Women's auxiliary volunteer enlisted service (WAVES) and Women's auxiliary corps (WACs). I've seen a lot of people speaking fondly of this set on FB groups so I don't think the kids of yester year feel scammed out of their buck 75.
@@theplasticcommanderWAVES were females in U.S. Navy and WACs were females in U.S. Army....SPARS were females in U S. Coast Guard. Only The U.S.M.C did not give a different name to female Marines, they were called Marines!
No, I'm a kid from yesteryear and felt pretty scammed, my Dad got quite a kick out of it though because I begged and begged him for the buck twentyfive for it and he tried to warn me it was a scam 😂😂😂😂
@@johnseitz3780 I remember BAM's and WM's. The Corps said " Wether Male or Female, if you serve in The Corps, you are a Marine." Use to be if you got discharged from Boot Camp, without being able to complete training, you were called a " Baby Blue Marine."
Actually, 4-6 weeks was pretty good. I remember 6-8 weeks being standard shipping terms for pre-internet mail order companies. (I loved catalog shopping as a teen/20-something.)
Also, that shipping could be from the country of origin. It doesn’t necessarily mean it was in stock in the United States. It could’ve been shipped directly from China, or Taiwan or something like that.
I can remember checking the mailbox consistently for the first few weeks. Then forgot about them when they actually arrived. By then I couldn’t care less and played with my 132 flat Romans for a couple hours then probably stepped on them accidentally for months afterwards in my bedroom.
Were mail order 1980s 4 3/4" actions figures (Star Wars, GI Joe) also 4-6 weeks? Maybe Star Wars was exception because of that original holiday promotion
Circa 1970, my friend from next door ordered this set. I felt like he got hosed, but he was pretty happy. He ordered two more sets, painted half the figures yellow, and made a sand table. He saw a sand table on a movie and thought it was the coolest way to envision a battle. He'd reconstruct battles from descriptions and diagrams he found in books. I don't know what happened to Kenny after his family moved, but I wouldn't be too shocked if he went on to West Point.
In the mid 60s I ordered the ww2 solders. I had loads of regular toy army men and thought this was great. Waited for weeks for them. They came didn’t realize till I opened it did it set in that got scammed .My older brother laughing like a mental patient didn’t help. Mom & Dad gave me a sympathetic look. After dinner Dad drove me to Woolworths and me a regular bag of army men. 55 years later and I still remember it like it was yesterday
You got a rubber mold to make Prince August models yourself. Then you could make as many as you could afford little lead bars to make. The molds were a bit flat, all larger models got a bit compressed.
It's weird they said no Canadian or foreign orders because I come from the Great White North and I had these. I ordered them from the back of a comic book, and they arrived in the promised 4-6 weeks. I won't lie, I was expecting the classic 3D "army men" but after the initial disappointment wore off, I played with these for YEARS. I still have a couple of survivors on my shelf almost 50 years later. No regrets.
I'm with you...I was bummed out at first, but I had a blast with mine! Definitely got my moneys worth out them, and I still have some survivors. I also had the Revolutionary War set, which, no great shakes either, but at least they were 3D. And yes, I still have a couple of them too :)
Living in England I was always pissed off that I couldn't order these fantastic looking sets! Now I'm glad I didn't! By the way Hong Kong wasn't part of China back then as it was a British territory.
Same here. only I was in Canada,. Could not get them from just across the border. Even as cheap as they look could have had a fun time with them in the early sixties.
These were terrific BB gun targets! The bases actually were flat enough for the toys to stand. The Sharp Shooter was the prone soldier. The Marksman was sitting. Imagination goes along way when toys were so expensive. I wish I had them today!
I got the Rev War set when I was six or so. They were blue/red soft plastic, 3d, about 1/72 scale. Used them alongside the Airfix Colonials, British and Highlanders. I loved them, artillery, Mohawks, cavalry.
I got the same set just intine from the Bicentennial - absolutely loved them. As an adult I wrote about them on a blog, and about how much I loved them as a kid. A guy contacted me, said he had a mint, unopened box of them he'd give me for the shipping. I took him up on it.
I bought a set of those. Rather embarrassingly small but cheap enough so I bought another. Good for outdoor entertainment in the sand pile as they advanced against determined rock throwing, BB gun armed defenders. Still have a few in a dirty plastic baggy with the 'fold lock top'.
I'm older than you, so my introduction into this scam was about 1962. I sent away for the set and then ended up checking the mail every day for most of the summer until it finally arrived in a box a little shorter than and a little wider than a Cracker Jack box. Although over 60 years ago I still remember the deep sense of disappointment.
There was an ad in the comics that read "Bionic Hand"!!! I pilfered whatever the cost was from Mom's purse and sent my order off. I eventually recieved a rubber glove with a little circle of "circuitry" printed in blue on the top center (back of the hand). Oh...the 'joy". ;-p
4 - 6 weeks delivery was common before 1995. No computers, no delivery hubs, packages would wait in a truck until the truck was full when headed to a certain state. Then packages got transferred to trucks going to certain large cities, then transferred to trucks bound for smaller towns or certain counties.
With preorders being such a widespread practice, people are waiting half a year or more for products to come out. The more convenient they try to make things, the more complicated and bloated it ends up being.
@@rogerc6533 now theres 'early access' games so people will wait 10 yrs or get ripped off completely because its better to support one guy making a game in his basment than a normal company
In the early 60's I had a toy Roman galley that was over a foot long, but I needed soldiers for it and the Roman soldiers fitted perfectly and I didn't care that they were flat. I played with them endlessly. Also had the grenade which took a paper cap that went off when it landed so I was pleased with both purchases. Waiting several weeks for them to arrive was excruciating for an impatient kid.
My friend bought a Civil War set in the early 1960’s. I forget the cost but it was less than a dollar and took about a month to get. They were made of flat, brittle plastic which broke easily. It included a Monitor and Merrimack, cannon, cavalry and an assortment of infantry. Half were blue and half gray. I wouldn’t call it a rip off as it didn’t cost much and we had a fair amount of play time with it. One year I got a Battle of The Blue and Gray by Marx for Christmas and those were high quality soft plastic figures that lasted for years. They cost more and varied on the size of the set.
I remember these toy soldier kits from 1958! Loved the set of us civil war blue/grey flat soldiers i got.Fought many satisfying battles with them.included were gunboats wagons cannons nurses wonderful stuff for a little kid like me. Where i lived at that time there were no stores offering toy soldiers. I was not disappointed at all I was really happy with them.😊
When I was 12, we had to do a revolutionary war project for school. I procrastinated as I usually did, and finally, I rushed around and made this big, plaster of paris battlefield, bought paints and painted it up, even put up trees from a hobby store train setup kit. Then, I went and ordered the revolutionary war soldiers in the back of the comic, assuming they would be the size of my regular plastic soldiers. Of course, It took forever to arrive and my teacher gave me extra time warning me it had better be good when I brought it in. It finally came in the mail, and the soldiers were like a 1/4 inch high, if that! I had this big, heavy battlefield all painted for the men, and these things were like ants. I brought it in, and everyone was laughing like; "you tool!" the teacher laughed, too, though she tried to hide it. She gave me a C-, which was probably way more than I deserved. After class, she made me stay and she said; "So what did we learn from all this mike?" I said; don't trust comic book ads? She laughed and said,; "Well yes, that too, but what you should have learned is don't put off projects until last minute so you have a chance to switch plans if you need to."
