Month: March 2022

Midwest Toy Soldier Show 2022 Review ~ Part one Room Trading

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The Midwest Toy Soldier show was on Sunday. The show took place in Lafayette, Indiana. The two days before that there was room trading at the hotel where the show took place. There were plenty of vendors that took part. Room trading was a little slow, but the crowds showed up for the show. In today’s post I will discuss the first two days of the room trading.

Me & Carolyn arrived at hotel on Thursday. We were located on the second floor of the hotel. Once we settled in I then setup my products throughout the room for Friday. The next day we got up early and went to a few antique stores before returning to the hotel around noon. Then I started the event called room trading. Room trading is when you make your hotel room a little shop. Collectors will walk throughout he the hotel and shop at your “store”. I had a nice time talking to other collectors and answering any questions they had about my products. This was the 1st time that I was selling my line of Warhorse Miniatures figures. Most were the early Medieval sets. But I also had the new French Marines from the French & Indian War era. Beside that I had some of the LOD/Barzso figure sets & foam products and some Russian figure sets. Mostly Warhansa and some Publius. I was hoping to have some Prikaz products. But I don’t know when that will happen.

I took a break a few times to check out some of the other rooms. The first room I went to belonged to Todd Nace. He had a lot of vintage Marx figures and playsets.

The next room belonged to Eric Koopmeiner. He had vintage toy soldiers, playsets, action figures and some diecast vehicles.

Next, I visited the room of Rick Eber. Each year Rick brings some rare & new mint playsets. Every time I see him, he has something that I have never seen before. This year was the same.

It was now the evening when I closed up my room for trading. I went downstairs to see what was going on. By the time I got to John Anderson’s room he had almost sold everything he had. He usually brings a bunch of playsets and figure sets with him. Plus, vintage toys. Whatever he gets his hands on.

The last room I checked on Friday belonged to David Cook of MicShaun’s Closet. He had his TSSD bagged toy soldiers, foam products, LOD/Barzso products and some Russian figure sets. We had a lot of fun talking.

Late Friday in the lobby of the hotel there was a small gathering of collectors. There were about 20 collectors looking at some old Marx playsets. I think most were from the 1960’s. They belonged to John Anderson. They were still sealed. The boxes were in bad condition. But when they started to open them up, everything inside was mint. Except for some paper guides. The sets were sold to some of the collectors there. At this point it was almost 11pm. I then retired for the night.

Day Two

I got up early on Saturday and took a stroll around the 1st floor before I opened my room. I went to visit Mike Kitnuck. Ron Barzso gave Mike a horde of original Barzso products that he had found to sell for him. There was over a 100 figure & accessories sets. I don’t know what else he had the day before. I found a few rare things to add to my collection. It was a Barzso collector’s dream. If this was a few years ago, I would have spent over a $1,000. Instead, I spent around $100. I could have horded a bunch of stuff. But I am in the process now of trimming my collections. So, I took only what I needed. I was tempted, but I left everything to some other lucky collectors.

Next up was the room of John Atherton. He was busy preparing his beautiful foam pieces for sale. His products are a must for anyone creating a diorama or even a small display. We had a good time talking about the hobby.

The next room I entered belonged to Scott Canady. He also had a lot of vintage playsets and toy soldiers. After I kept knocking down one of his displays of toy soldiers, I looked through some comics and around his room…

Francis Turners room had a huge amount of vintage Marx figures. Plus, some recast figures that were old too.

Gary Wendeln also had some Barzso figure sets and playsets with him. Plus, some other vintage toy soldiers.

The last room I checked out on Saturday belonged to fellow collector Willy Pickett. He had his custom playmats to enhance your vintage figures. Plus, some custom terrain pieces that he had painted.

Treefrog Treasures was room trading late afternoon on Saturday. They were the only major metal dealer at the show.

That is all on the room trading. I think next year I will only trade on Saturday. On Friday I will stroll around instead. I had a great time trading and talking to collectors. There were plenty of deals at this show. My next post will be on the show itself. Thank you for reading.

