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Desert Storm Soldiers

The initial run of soldiers for Desert Storm were amusing, if not outright hilarious.  Because the new new U.S. Army helmet, toymakers issued World War II German troops in green and tan, labelled as U.S. troops.  The first plastic figures designed for Desert Storm appeared later.  There were six poses of U.S. soldiers armed with modern weaponry.  These included two men with M-60 light machine guns, one with the M203 "over and under" grenade launcher, one with a Mac -10 submachine gun, one with a "grease gun" type submachine gun, and one with an M-16 and a pistol. The poses weren't classic, but in a field where new figures are rare, they were welcomed.  

Bagged sets cold under the Imperial brand included Desert Storm soldiers in green and mustard tan, along with clones of Matchbox World War II U.S. Paratroopers, copies of the Tim Mee M-48, a jeep, and brown clones of Marx's little tower antitank gun. These are anachronisms.  The M48 is no longer used by U.S. combat troops. The jeep was replaced by the Hummvee in the 1980s. Towed anti-tank guns went out of the inventory by the late 1950s.  

The Desert Storm troops have been copied, cloned, shrunk and in one case, expanded. (See "Enlarged Clones" ).

	Soldier with M203
	Armed with M-16 and automatic pistol.
Here are some of the Imperial figures beside the "enlarged" copies found at Target.	Carrying M-60 machine gun
Clones of Matchbox troops were included in Imperial sets.	Speaking on radio while wielding mac-10 machine-pistol.
Here are the Matchbox troops beside the enlarged figures	Running with M-60 machine gun
M48 tanks packed with Imperial "Desert Storm" soldiers.	Firing submachine-gun, reminiscent of the German submachine-gunner in the old Marx 54mm set.

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