To think these went up in price by 50 cents. These would at least make good range or shooting gallery targets for the 3d dimensional army men or be cardboard cutout decorations for them.
I ordered the revolutionary soldiers in about 1969. They were 3D though and not flats. Still have them and the box. I loved them and played with them for years. Aside from my Marx Sears American Heritage civil war play set they were my favorites. Just found your site and subbed.
Russ Heath was THE military comics artist with many attempting to copy his style. I sent my money from the UK to Helen of Toy and...nothing turned up. Apparently a lot of "international orders" were never fulfilled.
As a kid in Ireland in the 1970's was able to get American comics but as hard to get then as hens teeth. At the time wanted one of these sets so much but no postage to here. Now on seeing them as they would have been. I was saved from one childhood trauma I didn't need. Then I might even have thought they got flattened in the shipping process. But saying that. Those adverts and even if they were junk added to the comic books magic. The art was great. Here we could get Airfix soldiers. And still have many of them. Magical times.
I got the Revolutionary Soldier set. They were much better. More realistic and not flat like the one you showed in this video. Blue for the American side. Red for the British. I was happy for my purchase.Only thing was they were smaller. But more detailed
Yes, i remember. Good thing that the Anerican War of Independence was the set that really caught my interest. They were not the crap that its been portrayed here...
I ordered a similar set to one of these back in the early 80’s. Mine weren’t flat, they were just miniature in size. Had ships and aircraft along with the soldiers.
In Jon Scieszcka's autobiography "knuckleheads", there's a hilarious passage about how he bought this set, was supremeley disappointed by its contents, and then proceeded to scam his younger brother into buying the set off him for twice what he paid for it.
I never had the opportunity to order those toy soldiers but I'd been so disappointed. When I was 8 or 9 my great aunt gave me my cousin's toy soldiers that she came across while cleaning out his old room. I was so excited it was the entire set of Marx Battleground set not missing anything. It had the dead soldiers,tanks, half-tracks loose weapons,stretchers just everything and even at that age I knew they were higher quality figures than the cheaper ones I had. Wasn't long after I was given that set my aunt found the metal fort Apache set with a cigar box full of extra soldiers. I had more fun with those old toys than the new ones I had,I also made out like a bandit with the vintage Hot Wheels.
9:50 Hence the line in "Top Gun" when the commander threatens Maverick with reducing him to flying "...planeloads of rubber dog**it out of Hong Kong!" 😂
I had the Revolutionary War set. I absolutely loved the ad for it, and hounded my parents to get it for me for days, maybe weeks! They finally gave in and ordered it. I think it took like two months before it arrived? I was so excited when it did, until I opened the box ? WTF ( might have been when I said my first really bad word ? ) I couldn’t believe what I had received. My older brother was not very sympathetic, and probably said “ I told you so!” or something along those lines. Undaunted I attempted to play with the “flat” armies, but was thwarted when they would not stay upright! They all ended up back in their cardboard foot locker, doomed to life at the bottom of my toy box. A few years ago, I decided to pursue the “ Comic Book Armies “ to collect them. I found “Pirates “ “ Roman Legions “ Civil War”,”Valient Knights “,” Army Men” and my old friends “ Revolutionary War Soldiers “ ! They cost a lot more than $1.50-$1.75 now ! They are definitely a collectors item now, but they still won’t stand up ! Lol
I sold so many stupid flower seeds to get a locker full of army men, When I finally got it several months later they were tiny Flat and 1 sided I think I cried
I 100% remember buying several of these pancake looking sets. I had a newspaper route so I was rich and able to afford these. I remember every now and then getting decent army sets, I just do not remember which ones. One was called something like Guns of Navarone, it was great. But yeah, most were terrible.
I think I wanted the Revolutionary War Army Men, but I never had the money. I've since learned that all of these were ripoffs. Either flats or miniatures.
Ones I've encountered, the minis were the better. I'm biased because I like old 1/72 scale toy soldiers. Yes, these were undetailed minis, but the flats are just weird.
Born in '70. I got these - I also ordered the Revolutionary War, Civil War, Roman soldiers. They were in HO scale. The invasion/task force one was great - little scale tanks with movable turrets and fleet ships that were later used by Milton Bradley as Axis & Allies pieces.
I got those back in the 70's. Mine stood up ok. I spent many hours playing with them on my bedroom floor. 4 to 6 weeks shipping was common. So was 6 to 8 weeks.
WACs are members of the Women's Army Corps, and Waves were the Navy's version of that. I grew up during the 60s and 4 to 6 weeks for a mail order was on the long side, but not that uncommon. I love the name of your channel--it fits you very well.
These play soldiers are called 'flats' which are well understood to collectors. They are still sold and are quite popular to many hobbyists. They are generally made of lead and painted.
I read a brief interview with the artist of the Revolutionary War set and some of the others, I can't remember. He said he worked at a commercial art studio and was was paid $50 for the Revolutionary AD.
WAVES and WACs were women's volunteer military groups that served mostly stateside during WWII. Women's Army Corps (WACs) were the Army version, while the Navy had Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). They did mostly paper-pushing administrative duty to keep things moving stateside. While, as an adult, I think they're pretty interesting to learn about historically speaking, as an 8 year old kid, getting 16 women standing at attention (and honestly we can lump the 8 saluting officers in here) seemed like a dead-boring waste of 24 figures worth of space in that cardboard footlocker, let me tell you. A total waste of time. Oh, 4-6 weeks was completely the norm back then for mail-away. First, the mail was slower (non-computerized), then they'd have to get your order and process the check or money order (wait for it to clear) and then they'd put out in line to be picked (again, much slower since not computerized), and then shipped to you (packages always took extra time, and again, were not computerized). As a kid, anything I ever sent away for I completely forgot about by the time it actually came. I'd just get a random package in the mail one day out of the blue, and I'd have to open it to remember even ordering it to begin with. 4-6 weeks was a long time in little kid time. LOL. 6-8 weeks was the other shipping time you'd see a lot back then. Dude, that's two months. Might as well be two years to a kid.
Look, pal you aren't even alive when these are coming out. To us 8-year-olds in the 1960s. What we got for that dollar was well worth it. Those. Flats were cool
Born in 1950, I played with a set at Grandpa's house. He had ordered one through a comic book ad for Cousin Scotty, who would weekend with him and Gramma from his boarding school ... Over the years, the footlocker fell apart and the plastic cracked. But! we DID set them up!
