Chicago Toy Soldier Show

Latest News! ~ 10/27/2026 ~ 2026 Chicago Toy Soldier Show Review

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Today, I started writing up this post. It is a review of the 2026 Chicago Toy Soldier Show. I decided to try to finish it today and get it post tonight. I would usually watch the Paul Knapp show, but he is taking a break from the show to take care of some personal things. Hopefully he is back in a few weeks. So, with that we will begin.

Paul Knapp thoughts on the show were, “Overall, I thought it was amazing. Seeing old friends again, meeting new ones, especially followers of my Toy Soldier Tuesday livestream show. Just an amazing experience. I didn’t have a table this year to sell stuff, so it was nice being able to room shop Friday and Saturday without having the stress of staying in one place all day selling. Last year I came as a dealer and was sort of trapped in my room most of the time. This was my first time seeing a vintage box opening by Rick Eber and Craig Remington. I can see why everyone loves it. As for the show it’s on Sunday and I bought many larger items that would normally cost me a lot of money to have shipped so I ended up saving those costs. I saw more 3d printed dealers this year than before and I think our hobby, at least the plastic collectors, are starting a new age of the hobby. But mostly it was seeing all the dealers and especially the people that watch my YouTube channel that made it a great weekend. Definitely worth the 15-hour drive.”

Here are some pictures of the show and Alex Baldwin. Here are his thoughts about the show, “In general I thought it was a better show than last year. I thought the room trading was strong and did most of my shopping there. I didn’t have much cash left over for the show. The best part for me was seeing everyone. We got a great haul but spent too much money and barely got it all home.”

Here are some pictures of the Austin Miniatures tables. They are working on a lot of new things for next year. Looks like it will be WWII products for the European theater.

Here are some pictures of the Battle Bricks table. Not everything at the show is Toy Soldiers.

Here is Brandon Helms from Castle Dehelmsman. Most of the 3d guys were in the same area. Here are his thoughts on the show, “Great room trading for me this year. Better than the show itself. I was pretty picked over by then . I made a lot of new contacts this year for more projects. I feel like I am getting closer to the community which is good. I have a better feel for what people want.“

Here is Evans Oelrichs of Combat Collectibles and his Grandfather Terry Durso. Right now, he is making World War I miniatures that are around 60mm. He has plans on making miniatures from different eras next year. Here are Evans’s thoughts on the show, “I had an excellent time at the Chicago show hanging out with you and Room trading, it was wonderful to see a lifelong dream come to fruition and great to see everyone & spend time with my grandpa.”

David & Kim Cook of MicShauns’s Closet had a bunch of foam products and plastic toy soldiers with them.

Here are a few pictures from the table of Rick Eber.

Here is Jason Finley on the right next to Brandon. His company is called Finley 3d. He makes terrain pieces & props with filament printers and miniatures with resin printers. Most of the products he makes are WWII based.

Here are some pictures from Gallaghers Gallery.

Some random pictures of the show.

Graig Remington had a bunch of tables filled with vintage playsets and plastic toy soldiers.

Hobby Bunker was setup in their private store in front of the ballroom where the show was. As usually they had a ton of different products from the hobby of Toy Soldiers. Here are some thoughts about the show from Matt, “Overall, I think the show was similar to the previous years. We had 393 paid attendees which is up from last year by about 20.
We had 71 registered room traders. We had 139 people staying in our group. The hotel was sold out. I know many collectors stayed at the Holiday Inn next door and some at the old Hyatt hotel.”

Rob Hornung was setup again with his handmade creations. Miniature works of art.

Here are some pictures that Jason Evans took. That is him in the first picture.

Here are a few pictures of Joe Bakers table. This is what Joe thought about the Show, “You’ll have to choose excerpts from it but here goes.
The Chicago Toy Soldier Show was both the best I have attended and the worst. It was the best because of the great interactions I had with the Marx playset collectors I’ve known for decades and the wonderful new friends I’ve made through the Toy Soldier Tuesday Live Stream show. It was by far the most fun I’ve had with the people in the hobby. It was the worst of shows on the selling front because I chose the wrong year to bring mid quality Marx playsets to sell. Several large collections of playsets were being sold at great prices and there was no market for what I brought. Conversely, I think it was a great show to be a buyer. The other thing that stood out to me was how much a part of the hobby 3d printing has become. Mike Prendergast, Brandon Helms and Jason Findlay all had great stuff that fires the diorama maker/story teller’s imagination. They were very busy making lots of people very happy. Room trading traffic seemed down this year, but that might be because of where my room was or because of what I brought to sell. Overall, the joy of the sense of actual friendship I experienced this year far overshadows the sadness of having to bring home so many great playsets to enjoy for another year. 😉

