Childhood toy soldier memories (2 Viewers)

[Go for Broke]

I remember playing TS indoors. Setting up fortifications with dominoes, playing cards and anything filmsy. Then bombarding them with heavy duty rubber bands. I also had a Mattel Tommygun with a bolt that pulled back and rat tat tated with a paper shot roll in the magazine of the gun. Remember papershot? I had a bazooka that actually shot a rocket, but what I really wanted was a 30 cal from the Sears catalog, which I could only dream of. Like Lancer, we used a lot of army surplus stuff, helmet liners, belt with canteen, etc. Used a refrigerator box as a tank or bunker. Great stuff.

 

[Currahee Chris]

I'm so with you guys- hey Rob- I think when you guys get together at the bar in March, it would be time to pull out plastic pistols and have a go at it. Heck, from the photos I saw from the last one- you already got a helmet!! ^&grin^&grin

I played guns up till senior year in high school. the trailer park I lived in had a massive 150+ acre wooded lot behind it and it was great for hiding out. My buddy had a pretty sweet ghillie suit too. We dug out some full size trenches and would camp out overnight in them.

The craziest gunfights I ever got involved with as a kid- I was an 8 year old Army brat living in quarters in Nuremburg when dad was stationed there. We had a massive playground out behind the living quarters. We were living right next to normal German people. We would CONSTANTLY set up snipers picking off "Jerry" whenever they would come outside to check mail, walk the dog, etc. After awhile, some of their kids- who were older and bigger than us started yelling at us in German- we of course started mocking them with Seig Heil salutes and goose stepping- they came running after us and we scurried off like jack rabbits. ^&grin

 

[lancer]

Absolutely.We'd be gone all day, finally come home for dinner in the early evening then off out again. We'd play in the woods, ride our bikes for hours and never worried about a thing. We suffered cuts and bruises etc but we were never approached by weirdos that parents worry about today. Life was good and I never thought what it would be like to be middle age. The years go so quick, sometimes I wonder where all those kids are now. Uh oh, I'm getting all nostalgic now!:wink2:

Rob

So true, Rob. We'd leave the house early in the AM and be gone till lunch. A quick mess and then back to whatever and we'd be gone till dinner and then maybe out again for night maneuvers until parental curfew struck at 9PM or later, with special permission. We also rode our bikes everywhere with little regard for traffic regulations and as reckless as we were it is lucky no one ever got killed. We uses to play jousting knights on our bikes, using trash can lids as shields and any long sticks or poles (used rakes, hoes) that we could find. Again, we only suffered cuts and bruises (with an occasional stitch), no fatalities. More and more these memories come back. Don't think I'd trade them for anything, not even a KC Winter Tiger.^&grin -- Al

 

[bromhead]

Can we imagine lil Stryker hitting the block after several candy bars and a few viewings of Sands of Iwo?

 

[lancer]

I remember playing TS indoors. Setting up fortifications with dominoes, playing cards and anything filmsy. Then bombarding them with heavy duty rubber bands. I also had a Mattel Tommygun with a bolt that pulled back and rat tat tated with a paper shot roll in the magazine of the gun. Remember papershot? I had a bazooka that actually shot a rocket, but what I really wanted was a 30 cal from the Sears catalog, which I could only dream of. Like Lancer, we used a lot of army surplus stuff, helmet liners, belt with canteen, etc. Used a refrigerator box as a tank or bunker. Great stuff.

Good grief, Charlie Brown! I had the same Mattel Tommygun, several in fact, over the years as they would get busted and replaced. I also had a tripod MG, which was battery powered. If I remember correctly, it was a copy of the M-2. Had a rat-a-tat noise and a red nose that went in and out as the trigger was pressed. Also had several Johnny Eagle sets, with an M-14 and .45 ACP. After seeing "The Longest Day" we had Sten gun fever and used to hold our tommyguns sideways to copy the Sten. And, we did do quite a bit of damage with those rolls of papershot caps. Our neighborhood was always ringing with the tiny explosions.^&grin -- Al

 

[wwiibuff]

Sure is great to read all these old stories and memories. I have many similar memories with my Marx Battleground playset and Navarone cliff, building the old 1/32 Monogram armor, etc. Those were the days!

 

[Go for Broke]

Sten gun? We'd make sten guns with galvanized plumber's pipe and pipe fittings. It kind of looked like a sten gun, although wearing a ball cap sideways would make a lousy beret. I had a Colt 45 that shot papershot. Nowadays every toy requires batteries. Sometimes the replacement battery is more than the cost of the toy.

 

[Wraith]

Sten gun? We'd make sten guns with galvanized plumber's pipe and pipe fittings.

Pretty much like the real thing then. ^&grin

 

[Warrior]

anyone notice any drastic changes in collecting or periods of interest since your childhood? I am still into Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome- that never wavered. The funny thing- I used to be really into the Pacific theater WW2 and the DAK as a kid. Certainly enjoy reading about them now, but never got the urge to collect.

