Elastolin was a trademark used by the German company O&M Hausser (O&M Haußer) for the toy soldiers and other types of figures it manufactured from composite material and later from plastic.
The Verwundete und Sanitatspersonal (series 656) included doctors and nurses to treat the assortment of wounded soldiers that the medic figures brought back from the battlefield.
Lagerleben ("camp life") [series 550/-] was represented by soldiers washing, cleaning, eating, reclining and their tents.
The Kriegsmarine was represented by a "personality" figure of Großadmiral Erich Raeder saluting, marching officers carrying swords, sailors carrying rifles, marching fanfare trumpeters (Fanfarenblaser) and flag-carriers (Fahnentrager) and a short set of combat figures.
The marching Fliegers also included an aircrewman wearing a beige "flight suit" instead of the blue Luftwaffe uniform.
Stepping outside the parade ground, there was an extensive line of SA Lagerleben figures and others representing a unit undergoing field training.
The first "personality figures" Hausser producer were Kaiser Wilhelm II and soon after Feldmarschall von Hindenburg during World War I.
A personality figure of SA leader Ernst Röhm was dropped from the line after he was executed during the so-called "Night of the Long Knives" (a purge of the socialist wing of the Nazi party) in 1934.
Göring's high profile in the German leadership was reflected by the fact that he too was represented by figures showing him in SA, NSFK and Luftwaffe uniform.
Premium grade figures of Hitler, Göring, Hindenburg, Mussolini and Franco were made with headless composition bodies that were then fitted with special-made porcelain heads that captured their facial features and expressions with exceptional clarity.
Italian figures in tropical uniforms, and (black) African colonial soldiers were produced in small numbers.
Therefore, it is helpful to have a good reference book such as Andrew Mollo's The Armed Forces of World War II to correctly identify them—particularly when distinguishing between German, Hungarian and Swiss personnel.
Hausser produced log cabin forts for the cowboys, castles/fortresses for the knights, houses and barns for the farmers and their animals, zoo enclosures for the wild animals, and an assortment of trench pieces and bunkers (Schutzengraben aus Holz) that allowed piece-by-piece purchase and assembly of multi-line trench systems for the soldiers.
The Nachrichtentruppe figure series included "radio groups" equipped with batteries that allowed messages to be sent and received in Morse code.
Three of the Infanterie riflemen (54/624, 54/626 and 54/628) contained a cap-firing device that—when tripped—would, in theory, send a puff of smoke out the barrel of their (oversize) rifles.
Enterprising young generals with the financial resources to do so could also provide their forces with engineer units using two types of man-powered water craft for crossing water obstacles, and with either a pontoon bridge or a conventional girder bridge so that horses and motor vehicles could cross as well.
Limited production of composition figures resumed several years after the end of World War II in 1945 subject to the strict terms of "de-Nazification."
Post-war production included the politically inoffensive Swiss figures with their black German-style helmets and black ankle boots, and a new line of American army figures wearing the dark olive uniform and "steel pot" style helmet of the WWII-era US Army.
Figures representing the post-war Bundeswehr and Austrian armies went into production after West Germany and Austria were again allowed to form military forces.
Hausser-Elastolin also manufactured personality figures of Prince Valiant and at least one or two other characters from the popular comic strip and feature film.
Along with these figures came an impressive new line of catapults, siege towers, a battering ram, camp fences, and early artillery pieces.
Each of the Revolutionary War forces could call on the services of a woman holding a cup in one hand a larger container in the other—presumably both held water.
Wheeled vehicles included a four-horse Roman chariot, a Kampfwagen (battle wagen) of the European late-Middle Ages, an American stage coach drawn by two horses, and an American covered wagen (also drawn by two horses) Hausser stopped manufacturing figures from composite materials in 1969.