Largest public collection of toy soldiers

The world’s largest public collection of toy soldiers can be found at the Museo de los Soldaditos de Plomo, in Valencia, Spain. There are in excess of a million pieces in the museum’s collection, 85,000 of which are on display. The figures occupy cabinets spread across a dozen rooms, each with a particular theme – for example, World War I, Ancient Rome, the US Civil War and Medieval England. There’s even a full-scale recreation of the 1707 Battle of Almansa featuring thousands of figures doing battle across a vast model landscape.

The collection was established by Álvaro Noguera Giménez (1939–2006), a Valencia businessman and toy-soldier fanatic. It is housed in a former palace, Malferit Marquis Palace – a magnificent gothic building near Valencia Cathedral.