This site is created for collectors of mainly composition vintage toy soldiers produced by great toy makers of the past: Elastolin, Hausser, Lineol, Durso, Kienel, Starlux, Leyla, Schusso, Armee, Trico, Duro, Durolin, NB, Triumph, GJ and many others.

Toy soldiers and real battles: January 2022

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Saturday, January 29, 2022

Italian battleship Conte di Cavour - model from Wiking ๐ŸŒŠ๐ŸŒŠ๐ŸŒŠ⛴⛴⛴⚓⚓⚓

Conte di Cavour was the name ship of the three Conte di Cavour-class dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) in the 1910s. Completed in 1915 she served during World War I, although she was little used and saw no combat. The ship supported operations during the Corfu Incident in 1923 and spent much of the rest of the decade in reserve. She was rebuilt between 1933 and 1937 with more powerful guns, additional armor and considerably more speed than before. During World War II, both Conte di Cavour and her sister ship, Giulio Cesare, participated in the Battle of Calabria in July 1940, where the latter was lightly damaged. Conte di Cavour was badly damaged when British torpedo bombers attacked the fleet at Taranto in November 1940. She was deliberately run aground, with most of her hull underwater, and repairs were not completed before the Italian armistice in September 1943. The ship was then captured by the Germans, but they made no effort to finish her repairs. She was damaged in an Allied air raid in early 1945 and capsized a week later. Conte di Cavour was eventually scrapped in 1946. ๐ŸŒŠ๐ŸŒŠ๐ŸŒŠ⛴⛴⛴⚓⚓⚓
This model of Italian battleship Conte di Cavour was produced by Wiking, a German manufacturer of scale models, in 1939.This 1;1250 model has rotating guns. 
Wiking Modellbau was founded in 1932 by Freidrich Karl Peltzer. Before and during World War II these models, made of lead based zamac, were used by the German military for training and tactical planning. They were usually marked "Wiking Modell" on their bases. The ships were accompanied by Modell-Hafen (Model Harbors) which were wood representations of piers, buildings and oil facilities to assist in attack training.

Friday, January 28, 2022

Elastolin infantry orchestra (Musik stillgestanden) ๐ŸŽต๐ŸŽท๐ŸŽถ๐ŸŽบ๐ŸŽถ๐ŸŽผ

One of my favorite Elastolin composition sets - infantry musicians standing to attention. They even have own music stand ! Elastolin produced 16 different types of "standing to attention" musicians: conductor, playing side drum, playing fife, playing drum-major, playing trumpet, playing clarinet, playing small tuba, playing large tuba, playing cymbals, playing French horn, playing bass drum, playing glockenspiel, playing trombone, playing kettledrums and two figures with one(three)-tier schellenbaum.


Tuesday, January 25, 2022

E.J.M. Red Army Cossacks from Mexico

In 30s/40s, Roberto Pro – Juguetes Mรฉxico manufactured very good quality composition soldiers in Mexico (Coyoacรกn), comparable to figures produced in Germany by Elastolin and Lineol. The 80mm and 65mm pieces are identifiable by various legends inscribed in high relief on their thick bases: “Juguetes Mรฉxico”, “E.J.M. Made in Mexico” or “Made in Mexico”. Among his models stand out the Red Army Cossacks. From January 1937 to August 1940 (till his death), Leon Trotsky and his wife lived in the Coyoacรกn area of Mexico City.


 

Sunday, January 23, 2022

Tippco Military Truck No. 217 with detachable anti-aircraft gun No.240

In 30s,Tippco, German toy company, mainly produced war and propaganda toys and grew to become the largest manufacturer of tin toys in Nuremberg. The Tippco military half-truck model No. 217 with clockwork and 9 soldiers represents Sd.Kfz. 7 - a half-track military vehicle used by the German Wehrmacht Heer, Luftwaffe and Waffen-SS during the Second World War.Sd.Kfz. 7 was intended to be used mainly as the tractor for the 8.8 cm Flak gun and the 15 cm sFH 18 150 mm howitzer. Elastolin and Lineol also produced their own (and more advanced) versions of the Sd.Kfz. 7 truck in 1/24. The Tippco Sd.Kfz. 7 clockwork model is made in 1/32. Tippco didn't produce own composition soldiers and supplied its toys with crews produced by Leyla and Froha.My photos shows the Tippco half-truck with detachable anti-aircraft gun No.240 (the 8.8 cm Flak gun) that can be used for amorces.



Friday, January 21, 2022

NVA composition soldiers from PGH Effelder

These composition DDR army (NVA - Nationale Volksarmee) soldiers were produced by PGH Effelder in the late 60s.

