They really ought to have seen it coming....
In 1938, while British soldier manufacturers like "Britains" were mostly still churning out scarlet coated Guardsmen and various "Types of the Indian Army" on parade, German toy manufacturers were on a more modern and aggressive trajectory - preparing in miniature for a forthcoming blitzkrieg. This fascinating Lineol catalogue for 1938/1939 turned up on Ebay a while back:
Contemporaneous catalogues - quite as much as cigarette cards - can be a great VBCW inspiration. Even more so the surviving war toys from the 1938 period:
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| Motorised Infantry Transport - in German Grey |
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| The same type of vehicle and passengers in a snazzy three colour camouflage scheme |
It is somewhat of a curiosity that the German war toy industry seems to have adopted three colour camouflage schemes (at least as an option) for scale Wehrmacht vehicles, well in advance of the actual German war industry for real vehicles. And (in true VBCW style) even the German manufacturers seem to have dreamed up somewhat "imaginary" armoured cars:
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| Not a Lineol product, but an armoured car manufactured in three colour camouflage scheme by Marklin. |
More on 1938 war toys in due course.....
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