Monday, August 8, 2016

Fantasy Army Men Time Line

For me, "army men" is a subcategory of toy soldiers, the subcategory that I actually grew up playing with.  What makes a toy solider an "army man" to me is that it be sold very cheap, be unpainted or just slightly painted, be plastic or rubber, and generally be the kind of toy your parents tell you to take outside and play with in the dirt.  Almost all "army men" have flat stands. These guys are the core of my collection.

Below is my time line for the introduction of the various fantasy "army men."  To make this list, the figures must have been designed and sold as fantasy army men. Monsters and other things that might fit in well do not make this list unless they were actually sold as fantasy figures.  Wargamming figures like Tehnolog's Fantasy Battles line don't make the list either.  I am also not including rereleases like the 1990's rerelease of Dragons n' Monsters by Toys n' Things. Only the frist release makes this list. Naturally, the list starts with DFC in 1981.


1980s

DFC: Dragonriders of the Styx - 1981
ARCO: Dragons n' Monsters - 1982


















































H.G. Toys: Sword & Sorcery - 1982


TIMMEE: Fantasy Figures - 1982ish









































ARCO/FLEETWOOD: Sword & Sorcerer - 1983
























Durham Industries: Fantasy Fortress - 1983















Helm Toy: Fortress of the Wizard King - 1983

















Marty Toy: Warriors of the Galaxy - 1983
























Toyco: Dragonriders & Demons - 1983



























LarGo Toys: Stingers & Wings - 1985



















1990s





Imperial: Knights Dragons & Horses - 1992


?: Galaxy Warriors - late 1990s


?: Skull Knights/Skeleton Soldiers - late 1990s





















Polotoy: Battle of the Ancients - 1999




























2000+

Toymajor: Tomb Warrior - 2003









Toymajor: True Legends - 2013










Amscan: Skeleton Figures - 2015









No name Russian Orcs - 2016










Wallgreens version of Amscan skeletons. - 2017

SCS Direct Fantasy Creatures - 2017







Dollar General Mummy Army - 2018








5 comments:

  1. I have about half of the figures from the DFC: Dragonriders of the Styx set. I'd wondered where I'd gotten them. They clearly came in different mixes - I'd never have given away those dragons or demons, nor do I have all of the different soldier poses. I've actually painted these guys up for my fantasy gaming.

    ReplyDelete
  2. With all the clones and unpainted late production out there it's only when you see the Toymajor originals that you remember what a nice set they were, or can be!

    H

    ReplyDelete
  3. interesting post and cool collection.. ew

    ReplyDelete

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