong guerilla 1968
• 810 Texas infantry 1862
• 811 U.S. infantry 1780
• 812 French dragoon of the Guard 1812

And the third being

• 813 German Afrika Korps infantry 1942
• 814 German Waffen SS officer 1944
• 815 Russian guard infantry 1944
• 816 British 8th Army infantry 1942
• 817 Japanese infantry 1942
• 818 American paratrooper D-day 1944

However much to my astonishment I discovered 2 figures in my collection that were not mentioned! A secretive fourth series?? Some digging around the internet seemed to confirm that and I came up with an additional list, I'll called that one Series 4, being

• King's German Legion 1815
• British Life Guards 1815
• 821 U.S. Camel Corps 1858
• 822 U.S. First Cavalry 1884
• U.S. 5th Marine Regiment 1918
• U.S. Infantry Revolutionary War 1780

The next batch of images I plucked from the internet as I do not have those kits myself.... yet.

 

[peedee]

Hey Ron,
There is a certain charm to them and what a smashing collection they are of the different eras.
I really hope you do obtain your missing 'gems'.
I never knew of their existence, They are remeniscent of the lassett figures of the same period.

best wishes.
Paul.

 

[OldTaff]

I have the Berdan's Sharpshooter in the cabinet, and its detail matches many in a similar scale IMHO. I've had it that long, I can't remember when and where I got it!.

Alan

 

[Mirofsoft]

Great info's about the range . Thanks

Seems that they were 24 pieces in total, now available at The Lost Battalion
http://www.tlbminiatures.com/merites.html

 

[Gunthwaite]

Hi

In their day, my view is that these were superior to other white metal figures available such as Rose or Stadden/Standish. I also preferred them to Lasset. The WW1 Prussian Guard was the first white metal figure I bought. I picked up quite a few in the early 1970's most of which now linger in a state of distress in a box. I always thought quite a few of the faces had an Ernest Borgnine look about them.

It's nice to see the full set (and the one's I didn't know about).

Al

 

[RonW]

Thanks for the comments, guys.
My first one was the Prussian Guard too.

And thank you for that very helpfull link, Mirofsoft!!

 

[Mirofsoft]

Poor me, 2 years ago I made a biding on Vectis ..... but I forgot the auction day ( the batch went for 50£ )

 

[RonW]

And I was able to add three more to the family!!

 

[Jim]

There's a number of them (at least yesterday) on eBay. Prices didn't seem too unreasonable.

I came across the Viet Cong figure at a kit swap meet a number of years ago and picked him up for the gray army.

 

[Paul van Noord]

Hoi, I am selling Monogram figures from my past father in law. Is anybody interested? https://www.marktplaats.nl/wijzigAd...200feca4409741512b6e6&previousPage=mympSeller

 

[RonW]

Hi Paul, sent you a pm-

 

[Nap]

Hi Guys

These certainly have a real charm , simple in pose , perhaps as Ron say detail not what we are used to today but they certainly paint up well .

A very interesting look at these and Rons thoughts about them

Hope Ron gets the whole set

Nap

 

[theBaron]

Yeah, I collect the Rogers' Ranger figure. I think it's based on a contemporary illustration of Major Rogers himself. It's not a bad figure. I've got a couple of the South Carolina Continental line regiment, too.

For their time, they represent a pretty bold attempt on Monogram's part to enter the figure market. Thomas Graham missed them altogether, when he wrote his book on Monogram.

I don't know who sculpted them, but I've always thought that they bear a resemblance to Valiant, in the style of sculpting and the level of detail. In terms of quality, I'd say they were on par with Imrie-Risley and Valiant, or Monarch. I see them for bargain prices on eBay, and those are the ones I'll pick up. Five to ten bucks, no more.

As some of your photos show, along with the white metal figure, you got the black plastic base or plinth, a printed label, and a little tube of cement.

Do you have any more painted or in progress? I look forward to seeing more of your collection of them.

Prost!
Brad

 

[RonW]

Hi Brad, at the moment I am not painting anything.... at all. There are some figures that have been basecoated, but I am in the process of trying new paints; the Citadel-range.

 

[Mirofsoft]

1956 Under the name Monogram ( Model Mattel ) 54mm plastic
1965 Monogram Merité 54mm solid marketed by Mattel Toy
1972 dicontinued
1973 back under the name Aristo-Monogram Merité mainly WWII
1975 all periods, by Beverly Gordon, 6 models
xxx? Polks control Aristo-Merité

The World Encyclopedia of Model Toy Soldiers ( John G. Garratt ) 1981

 

[RonW]

They were done in plastics first?
So, that might mean the metal ones are actually recasts? That might explain some of the wonky details and distortions.

 

[Paul van Noord]

for sale:

here aare more pictures of the figure I have.

 

[JohnS3]

These figures bring back some memories of the fun painting them back in the day. Thanks for posting.
John

 

[Airkid]

I well remember this range, which were pretty advanced for their day. I painted several. They weren't cheap compared with Rose, Stadden etc as I recall. I still have the Rogers Ranger in my GA. I was told many moons ago by Phil Stearns that many of them were sculpted by a lady, but I've not been able to verify that. Nice collection Ron, including a few I'd not seen before.

Phil