Over-view

Toy soldier as the name suggests is a miniature figure that replicates a soldier. This is one of the favorite toy among young kids specially boys. Toy soldiers usually depict armed and uniformed military people from different eras, countries, etc. Toy soldiers mainly are bifurcated into cowboys, pirates, knights, commandos, and other combat related personal. Variety is also available in their quality and functional ability like very simple play things are available whereas even detailed models and advanced remote controlled figures are available. Large size soldiers are also available but generally they are not considered as toy soldiers.

Material used

Toy soldiers are molded figures. They are made using a variety of materials like metal, wood, plastic, tin, hollow-cast, etc.

Different Toy Soldiers

Army Men: They are uncomplicated toy soldiers and are around 2 inches tall. They are mostly molded using green plastic. These toy soldiers are inexpensive and are sold at a discounted rate and are easily available.

Tin Soldiers: They are very popular with people who love collecting different types of toy soldiers. Tin soldiers are collected in large numbers and are on display in different battle scenes or are used to play different war games. They are available in a raw state so that we can custom paint the soldier. Tin soldiers are usually made of tin, plastic, lead, metal and pewter. Most of them depict war scenes and are called as diormas. Tin soldiers are mainly 2-dimensional models and are referred to as “flats”. They are the first ever toy soldiers that were mass produced. But now-a-days due to the availability of new 3-dimensional figures their popularity is declining; but never the less they are still being manufactured and marketed on a large scale.

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Introduction

Yo-yo is made of discs of equal size and weight. These discs can be of plastic or of wood or metal. They are connected to an axel, and a string is tied around its axel. Yo-yo’s became popular in the 1920s and since then they have been one of the favorite playing instruments for children as well as adults.

Over-view

A few centuries ago yo-yo was invented and used as a weapon in Philippines. Yo-yo is considered similar to the ‘filipino’ but the basic difference is in the way in which the yo-yo is swung. One continuous string twice the desired length is curled around itself to form a loop at one of the end and this is fitted around the axel. This small but significant modification is called as looped slip-string, and allows smooth, sophisticated and variable motion. This adjustment also provides greater stability and suspension of motion during the free spin.

Modern yo-yo

This toy was patented to James L. Haven and Charles Hettrich in 1866. It was named as bandalore. But this was hardly known or used by anyone until Pedro Flores started a Yo-Yo Manufacturing Company. It was started as a small scale business but grew tremendously and today it produces around 300,000 units per day.

Games

World Yo-Yo championship is annually held in Florida. Participants are selected from around the world; one should be the national champion of his/her country in order to qualify for this competition. The competition generally consists of two parts namely a set of compulsory tricks and a set of freestyle tricks. The competitors are judged on both the parameters and then a winner is announced.

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Introduction

Foot-bag is a small sand bag or a bean bag generally used as a ball in many games and sports. It is traditionally controlled by the feet, but in many sports any part of the body can be used except for the hands or arms. Footbag is also a name of a game played using the foot bag. There are different types of footbags available; some of them are freestyle footbag, circle kick and footbag net. Footbag and the games that are played using it are commonly referred to as hackey sack. Haky sack is a registered trademark of Wham-O.

Games

Foot-bag Freestyle: this is a footbag game where the players are required to perform difficult moves in a sequence to show their ability in choreographed routines that are set to a particular music. Even freestyle routines can be performed, but all the moves should be performed in quick succession and should be related to one-another. That is the end position of the footbag in the previous move should be the starting position for the next move. Tricks consist of many components like dexterities, spins, and ducks. Contact with the footbag should specifically be on the inside of the foot that is opposite to the supporting leg. Even the contact with a toe is allowed and there are many new inventive ways being used by competitors and the game is getting attractive and fascinating day by day. Other games like footbag net, field hack, circle kicking etc are also played.

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Introduction

It is a game played by children with clay, glass, or agate balls. They have a diameter of about ½ inch. However they are available in many sizes and colors. Marbles are very attractive and can even be used for decoration or also as show pieces. Many people love collecting marbles.

History

Roman literature contains details about marbles and there is a frequent mention of the use of marbles. There are many examples of marbles being used even in Egypt. They were made using a mixture of clay, glass and stone. Mass production of ceramic marbles was started in 1870s. Germany invented glass marbles in 1884, but mass production did not start until the 20th century. Mass production was started due to their supply from Europe being cut because of the World War I. This also contributed in the invention of a mechanical method to produce glass marbles. This system was developed by the Americans and is now used throughout the world. In a few developing countries minerals, steel, and large rocks were used as substitutes for marbles.

Games

Gaipar is one of the most intricate marble games played in Bengal. Every participant is given 4 marbles; these marbles are positioned on the edge of a rectangle. A special marble is kept in the centre. Participants take turns to hit the marbles placed on the rectangle, they do this by using bigger marbles called the matris. The marbles which get hit by the matris should be propelled out of the rectangle. If the marble that is hit remains in the rectangle then the player needs to forfeit and give away another marble as a penalty. Another rule states that the center marble called as ‘gai’ should not be hit by the matris but by other marbles and should be propelled out of the rectangle. When this occurs the game ends and the winner is the one who does this successfully or has the maximum number of marbles when the game ends.

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