John Satatellis was setup next to Joe Baker. Here is what he thought, “As a collector and part-time content creator who resides in Canada, far away from all the hubs of toy soldiering, this show to me is like the 5 days of Christmas! Going on the 4th year now the experience never gets old or stale. In fact it gets better and better. At this point, going to Chicagoland is not only going shopping for toy soldiers but going to visit friends & family. The camaraderie with everyone at this event is unmatched. This year was even more special as it was the first time that all of the TST team was together physically in the same place.
And a blast was had! Huge thanks goes out firstly to Matt for all his tireless efforts in running this show. And to all of the countless vendors and collectors, who are now basically family.”

LOD Enterprises had their new Bunker Hill Playset and a bunch of the resin Barzso reissues toy soldiers.

The Waters were setup with a bunch of painted metal toy soldiers again.

Rick Berry of Michigan Toy Soldiers was setup too.

Nate’s garage had a bunch of his handcrafted creations at the show too.

More random pictures from the show.

Treefrog Treasures had a bunch of painted metal toy soldiers and some unique pieces for sale.

W. Britain was setup with a lot on nice painted toy soldiers. Their WWI and Apaches look really nice.

We finish with my tables of Warhorse Miniatures. I did well at the show too and had fun talking to everyone. It was a long week. I had a lot of fun spending time with my fellow collectors and vendors. I found a few things that I did not know that I needed with was nice. I can’t wait to go back next year.

This is Ben Meiinze from Ben’s War Room. This year marked my first venture to the Chicago Toy Soldier Show. For a bit of background, I only just reentered Toy Soldier collecting in early 2024 after a nearly 20-year hiatus. I had heard a lot about the Chicago show and was really looking forward to attending. I went there with a mindset on it being a shopping trip but found so much more. First and foremost, the show blew past my expectations. The hotel site was just great. The room trading leading up the Sunday show was beyond anything I’ve experienced before. In fact, I did most of my purchases, going from room to room. There were so many amazing vendors too! Hobby Bunker, Warhorse Miniatures, MicShaun’s Closet, Castle DeHelmsman, Finley 3D, Austin Miniatures, Royal Remington, and so many more. Needless to say I way overspent, but the selections were just too amazing to pass up. But the absolute best part was meeting everyone. People I had connected with on Facebook or through Toy Soldier Tuesday podcasts. I met so many great people that I had the privilege to hang out with and share a passion for collecting. Some of the nicest and warmest people you can imagine all in one place. And while the room shopping and the Sunday show were an absolute delight, I came away feeling like I had made new friends and that’s something that hasn’t occurred in a long time. I am already looking forward to attending again next year and hope to see everyone there!

Travis Gibson. It was my first Chicago show in 11 years. That was the last time we were there. I didn’t think it was that long. I thought the show was well attended. It also seemed that there is a resurgence in plastic/resin which is fantastic! A lot of new product was on display, From Austin, Finley 3D, W. Britain, LOD and of course Warhorse!
It was great talking with collectors and meeting people in person that you usually only speak to by phone or email. Like the fire service its tight community and some of the nicest people around. Definitely going back next year!

J.A. Vincent. Sure, it was my first time going to Chicago. I found amazing so many venders and displays. Everyone was so nice and so informative. If someone didn’t have what you wanted they knew where to get. This Show is like a childhood dreams come true, everyone was so great, my thanks to everyone who worked or practiced.

Eric Burden. Being my first time, It was even more than I expected. Incredible room trading experience. Meeting all of the vendors and seeing old friends! I just wish I would have saved more before going, lol.

Dave Carpenter. I think based coming for the past 25 years one of the best in the past 10 years.

Chris Shaw. Being a first timer to the Chicago toy solider show. I was super excited to attend. I arrived Friday afternoon. The room trading was in full swing. Going from room to room was such fun. Everyone was very welcoming and friendly. I found many treasures on both Friday and Saturday hitting all the rooms multiple times. Sunday was the show their were several vendors I didn’t see in the room trading part. The show was big and very spread out with lots of room to move about. So many great things to see playsets lots of plastic and metal abound. I picked up some older Marx Germans some MPC Russians. Along with loose figures from Auburn and Conte Collectibles. Mike Prendergast had his new Marines and Japanese figures they were fantastic. The show was a great experience for me . Great vendors good and kind sales. I will definitely be back next year.

