Ancient Russia. Soldiers battles
Entry
I decided to continue the excursion into the world of soldiers with an article dedicated to the medieval soldiers of Russia.
I. Ya. Bilibin. Prince Igor
Every boy in the Soviet Union played with these heroes.
And the origins of these flat soldiers can be found in the so-called Nuremberg miniature, which began to be mass-produced in Germany from the end of the first half of the nineteenth century. The ancestor of the production of flat figures of tin soldiers was Nuremberg craftsman Joachim Gottfried Hilpert, who lived in the eighteenth century. He produced the Prussian army of Frederick the Great, and the figure of Frederick himself brought him additional glory.
A bit of history
It is difficult to say why in the USSR it was the flat form that gained popularity, and later, at a time when voluminous figures were actively produced in neighboring European countries, we focused on the flat ones.
I think the explanation is simple: the first is the economy of production, the second is the inertia in the production of toys, and the third is the Soviet soldiers 50-60. XX century originate from the soldiers of the 30-40 years of production of private cooperatives, and all of them were also flat. You can even observe the evolution of some figures from cooperative 40's to mass 70's, they have not changed much. The established forms made it possible to produce a lot, to give a “shaft” without working on quality.
With the introduction of plastic toys in the 50-60's of the twentieth century. and in the Soviet Union they switched to the production of plastic soldiers, all the more so since it reduced its cost and made it possible to make large volumes.
If we talk about the old Russian toy army, their aesthetics always surprised me: quite strange postures of the heroes, which were difficult to use in battle. One of the warriors, for example, holds a sword only with a guard and for a guard, without a hilt.
It can be assumed that the sculptors who worked during this period were under the serious influence of the works of the artists of the “Russian Art Nouveau” V. M. Vasnetsov and I. Ya. Bilibin, authors of different, but many depicting Old Russian warriors in the Art Nouveau style. Fashionable during this period, I. S. Glazunov, who also wrote Russia, did not differ in originality in the image of soldiers. All the same type in appearance and armament, from the 10th to the 17th century, under the general name "Old Russian warrior". This is probably why miniatures present more expression, movement, one might say, epic, but little realism.
But the end of the 70's - the beginning of the 80's was a time of change, voluminous soldiers were produced in the GDR and Poland, at the same time the Donetsk toy factory began to produce voluminous soldiers, there was nothing for children to compare with.
I already wrote in the article, dedicated to viking soldiers, that today there is an opinion that we did not have to buy molds of the Mars company (USA) for the Donetsk plant, but create our own: take not the Vikings and Indians, but from our stories. This, of course, would be correct, but it is known for certain that this decision (on the purchase of American uniforms) was justified by cost savings in its own development.
At the same time, there was a debate about whether we needed a military toy as a whole or not: if the party leadership believed that our peaceful society did not need soldiers, then the Komsomol believed that such a toy educates future soldiers and it is necessary.
Warriors in the USSR
So, the first set to appear at the very end of the 60's was the Russian Warriors kit, known today as the Don Camp. About twenty years it was produced by the Progress factory, the set consisted of 8 foot and 2 equestrian warriors, it cost 45 kopecks. This is, of course, as it is now customary to say, a cult set produced in millions of copies and duplicated by other toy factories (the Saratov toy factory made soldiers in blue). It was about this set with a strange aesthetics that I wrote above.
"Russian warriors." Plant "Progress"
At the same time, the Progress toy factory, which was created in 1966 by the union of two metal toy factories, produced the same Russian soldiers in metal (TsAM). Riders cost 25 kopecks. On foot warriors cost 15 kopecks. They were sold separately at the Soyuzpechat kiosks and as a set in toy stores.
"Russian warriors." Plant "Progress". TsAM
Still worth remembering about the similar warriors that were produced at the factory to them. 50 anniversary of the USSR in the city of Kotovsk, Tambov region. These are very strange, non-artistic figures, but because of their “strangeness” and extreme rarity, they are very popular with collectors.
"Russian warriors." Plant them. 50 anniversary of the USSR. Kotovsk
The big disadvantage of all these sets was the lack of opponents: with whom to fight?
However, the same question could be addressed to all kits dedicated to our army, with rare exceptions.
