Elastolin - Other Hausser-Elastolin Figures From The 1930s

Other Hausser-Elastolin Figures From The 1930s

The Hausser-Elastolin line of the 1930s was not limited to the military and paramilitary units of the time. There was also an extensive line of cowboys and Indians (the cowboys sometimes known as "trappers" in Germany), a shorter line of medieval knights and foot soldiers (Ritterfiguren), and a short line of Prussian and Austrian figures from the 18th-century wars of Frederick the Great (Friedrich der Grosse) that included personality figures of "der alte Fritz" (0/7/20) and two of his generals—Seydlitz (0/7/21) and Ziethen (0/7/22). The figure of a Prussian drummer with a black (African) face (figure 0/7/47/1M) is correct; there was an African drummer in the Prussian army at that time, however such a figure should be checked carefully with a "black light" to make sure that it is not a post-war repaint.

There were also an extensive lines of wild animals (menagerie-und-jagdtiere) and farm animals (haustiere), and also a line of more than 30 civilian figures for use with electric trains (Eisenbahn-Figuren). The latter included DRB (Deutsches Reichsbahn = German Railway) workers, station workers such as luggage carriers, and passengers; they were produced primarily in 7-cm (NormalgroBe) although some were also available in 5-cm and 3-cm sizes.

Hausser also produced log cabin forts for the cowboys, castles/fortresses for the knights, houses and barns for the farmers and their animals, zoo enclosures for the wild animals, and an assortment of trench pieces and bunkers (Schutzengraben aus Holz) that allowed piece-by-piece purchase and assembly of multi-line trench systems for the soldiers. These included artillery emplacements, command bunkers, a field kitchen and a first aid station.

There was an equally extensive line of tin plate military wagons (including a field kitchen and a field bakery), trucks, half-tracks, searchlights and artillery pieces. Some of the 1920s vintage models were rather generic in design, but some of the later models were accurate scale models of their real-life counterparts—the 721-1/2 leichtes Inf.-Geschutz ("light infantry cannon"), 726 schweres Langrohrgeschutz ("heavy long-barreled cannon"), 710 Schwere Feldhaubitze ("heavy field howitzer") and the 744 Panzer-Spahwagen ("armored scout wagen" = armored car) in particular.

Elastolin added play action value to these toys in several ways. Many of the motor vehicles had battery-powered electric motors that propelled them across the tin plate battlefield with functional electric headlights lighting the way; the truck-mounted and stationary search lights were also functional. The Nachrichtentruppe figure series included "radio groups" equipped with batteries that allowed messages to be sent and received in Morse code. Three of the Infanterie riflemen (54/624, 54/626 and 54/628) contained a cap-firing device that—when tripped—would, in theory, send a puff of smoke out the barrel of their (over-size) rifles. Many of the tin plate artillery pieces not only fired caps but projectiles as well—which, in theory were fired only at enemy soldiers and never at family pets or one's younger siblings!

Enterprising young generals with the financial resources to do so could also provide their forces with two types of man-powered water craft for crossing water obstacles, and with either a pontoon bridge or a conventional girder bridge so that horses and motor vehicles could cross as well.

Elastolin composition figures were manufactured in 40mm (also known as 4-cm), 65mm (6.5-cm), 70mm (7-cm), and 105mm (10.5 cm) scales. Since 70-mm is approximately 3-inches, a 70-mm figure is approximately 1/24 scale. The Elastolin catalogs of the 1930s describe the 7-cm figures as being "normal size" (normalgrosse) and the 4-cm figures as Miniatur-Soldaten. The catalog numbers for the 4-cm figures began with the preface M so the catalog number for a 4-cm marching Heer Trommler (Army snare drummer) was M 47/1.

Production of all figures (and all other toys) ended after the German economy was put on a "total war" footing in 1943.