Ever since the time of the Pharaohs toy soldiers have been collected. At first they were made for the rich and royal out of wood, stone, clay and metal. By the end of the 18th century these “little military miniatures” were finally being mass produced. At first these little toy figures were made in a small quantity and sold for an expensive price. By the turn of the 20th century however, they started to be produced in a much more affordable material, which is lead. Britain’s Heyde, Mignot and others produced these 2-2 1/4 inch tall figures depicting the armies of England, America, Germany, France and their opponents.

In the first half of the 20th century these little toy figures were only available if made out of lead or “composition,” which is a sawdust and glue mixture. After WWII ended however, some manufacturers began producing them in plastic. This was considerably less expensive and a more child friendly material. This allowed children to have sets of 20 or more unpainted plastic toy figures for less than $1.00. The success of these little unpainted plastic toy figures launched the introduction of painted plastic figures.

Soon lead and plastic soldiers became so widely available that it was common to find big collections of them in any home. The year 1966 however, marked a turning point for these little toy soldiers. Concerns started arising about the safety of lead and lead poisoning. Soon a law was passed that banned the manufacture of any toys containing lead. This caused the best known metal figure producer William Britain’s, to stop the production of these metal figures and to focus solely on plastic figures instead. Many other companies followed suit and did the same. Collectors of these small figures continued to collect the plastic ones.

The late 1960′s and 70′s marked another turning point in the history of these little men figures. This is because anti-war sentiment turned the tastes of the public away from these little military toys, and more and more children started playing with video games or other action figures.

In the 1970′s, company’s began to manufacture a “new” metal toy soldier made out of alloy. These toy soldiers were better sculpted and better painted, but the production of them was limited. One company producing Britain’s toy soldiers were the most productive during this period of time. Because production was limited, the price of these figures were much higher than before, rising from around 50 cents each to several dollars each.

By the late 1980′s the trend of plastic toy soldiers were coming back and many avid fathers started collecting these small figures again. They started introducing this hobby to their children, which have in turn kept the hobby alive.

As of the winter of 2009, there are over 200 international manufacturers of toy soldiers. These manufacturers produce both metal and plastic figures, both painted and unpainted. Toy soldiers are now available to the public in common stores such as Wal-Mart, or on the web at sites such as Ebay.