Favorite Toy Soldiers From My Childhood

Most of us have favorite toy soldiers from childhood and a big part of toy soldier collecting is nostalgia. Certain figures I have especially fond memories of.

Below: This one was one of a handful of metal hollowcasts I received from a distant cousin, when he 'outgrew them'. What I especially liked about this one was that his arms moved. Although he is a bugler I used to think of him as an officer. In a later time I touched up the paint job.

   The Cresent dismounted cavalry were present in a great many Western wargames, surviving countless marbles. I always liked figures aiming and shooting. The Cresent figures also have nice faces, as shown especially in the flag bearer re-painted by a friend.

     Timpo were the mainstay of my collection, especially the ACW and Western figures.

    Another big source of figures were cereal packets. The Warriors of the World were fascinating because they covered so many wars that were not covered by other ranges of figures. These two I painted as an adult.

                            Another Cresent figure. He looks like a Western version commando, ready for anything, with rope and knife as well as rifle.

    This is part of the Lone Star Desert set I received from my father for a Birthday or Xmas gift. They saw a lot of battles in the sandpit. The figure with bazooka is very cool and we ould throw tombowler marbles from his direction instead of regular sized ones. (The Australian army actually didn't have bazookas really).

  My friend Pete usually talked his way into being the 'good guys' so I got to be the Germans. Two in the set were surrendering, which was a little embarrassing to be doing that from the very start of the battle. But there was some compensation in having that lethal flame thrower. These figures were among my early partial re-paints.

     i didn't have more than three or four AWI but their unique appearance fascinated, with the tricorn hats and white wigs. (In history the wigs had been phased out by the AWI).

     Copies of Cresent partially repainted - I left the brown plastic. The HK copies were great because they were cheaper and 54mm instead of 60mm so they went better with Timpo and others.

                      The mexicans always looked super cool in bandoleers and sombreros.

                       Another Lons Star Aussie. He was nice because he fit in the jeep and in ambush spots behind cover, whether chair legs in the lounge room or stones in the garden.

                              This was the most expensive of my plastics and had pride of place in the Confederate army.

    The Britains flags were better than Timpo flags and the movable arms were a nice touch.

   My friend Pete was given a heap of cowboys and Indians that included these African natives. Eventually I bought all of Pete's figures and fort when he 'outgrew them'. I didn't find out until a few years ago that they are Speedwel figures.

      The two below were at left, half of a two figure base; the white man was a prisoner of a native. The figure has been repainted. Pete used to cut the figure's bases to make two separate figures. This figure and the one at right have been repainted. The right hand figure was a brown plastic HK copy. After swapping some of these figures at my first ACOTS convention my life's ambition is to again complete the set. There was also a snake which i never had. In size and characteristics of black plastic they are a little similar to the Cherilea African natives.

                                These two figures are painted cereal packet figures.

                                    A Herald chief who commanded my Indian hordes.

                                 A lolly tank which was only about four centimeters long. It opened up to reveal the lollies. These were bought where other lollies were sold.

   I had a lot of these flat cowboys and Indians. my memory is that they came in the cereal but i coud be wrong. The cowboy is one of the first figures I ever painted. i was probably about nine then. The flesh color was from some cream colored house paint.

           One range of smaller but nicely sculpted cereal packet figures
                             More of the 54mm cowboys and indians found in the cereal.

                                         Cereal Lone Ranger

                                               More of the smaller range

                                        Warriors of the World

                                                      Another of my first paint jobs

                              Snap together cereal astronaut. He might have originally had a clear helmet.

                                                 Cereal cartoon pirate (sword broken)

                                            Another smaller cereal cowboy

            Warrior of the World converted from 7th cavalry to Confederate, with arm bent forward.

                                                  Smaller range again

          These 54mm cereal Indians made up a big part of my Western wargame armies.

                                                   Bank robber from smaller range

                                                   54mm cereal cowboy

   

     These Britains were among the handfu of metal figures I had, here partially re-painted and based.