Two more weeks to go until the Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show. I will setup as a vendor again. Besides all of my Warhorse resin miniatures, I will also be selling the LOD/Barzso resin toy soldiers.The town of Gettysburg makes a nice weekend getaway. There is so much history to explore. Plus, all the shops to check out too.
Every year the toy shows are a little different. There might be a new release that everyone wants or a rare collectible that a collector is letting go. This year looks promising for a few rare pieces that you could pick up. Thomas, a fellow collector is selling some of his collection. “Expertly painted plastic Indians and cavalry, Saxons, Normans, and Vikings. Scenery pieces, the Conte Cog ship, and more…“. I wonder what the other vendors are bringing.
Here are a few of the latest releases by Publius. The Western figures look like new sculpts, but the some of the medieval figures have been available in metal already. The look really nice. I guess you can find them on eBay.
Next are some new miniatures by Runecraft. They usually have some nicely detailed and unique figures. And like their brother company Publius, you can probably find these on eBay.
Beleriand Toy Soldiers, another company out of Russia has a new set. These Apache Indians look fantastic.
And our last preview from Russia is this set of Vandals by Soldiers of Hanomaka. And like the others you will have to search on eBay, unless you know someone who sells them. Most of these toy soldiers are made out of a flexible rubber type plastic. The scales are usually around 58mm. The big 1/32 or small 1/30, somewhere in between.
In my last post I was talking about the new British Infantry that I am working on. I made two prototypes and then did some tweaking to them.The musket was adjusted and a few other things. I am working on a few reposes of the model and some new models. Next will be a firing line set. One of the new models will be an Officer. He will probably be sold separately or maybe in a small group. I was thinking of making a drummer and maybe another musician. We shall see. The first British sets will be the Marching sets, that will be in May. I might have a few sets at the Gettysburg show. And maybe another Marching set too and some prototypes.
That is, it for now. Thank you for reading and I will see you in Gettysburg.
I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. So far, so good. I have wanted to make a post the last two months, but I have been too busy lately. Anyway, it is time for some updates and hobby related news.
When we last left off, I was heading to Ohio for the Columbus Toy Soldier show. There were a lot of good deals. I picked up a few Barzso foam pieces for a really good deal. Most of the show was vintage plastic. There were some painted metal toy soldiers available too. But no big metal dealer. The attendance was low this year. Here are some random pictures that I took.
I had set up a few displays of my latest products and some prototypes were for sale too. Plus, I had a bunch of different LOD/Barzso resin sets. Here are a few pictures of that.
I was a good boy for Christmas. Carolyn got me a few nice gifts. Here are some more pictures.
Here are some of the latest products that I add to my store page. Since November I have been focused on creating sets that are related to the French & Indian War. Besides the French Marines we now have Pack Horses, Teamsters, a group of Frontier homesteaders and some trees.There are now 30 different products available in the store page, Warhorse Miniatures | Product categories | Warhorse Miniatures.
The French Marines are now in being made in a new resin mixture. The color is a better and it is stronger now. I dropped some of these on a hard tiled floor from over 4 feet and they did not break.They are not unbreakable but now have a better chance of surviving a small fall of a table.
Here is an update to the Pack Horse Team Set. I am replacing one of the figures with this one. It is the same model, but now is reposed. I had to many problems with the production of the other pose. In this version the colonial teamster is stopping the horse with a big stick that he was carrying driving the animals forward. The musket is on his back and a blanket roll was added.
The Sheep set will be getting an update too. I am adding this Shepherd boy. The price will now be $25.
When I designed the Frontier Raid set it was to show how life along the frontier was. War parties of Native American Indians and Canadians would raid the homesteads. Here are some pictures below of some prototypes I am working on at the moment. I should have two different sets ready in February. The first will be the French Canadian & Indian War Party. The second will be Woodland Indians.
Here are a few random pictures of the Warhorse Miniatures and Barzso Playset miniatures to show the size comparison.
I noticed that the Petite Guerre website was down the other day. So, I sent Nino an email to see how things were going.Right now, production has stopped. He is still active creating things and thinking of using a different platform or making a blog page in the future.I will keep you updated.
