Army Men (Playing Mantis)

Army Men
Playing Mantis
2001

The classic army man. How can you not love that little two inch piece of green or tan plastic decked out in full military gear with a unique weapon of accessory permanently sculpted in place? So much fun I had as a kid flicking marbles at these things to simulate a war across the hallway of my parent's house. Hours of entertainment for nothing more than the cost of a bucket (or bag) of "figures" and a sack of marbles.

Playing Mantis, a company often skipped over by many toy enthusiasts, gave the ultimate nod to the army man toy in 2001. Granted these iterations were more so based on the 3DO video game, but that too in and of itself was an homage to the toys.

 Sergent Hawk*Hoover

The figures stood an impressive eight inches high and came with a unique weapon or accessory. Additionally they featured a few points of articulation - Not much, but enough to give them a little posability options. To round out each carded figure, each one also included a fun dog tag style figure stand.

 Colonel Grimm*Riff

Six figures in total were released, but in a bit of an unfair ratio. Five green soldiers (the good guys) and one tan (the bad guys). Okay, to be fair, it was actually only four green soldiers and a fully decked out female character.

Vikki Grimm*General Plastro

These figures are quite the challenge to find on secondary markets these days, and believe it or not, Vikki, the female character, is the easiest of them to find - Also the cheapest. Sergeant Hawk shows up here and there. However, the remaining characters, especially General Plastro, are incredibly difficult to find.

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