Army men

Army men, or plastic soldiers, are simple toy soldiers that are about 5 cm (2 inches) tall and most commonly molded from green or tan plastic. Unlike the more expensive toy soldiers available in hobby shops, army men are sold at low prices in discount stores, supermarkets, and dollar stores. Also unlike many toy soldiers, army men are almost always dressed in modern military uniforms and armed with 20th Century weapons.

Description

Army men are equipped with a variety of weapons, mostly from World War II to the Vietnam era. These include rifles, machine guns, submachine guns, sniper rifles, pistols, grenades, flame throwers, and bazookas. They may also have radio men, minesweepers, and men armed with bayonets. Their helmets are the older "pot" style that were given to US soldiers during the middle to late 20th Century. Army men are sometimes packaged with additional accessories including tanks (often based on the M48 Patton tank), jeeps, armed hovercraft, half tracks, artillery, helicopters, jets, and fortifications. Their vehicles are usually manufactured in a smaller scale, to save on production and packaging costs.

Because army men are considered toys and not models, historical and chronological accuracy are generally not a priority. They are sold in plastic bags or buckets, and often include different colors such as green, tan, or grey, to represent opposing sides.

History and varieties

Plastic army men are widely available in the United States, where they have been sold since the early 1950s. A popular, early manufacturer of army men, typically sold in "Battleground" playsets, was Louis Marx and Company. One of their last and largest playsets was the multi-level "Fortress Navarone" mountain set, 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, [ [http://www.thortrains.net/armymen/armymen3.htm The Army Men Homepage] Retrieved on August 25th, 2008.] though they have made a comeback since then.

Today most army men are cheaply made in China and do not include the extensive accessories that were common in Marx playsets. They are a little 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.

In addition to army men, other inexpensive, plastic toy figures are also commonly available. Toy cowboys and Indians, farm sets, spacemen, knights, dinosaurs, firemen, police officers and other playsets are often sold alongside army men.

Army men in culture

For many American boys, playing with army men and exploding them with fireworks is almost a rite of passage. This cultural phenomenon was represented in "Army Men", a popular series of computer games introduced by 3DO in the 1990s. Green army men were also among the characters in the 1995 Disney movie, "Toy Story". Gummy army men candy are also available.

Because these toys do not cost much, they are virtually disposable. They encourage a variety of creative types of play, because they can be set up in so many different ways. They are especially well suited for the sandbox, or simple wargames with rubber balls or marbles, which can be rolled or thrown at army men.

Critics have accused army men of advocating gun violence and militarism, and they have been banned from schools and daycare programs with zero tolerance weapon policies. On one occasion, children were asked to clip the weapons off of plastic army men on display during an elementary school graduation ceremony. [Clinton, P. (Sep 12, 2007). RPV school apologizes for graduation-cap flap. "Daily Breeze". Torrance, Calif.]

ee also

*Army Men computer game series
*Toy playset
*Toy soldier

References

External links

* [http://www.thortrains.net/armymen/ The Army Men Homepage]