A 4- to 6-week delivery window was standard for mail-order goods back in the day. Remember, you had to mail in the order, which took a few days to get there, they had to get to your envelope to begin to process it, which could take days or weeks, then they'd have to deposit the check/money order and wait for it to clear, then they'd have to put your product in queue for shipping from their warehouse. Some places even said to allow 6- to 8 weeks for delivery. It usually didn't take nearly that long, but companies would err on the side of caution.
Definitely wasn't a scam but you got what you paid for. I had the Revolutionary War figures and wanted to get the Civil War but never did. I was crazy about them and they indirectly led to me manufacturing Civil War, Revolutionary War, and Mexican War figures in pewter...🤗
Would have loved to have these back in the late 60s,wanted the awi set but couldn't get them in the UK,only found out a few years ago they were disappointing.
God damn man, i was looking through my subcriptions and i remember you from reddit XD Its nice to see your still posting! If youre interested, id love to see a toy soldier iceberg explained. I actually think that might go viral in some sense :p
That’s not a half bad idea! I do wanna do a tier list for sure in the future, though. I’m glad you’ve stuck around this long and thanks for helping my channel get its footing back in the day!
This is so nostalgic because when i was about 6-8 I asked my Dad for this exact set. He said no and I remember this so well because i asked him what Waves and Wacs were and he explained was that was the female Corps. Women's Army Corps. Etc. I never got these and glad I didn't. But all these years I remembered Waves and Wacs. I had never seen or heard those terms since. Until now.
This was the first scam I remember falling for back in the 70's. It was an American revolution army set with both sides. The picture looked amazing and it promised so much! My dad tried to warn me but my eight year old self knew what I wanted and I gave up two and a half weeks of chore based allowance to get it. I waited everyday expecting to get a big box with carefully laid out, cushioned soldiers, horses and artillery with distinct features painted on. I got two bags of blue and red injection molded pieces. They were so badly made they couldn't even stand up on their own. I was deeply upset and couldn't even look at them. God bless my dad though. He sat with me and showed me how to use an exacto-knife to carve away the excess plastic. We spent what seemed like hours and he patiently explained how the world actually works and when it doesn't treat us fairly we can still make the best of it. After the scam soldiers were able to stand on their own my dad and I played with them. It became one of the best memories of my childhood. Ironically it became the best buck twenty-five I ever spent. My dad is still alive at 90 but sadly he is in a memory care facility and is mostly gone. I still visit him at least once a week and spend whatever quality time with him I can. It's not much but it's the best I can do in this circumstance for the man who gave me so much. I just have to remember those times for the both of us. I love you Abba. Thank you for everything you did for our family.
Thanks for showing this. Now I know what I would have gotten and glad I didn't waste my money on that add. Oh, WAC means Women Army Corps. It is a WW2 reference and it is the female representation you showed.
Cheap Trick wrote a song that mentioned WACS - Surrender - “Father says, "Your mother's right She's really up on things Before we married, Mommy served In the WACS in the Philippines” Now, I had heard the WACs recruited Old maids for the war But mommy isn't one of those I've known her all these years”
You're right about the Browning machinegun, but the tank is an M-24 Chafee light tank. You can tell by the turret shape and the torsion bar suspension, which had 5 road wheels and 3 return rollers, spaced exactly as the toy tank, with two together in the front and one near the rear. It was introduced in 1944, late in WWII. Fun video, thanks!
That was actually quick shipping for the time. 6-8 weeks was the normal shipping span. I ordered the Revolutionary war soldiers in the early 70’s. They weren’t flat. They were actually 1/72 scale. I liked them but remembered I was initially disappointed. I was expecting 1/32 Marx sized soldiers, but they grew on me. I kept them in a brown lunch bag....and my mom ended up throwing them away.😢 on a side note, I find it funny that he had to “ask his mom for money” most of us 70’s kids had our own money because we cut lawns or delivered papers. My parents biggest objection to those adds was sending cash through the mail and potential for hoax. However to the credit of these comic book vendors, you always got something in the mail.
yes I got them us well I thought the same about the size but well had hours of fun when I was kid I sold them on trade me awhile back got 60 bucks for them so yeah good value
I ordered the Revolutionary soldiers for myself when I was a kid. They were about two dollars for the set. They weren't flat, but were like 1/72 scale figures. I thought they were great. I had hours and hours of fun playing with them. I would use them to recreate Revolutionary War battles. Somewhere along the way I outgrew playing with toy soldiers. I can't remember what I did with the Revolutionary War soldiers, but I sold my Marx Fort Apache tin carryall set, which I had augmented with a bunch more western figures, wagons, horses, etc, for $5.00 at a yard sale when I was a teenager. I wish now I had saved them for my nephews. I saw a full, complete set of the Revolutionary War soldiers listed on eBay for $140.00 recently. Marx Fort Apache sets, none of them complete and in good condition like my set was, are similarly overpriced. Even though I'm retired and in my 60s, I occasionally daydream about buying these sets that brought me so much fun and entertainment as a kid, and spending some time reliving my childhood.
@ I kept all my sets and safeguarded them from my mom. I grew out of them for a while. I have recently grown back into them at 60yo. I was a military historian, so I “play” in a whole new way now a days. Waiting to share them with my grandkids
0:09 Yes, those shipping times were correct. On four occasions I sent several proofs of purchase from my Kenner action figures to obtain my free Star Wars figures (Zuckuss, FX-7, Nein Numb, Boba Fett, and one other). The card back always said 4 - 6 weeks for delivery. It really built anticipation!😊 Edit: The other figure was Dengar!
My favorites were the KNIGHTS. The ad illustrations fooled me into thinking I was getting BEEEEAUTIFUL armies of yellow, gold, and green knights----what a dream come true! But not really! And to this day I STILL can't find any GOOD knight armies in various bright colors (although CTS has some Marx reissues in limited colors).
The soldier kneeling is the bazooka man. That is why the "rifle" looks more like a tube and has little detail compared to the prone soldier's rifle. Bazookas were normally fired from a kneeling position while a marksman normally fired from the prone position.
This video is SO TRUE. I bought these as a kid in the 1970s, and was so bummed when I got flat standee figs. Now, I realize that it wasn't that bad a thing for some kids. I eventually used them as targets for shooting with a small (working) BB cannon. :)
Two notes about that order form (1) the ordering address is only on the form-- once you clip and mail it you have no way to contact the company with a delivery complaint unless you have another comic book; (2) the Dept code in the upper right hand corner indicates the particular comic book title from which the order form was clipped. This way the company can track which comic book series prompts the most/least orders. My brother ordered his set when it was only $1.25. The "footlocker" was the flimsy cardboard shipping cartoon.
Basically the figures in this set reminds me of the typical two-dimensional cereal box toys of that era. It looks like one of their toy suppliers went "wild" and thought to expand them to more of a variety, including ships, tanks, trucks, etc., and sell them independently of the big breakfast cereal producers.