Here are pictures of some Normans by Prikaz. I don’t know how to order any sets from him at the moment.
Here are some new World War One German and Russian sets by Publius. They look really nice. So nice I want to start a World War One collection…
Well, we are just about finished with this post. Besides all the French & Indian War sets, I am still working on some medieval things. I should have the Potter set available this month some of the houses. I will release another Viking set in the near future too. Take Care for now. Thank you for reading.
The Columbus Ohio Toy Soldier Show is a few days away. On Sunday October 16th, I will be attending & selling my Warhorse Miniatures, Barzso Playset and other toy soldier products there.
Krampu verus the Warlord…
Here is the Krampus figurine that I had made last year. I will have several Krampuses with me at the show. The fantasy Viking Warlord figure will be available in the near future.
The New “Frontier Raid” set.
I have been working on a new early colonial American set. The set is titled “Frontier Raid”. It depicts settlers reacting to a raid by some Natives or Canadians. Some of the models are new and some have been repurposed from the Saxon raid set. The idea came when a few collectors said they could be used for different settings. I am designing a new French Canadian & Native American Raider set now. The Frontier Raid set is scaled to the 54mm Barzso miniatures. It should be released in a week or so. I am trying to adjust the color to match the Barzso American Militia set.
Saxon Cottage
The new Saxon houses are almost finished. This is the first house, another three being designed. The small cottage should be added to the store in a couple of weeks.
Saxon Potter
I am retooling the Saxon Potter Shop. There is a new model for the Potter. I really like the way he turned out. I am changing a few other things now. I think this set will be ready in a couple of months.
Publius Franks and Moors.
Publius Franks
Publius Moors
The new Publius sets look really nice. The details are amazing. I like the colors they have used. The only thing I did not like is the scale. They are smaller than some of their past medieval figures. They are a little bigger than the Britain Deetail figures and a little smaller than the Conte figures. The heads are smaller too. A lot of toy soldiers have bigger heads and hands than a sculpture/model of a human. It looks like the new Publius figures are 3d sculpted and not hand sculpted like they used to be. Not that I have a problem with that for obvious reasons. But instead of a toy soldier design, they look like a sculpture design. This is one thing I had a problem with initially, in the beginning of my designs.
The show should be fun. It is one of the last shows of the year. Well, that is it for now. Thank you for reading.
Sunday was the 2021 Columbus Toy Soldier Show. The vendors at the show were shouting “Covid, Give me back my Collectors….” Besides the low crowd it was actually not a bad show. There were plenty of vintage playsets, Barzso Playsets, painted metal toy soldiers and plastic figures galore. Plus my new resin miniatures.
I found a few vintage Airfix Toy Soldiers, Original Barzso bagged figure sets at original prices!!, W. Britain Saxons, Painted Russian metal Viking figures and an Atherton Medieval Church. The second part of the review will be on what I found over the weekend & some of the places where we went. Plus some updates about Warhorse Miniatures.
Paul Amody had a bunch of his Russian made metal miniatures with him. The painting is outstanding.
John Atherton & Shane Leonard brought plenty of their foam products. They are great to add to playsets or for display pieces.
Some various pictures from an unknown vendor.
Ted Deddens of W. Britain had bunch of painted metal figures. I re-joined the Collectors Club again. It is worth the price. You can take a look over here, https://www.wbritain.com/collectors-club.
Fellow collector Scott Campbell showed me some of his Barzso figures that he had painted. I always like to talk to fellow collectors to see what they are working on. I sometimes learn some tips or am able to share my own.
Rick Eber had about half of Barzso Playsets available at the show yesterday. There were about 15 total playsets spread out with different vendors. Rick also had plenty of vintage Marx plastic toy soldiers.
John Hamilton had some vintage plastic toy soldiers and other vintage toys.
Here are some more pictures of various vendors.
Robert Horning had his hand crafted & hand painted figures with him. He produces a bunch of different themes from Aliens, Ancients, WWII and even Golf. Plus much more.