But here is another mass set that every boy had, corrected this error. This is an "Ice Battle" (or "Battle of the Ice") worth 1 rubles. 10 kopecks. The number of soldiers is 20: 10 Russian and 10 German knights, in each squad of 3 rider and 7 on foot. Russians were red or crimson, Germans were green. Later brown and gray.
"Ice Battle". Progress Plant. Figures from the early 70s
If the equipment of the old Russian soldiers was vaguely reminiscent of warriors and combatants of the 13th century (which are only “mirrors” on the chest of the infantry and Alexander Nevsky), then the “knights”, with the exception of one figure, went back to the end of the 14th century and higher. The cult film of S. M. Eisenstein “Alexander Nevsky”, which constantly, to the delight of the boys, was shown on television at that time, contributed to the real right battles of “ours” with the knights. The myth, which the film involuntarily propagated by the soldiers, showing the soldiers of the Order with such armored vehicles, is tenacious even today, although a new myth has appeared: now they talk about heavier weapons of the Russians compared to the Germans.
The low cost of these sets made it possible to "reconstruct" the battle on Lake Peipsi, a scheme which, thanks to the history textbook of the 4 class and the wonderful "Book of Future Commanders" by Anatoly Vasilyevich Mityaev, was known to any boy.
In the 70 years of the twentieth century, Old Russian soldiers and their opponents launched the Astretsovo metal toy factory located in the Dmitrov district of the Moscow region. Astresovo is a historical place for the production of Russian tin toys from the middle of the 19th century to the 1990. It is unfortunate that such a wonderful tradition for the production of tin toys has perished, just recently, when in Madrid, I saw a Spanish tin modern toy store: wonderful clockwork motorcycles, cars, trains and clowns.
At the Astretsov factory, a set of soldiers was made of TsAM alloy, from the end of 80's without blackening. The set included 8 horsemen: four Russians and four of their opponents. They were sold in a box and placed on a plastic stand. The sculptor of these figures was B.D. Saveliev. His son, D. B. Saveliev continued this series, making 16 foot soldiers. The soldiers were extremely fragile, especially the infantrymen, which is probably why the same figures in plastic were released, but only equestrian ones. It is amazing how control bodies missed such fragile products that literally broke in their hands. Naturally, plastic ones were sharply more stable and unbreakable.
"Warriors of the Middle Ages." Astretsovo metal toy factory
At the same time, in Leningrad, at the Leningrad Carburetor Plant (LKZ), the “Ice Slaughter” set was produced.
The set consisted of 14 enemy warriors: six on foot and eight horsemen, the knights were “chained” in armor around the fourteenth century. The horses made huge tails to support the figures. The use of such elements gave unreality, fairy tale to such soldiers. The figures were located on a plastic high stand, closed with a transparent cover.
"Battle on the Ice". Leningrad carburetor plant.
The complex and small elements of the soldiers quickly broke, so, despite the large volumes of production, few of these figures have survived to our time. It is worth adding that in Leningrad every boy had them and they ... correctly, actively smashed with the help of cubes. Therefore, today the set is extremely popular among collectors and its value is constantly growing.
The author of the figures was the famous sculptor L.V. Razumovsky, who created many toys.
The production of this set, however, in plastic, was continued at the beginning of the twenty-first century. in Ukraine - in Lugansk by the Alpanus company. The figures were slightly smaller than in the Leningrad set. They were made of multi-colored plastic and, unlike their older metal counterparts, they were fragile.
"Battle on the Ice". Alpanus. Lugansk
L. V. Razumovsky was the author of another set, which has been successfully produced since 1987, according to other information - from 1991, and is still available. This is a set of "Battle of Kulikovo" (later - "Russia and the Horde"). The set was made in multi-colored plastic. Initially, it was produced at the Leningrad carburetor plant. Rusichi were red, and the Horde were blue.
"Battle of Kulikovo". Tatars. Leningrad carburetor plant
Now you can find sets of different colors. After LKZ, the figures were produced by the Baltic Chemical Company and Plastmaster. A total of 14 figures, of which ancient Russian warriors are 5 mounted and 2 on foot. Among the Tatars, all are equestrian, but one figure is double, an archer stands next to the rider with a lasso.
These are very well-made miniatures, more or less reflecting realities, just the fourteenth century.
Below I give a photo of a colored version of the “Kulikovo battle”, it is worth saying that among collectors of soldiers it’s not accepted to paint figures, they should be preserved in their original form.