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Royal Canadian Mounted Police dog sled ❄️❄️❄️๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ

Composition Royal Canadian Mounted Police dog sled produced in Belgium in 50s . Probably by Durso.(Source: eBay).

Saturday, January 15, 2022

Lineol Artilleriestand verdeckt

Starting from 1933, LINEOL offered a comprehensive range of bunkers, trenches, gun ditches and shelters, etc. These accessories certainly increased the play value for the comprehensive Lineol offer of fighting composition toy soldiers. The walkways and shelters were designed to be combined with each other in any way. Lineol continued its production of fortifications till 1939. This Lineol artillery positions (Lineol Artilleriestand verdeckt 5/526) are presented in the Lineol Export Catalog in 1937. At this photos you can also see Elastolin and Lineol soldiers representing Belgian and British armies. The cannon is made by Marklin.

Thursday, January 13, 2022

St. Mary's Abbey remains in Trim ๐Ÿ’ฃ๐Ÿ’ฃ๐Ÿ’ฃ๐Ÿ’ฅ๐Ÿ’ฅ๐Ÿ’ฅ☘️☘️☘️

The diocese of Trim was comparatively small and the Bishop of Trim often served as the Abbott of St. Mary's. The abbey had many incarnations over the centuries but the ruins today are from the abbey built in 1368 and operated by the Augustinian order. Just north-west of the St Mary’s Abbey building is the 40m Yellow Steeple, of Trim Castle in Trim, Meath. It takes its name from the colour of the stonework at dusk.Once the bell tower of the abbey, dating from 1368 but destroyed by Oliver Cromwell’s soldiers in 1649. Cromwell met the Irish soldiers coming from Trim at a hill and he drove the Irish back. After some years the hill was been dug up and they found many human bones. It was called Cromwell's hill.


 

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Russian WW1 Christmas postcard๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ๐ŸŽ„๐Ÿ’ฅ๐Ÿ’ฅ๐Ÿ’ฅ

Happy New Year! [Petrograd: edition of N.I. Butkovskaya, between 1914 and 1917] (Publishing house "Contemporary Art").

Sunday, January 9, 2022

Visiting Trim Castle in January 2022 ⚔️⚔️⚔️๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฐ☘️☘️☘️

Trim Castle is a castle on the south bank of the River Boyne in Trim, County Meath, Ireland. With an area of 30,000 m², Trim Castle is the largest Cambro-Norman castle in Ireland. The design of the central three-storey keep (also known as a donjon or great tower) is unique for a Norman keep being of cruciform shape, with twenty corners. It was built on the site of the previous large ring work fortification in at least three stages, initially by Hugh de Lacy (c. 1174) and then in 1196 and 1201–5 by his son - Walter de Lacy. The land area of Meath was owned by the church but was granted to Hugh de Lacy, an Anglo-Norman landowner and royal office-holder, in 1172 by Henry II of England as one of the new administrative areas. De Lacy built a huge ringwork castle defended by a stout double palisade and external ditch on top of the hill. De Lacy left Ireland entrusting the castle to Hugh Tyrrel, baron of Castleknock, one of his chief lieutenants. The ringwork was attacked and burnt by forces of the Gaelic High King of Ireland, Ruaidrรญ Ua Conchobair. Tyrrel, having appealed in vain for help, was forced to flee. Ua Conchobair soon withdrew and De Lacy, or Raymond FitzGerald, immediately repaired or rebuilt the castle in 1173. After Hugh's death in 1186 his son Walter de Lacy succeeded as Lord of Meath. He continued rebuilding and the castle was completed in the 1220's, most likely in 1224. 

Braveheart, a movie starring Mel Gibson, was filmed in Trim during the summer of 1994. Gibson played the Scottish hero William Wallace, with Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan and Brendan Gleeson. Outside the castle walls was transformed into the thirteen century city of York which was besieged by William Wallace in the movie. The keep inside the walls became the Tower of London where Wallace was executed in 1305. Released in 1995 the movie won five Academy Awards including the award for Best Picture.




Saturday, January 8, 2022

Elastolin attacking infantry ๐Ÿ’ฃ๐Ÿ’ฃ๐Ÿ’ฃ

Elastolin attacking infantry, various fighting poses, circa 1938. The backround black and white photos are published in Reggie Polaine and David Hawkins's book "The war toys, Kriegsspielzeug. No 1. The story of Hausser-Elastolin".๐Ÿ’ฃ

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Gunboat La Bayonnaise (France) ๐ŸŒŠ⚓

This old metal model of gunboat La Bayonnaise (France) (c.1891) with two chimneys and four rowboats is presented at Musรฉe Basque (Bayonne, France).