Buying Antique Toys Online

If you are new to buying antique or vintage toys online its a good idea to spend some time deciding on your budget and the area of interest that appeals to you, and then to spend some time watching online auctions without bidding, mainly to get an idea of the closing prices for the antique or vintage toys you like best. Demand for certain categories of antique or vintage toys fluctuates and like any vintage or antique item, it is the market that determines the value. Rarity and condition are major factors also. The wise collector will go for the best quality item that fits their budget.
Right now there are quantities of great values available when you are investing in Antique and Vintage Toys so we present here to you the best offers. Please see the the antique and vintage pieces listed below and click on any listing to read more, photographs and characteristics. If you are unable to find what you are looking for on the web page, use the query facility above. eBay frequently lists the very best and most inexpensive Antique Toys finds and is the best and definitely one of the very well-liked internet buying internet sites. We aim to bring you the very best prices of products to help you add to your collection, get started shopping for antique toys or just get the most for your money.

What people are watching on eBay

ONE Wind Up Toy Android Robot,Kids,Party Favours,WUT149

eBay Watchers: 122
Price: $2.2

10 - Windup Toy Keys "For Windup Toys" - L@@K!!

eBay Watchers: 121
Price: $16.49

VINTAGE MARX WALKING POPEYE WITH PARROT CAGES, EXCELLENT IN ORIGINAL BOX, NICE!!

eBay Watchers: 78
Price: $586.99

1900s FERDINAND MARTIN PIANIST PIANO P[LAYER TIN TOY VERY RARE LEHMANN BING

eBay Watchers: 72
Price: $1715.0

GUNTHERMANN GERMAN WIND UP MRS KATZENJAMMER WIND UP WALKING TOY W UMBRELLA,WORKS

eBay Watchers: 71
Price: $294.0

	DURRELL COMPANY HEAVY CARDBOARD NO.GS230 "SOLDIERS" MIB $90.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 47m
	4 VINTAGE Wm. BRITAINS LTD SECOND DRAGOONS, HORSES AND SOLDIERS, MOVABLE ARMS $45.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 30m
	CTS Alamo Mexican attackers ladder assault team (LB) $6.95 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 38m
	MACHINE GUN M16 RIFLE soldier military play toy NEW boy $6.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 51m
	MACHINE GUN M16 RIFLE soldier military play toy NEW boy $6.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 51m
	RARE Colonial Lead Painted Horseman Toy Soldier Vintage Arm Rotates Estate K574 $14.95 $19.95 Time Left: 1h 54m
	vintage hand made wood pull toy soldier on rocking horse FREE SHIPPING $18.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 2h 8m
	RARE Colonial Lead Painted Horseman Toy Soldier Vintage Arm Rotates Estate K577 $14.95 $19.95 Time Left: 2h 11m
	RARE Colonial Lead Painted Horseman Toy Soldier Vintage Arm Rotates Estate K578 $14.95 $19.95 Time Left: 2h 13m
	RARE Colonial Lead Painted Fluglehorn Player Toy Soldier Vintage Estate K585 $14.95 $19.95 Time Left: 2h 28m
	Soldier Civil War Officier on horse lead toy $9.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 2h 35m
	MACHINE GUN M16 RIFLE soldier military play toy NEW boy $6.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 2h 43m
	Marx Toy Soldiers Civil War Playset Large Mortar w Ammo $11.98 (0 Bids) Time Left: 2h 44m
	Marx 54mm Toy Soldiers Playset Land Form Diorama Piece $8.98 (0 Bids) Time Left: 2h 44m
	Toy Soldiers Marx Blue & Gray Civil War Playset 24 Accessories 54mm Plastic 1 32 $18.98 (0 Bids) Time Left: 2h 44m
	20 Antique Cherilea Lead Scotsman Soldiers MINT IN BOX wearing kilts Never used $50.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 2h 45m
	RARE Colonial Lead Painted Scottish Rifleman Toy Soldier Vintage Estate K572 $14.95 $19.95 Time Left: 3h 4m
	4 Lots Of WW 11 Army Barclay Toy Lead Soldiers $9.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 3h 18m
	3 Lots Of WW 11 Army Barclay Toy Lead Soldiers Stretcher Barriers & Wounded $9.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 3h 30m
	5 Lots Of WW 11 Army Barclay Toy Lead Soldiers & Paper Mache Bunker $12.99 (1 Bids) Time Left: 3h 38m
	3 Lots Of WW 11 Army Barclay Toy Lead Soldiers Airplanes $9.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 3h 42m
	RARE Colonial Lead Painted Scottish Rifleman Toy Soldier Vintage Estate K576 $14.95 $19.95 Time Left: 3h 42m
	1995 Paper Soldiers: The Illustrated History of Paper Armies EDWARD RYAN Book $75.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 3h 47m
	VINTAGE pewter 36 TOY Soldiers SIGNED numbered ITALY Japan GREECE Russia $34.99 (1 Bids) Time Left: 3h 50m
	ANTIQUE TIN WINDUP METAL SOLDIER BOY $150.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 4h 24m
	Vintage Lead Soldier Shield and Sword $78.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 4h 25m
	MARX 6" RUSSIAN SOLDIER W PISTOL & BINOCULARS 1963 $19.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 4h 26m
	Manoil Barclay Lead Toy Soldier infantry with gun Vintage $7.25 $24.75 Time Left: 4h 32m
	MPC MULTIPLE 25+ CIVIL WAR SOLDIER PLAYSET FIGURES BLUE $14.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 4h 40m
	HUGE vintage lot various plastic toy soldiers knights figurines some DFC '81 $2.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 4h 47m
	Antique Lead Soldier from the 30's - World War One artillary 2" $0.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 5h 8m
	TIN LITHO WHISTLE VINTAGE W NICE CAVALRY U.S. SOLDIER ON HORSEBACK GRAPHICS $9.99 (1 Bids) Time Left: 5h 9m
	SAE 30mm Toy Soldiers #1050 CONFEDERATE CAVALRY CHARGING w BOX $68.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 5h 21m
	c1960 THE BATTLE OF IWO JIMA Directions & Box Strombecker 54MM Lead Soldiers $24.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 5h 21m
	WWI SOLDIERS ON PARADE Play Set McLoughlin Brothers 1914 Complete w Flag $139.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 5h 44m
	Revolutionary War Lead Soldier 1 32 Scale Corps of Engineers 1775 54mm $9.75 $75.00 Time Left: 5h 45m

