The "Operation Market Garden" set was a paradox. Its pristine paratroopers and gliders were packed in soil—coarse, grey sand labeled "Arnhem gravel." If removed, the figures would tarnish overnight, developing a dark, gritty patina.

A geologist examined the "gravel." It was pulverized concrete and brick from the Arnhem road bridge's ruins. More critically, it was ionized from the intense heat of the final battle.

This ionized particulate acted as a **corrosion catalyst**. When separated from the stabilizing minerals in their "native" soil, the metal alloy in the figures' joints oxidized rapidly, replicating the accelerated decay of metal on that battlefield.

The set taught a grim lesson in context. The soldiers only remained pristine when surrounded by the physical memory of their objective's destruction. They were preserved by the rubble of their own failure, a tiny monument to the inextricable link between mission and monument.