Rick Keller had plenty of vintage plastic toys soldiers. Mostly Marx. He had loose figures, bagged sets and some playsets.
Larry Lovely had some loose figures to rummage through. He also had a Barzso Treasure Island playset and some foam pieces.
Mike Lonigro had a mixture of Tin Litho buildings, plastic figures and some playsets.
Todd Nace also had some playsets and storage containers full of vintage plastic toy soldiers. He also had a customized Barzso kneelboat. I think it was the Lewis & Clark boat.
Here was the vendor next to Rick Eber. I didn’t catch his name. He had some vintage figures and other toys.
Rod Chapman had a bunch of antique painted metal dimestore toy soldiers & other antique toys. His Grandson was very kind to help us pack up after the show.
S
Steve Connell had a combination of different toys.Some painted metal figures and plastic toy soldiers.
Here are some more various pictures of vintage toy soldiers.
I did enjoy the show. I sold the Duke’s Tower to a lucky collector at a good price. It was a little below retail cost. I was surprised that more collectors didn’t come out. They missed out on a lot of good stuff. Most of the vendors will now get ready for next year. Most of us keep our products off the internet. We save them for the shows.I will be at more shows next year.
I would like to thank all the collectors that have shown interest in my work in creating a 11th Century early Medieval world. Thank you for the feedback also. It helps me with the further development of things to come.
In the next part of the review I will have some updates about Warhorse Miniatures. That is it for now. Thank you for reading.
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.
Welcome back for another post about toys soldiers. I hope all is well with everyone. As usual I have been real busy with work, eBay and all of my hobbies. No rest for the wicked…Today we will take a look at Conte’s new Romans, LOD Barzso American Rangers, some Publius Vikings.
I recently purchased some of Conte’s new Romans. They come in 3 different colors of Red, Silver & Gold. The are 1/32 in scale or about 57mm if they were standing tall. Each bag has 16 figures. They are packed nicely. Inside the plastic bag the figures are broken down in separate bags. Plus some have plastic supports.
Some of the figures can be customized with different arms. This way you can have some extra poses. Most of the Romans are armed with a Pilum or a Gladius. I am glad that Richard was able to produce these plastic toy soldiers. Because of the cost we see less plastic injected figures being made. I don’t have too many Ancient themed toy soldiers. The ones that I do have are Barbarians or Celtic Warriors. Now I have some Romans to fight them.We should see some future Roman sets down the line.
Right now you can order from the Conte website, 3 sets for $99 with free shipping. Here is the website, https://contecostore.myshopify.com/.
When I was collecting Barzso Playset products one of the sets that I wish I had purchased was the American Rangers. It is a hard set to find at a reasonable price in the secondary market.Now I don’t have to worry about that because Ken at LOD Toys Soldiers has reissued them again. They are cast from the original molds and in the original lime green color or close to it. This is a great set. They are a little bigger than the earlier Colonial sets but blend well with them.
Renamed “Roger’s Rangers 3” this set was originally released in 2010 for the Bushy Run playset.Seven figures in seven poses.
A few months ago I got these Publius Vikings. As usual they are super detailed. They are about 58mm in height not counting the base. The second Viking in the above picture is a little bigger than the others.
The cost of these figures is between $10 to $25 and can be found on eBay. They are cast in a rubbery type of resin.
These figures fit nicely with a bunch of different brands.
I will have some news in a few weeks about the things I am working on. These will be 3D printed. We are testing some new figures and some other things. Thank you for reading. That is it for now.
Today we remember the Brave American, British, Canadian & other allied Soldiers that gave their lives when they stormed the beaches of Normandy to fight the forces of Germany.
The Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August 1944, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. Prior to D-Day, the Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans. The Normandy landings have been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe.
Today I am doing a quick post about some new products from Warhansa and then a figure from Publius. The first Warhansa set is called “Friends of Robin Hood”. There are 6 figures included. It looks like we get Little John, Friar Tuck, a Merry man with a pitchfork, Will Scarlet, a Jester and Maid Mirian.
