Toy soldier eras come in clusters that don't always match the textbook chapters. The American Revolution and Federal Era collection at Breagans covers about a forty-year span — from the first shots at Lexington in 1775 through the close of the War of 1812 and into the early peacetime army of the 1820s and 30s — because that's the period a collector building a coherent display tends to work in. The uniforms and equipment changed surprisingly little across those decades: Continental Army officers became Federal-era army officers with minor modifications, the British 43rd Regiment that fought in America is recognizably the same regiment that fought across the Atlantic, and the men who learned soldiering under Washington and Wayne went on to command the armies of Andrew Jackson's generation.

The collection works for collectors building displays at any scale. A single-figure display: Washington at his Inauguration, or Hamilton, or Lafayette as a centerpiece. A small vignette: a Continental fire team with NCO, ensign, and rifleman, or a Lewis and Clark scene with Captain Lewis and Lieutenant Clark. A full diorama: the British 43rd Regiment in line opposing the Continental Line, with militia and Native Warriors in flanking cover. The scenic accessories — boulders and rocks, the open-field backdrop — are designed to integrate the figures into period terrain. All figures are W. Britain, 1/30 scale (60mm), matte-painted.