The Latest News!! 06/11/2023 ~ Virginia Toy Soldier Show Review and some Hobby News.

Last weekend we were in Virginia for the “Heart of the South” Toy Soldier & Military Miniature show. We drove down to Virginia on Friday and checked out a few antique stores. On Saturday we setup as a vendor for the toy show and then went back to Pennsylvania on Sunday. It was an extended weekend getaway. We stopped at a few different antique stores on the way back too.

The show started at 9am. A collector named Todd stopped by to chat and purchase some products. I had just finished making another Blacksmith shop a couple days before the show and it lasted about 10 minutes. I will bring a few to the next show. There was a good crowd at the show up until a little past noon. Then it got really quiet. But it was worth it for me to attend. It was nice to talk to collectors like Todd & Carl. Also, to have new collectors discover our resin miniatures.

I like the room that the show was in. It was clean, air conditioned and well lit. There were about 75 tables, so it was a medium sized show. There was a nice selection of painted metal miniatures and some plastic toy soldiers. Gerry Watts was behind us. He had some storage containers filled with loose plastic toy soldiers.

I took some pictures of various vendors around the room. We will begin with AeroArt International. They had an impressive collection of finely painted historical miniatures. You can check out their website over here, https://www.aeroartinc.com/.

There was a vendor that had a bunch of plastic model sets and some plastic toy soldiers. He had a Conte Zulu collection for $225. Not my period to collect, but I did think about purchasing it…

Another vendor had a huge selection of 21st century tanks, figure sets & planes. He said he was going to try to make it to the next Gettysburg Show that takes place on August 27th.

Mike Jones was set up with a bunch of painted metal toy soldiers.

Here was a vendor with old metal painted toy soldiers. I have seen him before at different shows. I will try to get his name next time.

Another vendor had a bunch of vintage toy soldiers and toys. I purchased a metal cannon from him. I was tempted to get the Pork Chop Hill. That was one of the sets I had as a kid. I think it had Airfix WWII British clones, if I remember. He also mentioned about trying to setup at Gettysburg.

“Fast” Eddie Gries had a lot of old toy soldiers sold separately for different prices. He also had a lot of books and different toy soldier collections available.

One of the toy soldier collections of Eddie had all these painted metal figures representing the French Foreign Legion and Arabs from the Beau Geste movie.

Matt Murphy from Hobby Bunker was present too. He had a bunch of tables with just about everything the hobby represents, plastic toys soldiers, magazines, paints, old metal painted toy soldiers, 3d printed walls & house and new painted metal toy soldiers.

Eric Kohl was present too. He usually has some new & old painted metal toy soldiers. He also brings military related books and artwork.

Here are some random pictures of mainly old painted toy soldiers.

More random pictures from the show.

Here are some random pictures of Plastic toy soldiers and playsets. The first picture has some of what Gerry Watts was selling.

Here are some pictures of the show itself.

Some more random pictures from the show.

Lastly, we take a look at my tables for the show. I brought mainly the Warhorse resin miniatures & the LOD/Barzso toy soldiers. Also, some foam houses and Russian made toy soldiers.

I enjoyed the show and will return most likely in December and next in June. They usually have this show 4 times a year. There was a little of everything to see.

We stopped at a few different antique stores in Virginia and Maryland. Here are a few things I saw. I rarely see any Conte or Barzso toy soldiers in the wild. The figure sets were overpriced.

Here are a few things that I picked up at the show and a few different antique places in Virginia. The Barzso Buffalo set is hard to find. I paid about $32 for that. The Auburn Motorcycle I paid $18, metal cannon was $5, Gnome was $12, and magazines were $3 a piece. At a flea market I found D&D miniatures, Warhammer miniature, plastic toys solders and Star Wars toy in a bag for a $1.

I am happy to announce that in the May/June 2023 issue of Toy Soldier Collector magazine they did a 3-page article about Warhorse Miniatures.

The next show I attend should be the 2nd Gettysburg show this year, which is Sunday August 27th.

Right now, I am working a few things that are in different stages. From just the planning stage to almost complete. Plus working on new resin mixtures. People like to ask about the 3d printing. It is not easy. When everything works it is great, but when everything doesn’t work it is not. A lot of maintenance and the proper work environment is needed. Then sometimes the resin changes or you cannot get a certain type that you are using. It is always a challenge. I hope to be able to finish some of the things that I have be working this year by the end of the summer.