Comments on: Toy Soldiers: Paper, Plastic, Metal

Toy Soldiers: Paper, Plastic, Metal

marxchivist — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:40:42 -0800

Tin Soldiers. Lead Soldiers. Plastic Army Men. But if you like your toy soldiers not so harmful to the environment and a little more do-it-yourself, you can get paper soldiers. Here are some Print-fantry soldiers you can download for free.

Handy instructions, a review, and photos (and via) at Toy Soldiers Forever.

By: phunniemee

phunniemee — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:52:48 -0800

This is pretty fantastic. My brother used to call them "armies" when he was little. Instead of "soldiers" or "army men". As in: "No fair! You can't shoot down one of my armies until I have all of them set up!"

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:06:20 -0800

Huzzah!! And posted just while I'm near the office colour printer... double huzzah!

By: antiquark

antiquark — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:07:47 -0800

On a related note, Paper City is pretty neat too.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:14:01 -0800

Previously in the same vein. I love paper soldiers; they are as much fun to make as they are to play with.

By: heyho

heyho — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:30:48 -0800

Toy soldiers are so cool. But I'm wondering something... I always see American Army, Navy, and Air Force "army men," but I seldom see US Marine "army men." What's up with that? (Admittedly, I know virtually nothing about the military, toy or otherwise.)

By: phunniemee

phunniemee — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:45:42 -0800

I think GI Joe was a Marine.

By: eye of newt

eye of newt — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:57:47 -0800

What about the Civil War (in 3D)?

By: Duke999R

Duke999R — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:30:45 -0800

pew pew pew...damn, papercut!

By: djgh

djgh — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:14:06 -0800

Heh. From the link: Vintage plastic movie toy clones advanced zombie like toward a newly created line of DIY Print-fantry Elite. Some of their number claimed to be 'rebels' but their true nature was inescapable - they were plastic clones made by the million by a Mega Corp Toy Empire. The Print-fantry Guard Officer remained cool and defiantly haughty as the non-biodegradable monsters rocked forward. 'Hold it... Hold it...' he whispered, confident in his diciplined ethical manufacture and expressive historic detailing. As the clones got within arms reach he gave the order 'FIRE!' and his men let loose their volley at point blank range...

By: pla

pla — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 03:38:08 -0800

Some people "play" with toy soldiers by dressing them in paper uniforms, have them engage in constructive negotiations for conflict resolution, and hold staged moments of perfect pathos as one dying toy soldier tells his buddies to let his mother know he loves her. Other people create somewhat elaborate battlefield layouts covered in their toy soldiers, then play "air raid" with a handful of firecrackers until no one remains standing. They then carefully inspect the carnage for the most interesting mutilations they can show off to their friends. The former would work with paper dolls. The latter, not so much. Well, it might make having a flame-thrower unit more effective, teaching kids the joys of banned incendiary weapons. / Never did either - I never got the "point" of dolls of any sort.

By: IvoShandor

IvoShandor — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 03:44:46 -0800

teaching kids the joys of banned incendiary weapons. I don't think flame throwers are banned weapons, I know they're aren't in the U.S. arsenal anymore, but they aren't banned. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Paper armies are awesome, btw.

By: marxchivist

marxchivist — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:09:53 -0800

...but I seldom see US Marine "army men." We got your Marines. That Junior General site is great Mithreal. Two paper toy soldier posts on Metafilter, what a great place.

By: kalessin

kalessin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:14:34 -0800

I absolutely know that the virtual is not the real, but there is a fantastic RTS game on XBox Live Arcade called "Toy Soldiers" where you play as either Axis or Allies and release waves of infantry and other forces while upgrading your fixed guns, with the eventual goal of overrunning your enemy's emplacements and forces. One of the cool things about the game is not only do you play in the traditional RTS overview mode but you can also inhabit vehicles (tanks and planes) and gun emplacements. I mention this because the production quality is high and it's very geeky in a generically geeky way as well as in a tin/lead soldiers sort of way. I don't know the tin/lead soldiers hobby community well but as a layman I'd be surprised if the effort put into the details of the game weren't appreciated by some hobbyists. I certainly found it impressive and cool.

By: GeckoDundee

GeckoDundee — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:20:15 -0800

I seldom see US Marine "army men." From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:32:14 -0800

I played with a set of painted lead army-men, that was already antique at that time. The soldiers were doing all kinds of stuff, like operating radios and releasing pigeons, and one man in a brown suit with a fedora, carrying a briefcase.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:37:57 -0800

All of our plastic army-men were destined to have their heads burned off in the spark gap of a Ford Model-T spark coil.

By: digsrus

digsrus — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 07:15:15 -0800

I remember putting on my Christmas present wish list a lead soldier casting kit from the FAO Schwartz catalog. It had a little stove and molds that you poured the molten lead into to cast the soldiers. Every Christmas morning I wake up and look under the tree only to find that Santa still thinks I'm not old enough yet.

By: inigo2

inigo2 — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:25:48 -0800

I never got the "point" of dolls of any sort. They're action figures!

By: FatherDagon

FatherDagon — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:35:01 -0800

They're action figures! They are 25mm scale miniatures used for replication of strategic battles. In this tactical scenario, Chaos Marines are trying to brutally clamp down on an insurgence of Space Orks on jetbikes.

By: Xoebe

Xoebe — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:24:49 -0800

I use like chew on my led sodiers. They get mangle like real war army men.