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Tin Soldiers



During the time of the civil war, toy soldiers came in a variety of forms. The book, The Boy's Own Toymaker, describes how to make a row of marching soldiers from paper. We have seen at one historic house, a group of toy soldiers turned from wood. But when thinking of toy soldiers, probably the material that comes to mind most often is the small metal soldiers, each brilliantly painted.

The metal soldiers we regularly stock are modeled after soldiers that could have been available during the civil war. There probably weren't any soldiers made yet in the uniforms of civil war soldiers. However, the images and other sources have provided clues to the type of soldiers from other earlier wars that might have been available. All are of figures approximately 54mm tall. These are described in the table below.

But, since visitors to this website are often interested in the civil war, we are also able to special order a variety of civil war soldiers and a collecion of scale equipment, e.g., artillery pieces. These can come painted in the "stock" styles of the maker or can be custom painted to represent a particular unit. If you are interested in civil war soldiers, send us an email and we can discuss specific details and pricing. And to give you an idea of typical soldiers, see the table below. But, to repeat, these civil war soldiers are probably not appropriate for a civil war impression.

All soldiers are made of metal with some potentially sharp points so play of children should be supervised. The metal used is pewter.

The Soldiers

Type of SoldierShort DescriptionPrice
Coldstream Guard Many images of soldiers that appear in period publications show a soldier similar in appearance to a Coldstream Guard which had a uniform similar to today's in the Crimean War.

Also available in kit form.

$ 15.00 finished
$ 7.00 Kit
Napoleonic Soldier In the Hans Christian Anderson story The Steadfast Tin Soldier the tin soldier who is the title character is described in a uniform matching this soldier.

Also available in kit form.

$ 15.00 finished
$ 7.00 Kit
Civil War PeriodThe number of uniform styles in the American civil war varied considerably. If my memory is correct, 200 different types of uniforms were present at the first major land battle, the Battle of Manassas/Bull Run. The page for these soldiers will show a few soldiers but others poses are available and different painting is possible. Price varies