American Toy Soldiers Made in Germany

[manayunkman]

I didn’t get to go to SOS but this fell into my lap.

 

These are mostly composition American soldiers made by Lineol and Elastolin before WW2.

 

The background is a rookie mistake.

[Dirk]

Fantastic grouping of figures!!

[Tony V]

Dennis

 

    Very nice collection ! Congratulations 

 

Tony

 

[mikie]

Wow!  Lets play!

 

Mikie

[manayunkman]

Thanks guys.

 

Bring you rubber bands Mikie and we’ll shoot them.

[manayunkman]

Some better pictures of the scarce Lineol ambulance that came with German medics painted in American colors with an American head.

 

These were sold on the American market before WW2 mostly in high end toy stores.

 

 

 

[manayunkman]

Another hard to find figure is the American skier.

 

This one is made by Lineol and after 45 years of dabbling it’s the only one I’ve ever seen.

[manayunkman]

Made in USA WW2 cast metal tank recognition models.

 

A Sherman and a Pz IV.

 

[manayunkman]

I’ve had a skier here and there over the years but this collection had 9 skiers.

 

Seven of them are Lineol and 2 are Elastolin, which has the solid base with the skies cast into it and all are made in the 1930s.

 

There are several nationalities represented here, from left to right they are an Elastolin German mountain troop, Elastolin French, Lineol Danish, Lineol Swiss, Lineol Bulgaria?, Lineol USA, Lineol German.

 

Note how the companies used the same basic figure but with different paint and a switched out head.

 

In addition you can compare Elastolin to Lineol, see how the Elastolin is just a tad more robust and taller.

 

I only posted 7 of the 9 as there are  2 duplicates. 

[doyler]

Thats a great find and collection.

[manayunkman]

47 minutes ago, doyler said:

Thats a great find and collection.

Thanks Ron

[manayunkman]

Here is another piece that I never seen in the American version, the Lineol mounted kettle drummer.

 

I have had and seen other examples of the German version which I’ve posted for comparison.

[manayunkman]

Another example of a German vehicle with an American crew.

 

Its a Mercedes command car made by Tippco with Lineol passengers.

 

Tippco was more of a tin toy company and used figures from other companies.

 

You can see that it’s a German Army vehicle by its license plate.

[MinutemanEMTer]

That resembles a 770, but it hadn't been built yet when those toy soldiers rode in it. Those look like WWI uniforms.

[manayunkman]

47 minutes ago, MinutemanEMTer said:

That resembles a 770, but it hadn't been built yet when those toy soldiers rode in it. Those look like WWI uniforms.

They are actually German uniforms from the mid 1930s that have been painted and helmeted head switched out to look like US soldiers from the same period.

[manayunkman]

Here we have another example of German figures that are repurposed as Americans.

 

US soldiers with Maxim machine guns.

 

Also note that these composition figures have a heavy wire in their interior to reinforce them.

[manayunkman]

US flag bearers with gorgets.

[manayunkman]

Another aspect of these German toy soldiers is that they came in different sizes 10cm, 7.5cm, 7cm, 6.5cm and 4cm.

 

The 7 and 7.5cm sizes are the most detailed, came in more poses and are the most sought after.

 

Shown are the 7, 7.5 and 10cm.

 

[Dirk]

Really like this thread….I have learned a lot from it…..you have picked up an excellent collection! 

[manayunkman]

3 hours ago, Dirk said:

Really like this thread….I have learned a lot from it…..you have picked up an excellent collection! 

Thank you Dirk and I’ll be adding more as time permits. Peter 

[Ronnie]

On 3/1/2023 at 12:23 PM, manayunkman said:

Made in USA WW2 cast metal tank recognition models.

 

A Sherman and a Pz IV.

 

I have one of those Sherman ID Models. I sort of doctored mine up.

[manayunkman]

Nice super detailing job.

[manayunkman]

Here are some close ups of a Canadian made tank.

 

By the looks of construction and type of paint loss I would say it was made soon after WWI.

[manayunkman]

These can be found in the group photo.

 

They are bring backs from the father of the deceased.

 

These are handmade wood models made by the Germans and used by German troops as identification aides.

 

In addition they are close to the same scale as the toy soldiers.

 

 

[manayunkman]

On 3/3/2023 at 3:05 AM, Ronnie said:

I have one of those Sherman ID Models. I sort of doctored mine up.

Ronnie,

 

Love the job you did, it looks more like a manufacturers desk model.

 

Peter