Ye Olde Toy Soldiers

[medic]

I used to play with these when I was a kid. When I got older I used them for target practice with my Daisy BB gun. I'm glad I wasn't into explosives then, heh heh, otherwise these won't be here today. A couple of years ago my nephew borrowed them for use in a school diorama project. Since I wasn't into WW2 Airsoft then yet I forgot about them until he returned them to me the other day. Quite timely, in fact, don't you think?
I couldn't get a good photo of the brand of the manufacturer, but I do remember the date of manufacture: 1963! The Japanese and Civil War figures share the same maker but the GI's were plain, no manufacturer marks. Also, the GI's had removeable helmets and weapons, which were lost to history loooong ago. Try to guess what weapons they are shooting.


By cesarphotos at 2010-11-04


By cesarphotos at 2010-11-04

Here's my favorite. Classic Japanese soldier stereotype but wielding a bolo, not a katana!

By cesarphotos at 2010-11-04


By cesarphotos at 2010-11-04


By cesarphotos at 2010-11-04


By cesarphotos at 2010-11-04


By cesarphotos at 2010-11-04


By cesarphotos at 2010-11-04


By cesarphotos at 2010-11-04


By cesarphotos at 2010-11-04


By cesarphotos at 2010-11-04

Brought back memories of epic battles.

[medic]

They are soft plastic, about 6 inches tall.

[DAN SAN]

the one with the bolo maybe the taiwanese volunteers in the ija..

[mikevictor]

Great photos and toys sir

Allow me to share my own army men story:

While growing up, I had different sets of toy soldiers. Perhaps the best loved of them were the GIs, especially the kind that looked like Airfix copies (I think). I particularly liked the officer with the binoculars and pistol. He looked particularly bad*ss

By the time I was 12 or 13, I had amassed a considerable amount of soldiers of different makes, colors and poses (this army would've been bigger had they not had so many casualties!). I also had some AFV's, jets (pretty weird, if you ask me), aircraft carriers and one landing craft. And because they were the baddies, I always used the Germans for target practice. Karma has probably caught up with me, because I'm the one in the Kraut uniform now, and I always end up getting shot

Unfortunately though, we moved through 3 houses in a span of years and I gave some away and lost others. The others are probably tucked away in some baul or box along with my unfinished models and the rest of my childhood memories. Ah, good times.

[mikevictor]

And strangely, though, now that I'm eighteen and more well-versed in the War, I notice the uniforms, guns and gear of toy soldiers more Back then, I didn't pay much attention to detail Americans were Americans, and Germans were Germans, even if some of those Germans carried what looked like an M1928 Tommy

[medic]

Heh heh. Germans wore gray plastic, and GIs green. Imagine my surprise when I started modeling and discovered Field Gray was actually a shade of green! You are right about the uniforms, too.

[mournblade]

Great stuff. I have a cousin your age who had a lot of that too. Used to play with his stuff a lot. Marx Toys plastic figures, unless I'm mistaken? I loved the 6 inch american infantry. Yeah, they had detachable helmets and smallarms. I recall a bazooka, garand with bayonet, BAR, thompson and a carbine if i am not mistaken. Used to sit in front of my grandma's black and white TV set (the one you changed channels with a rotary dial) watching Combat and comparing the guns toted by the actors with the plastic ones of the figures. Great fun. Educational too for a 7 year old who was hooked on history. thanks for bringing this up...

[kalbs]

Being raised in a British familly we had relatives from the UK and about every two years I would get to travel to Scotland. The best thing was buying was Airfix 1/32 and 1/72 scale plastic soldiers. From Romans to Commandos, they were very detailed. I spent hours playing with them.

hehehe.. I remember the commando box art guys looked like Spock and Capt. Kirk. Star trek was big in those days I guess.

[jimmiroquai]

Hey it IS Spock and Kirk!

[labrador]

I see they kept his vulcan ears. seen these?

memory-alpha.org/wiki/Schutzstaffel_uniforms_and_insignia

I had a lot of plastic figs as well, even tried using them as painting practice for my styrene figures. My favorites were the pre - painted britains figures i'd buy at a place called the owl bookshop at the old bricktown mall in makati.

[veevee]

Wow I've never seen those Japanese toy soldiers before. Very nice and detailed. When I was a kid I collected the gray plastic toy soldiers inside Kleenex boxes. They were small like the size of the usual plastic green/tan army men but they were detailed. There were all kinds from Zulu warriors, to French Foreign Legion, British Tommy, Musketeer, a crossbow-man, a Spanish conquistador, and so on.

I also had red and blue American revolution soldiers, and cowboys and indians, and Vietnam GI army men. These were hard plastic, not brittle at all. I would find them in ads in my Sgt Rock comics and ask my Aunt in the US to buy them for me.

Nowadays my 3 year old son routinely breaks a head or a rifle off of his plastic army men by just dropping them. They're made of brittle plastic.

You guys would get a kick out of juniorgeneral.org. They have all kinds of toy soldiers you could print and cut out and make paper soldiers out of

[medic]

I'll dig around in our old house in Bulacan to see what else I've got. I know my 12 inch GI Joe with his jeep and a recoilless rifle is still there.

[medic]

Mournblade, you were right. The manufacturer was Louis Marx and Co.
I was in Bulacan again today and took a pic of my old Hasbro G.I. Joe 12 inch figure, circa 60's-70's. Here he is, frozen in time in one of our old rooms. pardon the thick layer of dust.

By cesarphotos at 2010-11-09

Close up. His features are a bit different from the current batch of action figures.

By cesarphotos at 2010-11-09

I remember he had a sailor's outfit and a frogman wetsuit SCUBA outfit also, but those are probably stored elsewhere. He's seen a lot of action: almost all his extremities are wired together. Talk about a combat veteran.

[mournblade]

excellent doc! I gather that you also had talking GI joes?

[medic]

Nope, I never had the talking Joes.