| One of my fondest memories of being a kid was | | | | thing but I've always had an intense fascination |
| playing with my toy soldiers. I've lost count of | | | | with the whole Pacific theater during World War II. |
| how many evenings were spent playing out | | | | All of these prized soldiers were kept in their own |
| imaginary battles against all kids of enemies. The | | | | special case which I kept stored away for safe |
| odd part was that I didn't own a toy soldier | | | | keeping - no other toys mattered as much to |
| costume or anything like that - I was purely into | | | | me. |
| the whole toy soldier idea. Now we did play | | | | The great thing about toy soldiers for me was |
| soldiers and cowboys and Indians when we were | | | | that anywhere could become a battle ground. A |
| kids but we grew up on the poorer side of town | | | | window sill could be used for a quick skirmish. |
| so costumes were a luxury we couldn't afford. | | | | Your back yard could become a jungle |
| After all we had our imaginations and a kids mind | | | | battleground in no time. Or you could dig little |
| can conjure up incredible things. | | | | trenches (I got in a lot of trouble for this)and |
| But back to toy soldiers and my ongoing love for | | | | have running battles that way. |
| the little plastic and metal heroes. I didn't really | | | | As I got a bit older (the grand old age of 8 I |
| have one specific type of toy soldier that I | | | | think) I started tinkering with making my own |
| preferred over other ones but I do remember | | | | soldiers from tin and lead. What actually happened |
| one of my first bags of toy soldiers being a set | | | | is that I got a tin soldier kit as a Christmas |
| of Napoleonic soldiers, cavalry and artillery. History | | | | present one year and I was hooked. I could make |
| was always my thing when I was a kid (it still is | | | | as many soldiers as I wanted and the added |
| now) so these were perfect for me. | | | | bonus was that I got to paint them myself. I still |
| As I grew up little-by-little I found myself reading | | | | actually have some of those moulds left now and |
| a huge amount about World War II so this type | | | | it's amazing to see them still for sale almost 30 |
| of toy soldier started to appeal to me big time. It | | | | years later. |
| wasn't long before I had an extensive collection of | | | | So now that you've had a trip down memory |
| toy soldiers from this era in a variety of scales - | | | | lane maybe it's time to look at a new hobby for |
| big and small. Of all of those my Pacific War | | | | yourself and your kids (ok it's really for you but |
| collection was my favorite - maybe it's a past life | | | | it's a good excuse eh? |