Buying and Collecting Old Toy Soldiers: Know What Your Getting!

Buying Elastolin 4cm and 7cm Plastic Siege Equipment

Like the figures, Elastolin 7cm Siege equipment came in three versions. Siege Tower (1961), Blide (1958), Large Catapult (bogensteinschleuder) (1956) and Small Catapult (onager) (1957), Round and Square Shields (1959) and Siege Ladder (1957) were all released in First Version (Painting 1). These were molded in ivory plastic and painted or stained in a dark brown Color. In 1963 the Spear Thrower (pfeilwerfer) was added to the line and is available only in Second and Third version. The Medieval Wagon or Kampfwagen (Camp Wagon) (1961) is said to also have released in First Version but one has never been documented. Everything including the wagon was released in Second Version and was molded in white plastic and painted with a golden light brown stain. The driver for the Second Version wagon has red clothing and is painted in Second Version. The wagon was issued in a two or four horse version. When purchasing the wagon make sure all the parts are present. This includes a bucket, a pennant or standard and three pieces of camp fence (with brace to hold it up). The camp fence was also sold individually in boxes with two pieces plus a brace. All siege equipment was released in Third Version including the Battering Ram (Rammock) (1969).

Elasolin also released all equipment in 4cm which is identical to 7cm with the exception of the shields which had no arrows. 4cm equipment is found only in Second and Third Versions. Also released in 4cm only was a medieval forge (1962) or blacksmiths shop and a well (1962). These were never issued in 7cm but a beautiful forge and well exactly like the original is being produced in Germany by a small firm. The Battering Ram which was never available in 4cm is also being produced in Germany by Diedhoff.

Things to Look for when Purchasing Siege Equipment:

Siege Tower

Siege Ladder

Blide

Camp Wagon

Shields

For Reference: Numbers and dates provided are from Hausser/Elastolin and taken from the book... Elastolin Kunststoff-Figuren By Andreas Pietruschka and Fritz Miller. Published 1993