Miltary Toy Collecting

Anyone else collect military toys? I'm not really a serious collector but have been accumulating them since I was a kid picking them up at yard sales, antique markets, etc. A lot I actually was given as a kid and held on to them over the years. In numbers, the small 1/72 figurines outnumber everything else, the old Airfix soldiers, newer Hats, etc. I have thousands of those, mostly Napoleonic, mostly unpainted. One of those things leaving for retirement. My favorites are vehicles, plastic, diecast etc. Half tracks, tanks, trucks, mostly the smaller ones up to six inches but a few of the larger ones. I also have models and some of the larger Marx plastic figures. Nothing is organized, I have this or that sitting on a shelf somewhere. With the exception of the small soldiers, nearly everything I have is pre '70's. Just don't like the new stuff that much.

I used to build model aircraft, many by Airfix too. Lots of detail in those. Toys retain their value so they're a good collect. I doubt the gov't will ever legislate against them...

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Originally Posted by browningautorifle

I used to build model aircraft...

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Me too Jim.. :thup:... and tanks as well... :)

Regards,
Doug

I have a large group of un-built aircraft and a few tanks at present. I used to build them and enter them in the local fairs. Have a few prize winners. Hand painted them all, no airbrush which put me at a disadvantage. The end of my building and painting seems to have oddly enough coincided with the advent of the internet. As a kid, I built ships and stupidly shot them all up one day with a BB gun. Only kept a couple out of about 30.

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Originally Posted by Badger

and tanks

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Yes, I had a few of those too...all the regular characters. 72 different aricraft...

As a kid coming of age in the 1950s, just about every one of my buddies' fathers had served in the military in WWII. As a result we "played" a lot of Army with toy rifles, surplus helmets and web pistol belts with the old metal canteens hung on the sides.

When I was five years old I found a small die cast military toy in my stocking, the anti aircraft gun here;
military dinky toys - Google Search

It was made in the UK by the Macanno Ltd. Company. Many additional ones, especially the military ones, found their way into my stocking for many years thereafter. In fact I believe I had every one in the various accompanying pictures in the above link. They were NOT cheap normally three to four dollars apiece, which was not chump change for a toy in 1950s America.

I also had a sizeable collection of plastic model airplanes, battleships and tanks. I left home right after H.S. for Uncle Sam's employ, and my younger brother had a "yard sale" that netted him a small fortune for all my treasures! :(

I have a few military Dinky toys in my curio cabinet accumulated over the years ncluding some aircraft. I broke the prop on my Spitfire when I was about 10 or 11 years old and wrote the company in Liverpool who promptly sent me a new one at no charge. I was duly impressed as a youngster. Real toys, made in England!

Well my excuse is my Grandson aged 1. I am collecting as many Dinky Military toys for him now as the prices seem to be sky high.
The only difference is, I am buying them complete in their original boxes so that when he gets to play with them he can retain the boxes and their inherant value for his children and onwards.
I was a bit p***** off when I found one or two of them had fake/copy/photostated boxes, which weren't declared, but again I should have known better, that is what that particular site is good at..............selling RARE AUTHENTIC ONE OFF NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN items .......NOT!
I bought a couple of Chieftains on their Antars in their very original boxes which I know cost a bit in the day, so hopefully he will have a great collection by the time I get bored with it, or run out of pennies!!:lol::lol:

Building two Charlie G's at the moment is model making at its best.................. larger than life bits, rather than tiny parts and tubes of glue and sticky back plastic on skeleton pop off ribs, which are best painted before detaching if I remeber the correct way to do it