My brother ordered a set of these, postman knocked on door to deliver he came bounding up & his heart just sank, sad. The clue should've been the "footlocker" measurements. I adopted them & would use them in background of my campaigns. Worked out pretty well, added dimension
I sent for the ancient Greek soldiers in the early 70s. Red or yellow, 1/72 or so--like airfix minis. I had a Palmer monsters cyclops that worked just right with them. Sandbox battles got mythological!
When I was in grade school, the first (and only) thing I ever sent off to get was the army men. When they arrived, I felt gypped. Never even played with them. It turned me into a skeptic at aged eight or nine.
I had the castle playset back in the 60's. The soldiers were all actual 3d soldiers. The castle was a flat plastic mat. The doors and drawbridge were 3d plastic. The catapults worked by rolling them forward and the bucket was attached to the front wheels. Played with it a bunch. Was worth much more than the cost. My friend got the revolutionary war set and they were flatter than these and also several soldiers on one base.
I bought a lot of products from "Helen of Toy" which advertised in comic books as well. They would have a split page advertisement with two exciting scenes of soldiers fighting from a variety of historical periods. The 4-6-week delivery really should have read "delivered only after one threatening letter received after 4-6 weeks". I think these companies increased their profits by hoping kids would give up on ever receiving the product and write their purchase off as a loss.
I had one of those sets. They are also called FLATS and there are versions that come in cardboard. They are probably worth a fortune now to collectors.
In the 19th century a lot of military figures were either sillouettes or low relief. Carefully painted and posed in vast armies they could look good if you only viewed them side on. In the 20th century for kids toys there was no real excuse for making these. The soldiers are not in American uniform, the horrible heavy made in Hong Kong dog tag on each soldier.. I rarely used the word rip off but these really were. Thank goodness they didn't sell to the UK. Seeing the phrase "made in Hong Kong" led me to think Hong Kong was a type of plastic when i was a child. mail order in the UK was usually a week to 10 days in the UK or we were warned about probable delivery times. Fastest Mail order I ever got was 46 hours from making an international phonecall UK to Minot N. Dakota to delivery by ordinary airmail. That was circa 1990
I knew a kid in grade school that would literally tear up his comic books abd order most everything on that order sheet😅😅 and then he'd prank the whole class and do his work while wearing his xray specs😅 good times
Oh man, flashback city. I had a huge collection of plastic army men. When this arrived, I was so disappointed. They ended up becoming BB targets. The foot locker was just a cardboard box.
I ordered a Revolutionary War set from a comic book, way back in the 70's. The set KICKED ASS. The figures were about half the size of the generic green army figures, but looked great, weren't flat, and there were a lot of 'em! There were also a bunch of cannons that were well made and looked awesome! This stuff was as good of a deal, as the WW2 set was bad!
Actually, I have a specific question: Back in the late '60s I had a set of 1/100 (I suspect) of plastic tanks. I don't remember how many were in the set, but I do know that there was an IS-3, an EBR, and an Ontos. Those of you who play "World of Tanks" and "War Thunder" will recognize those machines. Has anyone else ever seen these toys?
It's 1960 or there abouts. I bought those toy soldiers. I may have been upset cause they were 2D(two dimensional) not 3D(three dimensional) but I don't remember. What I remember was the fun my friends and I had playing with them. Cause that's all we had. Don't sit here in 2024 and judge. Our parents didn't cough up the money they made us earn it. Course some where more fun than others. My memory says mine was 50¢.
I got scammed in the 70's with this set, my parents actually sent them back. Looking at the picture as a kid I thought I was getting a force to play with my cousin's Marx Guns of Navarone set.
4- 6 weeks was nothing. I ordered stuff from Habro in the 1980's and it was even longer. Or just pre-order something from Walmart now and you might get it or refund within 7 months.
WACs: Women's Army Corps. I am sorry, I am a Little late to the game. No doubt you are tired of hearing this by now. I am a Brit, although I grew up on a diet of North American War Films, so I was initially shocked to note that you guys do not know how to pronounce Lieutenant. Although I did get to study your military terminology. Swings and Roundabouts, I suppose. Every cloud... Thank you for this. Wonderful stuff. I bloody love it. For only 6d, (Approx. 7c) one could buy a box of 48 detailed Airfix soldiers in HO/OO, (1/76 Scale) in the 1960s. One could rapidly amass huge armies in this more convenient scale. I still collect and paint them to this day. There were Tanks and various vehicles, also made in HDPE (High Density Polyethylene). Thank you for this lovely insight into American "Toy Army Men". Cheers.
Women's auxiliary volunteer enlisted service (WAVES) and Women's auxiliary corps (WACs). I've seen a lot of people speaking fondly of this set on FB groups so I don't think the kids of yester year feel scammed out of their buck 75.
Thank you! I had no idea!
@@theplasticcommanderWAVES were females in U.S. Navy and WACs were females in U.S. Army....SPARS were females in U S. Coast Guard. Only The U.S.M.C did not give a different name to female Marines, they were called Marines!
No, I'm a kid from yesteryear and felt pretty scammed, my Dad got quite a kick out of it though because I begged and begged him for the buck twentyfive for it and he tried to warn me it was a scam 😂😂😂😂
The Marines didn’t have an official name for female marines, but any Marine from that period could tell you what a BAM was.
@@johnseitz3780 I remember BAM's and WM's. The Corps said " Wether Male or Female, if you serve in The Corps, you are a Marine."
Use to be if you got discharged from Boot Camp, without being able to complete training, you were called a " Baby Blue Marine."
4-6 weeks, 6-8 weeks and 8-12 weeks were standard shipping times for mail order companies back then and well into the 90's
Actually, 4-6 weeks was pretty good. I remember 6-8 weeks being standard shipping terms for pre-internet mail order companies. (I loved catalog shopping as a teen/20-something.)
Also, that shipping could be from the country of origin. It doesn’t necessarily mean it was in stock in the United States. It could’ve been shipped directly from China, or Taiwan or something like that.
I can remember checking the mailbox consistently for the first few weeks. Then forgot about them when they actually arrived. By then I couldn’t care less and played with my 132 flat Romans for a couple hours then probably stepped on them accidentally for months afterwards in my bedroom.
A lifetime in the eyes of a child.
Were mail order 1980s 4 3/4" actions figures (Star Wars, GI Joe) also 4-6 weeks? Maybe Star Wars was exception because of that original holiday promotion
Circa 1970, my friend from next door ordered this set. I felt like he got hosed, but he was pretty happy. He ordered two more sets, painted half the figures yellow, and made a sand table. He saw a sand table on a movie and thought it was the coolest way to envision a battle. He'd reconstruct battles from descriptions and diagrams he found in books. I don't know what happened to Kenny after his family moved, but I wouldn't be too shocked if he went on to West Point.
He went to 'The Home' ...and his family, weekend visits. "We believe you Uncle Kenny, we believe you...".
I heard they killed Kenny.
I had a set of revolutionary war soldiers done in 3d and a set of brittle plastic Roman's that were done in the flat style of metal toy soldiers.
