Soldiers of Christmas Past (1 Viewer)

9thHussar

Sergeant
Joined
Jul 16, 2006
Messages
624
Hi,

its that time of year fast approaching so memories go back to my childhood magical Christmas' of the early 1970's - I remember getting a box of Britains Deetail US Infantry WW2 and a few years later it was all Timpo swoppits. You never forget opening those first boxes of soldiers. It has stuck in the mind ever since and still fuels the interest in my hobby.

Any other memories out there?

Regards
Dave
 
I always liked toy soldiers and they were always on my Christmas lists. My two favorite memories are from about 1960 or 61 when I received an MPC playset. I don't remember the name of the set but it had a missle base with several different launchers and missles, plus MPC's version of the DUKW that had a missle launcher on it (I remember ir being blue plastic versus the OD of most MPC DUKWs). The figures were MPCs classic "ringhand" type. The figures included equipment for ground troops plus some of the figures had astronaut gear. Back in those days it must have set my folks back a pretty penny.

The other one was a few years later and involved the only Marx set I received as a kid - a "Battle of the Blue and Gray" playset. This was during the centennial observance of the War Between the States. A lot of makers had various Civil War figures and sets, but Marx was head and shoulders above the rest - great sculpting, decent quality casting, neat poses, and lots of accessories. Nothing like opening that cardboard box and seeing all that stuff! Long hours were spent in the basement playing with that set over and over.

Oddly, the only other full Marx playset I ever owned was in later years (when I should have been too old for toy soldiers) and I went to the SS Kresge store with lawn mowing money and bought a "Battleground Playset". I did spend a lot of pre-Christmas time with the Sears catalog looking at the Marx sets of various sorts. I my area there were quite a few MPC ringhands and other dime store toy soldiers, but few retailers had Marx on the shelves, so the catalogs were the way I could see what was available.

Gary B.
 
Like Gary, one year I got a MPC set. It had a tank or two, troop carrier, deuce & a half and a weasel. It was the first AFVs that were close to scale. I had way more fun with those toy soldier back then, than I do now with my current metal collection.
 
I too would just stare at the Sears Christmas catalog looking at the playsets. Can,t remember my first Marx playset, it could have been the Fort Dearborn. Also what was fun was actually going to Sears or other department stores and they would have the various playsets displayed on boards.
I remember when I got to old to ask for soldiers for Christmas I talked my youngest brother into getting a few playsets, Blue & Gray and Battleground.
Gary
 
I was a kid in the 50's and remember drooling over the playsets in the Sears "Wish Book". I think it came out around October and always seemed like FOREVER until Christmas. But I was an only child for the first seven years and had a couple of childless doting aunts so I made out like a bandit...usually scored at least one new set every year.
biggrin.png
I collected the Blue and Gray, Alamo, Roy Rogers, prehistoric (cavemen and dinosaurs), green army men, cowboys and indians, and probably a bunch of others I can't remember. But the Blue and Gray always was my favorite - I'd rob accessories from other sets to support those troops.

I was a sickly child and couldn't get out much to play with other kids so my little plastic guys became my playmates and best friends...although that didn't save them from horrific deaths on the battlefield.
byebye.gif
But I grew up into a teenager, got interested in hotrods (and girls
biggrin.png
), and my troops marched away in some long-forgotten garage sale. Wish I had them back but hopefully they bivouaced with some kid who loved them as much as I did.

Now I'm in my second childhood and too old and fat to get down under old cars (getting down's no problem...it's the getting back up that's a bear
cry.gif
). So I'm getting back into ACW and AWI toy soldiers, although my interest now is researching their uniforms and painting them as authentically as I can and maybe building a few small dioramas.
 
ac10-1.jpg

This was my first real playset. I had gotten a few bags of MPC and Tim-mee cowboys and indians before, but this one was the set that got me truly hooked on toy soldier collecting. After this I started on the Airfix, Timpo and Britains Herald and Deetail ranges. I was about 4 or 5. Would have been 1969 or 1970. I still love the Jean Hoefler figures and forts and I get some more on eBay every now and then for old times' sake.
 
In the 50's growing up I remember always loving toy soldiers.
The Marx playsets were among my favorites......Robin Hood (Nottingham
Castle), Prince Valiant, Johnny Tremain (AWI), Alamo, Zorro, Blue and Gray,
French Forein Legion, Battle Cry and Cape Canavrel among others.
But my favorite was a wooden fort sold exclusively by FAO Schwartz of NYC and
Manned by Britains Cowboys and Indians.
 
Its was the 1970's multi coloured figures that made me drool! Britians Deetail and Timpo swoppits .
I had a couple here and there but not as many as I would have liked.
 
It was the 1/32nd Airfix in my family - I got the 8th Army and my brother got the Afrika Korps. Then later I got the French Imperial Guard and he got the Black Watch so it makes you wonder why my parents seemed determined to pit us against each other!!

When I got back into TS two years ago I went straight for K&C Imperial Guard because of that childhood connection.

$T2eC16R,!)cE9s4PtHh3BRKTvH)0og~~60_35.JPGdownload.jpgdownload (1).jpgimages.jpg

Earlier again I had a plastic Fort Laramie which clipped together. Funnily enough it has left me completely unable to even consider a cowboys/indians range because the figures look like 'toys'. Ridiculous when you think about it.
 
Wonderful thread {bravo}}
Through most of my childhood time, it was Timpo Swoppet figures.
Cowboys/Indians came first, I believe.
Than, one Christmas I received a wooden Fort with a number of Union troops.
Another year, Knights joined the Club, and on it went, for several years.
The Timpo Arabs/Bedouins and the Mexicans were my favorites, I recall.

When I was in my early teens, I got some 1/32 Airfix figures, and shortly after that I went for 1/72 Airfix along with some tank and vehicle kits.
I enjoyed to build them up, and remember painting them with brushes and Humbrol paint.
They never came out very nice, but perfectly fine enough to be enjoyed by myself.

Then, subjects changed, and it took many years until I discovered per internet around 2001, that there still is a Toy Soldier World out there ^&grin

As nice as our current collections, with all those new figures, I sure wish I still had my old Timpos.
They would get a prime display space, that's for sure.

Happy Collecting!

Konrad
 
I managed to hang on to many of my childhood toys. Some are a bit worse for wear but here are a couple that I was most easily able to lay my hands on. The Cowboys/Indians were mostly Hong Kong but a few Timpo. The Crusaders were the classic overmolded swoppets.000_2506.jpg000_2508.jpg
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top