My First Toy Soldiers and Cereal Figures

The first 'toy soldiers' I received were not soldiers but  flat cowboys and Indians. I was very young, possibly two years old - that is 1961! You can see in the photo that I bit off some of the arms and weapons! These figures were made in Australia. I used to think they were cereal figures but my memory might be failing me as others have assured me that they did not come in the cereal. Fellow ACOTS collector, Les Collier did an article on these and other Australian made flat plastic toy soldiers for Plastic Warrior magazine not long ago. The cowboy which has been partly painted is probably the first 'toy soldier' I ever painted, most likely when I was eight or nine. Other poses are a cowboy with saddle and one firing a rifle. These figures were very easy to knock over with a marble from the side but harder from the front!.

The next figures were cereal figures that were copies of Cresent figures. It was quite a few years later that I aquired the original Cresent figures. My favourites were the bank robbers. The ones firing rifles and wearing masks made good firing lines. The one with the moneybag and drawing his pistol also looked good and had plenty of expression. Next favourites were the bearded man with the whip and the cowboy kneeling with two pistols. The cowboys with ropes had limited wargame potential. I also liked the Indian firing his bow and a line of these looked impressive. The figure on the horse was either a bank robber or the Lone Ranger amd he was another favourite.

A later set of cowboys and Indians in about 40mm scale is rarer and includes unusual figures such as squaw with papoose and settlers with child.

The most educational cereal figures were probably Warriors of the World. They were approximately 50mm and depicted a wide range of historical periods. I painted a number of these and expanded my interest in history.
There were non toy soldier figures too, weird and wonderful sets such as Crater Critters and Tooley Birds which I still have.

A set of green and orange GIs also came out. These were copies of Marx and saw action in many battles, the orange ones being used as Germans.