MPC space men, the so-called ringhand figures. That is as far back as I can recall. These figures seemed to be everywhere for years molded in different colored plastic with different accessories to cover everything from the American Civil War to missions into space.

Toys were violent at that time. Most small boys not addicted to sports could be counted on to wield a small arsenal of toy weaponry. My most benign piece was a hunting rifle with scope made of plastic which my parents purchased for me when I was 4. All these weapons and soldiers and competitive games led me to believe that aggressive leadership amongst toddlers was the way to go but as a gawky, thin child with glasses, I just came off as annoying and finally a bit marginalized.

Of course, at that point, toy soldiers are just the ticket for solidifying one’s fantasy worlds complete with maps and histories and then carrying those worlds on into adulthood.

But in the beginning, there were MPC ringhand spacemen. When we moved to a new house when I was 5, I recall setting them up on patrol among the labyrinth of packed boxes. Where the spacemen went is not hard to guess. My father thought of toys the way one things of old lottery tickets and was quick to discard them. He taught me a lesson I still have not fully learned. But that was a beginning.