Samuel Begg (1854–1936), The Great Offensive❄️🌲❄️🌲❄️

This striking illustration by British artist Samuel Begg was originally published in The Illustrated London News in 1916. It shows children staging a vast toy-soldier battle across a domestic interior, turning play into a reflection of contemporary warfare. The image was later reproduced in the Russian children’s magazine Mirok (December 1916), where it appeared under the Russian title Bol’shoe nastuplenie (“The Great Offensive”). The print poignantly captures how the imagery and language of the First World War permeated even the world of childhood.

Wooden model of the T17E1 Staghound armoured car, late 1940s.🇩🇪🇫🇷

French-made wooden vehicle shown with Froha composition soldiers produced in Germany, illustrating post-war European toy production and early Cold War military themes.

 

Winterhilfswerk at Christmas 🎄🌲⛪️

This display of Elastolin, Lineol, and Kienel composition figures reflects imagery associated with the Winterhilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes (WHW), the national winter relief campaign active from 1933 to 1945, which reached its symbolic climax each year shortly before Christmas during the Tag der Nationalen Solidarität (Day of National Solidarity).

Bundeswehr manoeuvres with Leyla composition figures, 1950s.🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪💥💥💥

Infantry and light armour in field positions, with the Gescha 65-6 tinplate tank in the background, reflecting early Bundeswehr equipment in mid-1950s German toy production.

Bundeswehr composition figures by Leyla (Germany), 1950s.🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪🥁🎺🎷

These early Bundeswehr figures show Leyla’s strong sculpting and paint quality, with well-observed uniforms and convincing marching poses. Made from traditional composition material, they reflect West German toy production in the early Cold War period and remain solid examples of 1950s military figure manufacture.

“Michels ungedienter Landsturm” – Primus Postcard No. 1070

“Michels ungedienter Landsturm” (“Michel’s Untrained Home Guard”) – Primus Postcard No. 1070 Artist postcard by Wally Fialkowska, published as Primus-Postkarte No. 1070 (c. 1905–1914). The illustration humorously depicts a child inspecting a line of toy soldiers—a familiar pre-WWI theme.

Lineol & Elastolin – Early “Bio-Drones” of the 1930s 🕊️🕊️🕊️

These vintage Lineol and Elastolin composition figures, produced in Germany in the 1930s, show soldiers operating messenger pigeons from a camouflaged field position. Long before the digital age, trained pigeons played a crucial role in battlefield communication, reconnaissance, and message delivery. Seen through a modern lens, these pigeons can almost be viewed as the original “bio-drones” — living, autonomous carriers used to gather or transmit information where radio silence or reliability was critical.