Here are some the toys I picked up at Chicago. I got the LOD Bunker Hill Playset for $350. I will one day unpack everything and set it up.

Graig Remington talked me into buying this playset for $125. He threw in some extra soldiers. I am not a big Marx collector, but there are some sets that I do like. This is one of them. I took most of the soldiers out for this quick set up.

Here are some Conte Alamo buildings that I had picked up. I got a really good deal on these.

Here are 2 new Asian huts made by Austin Miniatures. I think they are made to be used with 1/32 scaled Vietnam toy soldiers. But I will use them in my WWII Pacific war setups. The were $40 a piece.

Here are some Conte WWII toys soldiers that I got from Remington for around $50. I got Sgt Rock, 3 custom GI’s, and 5 Germans.

I picked up these Larry Patterson Miniatures from Mike Kutnick for $75. They are custom made 1/32 scaled Western figures. This is what I usually look for these days. At some point I am going paint this and fix a few of them up.

That is it for now. I will have some updates in the next post. Thank you for reading.

Latest News! ~ 10/25/2026 ~ Warhorse goes to Chicago!! CTSS 2026 Room Trading Review

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Last month was the Chicago Toy Soldier Show. This was the first time that I had attended. Carolyn wasn’t able to attend because of some heath issues. Hopefully next year she will make it. In this post we will do a review of the room trading. In the next post we will do a review of the show itself.

A couple of months before the show I started building up my inventory. A week before the show I was making a lot of US Marines, which was the latest set.

I arrived at Chicago early, on Tuesday afternoon. Luckily, I was able to check in early. After an hour I was settled in my room with all of the toys. I then went to see who else was here. Rick Eber and Graig Remington had arrived the day earlier and were open for room trading. I then realized that I had forgotten to take my camera. So, I had to use my phone. I took some pictures of Graig’s rooms; he had 2 of them set up for the trading. For some reason, I forgot to take pictures of Rick’s room.

I had taken a quick look at Eber’s room which was full of mainly Marx’s Playsets and toy soldiers. Then spent most of Tuesday hanging out with Graig and his assistant Jason Bruce. Both are nice guys to talk to. One room was filled with mainly vintage Marx playsets and some Barzso playsets. The other room had a lot of Conte playsets. They had a lot of vintage Conte toy soldiers. Sold in bags and by the peice. I was not planning on buying much, but then I started looking. And then I started finding things… I also was searching for some things for a few friends. I find it is better to get there a day early to see what other dealers have.

Here are some of the things that I had picked up on the first day. I traded some things and spent $250 on these foam terrain pieces. Most are by Conte, except for the hard foam/epoxy Pacific piece that was made by Bresica Miniatures.

On Wednesday, I started setting up in my room while watching the Paul Knapp show from the day before. I set up all the WWII products, and the Conte & Lod/Barzso toy soldiers. I then walked around and went to Remington’s room again. Later that day John Salatellis arrived. I wasn’t room trading to the public until Friday but did some private sales in my room. After John purchased some things from me, we walked around to see who else was open now.

After a while of looking, I returned back to my room to rest. Later on, I walked around meeting other collectors as they started to arrive. Everyday Graig Remington & Rick Eber were the only vendors open after 9pm. I then spent another day hanging out with Jason & Graig.

On Thursday, it was more of the same. I walked around again and met more people. I did a few more private sales in my room and checked out any new rooms that had opened up. There still was not too many people set up room trading yet, but they started later that afternoon. One room that I did check out was the Austin Miniatures room. I was able to check out their new foam pieces. I had already spent most of my budget for the show at this point. I really liked the Church and Farm house setup. The Farm setup was $600.

I spent most of the day walking around looking again and talking to people. I went back to room to finish setting up some things, like the Lod/Barzso Fortified Abby. That evening Evan Oelrichs of Combat Collectibles had arrived. I had a stash of treasures that I had found for him the previous days.

