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Little green Army men have been a staple of American childhoods for generations, but one entrepreneur is giving the classic toy a new mission by turning real U.S. military veterans into plastic figures made entirely in America.
Real Plastic Heroes founder Tyler Donovan said the idea came after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, when he saw firsthand how the end of the war affected a retired Marine who had deployed there multiple times.
“I realized at that moment, not only would making these toys be a really cool way to honor veterans, but it would also provide an opportunity to teach the rest of the country who didn’t deploy and really didn’t know what happened over 20 years about what war is actually like,” Donovan told FOX Business.
For Donovan, making the figures in the U.S. was essential to that mission.
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“If you’re making a figure that’s based on actual veterans about their service to our nation, the only way to do that the right way is to make that in the United States,” he said.
Donovan said one of the biggest challenges was finding a manufacturer capable of producing both the figures and the tooling used to make them entirely in the U.S.
“That was the most challenging part,” he said.
Each figure is modeled after a real veteran, including former Air Force combat controller Eric Lionheart, who said he was drawn to the company’s effort to preserve veterans’ stories.
“I really liked the mission and I really liked that he was trying to preserve the history,” Lionheart told FOX Business.
Lionheart said tying the toys to real service members gives them “more soul” than traditional plastic soldiers.
“I think little kids, when they do talk to their parents and they realize that the plastic figure they’re holding is an actual American that fought in those wars, I mean, how awesome is that?” he said.
Dean Wegner, founder and CEO of Authentically American and AAW Solutions, has also helped Donovan bring the project to life.
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A former Army Ranger and helicopter pilot, Wegner attended West Point with one of the veterans featured in the collection.
He said Donovan’s decision to manufacture the toys in America despite the higher cost was significant.
“It’s an easy choice to make overseas. It’s lower cost. But it was a very intentional choice that Tyler made to make right here in the U.S.,” Wegner said. “It’s more challenging. It’s difficult. But that was an intentional choice he made.”
Beyond the figures themselves, the company is working to preserve the stories of the veterans they represent.
Donovan said each veteran sat for an interview lasting between two and five hours. Families can access those stories through a QR code included with the figures.
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As Americans mark Veterans Day, Wegner said he hopes the toys and the stories behind them inspire a new generation to serve.
“I get a little choked up thinking about Tyler and his inspiration and what he’s doing to inspire the next generation,” he said.
The mission also provides a direct benefit to the veterans featured. A portion of sales from each set will go to the veterans represented by the figures in perpetuity, according to Donovan.
“We’ve revived an industry that hasn’t really been manufactured in America for decades,” Donovan said.
