2023 ~ Toy Soldier Shows, NJ, Midwest & MFCA and some updates.

March 20, 2023 / Warhorse Miniatures / 2 Comments

I took a break yesterday from the 3d printing and went to a local toy soldier show not too far from me. The show was located in Wayne, N.J. I have never been to this show.

I got to the show about 20 minutes after the doors opened. There was around 100 people there when I got there. I left around 11am and there still was around the same number of people still there.

As I walked around the show, I noticed that about 75% of the vendors were selling painted metal toy soldiers from different eras. There were some displays setup to pick loose figures to buy.

Here is a layout of Del Prado figures.

A few vendors had used die cast vehicles for sale.

Other vendors had dimestore type toy soldiers.

One of the vendors is spin casting metal miniatures from some old molds that he had purchased the rights to. I think some of these were Sanderson miniatures.

The first vendor against the wall was Hobby Bunker. Matt had all the tables in the first aisle. He had everything, painted metal figures, metal vehicles, plastic toy soldiers, 3d printed & foam buildings, and some books & magazines.

There were some vendors with models and military related toys.

Besides Hobby Bunker, there was a few other vendors with new painted metal figures.

Like I said earlier above there was a lot of painted metal toy soldiers. Here are some older types that different vendors had for sale.

Gary Green was setup with all his boxed plastic soldier sets from different brands in different scales. There were a few other vendors that had some vintage plastic toy soldiers.

There was one vendor that had some nice painted metal toy soldiers, books and artwork.

Another vendor that had a nice selection of old Cherilea painted metal toy soldiers. I do not collect old painted metal figures, but I do have some. Once in a while I find them in the wild cheap and will pick them up. They have a certain charm to them.

Here are the things that I did buy at the show. I was not really looking for anything in particular but was happy to find the World War II Chinese toy soldiers. They were made by 21st Century. These are hard to find. I have a few other sets. Maybe someone will make some new WWII Chinese toy soldiers one day… I also picked up a couple of books for reference and some toy soldier magazines.

All in all, it was a nice show. I will look into attend some of the other shows that Ed Gries promotes as a vendor. The next show is on June 3rd. I am looking into setting up a table for that one.

Talking about future toy shows, later on this week there is one in Lafayette, Indiana. This Friday the 24th the room trading starts and then continues on Saturday. One Sunday the actual show takes place. I will not be attending this year but will return for 2024. It is a great show. For more information go to their website, Midwest Toy Soldier Show (mwtoysoldier.com).

Here are some protypes of the British Grenadiers and Regular Infantry. I have made a few adjustments, but the model is basically done. I will now work on a few more poses and another model. So hopefully by May I should have a few different sets available. The models are based on the 44th & 48th Regiments of Foot that took part in the Battle of the Monongahela in 1755. I will start mixing some resin too see if I can find a nice red color. They will be 1/32 in scale, 54mm or about the same size as the Barzso miniatures. Later on, I will scale them to match the W. Britian and John Jenkins figures.

The next show I will attend is on April 23rd in Gettysburg. I will have my latest resin sets with me. Plus, some of the LOD/Barzso resin miniatures for sale.

After Gettysburg, I will attend the MFCA show in May. In the next post I should have more information about my latest sets and plans. Thank you for reading.

Midwest Toy Soldier Show 2022 Review ~ Part Two The Show & The Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show & hobby news..

April 3, 2022 / Warhorse Miniatures / Leave a comment

Last Sunday was the Midwest Toy Soldier Show. Here is my review of the show. I did a post about the room trading last week. If you missed that you could check it out over here, Midwest Toy Soldier Show 2022 Review ~ Part one Room Trading.

The crowd for the show was good. It wasn’t the biggest crowd that I have seen. But it was one of my best for selling. From 10am to around 1pm the foot traffic was consent. After that it died out. I had fun talking to fellow collectors about my new products and the hobby.

We start the review with Atherton Scenics. John brought a bunch of his foam terrain pieces. I am using slide shows on some of my pictures. Some of them you can click on the arrows on the side to see another picture in case you didn’t know.

David Cook of MicShaun’s Closet had plenty of the TSSD bagged figure sets. He also had Russian plastic figures, LOD/Barzso toy soldiers and foam terrain pieces. Plenty to select from and at good prices.

Scott Canday had plenty of Vintage playsets and Willy Pickett had his custom painted play mats.

Scott Campbell brought some figures that he had painted to show me. I like the choice of colors he uses and the style also.

Here are some random pictures of the show.

Fellow collector named Curtis had a table next to me. He was selling a bunch of vintage toys.

There was a collector that had a diorama of Custer’s Last Stand in 1/72 scale.

Nate’s Garage Toy Soldiers has some amazing custom-made toys.

Rick always brings with him some amazing vintage playsets and plastic toys solders.