Also- anyone ever order those little toy soldier sets they would advertise in the back pages of comics?? I worked a couple weeks to get the $3.25 I needed to buy a set of AWI figures but my dad wouldn't write a check for me- said they were too small!! ^&grin

As a kid, I was heavily into WWII and Napoleonics, now it's those two plus the ACW. Loved those comic book ads, got all of those sets; the AWI set, "Woods Edge", the ACW set and those crappy *** ancient flats, no one told me those were flats. They all came with those Giant copies of Marx figures, the AWI set had original figures unique to the set.....

 

[Warrior]

You guys remember the artwork on those airfix boxes?? It really was first rate- always some desperate scene being fought out in some isolated battlefield. That stuff was worth it just for the artwork.

I bought my first four Airfix sets as a kid JUST for the artwork; WWI French, WWI Germans, 8th Army and WWII Germans. They had the best artwork going, love the FFL box, the Waterloo British, US Marines, Japanese, on and on it goes........

 

[lancer]

I bought my first four Airfix sets as a kid JUST for the artwork; WWI French, WWI Germans, 8th Army and WWII Germans. They had the best artwork going, love the FFL box, the Waterloo British, US Marines, Japanese, on and on it goes........

Hi George. First Airfix figures I ever had were 8th Army and German Army in gray (loved the anti-tank gun with the seat). Had a perfect desert in the sandbox. Kept finding the MIA's for years afterwards buried in the sand. Also collected the WW1 series. Loved the French and the Germans with the pickelhaube. Also got the Brits with the flat caps and the US with the campaign hats. Had to use FFL as early war French, though. The box art was a major attraction. -- Al

 

[Warrior]

Hi George. First Airfix figures I ever had were 8th Army and German Army in gray (loved the anti-tank gun with the seat). Had a perfect desert in the sandbox. Kept finding the MIA's for years afterwards buried in the sand. Also collected the WW1 series. Loved the French and the Germans with the pickelhaube. Also got the Brits with the flat caps and the US with the campaign hats. Had to use FFL as early war French, though. The box art was a major attraction. -- Al

Al, I loved that German set, the guy on the seat the and the loader with the shell, not to mention the dead pose, something about the casualties in those sets, the WWI Brit, WWI German, the Napoleonic Highlander and the one falling backward, the dead Frenchman in the Napoleonic French set, etc, etc.

Good choice on the FFL as early war French, I used the AWI British Grenadiers as French Imperial Guard until Airfix finally did them, ditto on the WWI British as Prussian Landwehr again until Airfix did them, used Washingtons Army as French Young Guard for whatever reason.

Never understood why Airfix, a British based company, didn't make 24th foot and Zulus but instead did FFL and Arabs.....^&confuse

 

[lancer]

Al, I loved that German set, the guy on the seat the and the loader with the shell, not to mention the dead pose, something about the casualties in those sets, the WWI Brit, WWI German, the Napoleonic Highlander and the one falling backward, the dead Frenchman in the Napoleonic French set, etc, etc.

Good choice on the FFL as early war French, I used the AWI British Grenadiers as French Imperial Guard until Airfix finally did them, ditto on the WWI British as Prussian Landwehr again until Airfix did them, used Washingtons Army as French Young Guard for whatever reason.

Never understood why Airfix, a British based company, didn't make 24th foot and Zulus but instead did FFL and Arabs.....^&confuse

I also used other soldiers as a substitute for the correct TS. When I fought the Korean War with my Marx Marines I had to use Japanese troops as the North Koreans/Chinese. Not politically correct but since there were never any enemy survivors, there was no one to blow the whistle on me. My guess on the lack of 24th Ft/Zulus is that the conflict was rather obscure. Even after the movie "Zulu" came out, along with Morris' book in the 60's, the war didn't really take off in popularity until a long time later. Scholarship and figures caught fire in the 80's, at least over here in the USA. Can't answer for the Brits. Their Zulu War scholarship was always ahead of ours anyway. -- Al

 

[Go for Broke]

Hey Wraith, I really do lol at your jokes. You got the wit. Enjoy yourself at the London show.

 

[Warrior]

Hey Wraith, I really do lol at your jokes. You got the wit. Enjoy yourself at the London show.

Agreed; he constantly provides true LOL moments on this forum, keep up the great work Simon................:salute::

 

[Currahee Chris]

Hey Wraith, I really do lol at your jokes. You got the wit. Enjoy yourself at the London show.

I think in his line of work, having a good sense of humor keeps one sane.

My little guy Andrew loves going with me to Stan's place in Gettysburg. I usually buy him a Corgi tank or some other airplane. The kid loves to make straffing runs. We also stop off at Gettysburg toy soldiers- John Zabawa, the owner, always let's him get into the plastic figures and setup battles on the floor. He then usually lets him walk out of the store with handfuls of figures. All you guys who hook the kids up at the shows, your shops, etc, you guys are doing the hobby a HUGE favor- I salute all of you as a collector and as a father.