The Army men are running away with our poll and a lot of the guys are reminiscing about the big battle scenes we used to set up and how you would destroy them by burning them up or blowing them up with firecrackers. I guess that's a guy thing because I know we all did that back in the day.
Of course what made it easy was that they were so cheap. I mean you could go to John's Bargain store and get a bag full for 50 cents or a double bag for a dollar. In those days if something was cheap and/or shoddy we would say "What was that made in Japan." So I guess we didn't value it that much. Or we just liked to blow shit up.
Anyway these are the German figures I used to have. Notice the potato masher hand grenades. One time we tried to fit them in Jeeps and play "Rat Patrol" like the TV show and stuff. But the soldiers were too big to fit in the Hot Wheels jeep and we had to melt them down to fit and it never worked out right.
I wonder if we made up a set of Muslim Terrorist plastic soldiers, could we sell them for the children's. Or would you get arrested.
Just Sayn'
16 comments:
Here's Ron waxing about his days blowing things up after I accused him of recreating the War of 1812:
No, I didn't blow up the Capitol! I did however, sink a radio controlled Bismarck filled with charcoal lighter fluid by tossing lit M-80's down the smokestack!
It not only sank, but sent a patch of sorghum on fire! Chaos ensued... link
Just didn't want him to be left out of the conversation.
A couple of these these preferably improved with tiny bullet holes and battle scars really added to those mock Battle of Marne or Ypres set ups.
My older brother and I were fascinated with WW I planes and aces on both sides and those little Renwal "aeroskin" models (the kind that you glued realistic "fabric" onto) were perfect in every way. I understand they're worth quite a bit of money these days. Wish I hadn't destroyed them all.
Same here with the models I made. And those baseball cards. And comic books. Man I had an first Spiderman for crying out loud.
You know you are old when you start talking like this.
You know you are old when you start talking like this.
Old and blessed with a memory and a happy childhood. :)
I remember one of my favorite toys was the Guns of the Navarone playset.
Boy did that bring back memories.
Hey Troop, do you remember those plastic soldiers that were advertised on the backs of comic books? I remember the Reveolutionary War set and the WW2 set. I think they were $5 or something and remembering how expensive that was.
Yeah I saved and saved and got the Revolutinary War guys. They were pretty cool.
I was always a big history buff and I love stuff about the revolution.
That's why when I heard that Eric Flint was planning an alternative history novel transporting the soldiers at Yorktown back to Roman times I was really excited. But he cancelled it.
You guys are talking about this one huh?
Or this one?
What they need to make are some don't ask, don't tell toy soldiers. I'd buy some of those.
They could be made of wax, which you can drip on people!
When I was about 7 or 8, I got a set of those painted metal WWI soldiers from England, complete with an 18-pounder field artillery piece that shot whatever you could get down the bore with an internal spring-loaded piston. I used the points of clipped-off nails, which did a number on my bedroom door, not to mention the side of my grandmother's desk. Fortunately, I did not put anyone's eyes out. Unlike the way we had to raise our kids, my parents left me alone.
I'm sure the paint was lead-based, and there was plenty of lead solder holding the cannon together, not to mention the lead in the metal the soldiers were made of. I was just smart enough not to put them in my mouth, again, no thanks to my parents. Those soldiers were a product safety nightmare from every angle, from a time when everything was not yet made of plastic.
You can still buy similar metal toy soldiers from any number of wars, this time without the lead, but I think they're intended for nostalgic adults and collectors more than kids, who are just as content with plastic you can actually play with, and not break off hands and bayonets.
A couple of years ago, I visited the foundry in Chicago where a lot of these metal toy soldiers are still made. We were looking for subcontractors, and they did nice precision work. The foundy's tucked away in a nondescript building in a clean and neat but nondescript Chicago neighborhood. The people worked hard and very fast. The guy who was in charge on the foundry floor was an enormous black man with a huge grin, who seemed to enjoy mightily presiding over a frightening pot of molten metal. He was quick and very skilled at really dangerous, dirty work. Everyone else seemed equally skilled and enjoyed their work almost as well. Most of them seemed to live in the neighborhood and have worked there forever. I've never seen so many happy employees, or been in such a great work atmosphere.
I guess being an elf in Santa's workshop does that to you.
I'm not going to delete my comment because of the missing "r" in "foundry's" above.
Too late to be up.
That's the one chickenlittle!
Notice the potato masher hand grenades.
Iconic photo: link
I wonder if we made up a set of Muslim Terrorist plastic soldiers, could we sell them for the children's.
Good old Airfix did make some Arabs, presumably to fight against the Frenchies. A complete list of everything made is here.
Screwed-up those links above, but they're all there.
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