On Friday, I got up early and walked around to see who now was open. I was able to check out Eric Koopmeiner’s room. He had a bunch of vintage Marx Playsets and items. He also had some custom playsets too. Eric said, “His room was busy as Hell”

W. Britian had an Apache preview which was very nice.

Late Afternoon I had opened my room for the room trading. Evan was setup with his Combat Collectibles inside my room. His World War I models looked awesome.

We closed shop around 9pm and started walking around again. I saw Steve Connell and took a look at what he had.

And then spent some time in Remington’s room again.

Here are some pictures, that Jason Evans took. I had asked him what he thought about this year’s show. “Here are my thoughts Mike. I will start off by saying that the Chicago toy soldier show weekend since I’ve been going (2005), is one of the highlights of the year for me. I always look forward to seeing friends that I only get to see once a year(you can’t beat seeing people in the flesh, and hanging out). The show will never be what it once was, that’s just a fact. Half of the vendors, and probably even more than half of the collectors who once attended have passed on. So obviously attendance will keep going down every year. Even with new younger collectors, the numbers will never be what they once were. I just don’t there is enough interest in the hobby. All that being said, the show still seems to be doing pretty good. There is still a bit of traffic in the hallways for room trading, and I think the show attendance was decent, given the bad weather. I think some people won’t drive in the rain, the show always seems busier when it’s nice out. That’s just my observation. As far as the hobby, I think the 3d printing will definitely be the future of the hobby. You guys have endless possibilities with the 3d printing. And seems like you all are getting better at making the figures less fragile. I personally will still collect painted metal, I just really love it. But I also love the nostalgia of the plastic/resin figures, reminds me of my youth. I would like to think these shows have a good 10 years left, I sure hope so anyway. I will really miss not going to a toy soldier show. I think Matt and the other show organizers would be doing themselves a favor by coming up with more extra fun events. They have had special dinners and luncheons and even breakfast, where there was a special speaker (most of the time it was one of the manufactures) anyway, those event added a little something extra fun to do over the weekend, and to top it off, you usually received a painted metal figure that you could only get at the event. That’s the kind of stuff that extra fun to me.“

Here are some videos of the room trading. They did a nice job going through most of the rooms.

From Left to Right, Evan Oelrichs, Jacob Kendell, Jason Evans, Thomas Kontos, Mike Prendergast(me), and Evan's Grandfather Terry Durso.

Overall, I had a great time. I found some good deals and things that I didn’t know that I needed. Evans & I did well with the sales. The best part is talking to other collectors and sharing ideas with them.

For the past 10 years, guys would tell me you have to go to Chicago. This was the first time that I had gone. So, on Tuesday through Thursday I was mainly a collector. The rest of the week, I spent as a vendor. Most of the vendors were open at the same time we were open. It is hard to do both room trading as collector and then a vendor. The rooms are spread out on three different floors for the most part and it is a big hotel to walk around through. Most of the vendors did close early too. I collect plastic or resin miniatures and there was not as much as I thought there would be. But I did find some nice things with the dealers that had them.

Thank you for reading. That is it for now. I will have another post about the show in the near future.

Latest News! ~ 09/06/2026, Chicago Toy Soldier Show 2026, Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show August Review and some Hobby News!!

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It was another good show at Gettysburg. Paul Stadinger was my helper, as Carolyn was not feeling well to attend. Sorry, but I did not have much time to take a lot of pictures as I usually do. So, the review will just be a quick one.

Here are some pictures of different vendors. Some are from a collector that is selling off things he had made and soldiers that he has painted. Another with Johnny West dolls. And then some vintage plastic soldiers from Mark.

Like I had said earlier, this is a quick post, and I will let the pictures do the talking for the most part. Some more pictures from Mark Hegeman and I think antique toy soldiers are Christian Keller.

The show was busy until around 12:30pm. I spent much of my time talking to the usual collectors that come to the show and a few new ones. Around 2pm, I had realized that I did not take too many pictures yet. So, I walked to the other end of the show and took a few pictures and then started walking back, while watching to see if anyone wanted anything from the tables. There was a lot of nice things at the show.

I like the show in August; it is nice because there are more vendors that are selling off parts of their collections. You never know what you will find and there are some really good deals to be found out there.

About a week before the show, I had convinced James Viola to come down and check out the show. He lives over 3 hours away, so he made it a day trip. He is a really good painter and has a channel on YouTube. He is a really good painter. You can check him out over here, https://www.youtube.com/@Jamesviolaofficial.

