 Little Plastic.... You know them, they have been around since the 1950s, those toy soldiers molded in soft plastic that are sold by the bagful. They are molded in one piece, a generic "no brand" toy. Also unlike many toy soldiers, they are sold unpainted and almost always dressed in modern military uniforms and armed with 20th Century weapons. Known as Army Men, the 1/2" to 3" inch soldiers are found in every boys toy boxes and have always ben the victims of many boys' firecrackers. They are molded as mostly from World War II to the Vietnam era but many reflect the current US Military. The first American plastic toy soldiers were made from 1938 by Beton that was short for the BErgen TOy and Novelty company. Beton also acquired the molds of another pre-war plastic figure company, Universal Plastics with their figures remaining for sale when lead toy production was stopped in 1942 because of the metal shortage during WWII. Following World War II, plastic manufacturing was seen as an industry with growth potential with many old and new companies making plastic figures that were widely available in the United States. The plastic figures were sold en masse in clear plastic bags with an illustrated header card in different sizes and prices since the early 1950s. A popular early manufacturer of army men, was Louis Marx and Company who sold boxed sets of figures and accessories in playsets. From 1962 Marx gave the American "armymen" actual enemy soldiers to fight such as German soldiers (moulded in grey) in their "Army Combat" set and Japanese enemies (moulded in yellow) in their "Iwo Jima" set. A "D-Day" Marx set featured Allies such as French (horizon blue), British and Russians. One of their last and largest playsets was the multi-level "Fortress Navarone" mountain set based on The Guns of Navarone, which was available in the 1970s and pitted World War II Americans against Germans. But they are not limited to Army men. Cowboys and Indians - generally these included standing figures along with a few mounted on horseback. Cowboys and Indians were molded in many colors. Indians were a mixed bag, as a set included figures of several tribes and regions. It was not uncommon to find Mohawks mixed among Sioux and Apaches. Civil War - soldiers were the same, the difference between armies being that one was molded in blue and the other in grey. American Revolution - not as popular as the others, American Revolution sets had figures molded in blue and red. Some included a handful of Indians. Spacemen are very popular, Space Men were in two kinds. After 1962, the most popular kind of spacemen looked like American astronauts in action poses. Some had ray pistols and rifles, but one brand's astronauts carried scientific gear. Colors varied, but most were molded in red, white, blue, silver or gold. Aliens, if any, were invariably green bug-eyed monsters with ray guns. Knights - very popular, with a great variety of knights. Any given brand's knights had armor covering various eras, and included both foot soldiers and mounted figures. Knights could be molded in a variety of colors. A few makers offered them in opposing armies molded in silver and gold or silver and black. Pirates - very popular, pirates came in many colors and had the usual assortment of cutlasses, flintlock pistols, tricorn hats and hook hands. Some were molded with a parrot on the shoulder. Ninjas - Popular in the 80's and most commonly came molded in black. |
