My youth was spent without video games, the Internet, or even, for the most part, television. It would have been a lot more boring without these guys, and they almost didn’t come along in time. Plastic toys were not on my personal agenda immediately because they were expensive. Plastic being new, you see.
There were tin soldiers around in about the 1730s. Hollow-cast metal ones all painted and pretty became available in the 1920s. I first encountered those in the living room display (behind glass) of a friend whose father was a British army officer. Pricey, though. Too pricey for me and my friend to touch.
The plastic ones I’m thinking of first appeared on this side of the lake about 1936, though I didn’t see any until I was, oh, about nine (1953). They were all one color, usually green. But that was okay. I could use my imagination. I bought some for Mr. B. when he was about eight. Mrs. C. was aghast. She wasn’t sorry when he put them aside in favor of video games. I winced.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 