Toy soldiers have been around for hundreds of years. But modern toy soldiers first started gaining popularity in the twentieth century when companies like William Britain began making affordable and available toy soldiers. These old favorites were first mass produced using an ingenious method called hollow casting.
Hollowcasting was a technique of production that manufacturers used to make a metal object with a hollow center. This allowed manufacturers to create their figurines using much less lead and decreased the cost to make each figure. These savings were passed on to the customer and affordable toy soldiers were born. These less expensive toy soldiers were now attainable for a wider market and quickly gained popularity.
In the late 1940's, plastic toy soldiers starting 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 and plastic toy soldiers because both were readily available.
In the 60's, laws about toy safety began to affect every aspect of toy making. Toy safety laws soon spread internationally and changed the toy soldier industry forever. Strict safety laws prohibited dangerous materials like lead from being used in toy manufacturing. This happened to be the main ingredient in metal toy soldiers and drastically cut down the toy soldier market. Big manufacturers like William Britain had to stop production of lead toy soldiers and shift their product offering completely.
Toy soldier producers developed different products to replace the lost income from the metal toy soldiers. One of those new products was a different kind of plastic toy soldier. High end, detailed plastic toy soldiers entered the market. These combined elements of the rough bagged model soldiers with elements of detailed metal toy soldiers. These high end plastic toy soldiers depicted specific wars and time periods and were made with realistic details but were made of safe plastic that was still acceptable in the newly safety regulated market.
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 toy 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.
Toy soldiers were improved once again in the 80s with imaginative posing. Toy soldiers had previously been stiffly positioned and modern toy soldiers were depicted doing real battle activities like firing, charging, and aiming. This gave toy soldiers a more lifelike quality and made toy soldiers more appealing to modern collectors. More graphic toy soldiers were another improvement in the toy soldier of the 80's. Very true to life features, expressions and clothing made these toy soldiers practically photographic representations of the real thing.
By the 1990's, toy soldier collecting was once again on the rise. More people were collecting plastic and metal toy soldiers. New manufacturers entered the market and old manufacturers improved their techniques to meet growing demand. This rise in the model soldier market was only heightened by the introduction of the internet. The internet fueled the rise of toy soldier collection. People can now connect, search, and shop toy soldiers from anywhere in the world!
Today, people can buy toy soldiers from vendors on the other side of the world. And while there are a huge number of manufacturers both from tiny organizations a big companies, a few stand out. If you are new to toy soldier collecting, some of the best names in the business are W Britains toy soldiers, King and Country toy soldiers, Frontline Figures toy soldiers and John Jenkins toy soldiers.
Hollowcasting was a technique of production that manufacturers used to make a metal object with a hollow center. This allowed manufacturers to create their figurines using much less lead and decreased the cost to make each figure. These savings were passed on to the customer and affordable toy soldiers were born. These less expensive toy soldiers were now attainable for a wider market and quickly gained popularity.
In the late 1940's, plastic toy soldiers starting 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 and plastic toy soldiers because both were readily available.
In the 60's, laws about toy safety began to affect every aspect of toy making. Toy safety laws soon spread internationally and changed the toy soldier industry forever. Strict safety laws prohibited dangerous materials like lead from being used in toy manufacturing. This happened to be the main ingredient in metal toy soldiers and drastically cut down the toy soldier market. Big manufacturers like William Britain had to stop production of lead toy soldiers and shift their product offering completely.
Toy soldier producers developed different products to replace the lost income from the metal toy soldiers. One of those new products was a different kind of plastic toy soldier. High end, detailed plastic toy soldiers entered the market. These combined elements of the rough bagged model soldiers with elements of detailed metal toy soldiers. These high end plastic toy soldiers depicted specific wars and time periods and were made with realistic details but were made of safe plastic that was still acceptable in the newly safety regulated market.
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 toy 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.
Toy soldiers were improved once again in the 80s with imaginative posing. Toy soldiers had previously been stiffly positioned and modern toy soldiers were depicted doing real battle activities like firing, charging, and aiming. This gave toy soldiers a more lifelike quality and made toy soldiers more appealing to modern collectors. More graphic toy soldiers were another improvement in the toy soldier of the 80's. Very true to life features, expressions and clothing made these toy soldiers practically photographic representations of the real thing.
By the 1990's, toy soldier collecting was once again on the rise. More people were collecting plastic and metal toy soldiers. New manufacturers entered the market and old manufacturers improved their techniques to meet growing demand. This rise in the model soldier market was only heightened by the introduction of the internet. The internet fueled the rise of toy soldier collection. People can now connect, search, and shop toy soldiers from anywhere in the world!
Today, people can buy toy soldiers from vendors on the other side of the world. And while there are a huge number of manufacturers both from tiny organizations a big companies, a few stand out. If you are new to toy soldier collecting, some of the best names in the business are W Britains toy soldiers, King and Country toy soldiers, Frontline Figures toy soldiers and John Jenkins toy soldiers.
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