Comments on: Little men, or the love affair that never ends

By: Glenn

Glenn — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:52:18 +0000

UncleMarsellus,

Thanks for the kind words about my humble blog!

Belive it or not, I actually asked for a full size ironing board for christmas once as I was always using my mom’s to set up my “little me” and stage battles. I loved that I could adjust it to the right height and didn’t have to sit on the floor and deal with the carpets making it hard for the soldiers to stand up!

There were only certain kids that “got it” regarding the rules of engagement and the strategy of playing with little men. Many oafs thought you were supposed to blow them up with black cat firecrackers or set them ablaze with lighter fluid (yes, the stores would sell lighter fluid to kids back in my youth – it was assumed you were sent to the store by your mom because her lighter needed refilling.) and turned into goo.

I think the static figures from Hasbro and Mattel (Super-Hero Squad, Batman Brave & Bold) are rekindling some interest in little men…

By: UncleMarsellus

UncleMarsellus — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:49:55 +0000

I was born in ’78 and I had a ton of little army men, and some cowboys and indians. I’m not really sure how I ended up with them but I’m guessing my dad got them for me out of nostalgia. I did play with them but not as much as He-Man or GI Joe or whatever came down later. They were from another era but I still remember having battles with my dad when I was home sick from school. They never defined my inner toy-nerd but I understand the affection others have for them. I’m still amazed when I see bags of them for sale in drug stores.

Great blog!

By: Tanner

Tanner — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:37:16 +0000

Thanks a lot, Glenn. I’ve been interested in Johnny West and Mike Hazard for a long time after hearing about them from my dad.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:08:19 +0000

Tell you what, Tanner, I’ll do my next blog on Johnny West and the Marx large scale action figures!

By: Tanner

Tanner — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:51:27 +0000

Great blog, Glenn. I was wondering if you’d ever touch on a few other Marx toys? My dad would go on and on about how one of his two favorite toys was his Johnny West figure.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:37:44 +0000

You guys were lucky to be born in the age of action figures, but I gotta say that army men and their brethern were a damed fine way to pass the hours of my youth. Although I had to live with static poses I did have enough troops to mimic the mongul horde. I even had my stuff divide up into army men to take outside and play with others and army men that stayed in the house and were played with only by me.

I could never see the interest in trucks. All you could do was either crash them into one another or play construction. Little men, however, gave you a chance to command forces and pit the lives of your men agaist others in epic battles that could change the course of history!

By: Glenn

Glenn — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:32:38 +0000

Yea, Jason, they did. It was a giant hard plastic mountain with an opening near the top for the guns. Came with a butt load of german soldiers and some green army men.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:31:32 +0000

Yea, the Fort Apache was the coolest. The original was a rectangle, but later they introduced a covered top for soldiers to fire from and they made the wall attachments for the watchtowers L-shaped so they would remain in place better. They also produced a damed cool blockhouse that was two stories. You could remove the roof to position pioneers and soldiers to shoot at the marauding indians.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:27:58 +0000

Chad, It was simply a case of using what was available at the time. You always preferred the guys shooting or throwing hand grenades or using a flame thrower to the minesweeper or the radio man. Ant the last choice was the guy marcing. What a bore. The marching guys were the first ones killed in battle.

And, yes, I am really getting into collecting the HeroClix figures. Just got a custom Negative Man to complete my Doom Patrol. AND, I got a Hammer of Thor chariot for under $20 including postage!

By: Glenn

Glenn — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:23:42 +0000

Thanks for the kind words!

By: Glenn

Glenn — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:23:09 +0000

I recently saw those and I picked up a bag of them. And, you’re right about wishing I’d had them “back in the day” to assist my army men!

By: CantinaDan

CantinaDan — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:37:41 +0000

LOL@ “the Marx military industrial machine”

Thanks for this glimpse into the past, Glenn. I’ve always kinda wondered what I would have been playing with had I been born a decade or two earlier. I’m sure it would have been exactly as you’ve just described. The other kids can keep their Tonka trucks, baseballs and chemistry sets!

Great blog.

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:04:31 +0000

Very cool read, Glenn! Didn’t Marx make a ‘Guns of Navarone’ playset?

By: bnjmnrlyr

bnjmnrlyr — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:23:09 +0000

I never had more than a handful of army men but I always had plenty of Cowboys and Indians. I remember playing with some of my uncles hand-me-downs as well, and I had the remnants of Fort Apache. That really was one of the best playsets.

By: chad

chad — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:04:25 +0000

nice article though never understood why any one would want those little soliders that looked like they were ment to try and destroy a persons foot. though given the cost of figures heroclix and the smaller figures may be the new way of collectors getting their fix

By: Hourman

Hourman — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:15:17 +0000

What a great read!

By: JuliusMarx

JuliusMarx — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:14:31 +0000

If only you had a time machine! Now Hasbro os making those Marvel “Handfull of Heroes” that you could take back and play with your green army men!
Great blog Glenn.