The end of the game

[George Szaszvari]

....
Yes, when I was 6 I played with toy soldiers. (Does anyone else remember the red plastic soldiers that came in packets of Cornflakes?) At the moment the 6-year-olds at the school where I spend most of my time are all obsessed with trying to play chess, because their parents think it's good for them. In fact most of them play with the chess pieces as if they're toy soldiers. They've probably never seen a toy soldier, but would be much better off if they had! But that's another topic, to which I'll return later this month.

Yes, I remember playing with toy soldiers, from which I graduated to playing chess. Aren't toy soldiers now politically incorrect in the UK? There were also the glue it together model aeroplanes, tanks, etc, which provided support for the troops on the foor, or on the cliffs above (bed, chair and table) ... my Airfix Spitfire and Focke-Wulf 190 fighter plane models battling it out overhead, coming in for strafing runs (with the obligatory sound effects)... Airfix models of the Bismarck and HMS Hood (although fairly big, necessarily not quite the same scale as the soldiers, etc!) on the other side of the room lending support for their respective sides (cotton wool providing the smoke puffs on the ends of the gun barrels.) I did have the sense to keep some historical perspective, even then, so Napoleonic era soldiers would not end up incongruously on a WW2 battlefield with 8th Army Desert Rats and Afrika Korps, although they might get involved with Confederate and Union civil war face offs, etc. Then one day some kids in my neighborhood with a pocket peg chess set distracted me from all that, when those toy soldiers and models were gradually replaced by 32 fascinating chessmen on 64 squares, with at least most of the rules! But I'm supposing it was around 11 years of age when this happened, rather than 6, an age from which I have little recall.

[Paul McKeown]

Aren't toy soldiers now politically incorrect in the UK?

Not that I had heard of.

[George Szaszvari]

Aren't toy soldiers now politically incorrect in the UK?

Not that I had heard of.

I just wondered, and I'm so glad that you say it isn't so... such a relief. As for the USA the matter is less clear,
a quick engine search for "political correctness + toy soldiers" giving plenty of pages... just for starters:

http://www.childcareclair.com/2011/06/i ... tical.html

http://shootingmessengers.blogspot.com/ ... -from.html

http://policelink.monster.com/news/arti ... ent_page=3

http://babytoyinfo.com/baby-boy-toys/

etc, etc, etc....

[Clive Blackburn]

I believe that egg soldiers are still politically acceptable, even in the USA.

[George Szaszvari]

I believe that egg soldiers are still politically acceptable, even in the USA.

Omigosh...egg soldiers! I haven't heard that for decades! Thanks for reminding me about 'em.

[John Clarke]

Does anyone else remember the red plastic soldiers that came in packets of Cornflakes?

You bet! But despite having cornflakes every morning and persuading other family members to do the same as often as possible, I only ever got nine of 'em, and never the drum major ....

It was a huge campaign, with TV ads and all ("Here they come! Beat the drum! Kelloggs' model band!"), and it even turned up as the basis for a running gag in one of the Hancock's Half-Hour radio programmes.

[Michael Jones]

I believe that egg soldiers are still politically acceptable, even in the USA.

Even if you behead them?

[George Szaszvari]

Does anyone else remember the red plastic soldiers that came in packets of Cornflakes?

You bet! But despite having cornflakes every morning and persuading other family members to do the same as often as possible, I only ever got nine of 'em, and never the drum major ....

It was a huge campaign, with TV ads and all ("Here they come! Beat the drum! Kelloggs' model band!"), and it even turned up as the basis for a running gag in one of the Hancock's Half-Hour radio programmes.

Do you still have 'em? Reminiscing about cereal packet toys, there was the bath tub submarine (to put some baking soda in a cavity under the hull to make it surface) that I mentioned, in passing, to my wife when I moved out here, when she, (always the one to please,) immediately went on eBay and got one for me. I recall collecting Flags of the World cards in bubble gum (iirc) packs from around 1960, but the only thing I still have from that period (apart from some family heirloom items and photos) is the collection of "Dogs of the World" cards that came with packets of tea. Mum helped by getting the little album book to stick 'em in and asking around to complete the set!