"Battle of Kulikovo". Rusichi. Plastmaster
In addition to the Soviet flat warriors, it is worth noting that in the NDP cooperatives produced, among other things, soldiers on the subject of the early history of Poland, outwardly they looked very much like the Old Russian army, judge for yourself:
Warriors of Poland. Cooperative production. NDP
But in the 80's, the Progress association released the first voluminous Old Russian warriors, and the absolute innovation was the fact that the warriors had a removable weapon, that is, in the game it was possible to change swords, spears, axes and maces in warriors. The release of the "Russian squad" on a scale of 60 mm, and even voluminous, was a step forward, but all this happened already at the end of children's interest in such a toy.
"Russian squad." Plant "Progress"
The heroes of our day
In the 90s, interest in soldiers fell completely, especially since the topic of ancient military history became completely irrelevant. Although, for example, DZI released its sets until the very beginning of the XXI century. During this period, the company "Technologist" appeared in the city of Gelendzhik (1987), it produces inexpensive soldiers for board games and coloring in sizes 40-54 mm. In her line "Artmaster" there are Rusichs and Varangians.
"Rusichi". Plant "Technologist"
During perestroika, the direction of the military-historical metal miniature (VIM) began to actively develop. And only at the beginning of the "zero" by the forces of collectors of enthusiastic Soviet soldiers was an attempt to develop the process interrupted at the end of the 80's made. The desire to give it mass was not crowned with success: the children played other games, and just like in the case of soldiers in the 60 years, cinema played a significant role in promoting the toy. And the heroes were no longer heroes and Vikings, pirates or cowboys. Interestingly, the Lego company in 2004, being at the bankruptcy stage, began to actively use the series to promote their toys, and this saved the situation.
In the same year in Moscow, the collector of soldiers, Timur Zamilov, created the Ura company, which produced an assortment of soldiers from TsAM that exceeded the entire Soviet one. Among them was a set dedicated to the battle on Lake Peipsi.
They were flat, well-painted warriors, made in a deliberately toy style. The set was sold in a beautiful gift box.
"Battle on the Ice". Company "Hurray"
St. Petersburg companies, which also created flat metal soldiers on the themes of the famous battles of Alexander Nevsky, did not want to lag behind Moscow. The Soldiers for All Time company released a set of flat opponents in the Ice Battle from white TsAM, in 2019 they made the same figures in multi-colored plastic.
"Battle on the Ice". "Soldiers for all time"
And the company “Soldiers Publiya” first created a set of horsemen and infantry based on the battle on Lake Peipsi, then a master and Alexander Nevsky in metal, followed by foot soldiers on the battle on the Neva, first in TsAM and later in plastic.
The Battle of Grunwald. The Soldiers of Publius
Their next stage was the release of three-dimensional figures on a scale of 60 mm on the theme of the Grunwald and Kulikovo battles, and, of course, on the battle on the ice of Lake Peipsi. It is worth noting that the Battle of Grunwald was made for the first time in Russia, before it was done only in Poland.
When developing master models, the company relies on popular science reconstruction work, which gives special significance to its figures.
"Battle on the Ice". The Soldiers of Publius
The company "Engineer Basevich" released a set of voluminous soldiers "Ancient Slavs" on a scale of 54 mm. And in 2018, the company released a magnificent set of No. 23 foot “Nomads”, where there are Khazars, Pechenegs and Polovtsians. The company traditionally has very high detail and elaboration.
"The ancient Slavs." "Engineer Basevich"
More recently, the company "Warriors and Battles" is actively developing the theme of the game flat soldier. She made as part of the series “Kievan Rus. Friends and Enemies ”of horsemen, infantry, magi, squad of Ancient Russia, as well as their opponents, Polovtsy.
Magus. "Warriors and battles." It is gratifying that the manufacturers of soldiers are turning to such interesting topics.
In conclusion, I want to say that the soldiers are still primarily a toy, so you should not judge them very strictly, from the heights of our historical knowledge. I will say more, often the expensive and painted by professional artists VIM also does not withstand any criticism from the point of view of historical reconstruction. Another thing, is such a task facing the authors?
And the last one. Today, voluminous plastic soldiers reach a high degree of detail and historical authenticity.
This is where I end the review of soldiers - warriors of Ancient Russia.
To be continued ...
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