Vintage Toy Shows

Midwest Toy Soldier Show 2022 Review ~ Part one Room Trading

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day Two

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Latest News!! 09-02-2019 ~ Austin Miniatures, Conte, FOV updates. Chicago Toy Soldier Show. Plus some vintage TSSD items.

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FOV 007 Tiger VI Whittmann

I hope everyone is enjoying the Labor Day weekend. Now that the summer is over I am returning to my normal work schedule and will have more time to do some things. In this post I have a few updates and some pictures of some items that I have picked up over the summer. We shall start with some news first.

CTSS

THE CHICAGO TOY SOLDIER SHOW IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER! Join us at the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg Chicago, Sunday, September 22nd, 10 am – 3:30 pm. This show is the biggest show in the world. All the newest products, prototypes and news can be found here. Plus hard to find vintage toys, custom one of a kind and limited edition sets. You can read more about the show at their website over here, https://chicagotoysoldiershow.com/.

CTSS 2019

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Here is what Conte had post on his FB site in his words below.

Thought you’d like to see 6 ( of 8) poses from Roman Set 1 ‘in action’ .
Please note that the ‘gobs’ supporting shields and such are only ‘there’ to temporarily hold up separately molded parts. They will NOT (obviously) be part of the finished product.

Also, the pila/spears have been artificially made a tad thicker than we’d wanted and designed( so that they inject properly and do not bend or twist) We are hopeful that their thickness will be reduced a bit for the final production while still avoiding any bending…it’s all about compromise when the functioning of the molds vs. playability & original design come into debate….

Lastly, the spearchucker is not holding his pilum at the proper angle as it came loose for the photo-shoot

Can’t wait to show you photos of these fellows mixed with additional poses from sets 2 and 3…

 

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A different view which gives some idea of the full-round nature of these figures. The photos were sent to us this morning BY THE FACTORY. These are actual photos of prototypes for RC’s approval/comment sent to us from THE FACTORY.

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7th & 8th poses from Set 1

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Centurion almost complete; might make some adjustments to the cape ; also working on alternate head and alternate arms. Hope you’ve enjoyed seeing this fellow progress…the problem always is that the large shield hides so much detail.

Austin Miniatures

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Austin Miniatures will have the new Japanese Infantry & US Marine figures and playset available at the Chicago Toy Soldier Show. I will have more information soon about the details of these sets. 

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Forces of Valor is starting to release more new products in 1/32 scale now. The new Russian tanks will available this month. The German tank above should be released next year in March. We should see new items come out on a regular basis now. Next year will see a lot of German, American and some more Russian armored vehicles. There will be more items released other than the ones shown below. 

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Soviet T-34/85 Model 1944 Medium Tank – 55th Guards Tank Brigade, 7th Guards Tank Corps, Berlin, 1945 [Bonus Model V-2 Diesel-Fueled 12-Cylinder Engine] (1:32 Scale)

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Soviet T-34/85 Model 1944 Medium Tank – 95th Guards Tank Brigade, 9th Tank Corps, Berlin, 1945 [Bonus Model V-2 Diesel-Fueled 12-Cylinder Engine] (1:32 Scale)

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Here is the famous “Whittmann” Panzer. German Late Production Sd. Kfz. 181 PzKpfw VI Tiger I Ausf. E Heavy Tank – Michael Wittmann, “007”, schwere SS Panzer Abteilung 101, Cintheaux, France, 1944 [Bonus Maybach HL 230 TRM P45 Engine] (1:32 Scale)

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German Sd. Kfz. 173 Jagdpanther Tank Destroyer – “332”, schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 654, Normandy, 1944 [Bonus Maybach HL230 P30 Engine] (1:32 Scale)

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German 88mm Flak 36 Anti-Aircraft Gun with FLaK Rohr 36 Gun Barrel and Sd. 202 Towing Vehicle – Unidentified Unit, Stalingrad, 1942 (1:32 Scale)