In the mid 60s I ordered the ww2 solders. I had loads of regular toy army men and thought this was great. Waited for weeks for them. They came didn’t realize till I opened it did it set in that got scammed .My older brother laughing like a mental patient didn’t help. Mom & Dad gave me a sympathetic look. After dinner Dad drove me to Woolworths and me a regular bag of army men. 55 years later and I still remember it like it was yesterday
Epic dad move!
They are based on the old flat tin soldiers style that were used for tabletop miniature war games.
Sounds like you may have more to share about that. ☺
You got a rubber mold to make Prince August models yourself. Then you could make as many as you could afford little lead bars to make. The molds were a bit flat, all larger models got a bit compressed.
It's weird they said no Canadian or foreign orders because I come from the Great White North and I had these. I ordered them from the back of a comic book, and they arrived in the promised 4-6 weeks. I won't lie, I was expecting the classic 3D "army men" but after the initial disappointment wore off, I played with these for YEARS. I still have a couple of survivors on my shelf almost 50 years later. No regrets.
I'm with you...I was bummed out at first, but I had a blast with mine! Definitely got my moneys worth out them, and I still have some survivors. I also had the Revolutionary War set, which, no great shakes either, but at least they were 3D. And yes, I still have a couple of them too :)
Born in '71. 4-6 weeks shipping absolutely expected.
Absolutely… and COD? COD seems so nuts these days…
@@dirkfromhein Kinda like a one-time autopay to me.
Living in England I was always pissed off that I couldn't order these fantastic looking sets! Now I'm glad I didn't! By the way Hong Kong wasn't part of China back then as it was a British territory.
I always wanted them too never had the money
Same here. only I was in Canada,. Could not get them from just across the border. Even as cheap as they look could have had a fun time with them in the early sixties.
These were terrific BB gun targets! The bases actually were flat enough for the toys to stand.
The Sharp Shooter was the prone soldier.
The Marksman was sitting.
Imagination goes along way when toys were so expensive.
I wish I had them today!
I used my daisy ninety nine on them
I got the Rev War set when I was six or so. They were blue/red soft plastic, 3d, about 1/72 scale. Used them alongside the Airfix Colonials, British and Highlanders. I loved them, artillery, Mohawks, cavalry.
I got the same set just intine from the Bicentennial - absolutely loved them. As an adult I wrote about them on a blog, and about how much I loved them as a kid. A guy contacted me, said he had a mint, unopened box of them he'd give me for the shipping. I took him up on it.
@@KansasPathFinder Sweet.
I bought a set of those. Rather embarrassingly small but cheap enough so I bought another. Good for outdoor entertainment in the sand pile as they advanced against determined rock throwing, BB gun armed defenders. Still have a few in a dirty plastic baggy with the 'fold lock top'.
I'm older than you, so my introduction into this scam was about 1962. I sent away for the set and then ended up checking the mail every day for most of the summer until it finally arrived in a box a little shorter than and a little wider than a Cracker Jack box. Although over 60 years ago I still remember the deep sense of disappointment.
There was an ad in the comics that read "Bionic Hand"!!! I pilfered whatever the cost was from Mom's purse and sent my order off. I eventually recieved a rubber glove with a little circle of "circuitry" printed in blue on the top center (back of the hand). Oh...the 'joy". ;-p
4 - 6 weeks delivery was common before 1995. No computers, no delivery hubs, packages would wait in a truck until the truck was full when headed to a certain state. Then packages got transferred to trucks going to certain large cities, then transferred to trucks bound for smaller towns or certain counties.
4 to 6 weeks even in the 90s.. kids these days have no idea.
In the early '90s when I'd special order a paperback book at a bookstore it would show up six months later.
My parents never got me anything from them they just told me it was a scam and would show up way later than 4-6 weeks if u got it at all
People today have no patience because patience is seldom required in our 'modern' world.
With preorders being such a widespread practice, people are waiting half a year or more for products to come out. The more convenient they try to make things, the more complicated and bloated it ends up being.
@@rogerc6533 now theres 'early access' games so people will wait 10 yrs or get ripped off completely because its better to support one guy making a game in his basment than a normal company
In the early 60's I had a toy Roman galley that was over a foot long, but I needed soldiers for it and the Roman soldiers fitted perfectly and I didn't care that they were flat. I played with them endlessly. Also had the grenade which took a paper cap that went off when it landed so I was pleased with both purchases.
Waiting several weeks for them to arrive was excruciating for an impatient kid.
My friend bought a Civil War set in the early 1960’s. I forget the cost but it was less than a dollar and took about a month to get. They were made of flat, brittle plastic which broke easily. It included a Monitor and Merrimack, cannon, cavalry and an assortment of infantry. Half were blue and half gray. I wouldn’t call it a rip off as it didn’t cost much and we had a fair amount of play time with it. One year I got a Battle of The Blue and Gray by Marx for Christmas and those were high quality soft plastic figures that lasted for years. They cost more and varied on the size of the set.
omg I remember that ad, and as a kid thought how cool it would be to get all that stuff. Thankfully I never ordered.
Those aren't nurses those are wacs which stands for women army corps! I'm 57 and my mother was a wac during WW2
I remember these toy soldier kits from 1958! Loved the set of us civil war blue/grey flat soldiers i got.Fought many satisfying battles with them.included were gunboats wagons cannons nurses wonderful stuff for a little kid like me. Where i lived at that time there were no stores offering toy soldiers. I was not disappointed at all I was really happy with them.😊
I bought one of these. What a ripoff ! Paper thin soldiers. YUK
When I was 12, we had to do a revolutionary war project for school. I procrastinated as I usually did, and finally, I rushed around and made this big, plaster of paris battlefield, bought paints and painted it up, even put up trees from a hobby store train setup kit. Then, I went and ordered the revolutionary war soldiers in the back of the comic, assuming they would be the size of my regular plastic soldiers. Of course, It took forever to arrive and my teacher gave me extra time warning me it had better be good when I brought it in. It finally came in the mail, and the soldiers were like a 1/4 inch high, if that! I had this big, heavy battlefield all painted for the men, and these things were like ants. I brought it in, and everyone was laughing like; "you tool!" the teacher laughed, too, though she tried to hide it. She gave me a C-, which was probably way more than I deserved. After class, she made me stay and she said; "So what did we learn from all this mike?" I said; don't trust comic book ads? She laughed and said,; "Well yes, that too, but what you should have learned is don't put off projects until last minute so you have a chance to switch plans if you need to."
I saved my lawn mower money for the army men in 1970. Still waiting for them.😂
They’ll be there any week now
They were waiting for your, "Have Your Credit Card Ready", age.
Back in the 1970s never had the flat ones, however my folks got me the better ones, a bag of plastic army men you would find in the the stores
I had those in the 60s, great fun!
To think these went up in price by 50 cents.
These would at least make good range or shooting gallery targets for the 3d dimensional army men or be cardboard cutout decorations for them.
