18th and 19th centuries Tin soldiers were produced in Germany as early as the 1730s, by molding the metal between two pieces of slate. Toy soldiers became widespread during the 18th century, inspired by the military exploits of
Frederick the Great. Miniature soldiers were also used in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries by military strategists to plan battle tactics by using the figures to show the locations of real soldiers. In 1893, the British toy company
William Britain revolutionized the production of toy soldiers by devising the method of
hollow casting, making soldiers that were cheaper and lighter than their German counterparts.
20th century The first American plastic toy soldiers were made by
Bergen Toy & Novelty Company (Beton for short) in 1938. Beton also acquired the
molds of another pre-war plastic figure company, Universal Plastics, with their figures remaining for sale when lead toy production was stopped in 1942. The Beton figures were painted like metal figures and sold the same as their metal brethren; individually or in a boxed set of around seven figures. Following World War II, Beton modified their figures in an attempt to change the
World War I type helmet into the World War II one. Following World War II, plastic manufacture was seen as an industry with growth potential with many old and new companies making plastic figures that were widely available in the United States. Army men following the war were sold unpainted, usually in a green color corresponding to
United States Army uniforms in World War II. Beginning in the early 1950s,
Louis Marx and Company sold boxed sets of figures and accessories called
playsets, such as "US Army Training Center" and the later "Battleground" sets. A rival manufacturer, the Multiple Plastics Corporation (MPC) also sold plastic figures in various colors with different separate accessories, so the same figures could be kitted out as soldiers (green), farmers, pioneers or cowboys (brown), policemen (blue), ski troopers (white) spacemen (various colors), or
American Civil War soldiers in blue and gray. After 1950, rising production costs and the development of plastic meant that many shop keepers liked the lighter, cheaper, and far less prone to break in transit polythene figure. This led to greater demand for
plastic toy soldiers. The economy of plastic sold in bulk, popularity of army men, and competition with manufacturers led to army men being sold in large bags by Marx, Tim-Mee Toys and MPC for as little as a penny a piece in the mid-1960s. During this time, Marx gave the American army men actual enemy soldiers to fight such as
German soldiers (molded in gray) in their 1962 "Army Combat" set and
Japanese soldiers (molded in yellow) in their "
Iwo Jima" set that was released in 1963. In 1965, a "
D-Day" Marx set featured Allies such as French (horizon blue), British (
khaki), and Russians. One of their last and largest playsets was the multi-level "Fortress Navarone" mountain set based on
The Guns of Navarone, which was available in the 1970s and pitted World War II Americans against Germans. During the
Vietnam War, sales and availability of military toys began to decline alongside the unpopularity of the war and the higher prices of plastic from the
1973 oil crisis. Since 1975, many manufacturers of plastic soldiers in Europe and US closed, for example
John Hill & Company, Reamsa,
Louis Marx and Company, and
Dinky Toys.
Present day The most well-known toy product which gave rise to the toy type of "army men" was the set of figures sold by the company Tim Mee Toys, which began in the 1940s, and which closed in 2005. Currently, the company BMC Toys sells the same figures. Regarding this iconic set, one website notes: The absolute number one most common plastic army men of today are Vietnam-era soldiers. They have barebones kits, consisting only of their M16 rifle. They sometimes replace their M16 with a bazooka, flamethrower, or radio. These figures are being produced by TimMee Toys. They also are the inspiration for the army men we see in the Pixar movie, Toy Story. If you walk into the grocery store and head for the toy aisle, you'll likely find a bag of these guys for sale. ...these army men were once available in every single store in America. Gas station, grocery store, convenience store, it didn't matteryou'd be able to find a bag of army men with ease. Today most army men are made inexpensively in
China and do not include the extensive accessories that were common in Marx playsets. They are also smaller on average, often not much more than 2.5 cm (one inch) high. Most of these figures are generic imitations of
model figure sets from such companies as
Airfix and
Matchbox. They vary widely in quality. The phrase
army men as a type encompasses many other inexpensive, plastic toy figures made out of molded plastic. Toy cowboys and Indians, farm sets, scuba divers, spacemen, knights, dinosaurs, firemen, police officers and other playsets are often sold alongside army men. In September 2019, BMC Toys, a maker of army men, announced that army women would be sold in 2020. This announcement was made due to popular request from female veterans and toy fans. The most well-known request is from a six-year-old girl who sent a handwritten letter for them to be made. ==Army men in culture==