Toy Soldier/Book combination - Need suggestions. (2 Viewers)

[eileen]

Hello. I'm new to this forum. I am starting a company in Wisconsin that combines children's books about history with figures for kids to act out and play history. Our first book series is based on the Revolutionary War and will be targeted to kids aged 5-10. I would like to offer on our website toy soldiers from this time period that are kid-friendly and safe and priced reasonably that would allow the kids to act out Paul Revere's Ride or the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Battle of Long Island, etc. I would greatly appreciate suggestions. Thanks. Eileen
www.curiositycottage.com - Bunk Bed Adventures!

 

[binder001]

Eileen, first - a very interesting idea. Many of us got our interest in toy soldiers or collectible figures by reading about the time period and gaining an interest in it.

"Kid safe" and "reasonably priced" sound like unpainted plastic figures not unlike "Army men". There is god news and bad news - the plastic figures are generally safe for kids, but they molding requires a fairly large initial outlay of cash and you have to sell quite a few to recoup your investment.

Suggestion - have you contacted any of the current manufacturers of plastic figures to look at some sort of combined marketing effort? Putting some plastic soldiers from the American War of Independence or the Civil War, etc with your books might be a way to start. There are several manufacturers currently making figures in a number of time periods. If your concept takes off then you can always look at starting your own line of miniatures for successive efforts.

Good luck in your efforts.

Gary B.

 

[eileen]

Gary, Thanks for the ideas and suggestions and encouragement. I did mean to say that I want to offer existing soldier toy sets to accompany our books. I looked into manufacturing our own, but between the molds and high costs of initial runs, I thought it was better to tap into the great resources already out there. Plastic unpainted makes sense for the reasons you mentioned. Of the plastic unpainted sets, which do you think are best? I get lost in the myriad of options out there!

 

[binder001]

"best" is a relative term. I like the Conte figures of US GIs because that is my area of interest. Other guys like Robin Hood, the Napoleonic Wars, pirates, etc. The older figures made by the Louis Marx Company were really not too bad in their sculpting and molding and they covered quite a variety of eras. No offense to this site but a better idea of the vast array of plastic figures out there can be seen on the sites of the Hobby Bunker and Michigan Toy Soldier Company. Both of them carry extensive selections of plastic figures.

Gary B.

 

[Wraith]

Hi Eileen,

Sounds like a great idea!

There are a fair few manufacturers making this era in unpainted plastic.
For a selection of different manufacturers (including Accurate, Armies in Plastic, A Call to Arms and Classic Toy Soldiers), can I point you in the direction of the CTS website?

www.classictoysoldiers.com

If you click on '54mm Toy Soldiers' it lists by time period, and you'll be able to view the more mainstream manufactures figures for this era. A reasonable selection should be found.

Simon

 

[eileen]

Thanks Simon, That's a very helpful site. I made a lot of progress here today finding options to pair with the books. Many thanks. Eileen

 

[gi546]

where will you be selling the books, i might buy a few.

 

[eileen]

Thanks Matt, for the vote of confidence. We're just finishing the first book of a trilogy on the Revolutionary War. It will then go to a professional editor and then be self-published and hopefully ready to pair up with a set of Revolutionary War toy soldiers for Christmas of this coming year. Our website is www.bunkbedadventures.com and www.curiositycottage.com. Good wishes. Eileen