McFarlane Toys - McFarlane's Military

McFarlane's Military

The company gave a modern-day revival to the classic "toy soldier" with the release of McFarlane's Military in 2005, which capitalized on the fervor and media coverage surrounding the American military and support for its soldiers serving abroad. The figures did not depict actual people so much as it did their professions, named simply by their job descriptions, such as "Army Ranger" or "Navy SEAL." All were of stern-looking males in full military gear, with highly detailed weapons and accessories modeled after the exact materials each soldier would be carrying in real life. Later the same year, the figures were re-released in a series called McFarlane's Military Redeployed, although all the figures were visually different with new sculpting, painting, and packaging. The names of the figures, however, stayed the same, as did their basic articulation, accessories, and posture. A second series was released in November 2005 under the title "2nd Tour of Duty" with six new figures depicting additional professions such as "Army Paratrooper" and "Marine Radioman." These were followed in April 2006 by a third series with "Army Ranger Sniper" and "Navy SEAL Boarding Unit," among others. Series 2 was also "Redeployed" in July 2006, with resculpts, repaints, etc., but also with changes to the names and nature of the characters themselves, such as the new "Marine SAW Gunner" and a never-before released 2-pack of a grenade-launcher gunner and loader.

Series 3 was released in April 2006 alongside the Series 2 "redeployment." Series three notably made its mark by producing 2 different versions of each profession, one depicting a Caucasian soldier and the other depicting an African-American soldier, except for the Army M60 Machine Gunner, who could be Hispanic or Caucasian. The same concept of having 2 variants of soldiers of different cultures was carried forward again in Series 4, which was released in October 2006.