COBI Vietnam War Set 2047

COBI's Vietnam War set is built from 30 blocks and contains three figures, each from a different force: a Viet Cong fighter with a conical straw hat and an AK-47, a soldier of the American 101st Airborne Division with the division's eagle printed on his shoulder and an M16, and a Marine in a flak vest with a camouflaged helmet and an M16 with grenade launcher. Three transparent stands and brick vegetation are included for dioramas. All uniforms are pad-printed.

The hat is not a costume

The nón lá, the conical leaf hat on the Viet Cong figure, is ordinary Vietnamese farming dress — worn by millions of people who had nothing to do with the war, for the straightforward reason that it keeps sun and monsoon rain off while leaving the hands free.

That is precisely what made it significant. The Viet Cong were not a uniformed army. They were local fighters who worked their fields by day, and the absence of a uniform was the strategy rather than a shortage. An opposing soldier could not tell by looking whether the man in front of him was an enemy, and the frustration that produced shaped much of what went wrong in that war.

COBI has put that on a figure without comment. It is worth knowing what you are looking at.

In the COBI range

One of the figure sets in the Historical Collection, all at the same scale and price, designed to be combined. Set 2038 is a second Vietnam War figure set.

Specifications

Pieces: 30 · Figures: 3 with accessories · Three transparent stands and brick vegetation included
Box dimensions: 13 × 3.7 × 10.5 cm (5.1 × 1.5 × 4.1 in)