Rick Eber and Graig Remington had some nice vintage plastic toy soldiers. As I was taking pictures, I had noticed the Tin Litho Argo aircraft carrier that Rick had. I had never seen one before. It is a nice size; the deck is about 37 inches long and 10 inches wide. I do not have to many antique toys, but for $40 I had to get it. I will use it in one of my displays one day to be in the background. It is large enough for me to put two larger planes on it. After, I get back from Chicago and have more time, I will take some nice pictures of the ship.

Here is 3D Prints with some of the products.

Paul Knapp had stopped by the show too and took a video.

I was sad to hear that Mike Martello had passed away a few days after the show. He was one of the vendors there. He would have a lot of W. Britain Deetail toy soldiers at the Gettysburg shows.

Here are more pictures from the show.

We will end the review with our tables. This time I had some of the new WW2 Japanese figures with me and the new Norman Crossbows set. I also had a Barzso/LOD Fortified Abby with me. I still have it and will be bringing it with me to Chicago. If anyone is interested, I will have a package deal of the Castle, a set of the Warhorse Miniatures Norman Crossbowmen, and 2 Medieval Monks included for $365. Besides the Warhorse Miniature products, we had Barzso/LOD products and Conte Collectible Toy Soldiers. I will have these at Chicago too. The show had a crowd of around 175 this time. It was nice to see everyone, and I was happy with the sales. We will be back next year on April 18th, 2027.

Here are a few pictures on things in the works. I started testing the German Fallschirmjager MG Team set and should have that ready in October. I had started testing the US Marines. The 4 figures of the 8-figure set are ready and the other 4 I am testing now. I will have some sets of the US Marines at Chicago. I hope to see some of you in about 2 weeks. Carolyn will not be able to attend the Chicago Toy Soldier Show this year. But Evan from Combat Collectibles will be helping me. He will be setup at my tables selling his Miniatures too. You can visit his website over here, https://combat-collectibles.square.site/. Thank you for reading.

Latest News! ~ 08/15/2026, Gettysburg April 19th Review & the next August show and some Hobby News.

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I hope everyone is doing well. It has been a while since my last post. There has been a lot going on and I have not had the time to sit down and finish this. This post is about the 1st Gettysburg show. You will have a good idea of things that you might find at the next show. Which is on Sunday, August 23rd, 2026. That is about a week away.

The last show had a huge crowd attending. I think it was almost 300 people that attended. Most of the vendors were happy. We were very busy too.

We start with some random pictures from one of the antique dealers that a lot of plastic toy soldiers.

Talking about antiques, Christian Keller brings a huge selection of antique toy soldiers.

Not all the vendors are professional sellers. A lot are collectors like you that for various reasons decided that they need to thin out or sell off their collections. This gentleman had a lot of display pieces and toy soldiers that he had painted & created.

Here is a vendor that had a lot of vintage plastic toy soldiers and some that he had painted too.

And here are some pictures from the man of the hour, Steve Connell. He usually has a nice blend of painted Metal and vintage plastic toy soldiers are good prices.

Here are some random pictures that one vendor was offering.

Here is another vendor with a lot of vintage plastic and some metal toy soldiers.

Jack Eagan usually brings a bunch of painted metal and some plastic toy soldiers too. Here are some pictures of mainly John Jenkins figures.

Rick Eber as usual had a bunch of vintage plastic playsets and toy soldiers. Mainly Marx, but he has other brands too, like Barzso and sometimes Conte. He will have something new at every show, as he is always acquiring something new to resell.

This vendor had some nice Britain Deetail toy soldiers.

Hobby Bunker had a mini store setup up. He brings a little of everything that the hobby has to offer.

Rob Hornung is a wonderful craftsman who produces handcrafted & painted miniatures. He has a lot of unique themed sets.

Here are some random pictures of the show.

Paul Knapp was selling his custom playset at Gettysburg. It was based on the Battle of Fredericksburg. The set is really nice; I purchased one of them. I made some new Civil War miniatures to use with this playset which I will have with me next Sunday. Paul also was selling some 3d printed toys and some custom terrain pieces he had made.

Larry Lovely had a bunch of loose Plastic toys to search through.

And talking about loose toy soldiers, there were a lot of vendors that containers of toys to search though that were loose or in bags.

Here are some more random pictures from the show.

Here are some pictures of what Mark Hegeman had with him.

