Last year Nick & DeAnna VerSteeg of TSSD announced that they were looking to sell their business. I remember communicating with Nick when he first started selling toy soldiers. TSSD was one of the first companies on the internet that I dealt with. The news that they were no longer going to continue was sad.

The VerSteeg’s had built one the of the most iconic plastic toy soldier companies in recent history. They started off selling toys soldiers over 20 years ago. Then they started producing there own products which included plastic toy soldiers and foam buildings and terrain pieces. 

Finally they expanded into developing there own playsets. In 2006 with Barzso Playsets they produced one of TSSD most iconic playsets “Road to Stalingrad”.

There was a couple of months of speculation about who the new owners would be. Then in the beginning of December it was announced that TSSD was sold to David & Kim Cook. They have been selling plastic figures from different companies and other products on eBay under the name of “micshaunscloset2013.”

The news that MicShaun’s Closet were the new owners was good news to me. I had purchased toy soldier sets from them over the past few years with no problems. Most of my online purchases take place on eBay.

I started communicating with the Cooks a few days after the announcement of the sale. After things had settled down they were able to take some time to answer a few questions.

Warhorse Miniatures: Hi David & Kim. Congratulations with purchasing Toy Soldiers of San Diego. I have purchased figure sets from you the past couple of years on eBay. Besides your eBay business, what else can you tell us about yourselves and how did the deal with TSSD get made? I am assuming that you have the rights to the molds too.

MicShaun’s Closet: Currently my wife and I have full time jobs and our Ebay business has been a “side hustle” for many years. I have always dreamed of owning a toy/hobby store and grew up playing with plastic soldiers which were always my favorite toys. When I first heard that TSSD was for sale, I didn’t know if it was a realistic possibility. Not long after, I mentioned the potential sale to Kim. We talked about it and decided, why not us. TSSD figures have been high on my favorites list for a long time. The attraction of TSSD was the amazing 30 plus sets, the colors and the quality of the figures.

We reached out to Nick and DeAnna because we have a long standing business relationship with them. After many phone calls & email conversations, we reached an agreement and made this dream a reality. We would not have been able to accomplish this without the openness and candor of Nick and DeAnna. They shared all the information that we needed to make this decision.

The deal included all TSSD inventory including figure molds and foam molds, and all intellectual property associated with TSSD.

Warhorse Miniatures: I have purchased figure sets from you the past couple of years on eBay. It was always a pleasant experience. Besides eBay are you going to sell your items on a website, Amazon and maybe some other venues?

MicShaun’s Closet: We are continuing to sell on Ebay, and we have opened a Shopify site that will serve as our website, blog and store. We are selling through Facebook and plan to add Amazon to our sales channels in the near future. We will also add Instagram as a sales channel in the coming months.

Warhorse Miniatures: I guess that you are going to spend some time selling off the sets that you acquired with the deal. TSSD made some nice sets over the years. My favorite where the Plains Indians. Most collectors I think would like to know if you planning to recast any of the past sets?

 

MicShaun’s Closet: We are selling off the inventory that we received and we believe the Plains Indians are a great set. Coincidentally, the Plains Indians Set #13 are completely out of stock and are part of a large re-order that we are about to make to our manufacturer. This re-order will include the sets we currently don’t have in most of the colors that Nick and DeAnna have been selling in the last few years. We recently made a large re-order of the foam pieces and should have most if not all pieces back in stock in the next 4 to 6 weeks. We can’t keep the foam pieces – as fast as we put them on, they sell.

Warhorse Miniatures: Do you have any plans to expand any of the existing themes or start a new theme of figures.

MicShaun’s Closet: We definitely plan on producing new figures. It is our understanding that producing a new set is a lengthy process. Our best guess is that we would come out with a new set or sets in late 2019 or sometime in 2020. We are also considering new foam pieces as well. Theme and category is still to be determined.

Warhorse Miniatures: You said that maybe at the end of the year or next year that you will produce some new figure sets and maybe foam pieces. Do you think that you will expand on one of the current themes that is in your inventory or maybe start a new theme?

 

MicShaun’s Closet: We are thinking about expanding the themes that have been created by TSSD and we are also considering creating new themes.  It all comes down to how well our business succeeds.  Mold creation is an expensive endeavor.

We are keeping our options open with regard the to foam pieces.

We have lots of ideas but need to recoup some of the costs from the purchase before we move forward with new figures and foam.

Warhorse Miniatures: Do you plan on still using the TSSD brand in the future on recast and new products or will it be MicShaun’s Cluset?

MicShaun’s Closet: On the recasts we keep TSSD on the header card. On the new products we are going to have our name on the header card.

Warhorse Miniatures: I would like you thank you for taking your time with answering the questions. Is there anything that you would like to tell us?

 

MicShaun’s Closet: Thanks so much Mike for giving us the opportunity. You have been supportive since day one when we announced that had purchased TSSD. Sales have been fantastic. The toy soldier community has made us feel welcome with kind words and support. To the toy soldier/hobby community, we want you to know that we are a husband/wife, small owner business. We plan on attending toy soldier shows and continuing to expand this amazing business that Nick and DeAnna started. We pride ourselves on excellent customer service and love hearing from each of you. I am in the process of winding down my current business and will be in a position in a few months to make this my full-time career!

Here are the places you can find us:

www.micshaunscloset.com

https://www.ebaystores.com/micshaunscloset

https://www.facebook.com/MicShaunsCloset/

https://www.instagram.com/micshaunscloset/

I have a feeling that David & Kim will continue the success of TSSD for many years to come. Check out their new website. You can look at different themes or brands of plastic figures. From Ancient Armies of Rome to the Modern Armies of Vietnam. It is very easy to navigate around to find what your looking for. Besides TSSD products they sell Marx, MPC, Matchbox, CTS, Weston, Ex Force, Americana/BMC, Supreme, AIP, Ideal, Airfix, Mars, Chintoys etc…

 

My next post will be a review of Publius Vikings Set #3. Thank you for reading.