To be annoyed there don't seem to be any good army toys?

[giantwaterbottle]

Trying to find some army/soldier toys for DS's 5th birthday and there seems to be very limited selection, online anyway.

I thought I'd get him an action man but apparently they were discontinued years ago!

I was in Smyths the other week and thought I saw action man type soldiers on the shelf but they are nowhere on the website. Maybe they can't advertise online?

Anyway, AIBU to be annoyed by this or maybe it's good that they aren't selling them anymore. I actually don't think I'm being unreasonable.

My DS loved the little cheap army men and would spend ages setting them up then having a battle! I got some from Amazon and eBay fairly cheaply

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Panda-300-Piece-Battlefield-Accessories/dp/B0778ZSWY5/ref=mpssa114?crid=1UE9H5OOA8N53&keywords=army+toys&qid=1663779547&sprefix=army+%2Caps%2C251&sr=8-4
This kind of thing. They've easily broken when stood on but he uses the broken bits when setting the battle up!

Action Man has been discontinued? 😳. That's such a shame. My boys loved Action Men and had loads of them, plus tanks, submarines, helicopters etc. Neither of them have ended up being aggressive or war-mongering, quite the opposite, but they did love them at the time.

Used to be loads of action men toys on ebay. My two loved them.

It's really hard to find them, dd wanted to get dn a tank and couldn't find one. Backlash against anything war like

I don’t think there’s much of a market for them, is there? I think I’m pretty relaxed as a parent but would feel a bit funny about my LO playing with army toys when people are living through real wars.

This probably isn't what you want, but Build A Bear sell a camouflage outfit, so you could take DS to their shop to build his own stuffed animal and dress it accordingly! They also do the red and black soldier's outfit with the busby.

Theyre not really the thing any more, but a simple amazon search brings up pages and pages of them. So not exactly difficult to get hold of. They even have action men

Yes gutted action man was discontinued, it's been discontinued a long time as my oldest wanted one. Luckily his uncle had a few from his childhood.
Action men were great, really wished they still existed.
Saying that, I did end up buying a ken doll and managed to buy some old action men clothing from e bay as a new addition to his uncles hand me down action men figures (always worth looking on there as often old action men brand new and boxed then up)

You can get the retro style ones. Amazon have them plus I have seen them in several shops.

Picture...

This, I don't think many people want them anymore

My son is 16, is very left wing, anti establishment in Outlook, hates gun culture and gets very upset when he hears about victims of war. As a child he used to love toy guns, soldier dressing up outfits, and best of all cheap plastic soldiers ( like the ones in toy story) I just went with it, made sure he access to dolls, a toy kitchen etc . It's the conversations you have not the toys you buy that's important.

The Range have got some. I knew I had seen some recently and I think that's where it was. Possibly tkmaxx too.

If you have any collectable toy fairs in your area they can be good for secondhand bits. I've bought a few Action Man outfits for Ken because Ken clothes are hard to get.

Try looking for GI Joe toys.

Yes GI Joe is what he is called in America. But essentially same thing.

Need to find a war hammer fan and buy their collection of figurines. Military history and battle strategy is fascinating, doesn't have to have anything to do with wanting to be a soldier as an adult.

My dd is always fighting battles with her dragons, it's 90 percent of the plot of how to train your dragon things.

www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/toys/action-figures-and-playsets/the-corps/c/SM06010115

The Corp- smaller than action man but more detail than the little plastic ones. military vehicles etc too

There is a move away from this type of toy.

My brothers played with them endlessly in the 70s.

They've all grown up to be well-adjusted, good husbands and fathers without a single violent bone in their body.

Thank you for the suggestions I will definitely be getting some of the little green soldiers from toy story, I did see them on Amazon.
Will also search GI Joe and check out the Range!

Have just checked the range they have loads of them! Thanks again :)

Also funny that nerf guns are so popular (not complaining I think they are fun) but the little figures not so much, as in toy don't see ads etc

To be honest most Action Men never went to war instead spending their days wearing a hand knitted (by your gran) jumper and stuck having a tea party with Sindy/Barbie.

My brothers used to have loads of the "Britains" model soldiers when I was a kid and I used to play with them. They also made cowboys and indians, some kind of space troopers vs aliens range, and farm animals and vehicles. I just googled them and they only do the farm stuff nowadays.

Look up COBI brand. They're basically Lego, but army themed. There are soldiers, vehicles, planes. And all compatible with Lego.