Here are some random pictures of painted metal toy soldier products. The Gettysburg show does have a nice mixture of everything that the hobby of toy soldier collecting has to offer. From plastic & metal toy soldiers, die-cast vehicles, foam terrain pieces, vintage toys and reference books to help you paint. Plus, models, hand crafted miniatures & sculptures and maybe some wargaming things. And a great selection of 3d historical miniatures…

Here are some pictures of some models, toys and metal cannons.

Nate’s Garage also is a wonderful craftsman. He makes some one-of-a-kind metal unique products.

Here are some random photos of some old & vintage toy soldiers. Most look like hand cast metal and a couple are plastic.

Some more random pictures of vintage plastic toys.

Graig Remington had a load of vintage plastic figures and playset for sale too.

We were not the only vendors selling 3d printed products. There was a company that is making animals and figures in different scales.

The show was busy until around 1pm and then things settled down. I did not spend too much time walking around as much. Paul Stadinger had stopped by to visit us again. He will usually use us as a base and then go searching for treasures. It is always great to see him.

On the last row to the left there is a lot of vintage plastic toy soldiers and playsets. This is one of those vendors.

Here is another one of the vendors on the left, in the rear corner. He has always had plenty of vintage soldiers and playsets too.

It was nice to see W. Britain was at the show. The had a nice selection of their painted metal toy soldiers.

Jonathon Waters and his wife Rachel had a lot of painted metal toy soldiers. They had a lot of Premium painted Russian miniatures, John Jenkins Toy Soldiers and from other companies too. They will be back at the next Gettysburg show too.

Lastly, we end with our tables. We were selling our latest WWII US & German Paratrooper sets. Plus, some other new things, like the Civil War Infantry and Classic Monsters. As usual, we had fun talking to the other vendors & collectors. We are now getting ready for the next two shows.

Here is a list of the Vendors attending the next Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show. Most of the same vendors at the show earlier this year.

Gettysburg Miniature Soldiers
Steve Connell
Mark Hegeman
Joe Saine
Mike Handley
Allan Ford/Brandydwyne Toy Soldiers
Rick Eber
Larry Lovely
Craig Remington
Christian Keller
Tom Stine
Calvin Plowman
William McMahan/Baby Boom Nostalgia
Richard Appalt, Jr
Fred Sassin
Rick Keller/Romney Toy Shop
Mike Prendergast/Warhorse Miniatures
Mike Martello
Wayne Stevens/Antique ctr
Gerardo Vazquez
Jennifer Hudgins
Eric Kohl
Dan Mclean
Michael Beninati
Jim Koshan
Jonathon Waters
Robert King
Jack Eagan
William Hartman
Martin Berman
Ross McIntyre
Todd Nace

Here are some of the new products that we will have at the Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show. Plus, some of the old sets are coming back too. And we will have some of the latest Conte & LOD/Barzso toy soldiers too. We are spreading into the Pacific Theater of World War II now. We are focusing on the Japanese SNLF (Special Naval Landing Force) Marines. By the end of the year will have a bunch of figure sets and some terrain sets too. We are hoping to have some Mounted Normans and WWII US Marines for Chicago.

That is, it for now, See you next week or at the Chicago Toy Soldier Show.

The Latest News!! 09/30/2024 ~ Chicago Toy Soldier Show, New Jersey Toy Show & some Hobby News.

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Last week was the Chicago Toy Soldier Show or now called Chicagoland Toy Soldier Show. Hundreds of rooms were booked in the Chicago Marriott Schaumburg hotel. The room trading officially started on Thursday September 19th and continued on Friday & Saturday. The show was on Sunday, September 22nd. I heard that over 400 people attended the show itself.

We were not at the show itself. But I had some friends take some pictures and gathered others from the internet. Jason Evans took some pictures of the room trading.

Austin Miniatures had new Marines and some older sets like the WWII Japanese Infantry. Plus, their wargaming scaled miniatures.

David & Kim Cook of MicShaun’s closet had a bunch of the TSSD plastic toy soldiers, LOD/Barzso products and foam terrain pieces. Plus, a bunch of other things.

Mike Kutnick had a mixture of vintage Marx plastic toy soldiers, Barzso resin figures and this year some of our Warhorse Miniatures.

Here are some pictures of Nate’s Garage custom toys.

Rich Egan has a nice mixture of vintage playsets, Barzso products, Conte Toy Soldiers and vintage Marx toys.

