Toy soldiers are small replicas of soldiers and other related
military subjects. They are most commonly made of plastic, metal, and paper.
Soldier figures actually date back to ancient Egypt, mostly found in tombs. They
were also present in other cultures and time periods. The first toy soldier
figurines were mass produced in the 17th century with the introduction of paper
soldiers, followed by metal toy soldiers in the 18th century. Over the years,
the tin soldiers (also called "flats"), as well as hollow cast metal figures,
composition figures, and plastic army men became popular.
Toy soldiers were all I ever wanted when I was a
kid. Well, I did have a few other toys too, but I loved the toy soldiers a lot
more than the others, just like many boys my age did. I
guess they still do even today.
However, I didn't have
the super-deluxe G.I. Joes with a hundred interchangeable weapons, 24 points of
body articulation, and a host of vehicles like jet-powered dune buggies,
amphibious submarines, and mobile command centers.
All I had were the green plastic toy soldiers that would come in packs of fifty,
and if you were lucky they would throw in a little plastic tank or some plastic sandbag bunkers.
Sure, the little green toy soldiers couldn't change weapons; the guy loading the
mortar could never pack up his mortar and pull out the M-1 that he slung across
his shoulder. The sergeant who had his hand cupped to his mouth could never stop yelling at
his troops and sit down to a cup of coffee, and the sniper laying prone in the
dirt could never stand up and dust off his clothes.
These plastic toy soldiers didn't have one point of articulation, much less 24, but
that wasn't important. What was important was that there were a lot of green plastic soldiers, and
you needed a lot of soldiers to storm a beach or to set up a command center in
my mom's fichus in the living room.
In fact, one bag of green soldiers just wouldn't do. That was what, a
couple squads?
And where was the enemy? Toy soldiers couldn't fight other soldiers of
the same color. They could only fight toy dinosaurs and scary-looking
stuffed animals for so long before they got bored with it. So what was the
answer? More soldiers, of course!
If you paid attention you could get the 50/50 bags of toy soldiers, with half
green soldiers and half tans. The tans were always the bad guys; every kid knew
this through some sort of shared child Geneva Convention. Sometimes you could
find the gray plastic soldiers, though they were occasionally mixed in with
civil war toy soldiers.
The gray soldiers were great, and the civil-war collections of troops weren't
bad, though they were doomed to be overwhelmed by the standard greenies. The
gray soldiers were Special Forces, and though they sometimes got the drop on the
good guys by setting ambushes in potted plants or by hiding in kitchen cabinets,
they too were usually overpowered.
W Britains was the first and one of the largest manufacturers of hollow cast
metal figures. Michigan Toy
Soldier Company is another popular manufacturer today. You may also find
good bargains on toy soldiers if you do an online search. There are plenty of
web sites that offer specials, especially around holidays.
By the way,
I still have a few toy soldiers tucked away somewhere in my bedroom, preserving
childhood memories. And I'm glad they're still around. We could all use a little extra protection :)
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Pink Christmas Tree
Stuffed Cat
