Tag: toy soldiers

Happy Orctober

Well, we are now well into my favorite month of the year. October has SO much going for it. First, it’s the beginning of Autumn. The weather gets a little bit cooler, so I can actually wear some of my clothes that have long pants and sleeves. (Although I grew up in a state that had 4 different seasons, I currently reside in the southwest, where any sub – 100 degree day is a treat!) I take the doors off my Jeep at just about every opportunity.

Secondly, it’s football season, so there’s a game to look forward to on Sundays. And Monday nights. And sometimes Wednesdays. And every Thursday night. And occasionally a Tuesday or Friday. And if you like high school or college football, Fridays and Saturdays count, too. Basically, there’s always a football game somewhere.

Halloween is just around the corner – another HUGE perk for October! That means I’ll be catching up with my old movie friends, Boris K, Bela L and Lon C, Jr off and on throughout the month. And I’ll play the “Ballad of the Headless Horseman” from Disney’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (the Thurl Ravenscroft version, of course,) at least 3 or 4 times this month.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwx3q0gBc70

Samuel Adams releases its best offering of the year – the elixir of the fall gods- Octoberfest! I look forward to it every year. It starts making select appearances in late August or early September, but by now, it’s everywhere. And sometimes, it’s even on sale!

And then, there’s the final thing on my list. (There’s a lot more about October that’s cool, but I’m ending my list with this one.)

ORCTOBERFEST

Yes, you read that correctly. ORC-toberfest. Fantasy and gaming nerds probably know exactly what it is I’m referencing, but for those NOT in the know, it is a celebration of all things ”Greenskin.” Orcs and goblins get their own month. Probably for no better reason than “Orc” sounds like “Oc,” but that’s ok. If we had a month called “Gorvuary” we would celebrate Dwarves. Sorry, Gimli – you win some, and you lose some.

Most sources credit J.R.R.Tolkien with creating the orcs. (Actually, HE gave credit to Morgoth in The Silmarillian, but that’s a story for another day.) Orcs have been adapted and re-imagined in Dungeons and Dragons, Magic the Gathering, World of Warcraft, and Games Workshop’s Fantasy games. (They spell it “Orks” in the sci-fi settings. They’re the same guys, but with crude futuristic weapons instead of crude antique weapons.)

I haven’t played Warhammer Fantasy Battle (or Warhammer 40K, for that matter) in many years. Truth be told, I wasn’t really a big tabletop wargamming guy. I just like painting toy soldiers, and Games Workshop have made a lot of really cool ones over the years. Since then, a lot of creators have designed excellent models. I had my 3D resin printer running on overtime earlier this year, and I have a horde of greenskins just itching for a fight. I have about 90 goblins, and 25 or so boar mounted orcs, printed, and awaiting completion. I’ve made it my goal to complete the army this October..

Now, I said it’s my GOAL to complete them. That’s really not accurate. It’s more of a cool sounding idea that is highly unlikely to come to fruition. I’ll actually do a little bit toward it.  I’ll paint a few, and look at them for a while,  and then re-shelve the project for a few weeks, until I again proclaim that I’ll finish it. But that’s ok. It’s the thought that counts. I thought about it. So that counts.

So, here goes – lift your Sam Adams, and make a toast to the special fantasy guests of the month…

“WAAAAAAAAAGH!”

–Toph

Pick Your Battles

When I first started writing this, I did a little research, to share some history of toy soldiers. They have actually been around for a long time. Even in the “modern” sense, they’ve been around since the late 1700s, (Really? MODERN?) I mean, you could make a claim that the Chinese Terracotta soldiers were actually just a really big collection of large scale toy soldiers, right? And they date back 2200 years. But for our purposes, I’ll only go back to the early 70s.

I think of 3 categories of toy soldiers.

The first (and least favorite of mine) were the “green army men.” They are what most people think of when you say “toy soldier.” The original molds were made by TimMee in the late 1960s, and depicted modern uniforms and weapons of the day. They had M-16 rifles, “steel pot” helmets, and some pretty iconic poses: the “guy on the phone,” the “mine sweeper,” the “officer with pistol and binoculars,” and perhaps, most memorable of all, the “guy with the rifle and bayonet over his head.” They could be bought at just about any store (including grocery stores) in a plastic bag on a peg. Although the soldiers themselves were about 1/35th scale, the tanks and other vehicles were way undersized, and usually hollow. They were really inexpensive, and that’s why so many were sold. They were so prolific that they can be found to this day. Many are copies of copies (pirated and mass produced in China) so even the limited details of the originals are now weak.

The second category are the toys by Louis Marx and Company. As far as toy soldiers were concerned, they were best known for the 1970s era boxed play sets. I had “Battleground”, with figures depicting Americans vs. Germans (though to avoid controversy, the Germans’ flags were French.) It included blown up buildings, a German bunker, and a bunch of additional terrain scenery. Although the soldiers poses were a little stiff, Marx got many of the details right. But it was the boxed sets that make them stand out. I never owned the “Navarone” play set, but I think it was the most impressive. It was a 3 story tall plastic mountain, with artillery guns poking out of the caves on top. It also had a working elevator for troops to move inside the mountain. The top of the box states it is from “The Famous WWII Battle,” That’s a bit of a stretch. There was a really famous MOVIE – The Guns of Navarone. It was based on the fictional book by Alister McLean. Oddly, neither Mr. McLean, his novel, nor the 1961 movie are mentioned on the box. Just the famous (fictional) battle. I guess intellectual property laws were more just intellectual property suggestions back then.

As seen in the Sears Christmas catalog of 1975

That brings us to the third category. This is my personal favorite. Airfix made the best toy soldiers from the 1960s through the 1980s. They were a little larger – closer to 1/32nd scale. What makes them stand out was the attention to detail with the weapons and uniforms. And it was made better by some of the best full color box art. Airfix also made similar soldiers in a smaller 1/72nd scale. The advantage was getting 48 in a box, vs. the 15 or so in the larger scale. But just like their larger brothers, they had amazing artwork.

They were intended to be played with, but also to be painted. It was what started me down the rabbit hole of war gaming miniatures. Along with Arifix, Matchbox had very similar soldiers. Their sculpts were a little less precise, but they made up for it in more dynamic poses. Side by side, they paired VERY well together.

Time was not kind to my original toy soldier collection. I was the oldest of 4 boys, and each of us got a turn commanding the low-density polyethylene warriors.  Later, the survivors of those battles went into a large plastic tub, and my own kids took them into combat. The forces that once numbered in the thousands are now reduced to a clear plastic shoe box of battle scarred veterans. I recovered them from my parents’ house last year (along with the color box art shown above.) The soldiers spent about a week in a Ziploc bag of brake degreaser / detergent, and almost all of the old enamel paint finally came off.

(Now, why would he bother to remove all that old paint…? )

-Toph