Jason said “This Marx set was from 1964, titled Beach-Head landing. It’s so cool watching them unbox these sets. The sets are donated every year by Craig Remington. Rick Eber always does the actual unboxing itself.”

Collector Jacob Kendall sent me these pictures that he took of the show.

Here are the pictures that Jason Evans took of the show. Mike Kutnick had some of our Warhorse Miniature products with him. I heard that W. Britain had a nice setup.

Rob Hornung had some unique hand-crafted toys for the show. There was nice selection of vintage plastic figures, antique & modern painted metal soldiers and vintage toys. Plus, a great battle display.

Here are some more pictures that I got that Matt Murphy had posted on Facebook. I heard that there was a lot of foot traffic for the room trading and the show was a success. That’s it for the Chicago Show. You can see more pictures of the show at the Treefrog Treasures forum, chicago-show-2024-pictures, We will start attending the show on a regular basis in 2026.

I have been busy working. The testing continues on new products. The British models have been updated. There were some things that were fixed and changed. There will be a bunch of different sets coming out in a couple of months. I will be adding more products to the webstore soon too. Most of the Plains Indian sets have been added.

In about 20 days we will be setup at the New Jersey Toy Soldier show. It is in Wayne, NJ. Hobby Bunker will be at this show too. This will be our last show of the year. We hope to see you there.

We hope everyone is safe, a lot of people have been affected by Hurricane Helene. Our thoughts & prayers are with you.

The Latest News!! 10/03/2023 ~ The Chicagoland Toy Soldier Show 2023, Bucyrus Toy Soldier Show review and some hobby news.

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Greetings everyone. In this post we will be looking at two different toy shows. Plus, some hobby news. So let us begin…

Bucyrus Toy Soldier Show

We packed the car Friday night and started our trek to Bucyrus, Ohio early Saturday morning. The trip was about a 7-hour drive. We stopped at a few antique stores once we got to Ohio. After we checked in, we drove around the area of Marion and discovered a few places to check out. We made it a little adventure. We like to see different parts of the country. As collectors we are always on the hunt to find something in the wild.

We got up early the next morning and drove about 25 minutes to the Bucyrus Fairgrounds. We started setting up in a building that held about 60 tables. There was a small kitchen that was serving breakfast and lunch. The room was clean and well lit. The first vendor across from us was setup already as we walked in. He had all kinds of vintage toys.

All the vendors at this show were collectors, except for me. Either they were professional dealers that buy collections to resale or collectors downsizing. You can find some good deals from collectors looking to let go of things.

Besides the toy soldiers & related items there was also vintage toys, action figures, comics and some trains.

There was a lot of plastic toy soldiers at this show. A lot of vintage Marx sets to search through too.

There was some Barzso toy soldiers too. Plus, a lot of loose figures to go through from all different brands.

There were some old metal toy soldiers too.

They were different kinds of collectibles like comics and sports cards. Not much though. It was mostly plastic toy soldiers.

There were some nice playsets too.

Larry Lovely was the promoter of this show, and he did a good job. For being the first year the crowd was not that bad. It was small but it was not the worse show that I have done. The show should be better next year. They will change it to be on Saturday. It will be the same day as a fair that takes place there.

We end the review of the show with my tables. I had a mixture of my Warhorse Miniatures, LOD/Barzso toy soldiers and foam terrain pieces. We now will see some of the things that I picked up for myself below.

This time I found some vintage Airfix British 8th Army toy soldiers. These are some of the most iconic toy soldiers in my own opinion. I had a bunch of these guys growing up, both originals and knockoffs. The Officer figure was missing.

Here are some Barzso Daniel Boone figures. Daniel Boone, Mingo and I think Daniel Boone’s dog with a baby. The other items are part of the Blacksmith shop.

Here are some Barzso Davy Crockett character figures. First is Davy fighting a bear. The other figures are George Russell and Polly Crockett. The last picture has one of my latest protypes in blue next to Polly.

Here are the Barzso Gladiators. I have a bunch of Gladiators from different brands. This was the only ones that I needed to finish that mini collection for now. I was lucky enough to get them for $10. One day I will make some new figures for the Coliseum.

Here are some more Barzso fence sections. I actually got these at Gettysburg. All of the Barzso items I had purchased from Steve Connell.

I found this at a garage sale. I think it is part of a G.I. Joe set. It was marked Milton Bradley.

I found this tree in an antique store for $2.50. I think it was made to go with trains.

