Seeing these old army toys again is like a trip back into yesterday! If you were a kid growing up in the early 60's, you will recall that the fun that you had depended mostly on your imagination. You could easily spend your weekly-or monthly allowance on a great selection of cool toys at even cooler prices.

I used to buy many of my army toys at the 88 cent store on 82nd and Foster. I also bought alot of toys in Newberry's toy basement. I had a sturdy collection of these plastic army men and vehicles. With a bit of imagination I could set up elaborate battle scenes for long afternoons of fun. When it rained, or was too cold outside, I just set up in my bedroom, or in friend's basements. When playing with them outside, mud puddles became lakes, Grass became jungles, and bushes were deep forests. There was absolutely no limit to what could be done.

Watch My Old Army Toys Video

Toy Army Helmets

Remember the feel of the plastic strap under your chin? It was usually uncomfortable and sweaty. I always had to hold on to my helmet when I ran because I wouldn't fasten the strap.

Toy Army Canteens

It's a given that water never tasted better when drunk from this canteen. You just can't beat that taste of polyetheline. Kool-Aid tasted even better.

Toy Army Mess Kits

I can still recall the sounds of the plastic silverware rattling around inside my plastic messkit. Though I never really played with it that much, it was still considered necessary army gear, and looked really cool attached to the belt. As for actual army playing, the plastic eating utensilsrattling around inside were far too noisy.

Toy Grenades

These grenades were great. The only downfall: they got lost easily when thrown. When we would play army, we often used pine cones instead. This is how it worked: You pulled your plastic grenade, pretended to pull the pin, pretended to throw, then at the last minute, you threw the pine cone hidden in the palm of your hand.

Army Toy Accessories

I remember the holster was really hard to unfasten, so I always left it undone. The pistol was great, but I rarely played with it. The plastic army knives were also fun, and some of them were rock hard plastic and as deadly as the real thing! The Remco Monkey Division utitity belt was pretty cool, but I never had one.

Remco Bazooka

A kid in our neighborhood had the Remco Monkey Division bazooka that fired huge shells. I remember being so impressed with it because it was expensive and way out of my meagerly financial reach. Unfortunately, the thing broke very quickly, bringing this bazooka to an early retirement. Another black eye on the face of toy technology.

One of the Greatest Emblems of Our Day!

Whenever the Marx logo appeared on anything, I knew it was a symbol of the utmost quality in army toys. From fantastic playsets to simple bags of army men, or army toys, The Louis Marx Co. produced the most excellent toys from my childhood.

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Old Army Toys
The Mattel "Tommyburst" Machine Gun
Army Men
Playing Army Outside
G.I. Joe