I ordered the revolutionary soldiers in about 1969. They were 3D though and not flats. Still have them and the box. I loved them and played with them for years. Aside from my Marx Sears American Heritage civil war play set they were my favorites. Just found your site and subbed.
I ordered the Roman set. I was surprised they were flat, but not angry. Given how cheap they were, I did not feel ripped off or scammed.
Russ Heath was THE military comics artist with many attempting to copy his style. I sent my money from the UK to Helen of Toy and...nothing turned up. Apparently a lot of "international orders" were never fulfilled.
As a kid in Ireland in the 1970's was able to get American comics but as hard to get then as hens teeth. At the time wanted one of these sets so much but no postage to here. Now on seeing them as they would have been. I was saved from one childhood trauma I didn't need. Then I might even have thought they got flattened in the shipping process. But saying that. Those adverts and even if they were junk added to the comic books magic. The art was great. Here we could get Airfix soldiers. And still have many of them. Magical times.
I got the Revolutionary Soldier set. They were much better. More realistic and not flat like the one you showed in this video. Blue for the American side. Red for the British. I was happy for my purchase.Only thing was they were smaller. But more detailed
Same here. They took forever to arrive but was very happy when they did.
Yes, i remember. Good thing that the Anerican War of Independence was the set that really caught my interest. They were not the crap that its been portrayed here...
I ordered a similar set to one of these back in the early 80’s. Mine weren’t flat, they were just miniature in size. Had ships and aircraft along with the soldiers.
In Jon Scieszcka's autobiography "knuckleheads", there's a hilarious passage about how he bought this set, was supremeley disappointed by its contents, and then proceeded to scam his younger brother into buying the set off him for twice what he paid for it.
I never had the opportunity to order those toy soldiers but I'd been so disappointed. When I was 8 or 9 my great aunt gave me my cousin's toy soldiers that she came across while cleaning out his old room. I was so excited it was the entire set of Marx Battleground set not missing anything. It had the dead soldiers,tanks, half-tracks loose weapons,stretchers just everything and even at that age I knew they were higher quality figures than the cheaper ones I had. Wasn't long after I was given that set my aunt found the metal fort Apache set with a cigar box full of extra soldiers. I had more fun with those old toys than the new ones I had,I also made out like a bandit with the vintage Hot Wheels.
man i was so glad to see that i didnt miss out on anything all those years ago! thanks man!
The lucky ones got the Army men. Many people didn’t receive anything after sending the order.
9:50 Hence the line in "Top Gun" when the commander threatens Maverick with reducing him to flying "...planeloads of rubber dog**it out of Hong Kong!" 😂
Dude! This ad drove my ass crazy as a child! I bought it too 😂
I remember how disappointed my older brother was when he got the Civil War set and many of the soldiers still had the excess flashing on them.
I had the Revolutionary War set. I absolutely loved the ad for it, and hounded my parents to get it for me for days, maybe weeks! They finally gave in and ordered it. I think it took like two months before it arrived? I was so excited when it did, until I opened the box ? WTF ( might have been when I said my first really bad word ? ) I couldn’t believe what I had received. My older brother was not very sympathetic, and probably said “ I told you so!” or something along those lines. Undaunted I attempted to play with the “flat” armies, but was thwarted when they would not stay upright! They all ended up back in their cardboard foot locker, doomed to life at the bottom of my toy box. A few years ago, I decided to pursue the “ Comic Book Armies “ to collect them. I found “Pirates “ “ Roman Legions “ Civil War”,”Valient Knights “,” Army Men” and my old friends “ Revolutionary War Soldiers “ ! They cost a lot more than $1.50-$1.75 now ! They are definitely a collectors item now, but they still won’t stand up ! Lol
I sold so many stupid flower seeds to get a locker full of army men, When I finally got it several months later they were tiny Flat and 1 sided I think I cried
Looking it up, the WACs refer to the Women's Army Corps, which explains the female army men in the kit. Pretty unique for a set back then!
I 100% remember buying several of these pancake looking sets. I had a newspaper route so I was rich and able to afford these. I remember every now and then getting decent army sets, I just do not remember which ones. One was called something like Guns of Navarone, it was great. But yeah, most were terrible.
I think I wanted the Revolutionary War Army Men, but I never had the money. I've since learned that all of these were ripoffs. Either flats or miniatures.
Ones I've encountered, the minis were the better. I'm biased because I like old 1/72 scale toy soldiers. Yes, these were undetailed minis, but the flats are just weird.
Was and waves are women soldiers
@robertramesy2759 They were in the military, but they were nurses, not soldiers.
The revolutionary war figures were the best of the lot (imho). Wish I still had mine.
I had a set i bought at a yard sale in the 80s. They were minis, but they were cool and in 3D, not flat guys.
Why is it a scam? They are what it says, made of what they say. Many other offers in the comics were scams, the X-Ray Specs for instance.
Kilroy was here (fun fact, WAC stands for women's army corps)
Born in '70. I got these - I also ordered the Revolutionary War, Civil War, Roman soldiers. They were in HO scale. The invasion/task force one was great - little scale tanks with movable turrets and fleet ships that were later used by Milton Bradley as Axis & Allies pieces.
I got those back in the 70's. Mine stood up ok. I spent many hours playing with them on my bedroom floor. 4 to 6 weeks shipping was common. So was 6 to 8 weeks.
WACs are members of the Women's Army Corps, and Waves were the Navy's version of that. I grew up during the 60s and 4 to 6 weeks for a mail order was on the long side, but not that uncommon. I love the name of your channel--it fits you very well.
These play soldiers are called 'flats' which are well understood to collectors. They are still sold and are quite popular to many hobbyists. They are generally made of lead and painted.
The best art on those ads!
I read a brief interview with the artist of the Revolutionary War set and some of the others, I can't remember. He said he worked at a commercial art studio and was was paid $50 for the Revolutionary AD.
WAVES and WACs were women's volunteer military groups that served mostly stateside during WWII. Women's Army Corps (WACs) were the Army version, while the Navy had Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). They did mostly paper-pushing administrative duty to keep things moving stateside.
While, as an adult, I think they're pretty interesting to learn about historically speaking, as an 8 year old kid, getting 16 women standing at attention (and honestly we can lump the 8 saluting officers in here) seemed like a dead-boring waste of 24 figures worth of space in that cardboard footlocker, let me tell you. A total waste of time.
Oh, 4-6 weeks was completely the norm back then for mail-away. First, the mail was slower (non-computerized), then they'd have to get your order and process the check or money order (wait for it to clear) and then they'd put out in line to be picked (again, much slower since not computerized), and then shipped to you (packages always took extra time, and again, were not computerized). As a kid, anything I ever sent away for I completely forgot about by the time it actually came. I'd just get a random package in the mail one day out of the blue, and I'd have to open it to remember even ordering it to begin with. 4-6 weeks was a long time in little kid time. LOL. 6-8 weeks was the other shipping time you'd see a lot back then. Dude, that's two months. Might as well be two years to a kid.