I found a bunch of plastic Star Wars toy soldiers in an antique store in Ohio for $20. They are 1/32 in scale. The Snowtroopers are some of my favorite Star War figures.

Last week was the Chicago Toy Soldier Show or as it was relabeled the Chicagoland Toy Soldier Show. In February the Garfield family announced that due to problems with the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg they were cancelling the show. It shocked the toy soldier community. Some were hoping that the Garfield family would continue the show somewhere else. But it did not happen. Matt Murphy came to the rescue with setting up a new show in a new place not that far from the original spot. Some people where concerned on how the new location would be.

The Chicago Toy Soldier Show was on Sunday, September 24th. But before the show they had started room trading on Wednesday September 20th. Most of the pictures I have were either taken by Jason Evans, Hobby Bunker or fellow collectors. I was not present at the show. I hope to be there 2025.

Here are some signs in the lobby of the hotel. Now let’s see some pictures of the room trading.

AeroArt and Hobby Bunker had their own “store” set up on the 2nd floor. They were open from Wednesday through Sunday.

The first room we have pictures is of David Cook. MicShaun’s Closet own’s the TSSD line of Plastic Toy Soldiers. They sell most other brands of Plastic figures from around the world. Plus, a bunch of foam products.

Here are some random pictures of different rooms.

Ron Barzso was back to do some room trading. He had some old stock and a few playsets to sell. Plus, as always he made a lot of memories. He signed the Barzso Playset book for Jason Evans. I have to get Ron to sign the copy of the book I have.

Here are some pictures of the rooms belonging to Steve Connell, Kirk Larson and Agan Jack.

Here are some more random pictures of the room trading.

Here are some pictures of Robert Hornung’s room. He creates everything by hand and paints them too.

Rob’s son had created a 1930’s radio show. A radio serial that was called Zip Carson and The Death Ray of Mars. Zip Carson and Margaret Allen were the main characters.

Here are some pictures of Mike Kutnick’s room. He always has some great stuff. A really nice guy.

Here is another guy that creates and paints everything. Nate’s Garage makes some awesome toys.

Here is another good guy, Scott Canady. He brings a bunch of vintage toy soldiers and playsets to the shows.

Here are some pictures of Treefrog Treasures’ room.

Rusty Kern of Playset Magazine had his room set up for everyone to visit and to pick up some magazines. That is it for the pictures of the room trading. This is just a fraction of what was going on. I heard that there was around 100 rooms setup.

In between the days of room trading there were other events going on. One of those events was the raffle of 3 Playset boxes for charity. Two were empty custom boxes. Scotty Canady, Mark Murphy & Rick Egan won a custom playset boxes. The artwork was done by Ron Lizorty. The box that Rich won was signed by Clint Eastwood. It was a custom made playset with toy soldiers inside.

There was a collector that had a Mint Marx Playset from 1957 that was opened and displayed for all to see.

There was a social media campaign to make collectors aware of the change with the show and what companies would be there.

Here are some pictures of the collector’s lining up for the show. I heard that the show was really busy this year. Probably the best attendance in a very long time. Around 800 people or so attended. It was nice to see this show survive after being in limbo. Some thought that the show would be less than what it was. From what I heard it was very successful thanks to Matt Murphy.

Here is the hallway leading up to the main show room.

W. Britain’s tables.

Here are some pictures of different vendors. Scott Canady is in the first picture.

David & Kim Cook of MicShaun’s closet.

Treefrog Treasures.

Here is Warring Warbirds. I think the planes are carved from wood. They are really creative.

Here are a bunch of random pictures of the show. Some show Ron Barzso & Ken Ciak.

Here are a more random pictures of the show.

I heard George RR Martin was at the show?? He is a collector of miniatures. That is it for the Chicago show. It should be even better next year. I can’t wait to attend in 2025.

Here is a video of an American Civil War diorama that fellow collector Vic Badd Guy created. He painted a bunch of Speira Miniatures. He also created the burning house effects and the terrain.

Some of you might have noticed that I have shut down the store page on the website. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we are in the process of moving. Production has been paused until we are settled in the new house. Hopefully by the end of November we can start again.

Today would have been my Father’s 88th birthday. He was a navy veteran, served 28 years in the NYPD as a Lieutenant and a Great Dad. Happy Birthday in Heaven Dad.

That is it for now. Thank you for reading.