A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier. The term applies to depictions of uniformed military personnel from all eras, and includes knights, cowboys, pirates, and other subjects that involve combat-related themes. Toy soldiers vary from simple playthings to highly realistic and detailed models. The latter are of more recent development and are sometimes called model figures to distinguish them from traditional toy soldiers. Larger scale toys such as dolls and action figures may come in military uniforms, but they are not generally considered toy soldiers.

Toy soldiers are made from all types of material, but the most common mass produced varieties are metal and plastic. There are many different kinds of toy soldiers, including tin soldiers or flats, hollow cast metal figures, composition figures, and plastic army men. Toy soldiers are traditionally sold in sets, but modern, collectible figures are often sold individually.

Scale for toy soldiers is expressed as the soldier's approximate height from head to foot in millimeters. Because many figures do not stand up straight, height is usually an approximation. Standard toy soldier scale, originally adopted by W. Britain, is 54 mm (2.25 inches) or 1:32 scale. Among different manufacturers, standard scale may range from 50 mm or 1:35 scale, to 60 mm or 1:28 scale. For gamers and miniatures enthusiasts, 25 mm and even smaller scales are available. On the larger end of the scale are American Dimestore figures, and many of the toy soldiers produced in Germany, which are approximately 75 mm (3 inches) or 1:24 scale

History
Military figures have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs, and have appeared in many cultures and eras. Tin soldiers were produced in Germany as early as the 1730s, by molding the metal between two pieces of slate. Toy soldiers became widespread during the 18th century, inspired by the military exploits of Frederick the Great. In 1893, William Britain revolutionized the production of toy soldiers by devising the method of hollow casting, making soldiers that were cheaper and lighter than their German counterparts.[1]

In addition to Britains, there have been many other manufacturers of toy soldiers over the years. For example, John Hill & Company produced hollow cast lead figures in the same style and scale. Companies such as Elastolin and Lineol were well known for their composite figures made of glue and sawdust that included both military and civilian subjects. After 1950, rising production costs and concerns about lead poisoning led to greater numbers of plastic toy soldiers.[2] The first American plastic soldiers were made by Beton as early as 1937.