[Martin Benjamin]

My brother Jon was involved in a similar incident to the one kicking off this thread. In the early 1980s, Richmond held a couple of all night 5 minute tournaments which attracted strong fields. The author of this thread (Richard) may still have details. Jon was playing Byron Jacobs in the small hours, and Jon had mate in one involving a discovered check, with any legal move from the obstructing piece. (I think it was something like rook on a8. knight or bishop on c8, with Black's king on g8 in classic castled position behind a row of pawns, so any move by the piece was checkmate) Jon lifted the piece, and as he said "Mate" putting the piece down, Byron pointed to the clock and said "Flag", and claimed that he had said it before Jon had put down the piece, so it was a loss on time, not mate. It was resolved in gentlemanly fashion by both players - I can't remember for certain, but I think Jon just accepted the loss with good grace.

[Richard James]

My brother Jon was involved in a similar incident to the one kicking off this thread. In the early 1980s, Richmond held a couple of all night 5 minute tournaments which attracted strong fields. The author of this thread (Richard) may still have details. Jon was playing Byron Jacobs in the small hours, and Jon had mate in one involving a discovered check, with any legal move from the obstructing piece. (I think it was something like rook on a8. knight or bishop on c8, with Black's king on g8 in classic castled position behind a row of pawns, so any move by the piece was checkmate) Jon lifted the piece, and as he said "Mate" putting the piece down, Byron pointed to the clock and said "Flag", and claimed that he had said it before Jon had put down the piece, so it was a loss on time, not mate. It was resolved in gentlemanly fashion by both players - I can't remember for certain, but I think Jon just accepted the loss with good grace.

Sorry Martin, but I don't have details. I'm vaguely aware that they happened but they were nothing to do with me. I wasn't involved at all, either as organizer or player.

[Richard James]

Does anyone else remember the red plastic soldiers that came in packets of Cornflakes?

You bet! But despite having cornflakes every morning and persuading other family members to do the same as often as possible, I only ever got nine of 'em, and never the drum major ....

It was a huge campaign, with TV ads and all ("Here they come! Beat the drum! Kelloggs' model band!"), and it even turned up as the basis for a running gag in one of the Hancock's Half-Hour radio programmes.

Do you still have 'em? Reminiscing about cereal packet toys, there was the bath tub submarine (to put some baking soda in a cavity under the hull to make it surface) that I mentioned, in passing, to my wife when I moved out here, when she, (always the one to please,) immediately went on eBay and got one for me. I recall collecting Flags of the World cards in bubble gum (iirc) packs from around 1960, but the only thing I still have from that period (apart from some family heirloom items and photos) is the collection of "Dogs of the World" cards that came with packets of tea. Mum helped by getting the little album book to stick 'em in and asking around to complete the set!

I seem to remember having lots of Drum Majors - and a lot more than 9 in total. Don't remember the TV ads, though. Possibly before we had a TV!

I also collected cards from Brooke Bond PG Tips - not sure whether or not they included "Dogs of the World". I also got dog cards from the weighing machine in Whitton Woolworths. For some reason I always got the greyhound.

[Stewart Reuben]

Prior to 1984 it was possible to win on time with a bare king. The story that sparked off this thread would have been so much more interesting then.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi John

"...and it even turned up as the basis for a running gag in one of the Hancock's
Half-Hour radio programmes."

That was a classic episode. If I recall he was after the trombone man.

In the Punch and Judy Man. In the opening scene when his wife fills his bowl
with cornflakes a plastic trombone man drops out.
Hancock looks at the camera and gives a small knowing smile.
That as far as I know is the only link in the film to his Radio and TV series.

Turf Cigarettes brought out a series of cards called 'Sports Records'
I have card no 34. which is Sir George Thomas playing a 32 board simul.

[Mike Gunn]

1. I have a bubblegum card which shows Bobby Charlton with a full head of hair.

2. I don't know if anybody else has noticed, but there is currently a part-work series in which you collect chess pieces (one per week). Each chess piece is a mythical warrior of some kind.