Rich also brings a lot of vintage playsets and toy soldiers. He usually has some Barzso or Conte products. He is a great person to deal with.

Doug Wood had this Conte Roman Galley for sale.

Here are more random pictures of the show.

Besides the main room there were vendors in the hall. This year there were more collectors and vendors room trading and selling at the show. Maybe next year they could expand upstairs!! Not everyone brought toy soldiers. There were some vendors with action figures, comics, historical books and die cast cars.

Rob Hornung also had some amazing custom creations. The knights that he had with looked awesome. He sculpts, casts and paints his figures. They are made out of metal. The cost of the mounted knights ranged from $95 to $125.

Mike still had some of the original Barzso products for the show. He almost sold everything the first two days prior with the room trading.

Morehouse Military Miniatures had some nice resin cast and wooden home made wood products.

Paul had the amazing Russian painted miniatures with him.

Rusty from Plastic Playset Magazine was at the show. You can read more about the magazine at their website, http://www.playsetmagazine.com/.

More pictures of the show.

Here are some great pictures that fellow collector Ricky Cowell took.

Julie from Treefrog Treasures had a bunch of metal painted figures.

Francis Turner had a bunch of Marx Playsets and vintage toy soldiers.

More random pictures.

I had two tables at the show. Besides my own line of miniatures, I had Barzso/LOD resin figures, LOD plastic toy soldiers, Warhansa & Publius figures and some foam terrain pieces. I set up a little display of my products and some prototypes.

That is it for the review of the show. Like I said before I had a good time and can’t wait to return next year.

There is a Toy Soldier Show in New Jersey on April 23rd. I never been to this show. I hear it is good.

Here is the first set of French Marines that I will be adding to my online catalog next weekend. I took some pictures of them primed. I hope to start painting these soon.

French Officer

French Marine advancing

French Marine Kneeling Firing

French Marine Standing Firing

French Marine Stalking

French Marine on Guard

French Marine Attacking with Tomahawk

The miniatures are scaled about the same size as the Barzso figures. Each set will cost $42. I will take some pictures of the second set next week.

May 1st is the 14th Annual Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show. I will be there with my line of miniatures, Barzso figures, vintage toy soldiers and some foam products. You can read more about the Gettysburg show here The Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show 2022 or http://www.mwtoysoldier.com/.

Well, that is it for now. Thank you for reading.

Midwest Toy Soldier Show 2022 Review ~ Part one Room Trading

March 29, 2022March 29, 2022 / Warhorse Miniatures / 1 Comment

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.

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.

The Latest News!! 10/14/2021 Columbus Ohio Toy Soldier Show

October 14, 2021 / Warhorse Miniatures / Leave a comment

I spent most of the day pricing and packing toys for the show. Carolyn helped me ship out the first batch of orders of our 1st set. Most of the items I am bringing to the show are new production. Besides the Warhorse Miniatures we also have a bunch of the LOD/Barzso resin figures and Foam houses. Plus some of the Russian resin toy soldiers. Plenty of Warhansa and some Publius Medieval figures. For more information on the show click over here, http://www.mwtoysoldier.com/Shows.html.

We will have the Saxon Family Set #1 with us for purchase at that show this Sunday. Plus some of the prototypes of other sets we are working on.

Here are some of the Russian figures and sets that I will have with me.

Here are some of the LOD/Barzso products that I will have will me. I am even bringing one Duke’s Tower. I am asking $275 for it.

If you can, stop by the show this Sunday. It will be fun. That is it for now. Thank you for reading.

The Latest News!! Midwest Toy Soldier and Hobby News!! 03/28/2021

March 28, 2021March 29, 2021 / Warhorse Miniatures / 1 Comment

Last weekend was the Midwest Toy Soldier Show. It takes place over three days. Two days of room trading and one day for a conventional toy show. I was not able to take part in this year’s show. Like many others I was able to see some things from pictures posted on FB. I also was sent some pictures and information about the show. Collector Jason Evans provided me most of the photos and information about the show.

From what I heard the vendors and crowds were back. Almost back to normal. Here are some pictures from a couple of rooms. I will start with Atherton Scenics’s room. John had a bunch of foam products with him. Jason Evans provided me with these pictures.

Here are a couple of pictures below of what Robert Hornung had with him. He hand makes and paints his miniatures. Jason told me that Robert had some nice stuff.

Jason did some room trading also. Here are a few pictures that he took. The last two pictures are some of the things that he got while there. He found some nice King & Country products.

Next we have some pictures of Scott Canady’s room. He had a lot of vintage plastic toy soldier playsets and figure sets.

Willy Pickett had some hand painted mats to display vintage plastic toy soldiers. They looked awesome.

Collector Joe Baker had posted some pictures of the 3D printed Speira figures that he was selling at the show.

