" 'Little green army men' now in the Toy Hall of Fame"

[The Bread Guy]

At long, long last ....

It’s mission accomplished for little green army men.

The molded plastic must-haves for generations of pretend soldiers were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame on Thursday, along with the 1980s stumper Rubik’s Cube, and soap bubbles.

The toys take their place alongside other classics including Barbie, G.I. Joe, Scrabble and the hula hoop after beating out nine other finalists including Fisher-Price Little People, American Girl dolls and My Little Pony.

The tiny monochromatic heroes have been around since 1938, with ups and downs along the way. Their popularity waned during the Vietnam War but they became big-screen stars with the 1995 Pixar movie “Toy Story,” and several manufacturers continue to produce millions of them every year.

(....)

The army men were finalists two other years before making the cut this time around and getting promoted into the hall of fame, offering hope to this year’s also-rans, which also included Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Slip ’N Slide, the skill game Operation, paper airplanes, pots and pans, and the toy trucks sold annually since 1964 by the Hess gas station chain ....

I remember handing these out at the start of the day teaching recruits, telling them they'd need them later.  Kept their interest going until the "section formations" lecture, indeed.

A modern remake, from the Toy Hall of Fame's blog:

.... A recent donation to the museum reminded us that little green army men make a lasting impression on some. Major William Hartel of the U.S. Army Reserves donated a collection of figures that he calls “trench art” army men. While stationed in the Middle East in the summer of 2014, Hartel made figures reflecting modern-day soldiers. He created his troops from the standard green figures available at any base PX or discount store. He set his figures in the “blazing desert heat” until they were soft enough to remold, and he cut small white electronic devices from chow-hall utensils to represent the cell phones and electronic tablets of today’s military. Hartel fondly remembers playing with little green army men as a young boy, and those memories inspired him to make his “trench art.” ....