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German Sd. Kfz. 186 Jagdpanzer VI Jagdtiger Heavy Tank Destroyer with Henschel Suspension – schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 653, Germany, 1945 [Bonus Maybach V-12 HL 230 P30 Engine] (1:32 Scale)

FOV 184 Elefant Heavy Tank Destroyer

German Sd. Kfz. 184 Elefant Heavy Tank Destroyer with Zimmerit – schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 653, Italy, 1944 [Bonus Two 300 PS Maybach HL 120 TRM Engines] (1:32 Scale)

FOV Tiger 203

German Mid Production Sd. Kfz. 181 PzKpfw VI Tiger I Ausf. E Heavy Tank with Zimmerit – 3/schwere Panzer Abteilung 501, Orsha, Russia, June 1944 [Bonus Maybach HL 230 TRM P45 Engine] (1:32 Scale)

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You can find these new Tanks at https://www.themotorpool.net/Forces-of-Valor-Tanks-and-Diecast-Military-Vehicles-s/50.htm, https://www.hobbybunker.com/products/forces-of-valor-16/mfg or eBay, Amazon and other places. Also https://www.michtoy.com/vendors-Forces%20of%20Valor.html sells them too.

 

The Find

Here are some items that I picked up over the summer. In my last post I mentioned that I picked up a Barzso/TSSD “Road To Stalingrad” playset. After I picked up that set I found a few die cast tanks to add to it. Most of them were made by Ultimate Soldier, 21st Century, Unimax or Forces of Valor.

TSSD Russians & Tanks

Here are two WWII Russian tanks by Unimax and Forces of Valor. Plus WWII Russian Infantry by TSSD. All of them are nicely detailed. They are all in 1/32 scale.

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Here are the TSSD Russians in olive green. The T34 tank is made by Unimax.

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Here are the TSSD Russians in Maroon. The KV-1 tank is made by Forces of Valor. 

TSSD Germans

Here are some of the TSSD WWII Germans in long coats for the Russian Invasion. 

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These are early set cast in white gray color.

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The first Tank is made by W. Britain. I found it for $34. It was damaged, but I was able to fix some of it. The barrel on the gun turret was warped. Probably from some accident when it fell and hit the ground. There was a small crack on the bottom of the track. I was able to heat up the gun barrel and straighten it out.

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Here is another German tank. I think this one is a Panther. It was made by 21st Century toys.

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The half-track is made by Forces of Valor. The figures that came with this set are really nice. They make an epic piece in any collection. The look nice with other brands of toy soldiers in 1/32 scale.

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I ordered some trees about a month ago from Micshaun’s Closet. Each tree was $12.99. The details are great. It is a nice size. The tree measures about 9 & 1/2 inches tall.

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So if you need any Germans, Russians or trees head over to https://micshaunscloset.com/, they carry plenty of different sets from multiple companies.

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These die cast tanks are great. But they can also cost a lot of money. But if you are patient you find these die cast vehicles at good to fair prices. The Forces of Valor are the best in my opinion.

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Over the summer I have purchased a few figure lots. In these lots there was either different sets from the same brand or different brands mixed together. I picked up a few vintage WWII Russian Infantry figures in different colors.

Airfix Russians

Here are some of the orange Airfix Russians that I think were made in the late 1980’s. 

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These Marx recast Russian figures I think were cast in the 1990’s??

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I have never seen these in yellow before until I got them in a figure lot. They are nicely cast. They are marked Marx on the bottom. They are 1/32 in scale.

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It is a few weeks away from the big show. I can’t wait to hear about and see the newest products that are going to be released. I should have a post before or maybe two post before the show. That is it for now. Thank you for reading.