Look, pal you aren't even alive when these are coming out. To us 8-year-olds in the 1960s. What we got for that dollar was well worth it. Those.
Flats were cool
Born in 1950, I played with a set at Grandpa's house. He had ordered one through a comic book ad for Cousin Scotty, who would weekend with him and Gramma from his boarding school ... Over the years, the footlocker fell apart and the plastic cracked. But! we DID set them up!
A buddy of mine bought these back in the day. He wasn't too impressed with the figures. We ended up using them for targets for our bb guns.
A 4- to 6-week delivery window was standard for mail-order goods back in the day. Remember, you had to mail in the order, which took a few days to get there, they had to get to your envelope to begin to process it, which could take days or weeks, then they'd have to deposit the check/money order and wait for it to clear, then they'd have to put your product in queue for shipping from their warehouse. Some places even said to allow 6- to 8 weeks for delivery. It usually didn't take nearly that long, but companies would err on the side of caution.
Definitely wasn't a scam but you got what you paid for. I had the Revolutionary War figures and wanted to get the Civil War but never did. I was crazy about them and they indirectly led to me manufacturing Civil War, Revolutionary War, and Mexican War figures in pewter...🤗
Would have loved to have these back in the late 60s,wanted the awi set but couldn't get them in the UK,only found out a few years ago they were disappointing.
Me too, so glad now that they wouldn't post overseas!
God damn man, i was looking through my subcriptions and i remember you from reddit XD Its nice to see your still posting!
If youre interested, id love to see a toy soldier iceberg explained. I actually think that might go viral in some sense :p
That’s not a half bad idea! I do wanna do a tier list for sure in the future, though. I’m glad you’ve stuck around this long and thanks for helping my channel get its footing back in the day!
This is so nostalgic because when i was about 6-8 I asked my Dad for this exact set. He said no and I remember this so well because i asked him what Waves and Wacs were and he explained was that was the female Corps. Women's Army Corps. Etc. I never got these and glad I didn't. But all these years I remembered Waves and Wacs. I had never seen or heard those terms since. Until now.
This was the first scam I remember falling for back in the 70's. It was an American revolution army set with both sides. The picture looked amazing and it promised so much! My dad tried to warn me but my eight year old self knew what I wanted and I gave up two and a half weeks of chore based allowance to get it. I waited everyday expecting to get a big box with carefully laid out, cushioned soldiers, horses and artillery with distinct features painted on.
I got two bags of blue and red injection molded pieces. They were so badly made they couldn't even stand up on their own. I was deeply upset and couldn't even look at them.
God bless my dad though. He sat with me and showed me how to use an exacto-knife to carve away the excess plastic. We spent what seemed like hours and he patiently explained how the world actually works and when it doesn't treat us fairly we can still make the best of it. After the scam soldiers were able to stand on their own my dad and I played with them.
It became one of the best memories of my childhood. Ironically it became the best buck twenty-five I ever spent.
My dad is still alive at 90 but sadly he is in a memory care facility and is mostly gone. I still visit him at least once a week and spend whatever quality time with him I can. It's not much but it's the best I can do in this circumstance for the man who gave me so much.
I just have to remember those times for the both of us.
I love you Abba. Thank you for everything you did for our family.
Thanks for showing this. Now I know what I would have gotten and glad I didn't waste my money on that add. Oh, WAC means Women Army Corps. It is a WW2 reference and it is the female representation you showed.
Cheap Trick wrote a song that mentioned WACS - Surrender -
“Father says, "Your mother's right
She's really up on things
Before we married, Mommy served
In the WACS in the Philippines”
Now, I had heard the WACs recruited
Old maids for the war
But mommy isn't one of those
I've known her all these years”
You're right about the Browning machinegun, but the tank is an M-24 Chafee light tank. You can tell by the turret shape and the torsion bar suspension, which had 5 road wheels and 3 return rollers, spaced exactly as the toy tank, with two together in the front and one near the rear. It was introduced in 1944, late in WWII. Fun video, thanks!
That was actually quick shipping for the time. 6-8 weeks was the normal shipping span. I ordered the Revolutionary war soldiers in the early 70’s. They weren’t flat. They were actually 1/72 scale. I liked them but remembered I was initially disappointed. I was expecting 1/32 Marx sized soldiers, but they grew on me. I kept them in a brown lunch bag....and my mom ended up throwing them away.😢 on a side note, I find it funny that he had to “ask his mom for money” most of us 70’s kids had our own money because we cut lawns or delivered papers. My parents biggest objection to those adds was sending cash through the mail and potential for hoax. However to the credit of these comic book vendors, you always got something in the mail.
yes I got them us well I thought the same about the size but well had hours of fun when I was kid
I sold them on trade me awhile back got 60 bucks for them so yeah good value
I ordered the Revolutionary soldiers for myself when I was a kid. They were about two dollars for the set. They weren't flat, but were like 1/72 scale figures. I thought they were great. I had hours and hours of fun playing with them. I would use them to recreate Revolutionary War battles.
Somewhere along the way I outgrew playing with toy soldiers. I can't remember what I did with the Revolutionary War soldiers, but I sold my Marx Fort Apache tin carryall set, which I had augmented with a bunch more western figures, wagons, horses, etc, for $5.00 at a yard sale when I was a teenager. I wish now I had saved them for my nephews. I saw a full, complete set of the Revolutionary War soldiers listed on eBay for $140.00 recently. Marx Fort Apache sets, none of them complete and in good condition like my set was, are similarly overpriced. Even though I'm retired and in my 60s, I occasionally daydream about buying these sets that brought me so much fun and entertainment as a kid, and spending some time reliving my childhood.
@@dongilleo9743 This idea of outgrowing playing with toys needs to go away.
@ I kept all my sets and safeguarded them from my mom. I grew out of them for a while. I have recently grown back into them at 60yo. I was a military historian, so I “play” in a whole new way now a days. Waiting to share them with my grandkids
This. It was 6-8 weeks for me too.
4 to 6 weeks was how it was in the 70s. I remember ordering stuff and it took so long to get to my house I forgot I ordered it !.
Lol! I remember seeing those ads in the early 70s and lusted after those army packs, fortunately I lived in Europe and could not order them.
I bought the revolutionary set and used it for a school project in the 7th grade depicting the Battle of New Orleans in the war of 1812, got an A
0:09 Yes, those shipping times were correct. On four occasions I sent several proofs of purchase from my Kenner action figures to obtain my free Star Wars figures (Zuckuss, FX-7, Nein Numb, Boba Fett, and one other). The card back always said 4 - 6 weeks for delivery. It really built anticipation!😊
Edit: The other figure was Dengar!
Yeah. Owned most of the soldier sets back in the 70’s
Outstanding video. I was ripped off by that set when I was a kid. Your video Is great
My favorites were the KNIGHTS. The ad illustrations fooled me into thinking I was getting BEEEEAUTIFUL armies of yellow, gold, and green knights----what a dream come true! But not really! And to this day I STILL can't find any GOOD knight armies in various bright colors (although CTS has some Marx reissues in limited colors).
