The Diorama series first appeared in 1977, and followed a common practice amongst manufacturers of combining existing kits and figures to produce 'new' product at very little cost. However such sets were certainly appealing to small boys everywhere, and were particularly attractive as presents. Nearly all were for World War II, and utilised existing hard-plastic kits of vehicles and guns, plus in most cases some of the hard-plastic figure sets Esci had long had in their range. However there is evidence to suggest that Esci changed the contents of at least some of these sets later on. In their 1988 catalogue they show a photo of set 2006 made up (see below), and it clearly contains the soft plastic US and German infantry, so while our list shows the original contents, it may be that some were later changed.
Below is a list of all the products produced in this series, with an indication of the figures to be found in each. Click on any thumbnail to see a bigger image of the box, or on the name of the figure set to see more details and our review of that product.
Contains 'Red Devils' British Paratroopers plus kits and a base.
Contains Russian Soldiers Guards Unit, Nebelwerfer 41 plus kits and a base.
Contains Eighth Army, Afrika Korps plus kits and a base.
Contains US Soldiers, Afrika Korps plus kits and a base.
Contains 'Red Devils' British Paratroopers, Afrika Korps plus kits and a base.
Contains US Soldiers, German Anti-Tank Gun plus kits and a base.
Contains Eighth Army, Afrika Korps plus kits and a base.
Contains Afrika Korps, German Anti-Tank Gun, US Soldiers plus kits and a base.
Contains German Anti-Tank Gun, US Soldiers plus kits and a base.
Contains Russian Soldiers Guards Unit plus kits and a base.
Contains German Anti-Tank Gun, British 25 Pdr Gun plus kits and a base.
Contains Russian Soldiers Guards Unit plus kits and a base.
Contains kits and a base but no figure sets.
Contains Russian Soldiers Guards Unit plus kits and a base.
Contains kits and a base but no figure sets.
Contains Russian Soldiers Guards Unit plus kits and a base.
Contains Iwo-Jima Marines Landing, Japanese Imperial Guard plus kits and a base.
Contains Japanese Imperial Guard, US Soldiers plus kits and a base.
Contains Japanese Imperial Guard, US Soldiers plus kits and a base.
Contains Eighth Army, Japanese Imperial Guard plus kits and a base.
Contains Russian Soldiers Guards Unit, Afrika Korps, German Anti-Tank Gun plus kits and a base.
Contains Japanese Imperial Guard, US Soldiers plus kits and a base.
Contains US Soldiers, Afrika Korps plus kits and a base.
Contains Russian Soldiers Guards Unit plus kits and a base.
Contains Japanese Imperial Guard, US Soldiers plus kits and a base.
Contains Japanese Imperial Guard, Eighth Army, British 25 Pdr Gun plus kits and a base.
Contains US Soldiers, German Soldiers, German Anti-Tank Gun plus kits and a base.
Contains U.S. Elite Forces, North Vietnamese Soldiers and Vietcong plus kits and a base.