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The Latest News!!! 03/10/2022 ~ Midwest Toy Soldier Show, 20 February Moscow Exhibition Fair of Soldiers Sandbox and News!!

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Before we start, I just wanted to mention about the world we live in. Not to get political, there are other websites for that. But just as a witness of the events around us. About two weeks ago Russia invaded Ukraine. Most thought that it would be over in a few days. Now it is almost entering the third week. Reports of thousands of Ukrainians and over 10,000 Russian soldiers are dead or wounded.

Besides the obvious loss of life of both the Ukrainians and Russians. This conflict is affecting about everyone around the world. The price of oil has rising, inflation was already high enough. It looks like this year will be another year we will want to forget.

  • Serhiy Marchenko
  • Sergey Zabashta
  • Aleks Kot

The war has affected the hobby of Toy Solider collecting already. Ukrainian companies have had to put a hold on production for now. The Russian based companies are now having their own problems because the credit card companies and banks have blocked their access. In the USA some collectors are questioning if it is worth it for them to travel to the shows because the rising cost of fuel.

Right before the war started, they had the Moscow Exhibition Fair of Soldiers show or “Sandbox” as it is translated. From what I was told the collectors and vendors had a good time. The collecting community has seen a steady growth in Russia the past five years. We have seen one or two new companies pop up every year.

The show looked nice. From what I see and was told most of the major companies were there. Plus, collectors selling both old and new toy soldiers.

Chintoys and Engineer Basevich had a bunch of their plastic sets. They were showing off their new knights.

HANOMAKA is one of the new companies that appeared last year. They are making some nice World War II sets.

Here are some pictures from the company called “Little Man” or Chelovechek.

Here is Mikhail Glikin owner of Plastic Platoon with some of his new figures.

Here are some random pictures of the show.

Here are some of the medieval sets Prikaz. I think they are starting to use a new resin like what Warhansa uses.

These are the miniatures made by Publius.

Here is another batch of random pictures from the show.

Here is set from the company called Silent Hill. From what I understand this is a group venture of Warhansa and Prikaz. Maybe someone else?

Here is another new company called Tihon Figuren.

We finish off with the company called Warhansa. Only time will tell if these shows continue. It is a shame what the effects of this wear have on everyone.

The room trading phase for the Midwest Toy Soldier Show starts in about two weeks from now. Here are some pictures from the past. The best way for me to describe it is like Halloween & Christmas wrapped into one event. It gets to the point that you have to take a break because you see so much. Almost like the feeling of being “Snow Blind”. The best way to start is to write down all the room #’s and cross them out or put a check next to it once you visit. Each day is a little different. Some vendors are there each day like me. But some only come for one day of room trading or they just do the show. I usually visit each room and take a quick look around. Then return if there was something that I wanted to check out. Unless I saw something rare or really was looking for. One of the best parts of room trading is talking to fellow collectors or vendors. It is a relaxed setting that you can more at your own pace and just hang out.

This year the show looks like to be better than ever. So far there are over 60 dealers attending the show. That does not include a few collectors that might be only doing the room trading. The number of dealers might grow. Treefrog Treasures will be here for the show for all you painted metal collectors. Plus, Paul Amody will have all of his Russian painted miniatures. John Atherton will be bringing his foam products. This is the best way to pick up a castle or big terrain piece without paying a lot for the cost of shipping. David Cook from MicShauns Closet/TSSD will be one of the major plastic dealers. There will be a lot of vintage plastic figures, sets and playsets available too. Rick Eber’s displays will make your eyes bleed…

And then there will be me, with the latest Barzso/LOD Products and of course my new Medieval 3D printed figures & accessories. Besides my Saxons I will have sets of the new French & Indian War Compagnies Franches de la Marine sets. I will be bringing about 10 different sets in all. Most will be on display with some prototypes of things to come. Visit http://www.mwtoysoldier.com/dealer-list.html for more information about the other dealers and the show.

Let us pray that the war ends soon and peace returns to that part of the world. That is it for now. Thank you for reading.