A Pennsylvania-based toy company will soon offer little green army women after receiving a particularly persuasive letter from a 6-year-old girl, NPR reported.
The child implored the manufacturer to expand their toy line to include the female soldiers and promised she would play with them "every day."
The soldiers, which come in green, tan, and gray colors, are usually equipped with some type of armament, like bayonets, rifles, machine guns, and pistols. Some have parachutes, some carry walkie-talkies, and some even come with their own military vehicle.
But throughout the years, one thing has stayed the same: the toys are always male.
"My name is Vivian," she begins in the note. "I am six years old. Why do you not make girl army men?"
She goes on to say that her friend's mother is in the army and adds that while there are some pink toy soldiers, they're still all men, and "some girls don't like pink."
The letter was sent to several different toy companies, but it made the biggest impact at the Scranton-based manufacturer, BMC Toys, which produces the iconic green army men.
"It was a heartfelt letter," BMC Toys president Jeff Imel told NPR, "and it reminded me of being a kid and always wanting that toy you couldn't get in the gumball machine. So I really looked into it."
But the cost of producing the new troops has always deterred Imel: "To do a new set of figures like this, it's about the cost of a modest new car, you know, so I checked the couch cushions, came up empty."
However, after doing a bit more research into the demand for female figures, Imel made the announcement that his company would begin manufacturing the toys.
Some customers complained that adding women to the mid-century military lineup would be like trying to rewrite history, since women weren't actually allowed to fight in combat during this era in time.
However, Imel said this sort of criticism is coming from tone deaf individuals who don't understand the function of modern toys.
"The plastic army men are not just a toy version of soldiers in World War II movies," he said. "They exist in their own universe."
Imel said a retired Navy fleet master chief has previously reached out looking for female toy soldiers for her granddaughters. That, paired with Vivian's letter, saw the dream of these gender-inclusive toys become a reality.
The new figures are expected to hit stores by Christmas 2020, and Imel is confident they'll be a holiday hit.
"Every kid wants to be the hero of their own story," he said. "It shouldn't be up to us to decide who the hero is. Girls should be able to connect to the toys just as much as boys do."