The figures look really sharp. List as 1/32 in scale. They are nice size and will blend very well with Conte & Barzso medieval figures. The poses are good too. Weapons are to scale. I give them an A. The only figure I don’t need is the Jester. But he has his use in a court some where…
The other set is called “Forest Camp”. It has a camp fire and an animal spit roasting above it. Plus some barrels and chest. Some much needed accessories that we need a ton more for displays.
Here is a new figure by Publius. He is a mounted Native American or a Plains Indian on a horse. This figure is very nice. Again 1/32 in scale. He is a little bigger than the TSSD figures. But will make a nice leader for you figures.
I found these trees in a train hobby shop last month. I purchase about all that they had. Not bad for about $3.00 a piece.
I am still working on some new figures. We are testing different designs and resins. I hope to be able to share something new in a few weeks. That is it for now. Thank you for reading.
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 â„–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.
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.
David and Kim at MicShaun’s Closet have some new foam pieces in development.Here are the photos of their new North Africa Building in three paint schemes.
PlusPalisade Walls for the Alamo and other dioramas. Three different pieces – plain wall, angled section (more for Alamo) and and artillery section.Check out more of their products at https://micshaunscloset.com/.
Last time I previewed the English Archer set by Warhansa. They have continued with some new medieval themed sets. They are English medieval themed sets. I really like these sets.
They also have a new Viking themed set.You can see more at their website over here, https://www.warhansa.com/.
FOUND AFTER 14 YEARS
One of my favorite projects was the Robin Hood Set. After the set came out in 2007 I had 5 more Merry Men sculpted by the brilliant Jay Richardson of Ft. Worth , Texas. They were to be the basis for a small add on set called the Men of Sherwood Forest. The figures were in various camp poses , seated , standing around, etc. One guy was designed to carry a variety of items , like firewood , a cask, etc. I got involved with other projects and put the originals away for safe keeping. I put them away in such a safe place that I forgot where they were! From time to time I would mount a determined search , but always without success. Years went by, with no Merry Men in sight.
Fast forward to last Saturday night. I was moving some boxes around and found one labeled ” Original Sculpts .” even though I had looked in the box before , I thought I would check each small box inside. Each box contained a set of original figures that I sent to the mold makers and which they had returned, Aztecs, 1805 Marines, Hurons …and then I opened a box labeled British Grenadiers figures #1-#4. But within the box was the set of long lost, misplaced , missing in action Merry Men in Camp ! I immediately called my old buddy Jim Clouse and told him the happy news . We met the next day at a McDonalds parking lot so I could hand them over for some professional photographs. (In addition to his sculpting skills Jim is also an accomplished photographer.
Finally, I communicated with the new owner of Barzso Playsets, Ken Ciak. Ken was excited too and plans to finally produce these figures along with maybe a surprise or two. ( I had planned to include a Maid Marion and Ken makes great female figures and , well, you get the idea.
So there is the story of the missing Merry Men. I can hardly wait until they come out. Can you ?
~ Ron Barzso
Photos were taken byJim Clouse.These figures will probably be out sometime in the summer or early fall.You can see more of the LOD products over here, https://lodtoysoldiers.com/.
Total War announced that they will be releasing Warhammer III late this year. It is a PC video game. Game Workshop is also developing new miniatures bring back the Warhammer Fantasy tabletop game.
Now for some news. I will not be attending the Midwest Toy Soldier Show this year. I will be at the Gettysburg and Columbus Toy Soldier Shows. Maybe some other shows too. But we shall see. I will have some of the Russian based figure sets at these shows. Companies like Prikaz, Warhansa and Publius. Plus the LOD resin sets and some foam products. I should also have my figures ready sometime late spring. That is all for now. Thank you for reading.
If you are like me you are probably sick of wearing a mask and politics. So what better way to avoid all of that by reading about toy soldiers 🙂
We will begin with Mars plastic toy soldiers. They have been releasing new sets like every 3 to 4 months.Here are some of their latest World War II sets.These figures are about 54mm in size.
