| Old metal toy soldiers are often seen at estate | | | | or iron. They have kind of a thick look to them and |
| auctions, garage sales and flea markets. Being able to | | | | do not have fragile pieces. For example, hands don't |
| identify the toy soldier's manufacturer and | | | | have fingers and gun barrels are thick so they do not |
| identification number can make the difference | | | | bend or break easily. These were meant for children |
| between reselling it for ten dollars and reselling it for | | | | to play with and they were built tough just for that |
| a hundred dollars. The problem is that comprehensive | | | | reason. Remember though, that these toys are not |
| identification guides have not been published for over | | | | for children. Lead is very dangerous to developing |
| fifteen years. The solution lies in websites like The | | | | brains and that is the reason why they stopped |
| Toy Soldier Wiki. The Toy Soldier Wiki is a | | | | selling them. That is also what makes them easy to |
| community of collectors who are always adding | | | | collect. Modern day copies are very easy to spot. |
| pictures and updating the history and identification of | | | | "Foreign-made" metal toy soldiers are completely |
| metal toy soldiers that are no longer produced. Doing | | | | dominated by one manufacturer, W. Britains limited. |
| a search there by entering a description of your toy | | | | Britains invented the hollowcast technique in the late |
| soldier will result in finding pictures and historical | | | | 19th century and used it to make soldiers of higher |
| information for the toy soldier. This will allow you to | | | | quality for less money than the competition which |
| properly describe it when you resell it and it gives | | | | was primarily German toy makers. It worked and |
| your buyers more confidence in you because of your | | | | they started the toy soldier market of the early |
| knowledge of the subject. | | | | twentieth century. They are still a major |
| Old metal toy soldiers can be broken into two groups. | | | | manufacturer of toy soldiers today. Britains' toy |
| "American made" and "foreign-made". The majority of | | | | soldiers are a lot more detailed and fragile than the |
| "American made" metal soldiers are called "Dimestore | | | | American Dimestore soldiers. As a result they often |
| Toy Soldiers" because they were sold in discount | | | | have breaks, cracks, repairs or bent pieces like rifle |
| stores that were called "five and dimes" like | | | | barrels or soldiers necks because of the soft lead |
| Woolworth. These are further divided by | | | | alloy they were made of. Nearly every old Britains |
| manufacturer. The main Dimestore toy soldier | | | | toy soldier has a history of variations that affect its |
| manufacturers to collect are Barclay, Manoil, Grey | | | | resell value. This makes proper identification very |
| Iron and Auburn (rubber soldiers). Their soldiers were | | | | important. |
| mainly manufactured between 1930 and 1950. Barclay | | | | Using resources like the Toy Soldier Wiki can help |
| went on into the sixties but the real quality can easily | | | | you not only make better deals, it will also give you |
| be seen in the older soldiers. Most Dimestore toy | | | | the rich sense of history that comes from collecting |
| soldiers are three inches tall and made of lead alloys | | | | old toy soldiers. Remember, every soldier has a story. |