Toy Soldiers

Hollow casting is a technique of making figurines with a hollow center. This uses much less material to make each figurine and decreases the cost to manufacturers. This decreased cost in production translates into an affordable toy for consumers. Less expensive soldiers could be sold to a bigger market and these figurines were a huge hit.

In the late 1940's, plastic soldiers, army men, started becoming popular. By the 1950s, the familiar bags of plastic green army men had become a favorite toy. Kids of this generation grew up playing with both metal soldiers and plastic army men because both were readily available.

In response to new safety laws, many companies developed new products like high end plastic figurines to fill the gap in production. These combined the generic, unpainted plastic army men that were popular and inexpensive with the high end, highly detailed metal soldiers. These new plastic figurines were high end, highly detailed plastic figures modeled after different wars and time periods.

During the late 1960's and the 1970's, there was a huge decrease in toy soldier demand. Established toy soldier companies began producing new metal soldiers made from a safer material called alloy. These were introduced as early as the mid-1970's but they didn't gain popularity until the mid-1980's. These figures were most popular with adult males who had collected toy soldiers as children. The market at this point was still low compared to what it had been at its prime but it was improving.

Metal figures also saw a change in design in the 1980's. Metal soldiers were modernized by being given new, action poses that placed the figurines in the heat of battle. These dynamic poses were more appealing to new collectors than the stiff look of their predecessors. These developed into the toy soldiers of today which are extremely realistic and highly detailed.

Since the 2000's, collectors have been connected to a much larger market of sellers. And though there are many manufacturers of toy soldiers some stand out as the best in the business. Seasoned collectors will no doubt recognize King and Country, John Jenkins and William Britain. However if you are a new follower of modern toy soldiers, these are a good place to start to begin or enhance any collection