I heard that the show was good. The vendors and collectors returned to buy & sell. Here are a some pictures of the show thanks to Jason Evans & Michele Keller. Looks like there was plenty of vintage plastic, some rare Barzso playsets, highly detailed painted metal figures, plus imported plastic toy soldiers and other vintage metal figures.

I saw on Stad’s Stuff page and from some collectors in Russia about two new companies. The first one is called Солдатики ХАНОМАКА or translated Soldiers of Hanomaca or Hanomak. Right now they are making World War II Germans & Russian soldiers for Battle of Elbrus. They look nice. I will find out more information and pricing when it becomes available.

The second company is called “Vympel”. Here is a message that they have issued to collectors below and a few pictures of their products. I will have some more information about them in the future too.

“Dear friends, colleagues, collectors !!! Plastic miniature project “Vympel” is a hobby workshop that will delight you with interesting sets of game soldiers on a scale of 1:32 or 54mm. Our goal is to make historically accurate game figures that convey pain and despair, bravery and cowardice, experience and joy with weapons in hand. We plan to touch on many interesting historical topics and events, introduce the personalities and heroes of different armies and directions. The first set is preparing for release April – May. Let’s go!”

The first set is of the German Division SS “Das Reich”. The set consists of 6 shapes, the material of making polyurethane. In early July 1942 they were transferred to Northwest France. In November, the division participated in the occupation of southern France, then carried out garrison service. It was re-formed in November 1942 in Normandy (Northern France) into the 2nd Motorized Division of the SS Reich (2. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Das Reich).

Important!!!! Important!!!! Important!!!! Dear friends, colleagues, collectors! We do not collect pre-orders and do not take money for our yet unreleased set. If someone offers you someone on our behalf to make a pre-order and pay him money, do not believe it scammers.

With Respect, Denis Barannik.

The last thing I am going to talk about in this post is about some plastic recast Atlantic Toy Soldiers that I found for sale on eBay. I am trying to find out the scale but they do look like the are 1/32 or close to it. The ones I saw were about $50 a set and around $100 for the Fort sets. The Brazilian company called Gulliver is producing these. I don’t know if this is the same company that made the Atlantic western figures in the 1980’s.

Update. The figures are about 2 & 1/2 inches tall.

Don’t forget about the Gettysburg Show which takes place on April 18th. That is it for now. Thank you for reading.

The Latest News! 2-07-2021. Toy Soldier Previews & News!!! Lost Barzso Sculpts. Conte Romans. Warhammer III.

February 7, 2021February 7, 2021 / Warhorse Miniatures / 12 Comments

It has been a while since my last post. I have been busy working extra and dealing with the weather for the most part in January. I have gathered some things that have occurred over the last month into one post. So let us begin with some news from Airfix.

Airfix is releasing 6 of there classic World War II sets this summer. British Paratroops, German Infantry, US Infantry, US Paratroops, German Paratroops and British Infantry. I think these are now being produced in India. I wonder if they will be in a soft plastic again?

Conte’s plastic Romans are in production and should be available before the end of this year. Hopefully by the summer if we are lucky we shall see Roman Legion Set #1. They will come in bagged sets of Gold, Silver & Red.

Some of the figures require assembly. You will have a some choices with the poses. This is a nice feature when building armies. Also the hot & cold water solution to straighten the spear might be needed. Head over to the Conte website over here, https://contecostore.myshopify.com/.

Next we visit CHELOVECHEK / LITTLE MAN. Set №8, which is called “The Missing Expedition of Franklin – EREBUS (1845-1847).” In the set are 6 men in 1/32 scale made in rubber plastic. Here is a short description: – Captain John Franklin with Capuchin the monkey, Private of the Marine Corps armed with a capsule shotgun, Ice Master with hook and pistol, Diver with bogor, Cook with a heavy look, and an old sailor with a ice ax.

Plastic Platoon is very busy these days. They have a new set coming out soon. It is Indian Warriors of the Battle of Little Bighorn #3.

Plastic platoon. Soviet scouts 1943. 1/32 + Master model. Planned for release in Spring 2021.

Here are some 3D rendered Indian figures for the new American Revolution theme sets being developed.

Here are more renders of the figures of the series American Revolution. This time, the figures are from the Artillery Revolution set. The girl is Molly Pitcher.

Next we see what Publius is up too. Here are a few of the new sets being released. There is a crusader set, Greeks and Knights.

Plus some of the older WWII Russian Soldier sets cast in the rubbery resin. These WWII Russian Sets can be found at https://micshaunscloset.com/collections/publius.

The last thing I have to report about Publius is the prototype of an Amazon.

Mars has two new sets coming out later this year. They are World War II German Paratroop Artillery and Mortar sets.