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
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| DFC: Dragonriders of the Styx - 1981 |
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| ARCO: Dragons n' Monsters - 1982 |
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| H.G. Toys: Sword & Sorcery - 1982 |
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| TIMMEE: Fantasy Figures - 1982ish |
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| ARCO/FLEETWOOD: Sword & Sorcerer - 1983 |
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| Durham Industries: Fantasy Fortress - 1983 |
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| Helm Toy: Fortress of the Wizard King - 1983 |
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| Marty Toy: Warriors of the Galaxy - 1983 |
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| Toyco: Dragonriders & Demons - 1983 |
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| LarGo Toys: Stingers & Wings - 1985 |
1990s
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| Imperial: Knights Dragons & Horses - 1992 |
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| ?: Galaxy Warriors - late 1990s |
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| ?: Skull Knights/Skeleton Soldiers - late 1990s |
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| Polotoy: Battle of the Ancients - 1999 |
2000+
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| Toymajor: Tomb Warrior - 2003 |
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| Toymajor: True Legends - 2013 |
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| Amscan: Skeleton Figures - 2015 |
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| No name Russian Orcs - 2016 |
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| Wallgreens version of Amscan skeletons. - 2017 |
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| SCS Direct Fantasy Creatures - 2017 |
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| Dollar General Mummy Army - 2018 |
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.
ReplyDeleteWith 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!
ReplyDeleteH
interesting post and cool collection.. ew
ReplyDeleteTY
DeleteThank You So much for that Collection
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