Greater York Toy Show Review 2018

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Today I went to the Greater York Toy Show for the first time. Located in York, Pennsylvania. I heard about the show before but have never been able to attend because it takes place the weekend after Thanksgiving. I am usually busy or too tired to make the trip there. I heard that there were a lot of vintage toys and there were deals to be found. The show boasted of over 850 tables. I some found deals and it appeared to be 850 tables, but I didn’t count.

I got up at 6:30am and left my house about 7:00am. It took me around 2 hours to get there. As I was parking my car, the doors had just opened. I could have spent $20.00 to get the early bird access, but chose not to. I spent $5.00 for the regular time admission. They also had early bird admission the day before the show as the dealers were setting up. 

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When I got out of my car I saw the line. There were at least 300 people in line and it had started moving already. There must have been easily over 600 people within the first hour. Maybe more. At times it felt like stampeding cattle, lol. The aisles were small and sometimes they got smaller. It was times like this I wish I had spent the extra money and came early or the day before. For most of the show I was on the move. I only stopped if I saw anything of interest to me. I wanted to be in front of the herd of people. 

The show was in two different sections. In the second section the aisles were larger. It was really hot also. Even though it was uncomfortable at times the show was worth the trip. I did find some good deals and fair prices on other things.

Marx Cape Canaveral1Marx Cape Canaveral2

I found this playset within the first 15 minutes. At first the set was being pieced out. The dealer was selling mainly new toys. I noticed the Marx figures at first for $10.00. The the man told me that the other items belonged together. A bag of rockets and space items. Then the metal Cape Canaveral building. All for $25.00. I got him down to $20.00. Then he said he had the box which he had under the table. He threw that in 🙂

Marx Japanese

 

Next I came across a table that had boxes of toy soldiers. I spent about a half hour picking through boxes. I liked the way these vintage Marx Japanese figures looked. I got these for $20.00.

Armymen

 

Most of these are Auburn Armymen. The first figure marching in the second picture is by Bergen. They appear to be 60mm.

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Here are two Marx western figures. I think the first one is a farmer. They also appear to be 60mm.

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These two Indians are 45mm. I think they are by Marx.

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These Cattle are 54mm and I think they were made by Marx.

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Two more animals that also are 54mm and made by Marx.

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Here is one of those Hong Kong Elastolin clones made in plastic. The Viking figure appears to be about 60mm.

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I got this Marx Robin Hood figure for free because he is missing a hand.

Sailors

Here are two sailors that appear to be 60mm. I don’t know who made these. I got all the figures above for under a $1.00 each from the same seller of the Marx Japanese.

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I also got these Marx figures of General Grant and Jefferson Davis for under a dollar each.

Britains Americans

Playmobil

I got the Britain World War II American Infantry and Playmobil figures from the same seller. The Britain set was $9.00. The Playmobil sets were $2.00 each. 

While fast walking through the show I bumped into Paul Stadinger of Stad’s Stuff. We would continue to bump into each other through out the show. He helped me find a few of the figures that I got. 

Herald Indians

I got this Herald Set for $30.00. These are the best kept Herald figures that I have found so far.

 

I picked up this Britains Cannon for $10.00. I had the figures already.

 

Here are some western or Civil War related figures in different scales that I also picked up for less than a dollar each. I usually bundle things together and then haggle on the price. 

FP Fireman

I got this Fisher Price Fireman for 75 cents. I had this when I was a kid.

Britain MotorcycleBritain Motorcycle1

This Britain World War II German Motorcycle is one of the toys that I wanted when I was a kid. It was something that was out of my reach when I was young. When I saw it today for $20.00 I had to get it. The missing rifle I will get from seller in the future.

Bulldog

One of the favorite things that I got today was this Bulldog. For less than a dollar this dog is great. It looks like it is 1/32 in scale. I think it was made by Marx.

All in all the show was good. I liked the fact of finding some good deals because you had some sellers that were not toy soldier sellers. There was a greater chance of finding some steals. But for me it was too crowded. I might have to either go the early bird way next time or get there a few hours before the show ends. That is it for now. Thank You for reading.