...I agree with most of what you say except for one thing. Did America ever really make toy soldiers. I accept that the US made great cars motorbikes and everything else but toy soldiers in the old days were really British, French and German. The dimestores are ok but cannot compare to WB, Mignot, Heyde or Elastoin...
Well, de gustibus non disputandem, of course
However, there were American makers who aspired to the standard of Britain's and Mignot. The Warren Lines was one such manufacturer, but his misfortune was to produce a high-quality product at the height of the Second Depression (during Roosevelt's second term), his figures were well-done, well-received and drew comparisons with Britains, but they were expensive (for the times).
Another maker was Jones, who produced some nice figures, too, but who was too inconsistent a businessman to stay afloat.
Comet was another manufacturer who aspired to replace Britains, at least here at home. Now, no one would say that they were anything but toys, but they could also be compared to their contemporaries by Britains or Mignot, especially when considered in sets, as opposed to in the individual figure. (Actually, that same observation could be made of Heyde. Individually, the detail is
scheusslich, but you have to step back and look at the whole set.) Of course, Comet's quality improved after the war, when Erickson began sculpting for them, and the company re-branded as Authenticast.
And it was the drive to produce a well-detailed figure that inspired Jack Scheid, Bill Imrie, Clyde Risley and others, to begin sculpting, and produce what we would recognize as military miniatures, as opposed to toys. They were followed by makers, some of whom we all have met and known in our own time (eg, Alan Silk, Ed Lober, Ron Wall, etc, etc), where the lines have shifted, and now we think of "collector's toys", rather than kids' toys.
Prost!
Brad
