little green men

my son made this diorama recently for a project fair. his project centered around andrew j higgins and his famous seacraft. he built his model to scale around the little green army men and finished it off with some painted duct tape surf and real sand.


as classic toys go the plastic army men certainly i think make the top 10 list. although they don't really do much except stand in position (or lie if you're crawling guy) there is something very wonderful and comforting for a small child to command a small army. to set each one up in lines and rows as your eyes and imagination travel past each soldier contemplating his situation and ultimate fate.


when i was a kid i only had the one army. some sets came with the same guys cast in two colors, the traditional green and a desert tan. and i always felt a little strange sending them up against each other, like it was a just a field exercise. one day my wife brought home a big bucket with 4 different armies in it, the american green, a tan british desert troop, a pale green japanese group and a grey german detachment all complete with respective flags. where were these when i was a boy?
the thing i love the most though is the level of detail on these tiny guys. i remember as a kid i would stare at each one turning it in my hand. the pistol and holster on the officers. straps and belts. the tiny canteen and pockets. and even the obligatory circles showing where the plastic injection tube connected to the mold. and recently two of my boys started painting some of these guys to add a little more detail and personalize their squad.


when we were kids we spent hours setting them up but i never really knew what to do after that. sometimes a kid who would take his hand and wave it across your army and declare that he had just dropped an atomic bomb, but that didn't really seem sporting. we sometimes use a bag of rubber bands and take turns laying flat from behind each soldier and shooting at the opposing side. it sort of brings the battle to a more personal level.
and then i think of the life my little plastic army man left behind. the hopeful plastic family waiting anxiously for news from the front. the green plastic girlfriend writing letters with news and encouragement and promises of what life could be like if my little guy can just make it home in one piece.