The soldier kneeling is the bazooka man. That is why the "rifle" looks more like a tube and has little detail compared to the prone soldier's rifle. Bazookas were normally fired from a kneeling position while a marksman normally fired from the prone position.
This video is SO TRUE. I bought these as a kid in the 1970s, and was so bummed when I got flat standee figs. Now, I realize that it wasn't that bad a thing for some kids. I eventually used them as targets for shooting with a small (working) BB cannon. :)
Totally fell for this as a kid. I was so disappointed. Immediately stuck it next to my Sea Monkeys
Also, thank you for this! It was fun!
Two notes about that order form (1) the ordering address is only on the form-- once you clip and mail it you have no way to contact the company with a delivery complaint unless you have another comic book; (2) the Dept code in the upper right hand corner indicates the particular comic book title from which the order form was clipped. This way the company can track which comic book series prompts the most/least orders.
My brother ordered his set when it was only $1.25. The "footlocker" was the flimsy cardboard shipping cartoon.
I had those as a kid. They were cheapy but we still played with them. They're probably still around my parent's house somewhere.
Basically the figures in this set reminds me of the typical two-dimensional cereal box toys of that era.
It looks like one of their toy suppliers went "wild" and thought to expand them to more of a variety, including ships, tanks, trucks, etc., and sell them independently of the big breakfast cereal producers.
The no Canadian or Foreign orders was the only thing that stopped me from spending my money on those.
Used to be in awe of the toys American kids could get when I read US comics in England. If only I'd known.
There was a Roman Civil war set you could buy too.
My brother ordered a set of these, postman knocked on door to deliver he came bounding up & his heart just sank, sad. The clue should've been the "footlocker" measurements. I adopted them & would use them in background of my campaigns. Worked out pretty well, added dimension
4-6 week delivery was a standard expectation during the '70's and 80's when I was a child...not at all an anomaly for the time.
I sent for the ancient Greek soldiers in the early 70s. Red or yellow, 1/72 or so--like airfix minis. I had a Palmer monsters cyclops that worked just right with them. Sandbox battles got mythological!
When I was in grade school, the first (and only) thing I ever sent off to get was the army men. When they arrived, I felt gypped. Never even played with them. It turned me into a skeptic at aged eight or nine.
I had the castle playset back in the 60's. The soldiers were all actual 3d soldiers. The castle was a flat plastic mat. The doors and drawbridge were 3d plastic. The catapults worked by rolling them forward and the bucket was attached to the front wheels. Played with it a bunch. Was worth much more than the cost. My friend got the revolutionary war set and they were flatter than these and also several soldiers on one base.
I bought a lot of products from "Helen of Toy" which advertised in comic books as well. They would have a split page advertisement with two exciting scenes of soldiers fighting from a variety of historical periods. The 4-6-week delivery really should have read "delivered only after one threatening letter received after 4-6 weeks". I think these companies increased their profits by hoping kids would give up on ever receiving the product and write their purchase off as a loss.
I was born in 1964 I remember seeing these ads, I always wanted to buy it but I never actually sent off for it.
I had one of those sets. They are also called FLATS and there are versions that come in cardboard. They are probably worth a fortune now to collectors.
In the 19th century a lot of military figures were either sillouettes or low relief. Carefully painted and posed in vast armies they could look good if you only viewed them side on. In the 20th century for kids toys there was no real excuse for making these. The soldiers are not in American uniform, the horrible heavy made in Hong Kong dog tag on each soldier.. I rarely used the word rip off but these really were. Thank goodness they didn't sell to the UK. Seeing the phrase "made in Hong Kong" led me to think Hong Kong was a type of plastic when i was a child. mail order in the UK was usually a week to 10 days in the UK or we were warned about probable delivery times. Fastest Mail order I ever got was 46 hours from making an international phonecall UK to Minot N. Dakota to delivery by ordinary airmail. That was circa 1990
Yup, I fell for that ad as a kid
I knew a kid in grade school that would literally tear up his comic books abd order most everything on that order sheet😅😅 and then he'd prank the whole class and do his work while wearing his xray specs😅 good times
Oh man, flashback city. I had a huge collection of plastic army men. When this arrived, I was so disappointed. They ended up becoming BB targets. The foot locker was just a cardboard box.
It always took 4 to 6 and 4 to 8 weeks... It was horrible 😡
Yes, I concur. It did take that long.
@@doubleedgedfist1535 "Allow 28 days for delivery" 😊
It wasn't so horrible when they finally arrive. By the time they did show up, I had given up and forgotten about them and it was a nice surprise.
I ordered a Revolutionary War set from a comic book, way back in the 70's. The set KICKED ASS. The figures were about half the size of the generic green army figures, but looked great, weren't flat, and there were a lot of 'em! There were also a bunch of cannons that were well made and looked awesome! This stuff was as good of a deal, as the WW2 set was bad!
Actually, I have a specific question: Back in the late '60s I had a set of 1/100 (I suspect) of plastic tanks. I don't remember how many were in the set, but I do know that there was an IS-3, an EBR, and an Ontos. Those of you who play "World of Tanks" and "War Thunder" will recognize those machines. Has anyone else ever seen these toys?
It's 1960 or there abouts. I bought those toy soldiers. I may have been upset cause they were 2D(two dimensional) not 3D(three dimensional) but I don't remember. What I remember was the fun my friends and I had playing with them. Cause that's all we had. Don't sit here in 2024 and judge. Our parents didn't cough up the money they made us earn it. Course some where more fun than others. My memory says mine was 50¢.
Nope, that shipping time was pretty much normal but mostly it usually took longer in reality.
oh man I remember those ads in my comics .... they were so awesome. Guess this is the extreme version of "For illustration purposes only" lol 😁😉
I got scammed in the 70's with this set, my parents actually sent them back. Looking at the picture as a kid I thought I was getting a force to play with my cousin's Marx Guns of Navarone set.
4- 6 weeks was nothing. I ordered stuff from Habro in the 1980's and it was even longer.
Or just pre-order something from Walmart now and you might get it or refund within 7 months.
WACs: Women's Army Corps. I am sorry, I am a Little late to the game. No doubt you are tired of hearing this by now. I am a Brit, although I grew up on a diet of North American War Films, so I was initially shocked to note that you guys do not know how to pronounce Lieutenant. Although I did get to study your military terminology. Swings and Roundabouts, I suppose. Every cloud...
Thank you for this. Wonderful stuff. I bloody love it.
For only 6d, (Approx. 7c) one could buy a box of 48 detailed Airfix soldiers in HO/OO, (1/76 Scale) in the 1960s. One could rapidly amass huge armies in this more convenient scale. I still collect and paint them to this day. There were Tanks and various vehicles, also made in HDPE (High Density Polyethylene).
Thank you for this lovely insight into American "Toy Army Men". Cheers.