by Mary-Kate Roan
Staff Writer
One soldier is leaning down, trying to comfort a fallen comrade splayed across the open ground. Another soldier is standing, his gun pointed in the direction of an unseen enemy. Their faces show the detailed lines of tension, as do their physiques. They are surrounded, and they are just three of about 100 that are locked together inside the encased tomb that takes a trip through time and captures the moments of, in this case, World War II. It looks like a scene straight from Steven Spielberg’s “Band of Brothers.” But it’s not.
Welcome to Troops of Time – a passion that started long before Tim Tyler got into the beer business.
After Tyler’s family closed the doors on its Jacksonville Coors distributing business, Tyler turned his passion for history into a miniature soldier and war memorabilia operation when he opened the Troops of Time in 2001. But while the history buff has always had a knack for all things dealing with war, he has a person and a place to point a finger at when it came to the idea behind his rather unique store.
“My grandmother would send me back toy soldiers when she would visit family in Europe, so that’s how I first got hooked,” said Tyler. “And one day, I was at a beer convention in Texas when I came across this miniature soldier shop.”
From there, Tyler’s fascination grew until the family business was sold.
“We closed it because I was the only one really involved,” said Tyler. “My family wanted to sell it off.”
So they did. And now Tyler is spending his time completely immersed in history, though that’s really nothing new.
Tyler’s fascination with history isn’t the only reason for opening the store in Jacksonville. He believes preserving history is valuable for future generations.
“I think it’s important for the younger generations to appreciate history,” said Tyler. “So hopefully they can stop by the store and see history in a new way.”
Tyler was previously a participant in Civil War re-enactments. Though he doesn’t actually partake in the actual re-enactments anymore, he does admit to still putting on his uniform from time to time.
And Tyler wasn’t alone in his adventure of selling off the family business and opening the doors of the only toy soldier shop and military gallery in the Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia areas. Gordon Terry, whose family owned Terry Buick on Blanding Boulevard, joined him in his endeavor.
“I was a history buff, just like Tim,” said Terry.
Even the location is historical, according to Tyler and Terry.
“This house (in Riverside on Copeland Street) is 101 years old,” said Tyler. “And when we saw it, we knew we wanted it.”
Tyler added that the most popular items for collectors to look at are from Germany from World War II. His top miniature soldier distributor is King & Country, an English company started in Hong Kong in 1984. King & Country also prints a quarterly magazine called the “Collector.” Troops of Time and Tyler were featured in the 25th Anniversary Special.
Troops of Time also won a Best of Jacksonville award for the category “Miniature Items for Collectors.”
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