World War IIAmerican ParatroopersWorld War II German ParatroopersWorld War II German Paratroopers in Winter UniformsWorld War II German Volksstrum Infantry
Next we will take a look at some of the latest Publius sets. The set of Trappersreally nice and so is the Woodland Indian set.They are cast in a rubbery resin and are 1/32 in scale.
TrappersWoodland Indians
Here are some of the Runecraft figures that Publius makes too. Right now the best place to find these would be on eBay. They are 1/32 in scale and made in the rubbery resin or tin alloy.
Here are two new sets from our friends at CHELOVECHEK. Both are based on the Tlinkits. Set No.6 “Tlinkits – Paddle” and No.7 “Tlinkits – Peace”!They are 1/32 in scale and are cast in the rubbery resin.If you are interest in these sets you can contact Ivan at evanspud@mail.ru.
No.6 “Tlinkits – Paddle”
The Canoe set is really niceand the so is the Peace set.
No.7 “Tlinkits – Peace”
Next we will see what Plastic Platoon is up too. They are working on a World War II Japanese Infantry set. This set looks really nice. I can’t wait to get this set.
Plastic Platoon World War II Japanese
Here is the latest news from Warhansa. The Medieval English Archers look excellent. Very detailed. They are about the same size as the Conte 1/32 Medieval figures.They are should be cast in the rubbery resin.
Besides the Medieval figuresWarhansa is working on some terrain add on sets. The figures shown are just for scale comparison. If you are interested in any of the Warhansa sets you can go over to there website, https://www.warhansa.com/.
Here are what the Skeletons look like. Also made by Warhansa.
Overat Facebook Evan Oelrichs posted these pictures of a future set by Expeditionary Force. Exclusive sneak peak of the upcoming Medieval longbowmen set to be released in December.You can see more over here, http://www.expeditionaryforce.com.sg/catalogue-c-9.html.
Our last information is news from MicShaun’s Closet. David is working on a a new foam building. Here is the Porotype.
Besides that here is what I was told. “We have received the latest Mars sets. Viet Cong with heavy weapons set in gray and green and The German Volksstrum set. Plastic Platoon we have received the Indians set 2, the 7th cav figure w/horse and German Wehrmacht w/ mortar. Basevich latest Russian Red Army set. The Mars and Plastic Platoon have been flying off the shelves!”
I hope every one is doing well. I have been working off and on. I was able to get out this week to visit some antique stores and a couple of comic shops. I found a few things while I was out searching. We will get to that later. I thought this post was going to be quick post about some vintage toys that I found. But in the last couple of days I became aware of a few things. So let us begin…..
Bullet Proof Miniatures is a new company that makes miniatures by 3D printing them. You can chose the scale of your figure. I am going to get a few figures to do a review in the future. I hope that some of these new figures will fit in with my Barzso figures. You can read more about them at their Facebook page over here, https://www.facebook.com/BulletproofSmallScaleMiniatures/.
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Publius is going to release a new WWII Russian Infantry set. This set is titled “Winter 44th” They look great. The scale is 1/32.
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Engineer Basevich also has a new WWII Russian Infantry set. This set is titled “Battle of Berlin”. Here are some pictures of the test figures. I hope that they are either green or rusty brown. From what I have read they are based on real people. You can read more at their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Toy-soldiers-Engineer-Basevich-322160358341602/.
In 2018 AMC had a new TV show called the “Terror”. The first season was about a British Naval polar explorers. The ships get stuck in the ice. They try to survive the harsh weather conditions and each other, while being stalked by some thing… It is a good show. You can read more about it at, https://www.amc.com/shows/the-terror/season-1.
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When I first watched the show I thought that it would be a cool playset. Well Ivan at “Little Men” must have been reading my mind. Here is a new set that they are working on. It looks great. I can’t wait to get a set of these. They will be plastic and 1/32 in scale.
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Here are the new Plastic Platoon WWII Germans in production. These two sets are part of the Battle for Leningrad series. They look awesome. I will have to get all of these sets.
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I found a few things this week at an antique mall. I have been a fan of Auburn rubber toys for a while. The past year I found a few different trucks and jeeps. This week I added a medical truck. The guy on the Motorcycle was made by Tim Mee.
