the.com/tin soldier

means A small toy figure of a soldier, traditionally cast in tin, posed stiff and upright and usually part of a matched set meant for play or display.

from Tin soldiers emerged as toys once tin and lead alloys became cheap enough to cast into molds, with flat and rounded versions turning up in Europe by the 1700s-1800s — Germany in particular became famous for mass-producing them. The phrase got a second life from Hans Christian Andersen's tale 'The Steadfast Tin Soldier,' about a one-legged toy soldier who endures his fate without ever breaking formation, which is likely why 'tin soldier' lingers in language as a figure of rigid, uncomplaining endurance.