Toy soldiers

A toy soldier is a type of figurine representing a"Generals of World War II", "Jesus and the Apostles",
soldier or related military subject. It may be made ofand figures from the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth
any type of material but the most common areII. The model company, Airfix produced a variety of
metal, paper, and plastic. Soldier figures have beenhigh quality plastic sets, which were frequently
found in ancient Egyptian tombs, and have appearedpainted by hobbyists. Many Airfix figures were
in many cultures and eras. The 'toy soldier as a massimitated by other companies and reproduced as
produced toy was first seen in the 17th Century withinexpensive, bagged plastic army men.
the introduction of paper soldiers, and metal followedIn the 1990s, the production of both toy-grade
in the 18th century. There have been many differentpainted figures and connoisseur-grade painted toy
types over the years including the tin soldier alsosoldiers dramatically shifted from the traditional
known as flats, hollow cast metal figures, compositiongloss-coat enamel paint to the matte-finished acrylic
figures, and plastic army men.paint, which allowed for greater detail and historical
Scaleaccuracy. The change was brought about by the
Scale for toy soldiers is expressed as the soldier'sintroduction of such figures from St. Petersburg,
approximate height from head to foot in millimeters.Russia.
Because many figures are not standing straight, theCollecting
height is usually an approximation. Popular sizes includeThere is a substantial hobby devoted to collecting
54 mm, 45 mm, 28 mm, 25 mm, and 15 mm, which,toy soldiers, with an abundance of small
assuming an average height of about 6 feet for amanufacturers, dealers, and toy soldier shows, and
human male, works out to about 1:32, 1:35, 1:64, 1:76,even a few specialty magazines. Collectors typically
and 1:144 in scale-modeling terms. "Standard" toyspecialize in one or more materials (metal vs. plastic),
soldier scale is considered to be 54 mm (1:32 scale).styles (glossy vs. matte), and historical periods. Many
Those made of metal in Britain before metricationcollectors modify and paint plastic figures, and some
had their sizes given in inches and fractions, as dideven cast their own. Malcolm Forbes began collecting
those made in America.toy soldiers in the late 1960s and amassed a
Historycollection of over 90,000 figures by the time of his
There have been many major manufacturers overdeath in 1990.
the years. Britain's being the first and one of theGaming
largest manufacturers of hollow cast metal figures.The playing of games with toy figures was
Companies such as Elastolin and Lineol were wellpopularized by H.G. Wells in his book, Little Wars.
known for their composite figures made of glue andWells, a pacifist, was the first to publish detailed rules
sawdust that included both military and civilianfor playing a war game with toy soldiers. He
subjects. One large historical producer in plastic wassuggested that this would provide a cathartic
the Louis Marx and Company, founded by Louisexperience, possibly preventing future real wars.
Marx, who produced both realistic soldiers of greatAlthough this was not to be, Little Wars did lead to
detail and also realistic historical-figure collections ofthe modern hobby of miniatures wargaming. Most
plastic men and women, including the "Presidents ofwargamers use a smaller scale than that favored by
the United States" collection, "Warriors of the World",collectors, typically under 25 mm.