One large historical producer in plastic was Louis Marx and Company, which produced both realistic soldiers of great detail and also historical collections of plastic men and women, including the "Presidents of the United States" collection, "Warriors of the World", "Generals of World War II", "Jesus and the Apostles", and figures from the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Marx also produced boxed playsets that featured many famous battles with armies of two sides, character figures, and terrain features. Britains produced plastic figures under the brand names of Herald and Deetail. Also in England, the scale model company, Airfix produced a variety of high quality plastic sets, which were frequently painted by hobbyists. Many Airfix figures were imitated by other companies and reproduced as inexpensive, bagged plastic army men.

During the 1990s, the production of metal toy-grade painted figures and connoisseur-grade painted toy soldiers increased to serve the demands of the collectors' market. The style of many of these figures shifted from the traditional gloss-coat enamel paint to the matte-finished acrylic paint, which allows for greater detail and historical accuracy. The change was largely inspired by the introduction of very high quality painted figures from St. Petersburg, Russia.

Collecting
There is a substantial hobby devoted to collecting both old and new toy soldiers, with an abundance of small manufacturers, dealers, and toy soldier shows. There are even specialty magazines devoted to the hobby, such as Toy Soldier and Model Figure. Collectors often specialize in a particular type of soldier or historical period, though some people enjoy collecting many different kinds of figures. The most popular historical periods for collecting are Napoleonic, Victorian, American Civil War, World War I, and World War II. Many collectors modify and paint plastic figures, and some even cast and paint their own metal figures.

Actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr had a collection of 3000 toy soldiers when he sold it in 1977. Fantasy novelist George R. R. Martin has a substantial collection of toy knights and castles. The most extensive collection of toy soldiers was probably that of Malcolm Forbes, who began collecting toy soldiers in the late 1960s and amassed a collection of over 90,000 figures by the time of his death in 1990.

Some of the more noteworthy, annual toy soldier and historical figure shows include the London Toy Soldier Show in the United Kingdom, the Chicago Toy Soldier Show (OTSN) in Illinois, the East Coast Toy Soldier Show in New Jersey, the West Coaster Toy Soldier Show in California, the Sammlerbörse (Figure Show) Friedberg in Germany and the Zinnfigurenbörse Kulmbach (Tin Figure Show) in Germany.

In recent years, collectors of vintage toy soldiers made of polythene PE and polypropylene PP thermoplastics as well as PC/ABS plastic blends have reported brittling and disintegration of collectible miniatures or components thereof.

Varieties
Different types and styles of toy soldiers have been produced over the years, depending on the cost and availability of materials, as well as manufacturing technologies. Here is a list of some of the most commonly collected varieties of toy soldiers.[5]

Aluminum - slush cast aluminium, made chiefly in France during the early and middle 20th Century
Army men - unpainted, soft plastic toy soldiers sold inexpensively in bags or with terrain pieces and vehicles in boxed playsets
Composition - made from a mixture of sawdust and glue, manufactured in Austria and Germany
Connoisseur - high quality, collectible figures featuring highly detailed paint jobs
Dimestore - hollow or slush cast iron, sold through five and dime stores from the 1920s to 1960 in the United States
Flat - thin, two dimensional tin soldiers cast from in slate molds
Hollow cast - cast in metal, usually a lead alloy, which cools and sets as it touches the mold; the excess molten metal is poured out leaving a hollow figure
Paper - printed on sheets of paper or cardboard, frequently mounted on blocks of wood
Plastic - hard and soft plastic, generally painted figures
Solid - cast in solid metal, usually lead, common in Germany during the 19th and early 20th Century
Prominent vintage toy soldier makers include Airfix, Barclay, Britains, Herald, Elastolin, Johillco, Lineol, Marx, Manoil, and Timpo.

Gaming
The playing of games with toy figures was popularized by H.G. Wells in his 1913 book, Little Wars. Wells, a pacifist, was the first to publish detailed rules for playing war games with toy soldiers. He suggested that this could provide a cathartic experience, possibly preventing future real wars. Although this was not to be, Little Wars was a predecessor to the modern hobby of miniatures wargaming.

A similar book titled Shambattle: How to Play with Toy Soldiers was published by Harry Dowdall and Joseph Gleason in 1929.

Although people continue to play wargames with miniature figures, most contemporary wargamers use a smaller scale than that favored by collectors, typically under 25 mm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_soldier