Toy soldiers/fortress for an 8 year old

[VoziKaoFangio]

It's my boy's 8th birthday shortly, and he's asked for toy soldier figures and a fortress. Now, I have never had any interest in this sort of thing and don't know where to start. Initial googling seems to just throw up stuff suitable for younger children, Playmobil, babyish plasticy type stuff. Also, I think he's looking for something a bit more realistic, with modern solder figures rather than twee period type stuff. I have absolutely no idea where to look or where to begin.

Does anyone have any experience of this, can anyone recommend a particular shop/website/manufacturer which makes/sells this sort of thing, aimed at the 8-12 age group rather than 3-7 year olds?

I'm stumped.

[y2johnny]

http://www.gltc.co.uk/wooden-play-castle//gltc/fcp...

[Justayellowbadge]

http://www.toysoldiersdepot.com/

[Anubis]

Toys R Us have toy castles from various manufacturers. They also have different knights, dragons, etc you can buy (around £3-5 each). Also check out Early Learning Centre - they do these kinds of "choose your own mix and match" toys for the soldiers.

[VoziKaoFangio]

y2johnny said:

http://www.gltc.co.uk/wooden-play-castle//gltc/fcp...

Cheers for the suggestion, but that's the sort of Playmobil type stuff for younger children I keep turning up. I'm looking for something a bit more grown up. Either metal or plastic figures, but more realistic and more model-like rather than toy-like. Hard to explain, really.

[VoziKaoFangio]

Justayellowbadge said:

http://www.toysoldiersdepot.com/

That website's a Yankee one, I'd not be confident of getting stuff delivered by the end of next week. Thanks anyway.

[Anubis]

http://www.elc.co.uk/Tower-of-Doom/5552,default,sc...

[VoziKaoFangio]

Anubis said:

Toys R Us have toy castles from various manufacturers. They also have different knights, dragons, etc you can buy (around £3-5 each). Also check out Early Learning Centre - they do these kinds of "choose your own mix and match" toys for the soldiers.

He's more after World War II type soldier if you see what I mean, modern soldiers and their paraphernalia, not knights and dragons and stuff. I've looked at Toys Am We and not found what I'm after, maybe I'll have a second look.

[Justayellowbadge]

The Entertainer has lots of soldier and vehicle playsets, but they are a bit tat.

[KieronGSi]

http://www.hmarmedforces.com/


British forces action men for the win.

[VoziKaoFangio]

Justayellowbadge said:

The Entertainer has lots of soldier and vehicle playsets, but they are a bit tat.

I only seem to be able to find nasty cheap tat, or £100 plus per figure stuff for adults who haven't discovered booze and women and want to recreate world history in their loft.

There must be some middle ground out there aimed at my boy's age group, surely?

[Tumbler]

Lego ones any good? http://www.kidsarmyshop.com/category.php?id_catego...

[Tumbler]

Or more this sort of thing? http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005VTNWNC/ref=asc_df_B...

[Rutter]

Not sure whether its exactly what you are after but have you looked at the games workshop stuff, I loved it when I was a kid painting and building all the models.

[Tumbler]

Airfix still exists https://www.airfix.com/airfix-products/new-models-...

[VoziKaoFangio]

Tumbler said:

Or more this sort of thing? http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005VTNWNC/ref=asc_df_B...

That's getting there, but he's after way more figures than that. He's got a 99p bag of 100 or so green plastic fellas now, and he's looking for an upgrade on that really. Lots of figures, but better quality, more colourful and realistic than the current ones, and some buildings/hardware to go with it.

I'm really struggling! Thought it would be a piece of cake.

[Anubis]

You're looking for die-cast models?

http://www.tankzone.co.uk/cart/fov32soldiers.htm

[VoziKaoFangio]

Tumbler said:

Lego ones any good? http://www.kidsarmyshop.com/category.php?id_catego...

Hey, that's a really good call. Might do the trick, he said to get him Lego if we can't find the toy soldier stuff. I'll run it past him tonight. Thanks.

[Anubis]

Can't go wrong with Lego. You can build your own castles and bases.

[VoziKaoFangio]

Anubis said:

You're looking for die-cast models?

http://www.tankzone.co.uk/cart/fov32soldiers.htm

I don't know! But those figures look like exactly what I'm after. Thanks. They don't seem to have much stock, but those are the closest to what I'm after that I've seen so far.