Midwest Toy Soldier Show 2018 Review

/ Warhorse Miniatures / 9 Comments

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About a month ago, I decided that I was going to the Midwest Toy Soldier Show. I am glad I did. The show was in Lafayette, Indiana. It is about 11 hours away from my house. Me and my girlfriend made this a weekend get a way. Besides going to the show, we visited some antique shows in Indiana and along the way.

The main reason I went was because I wanted to meet Ron Barzso and get some of his sets. I was looking for the new old stock figures that are cast in a new material. I am a big collector of Barzso Playsets and I have  purchased 6 of his playsets & 100’s of figures over the years. The good news is that I found the sets I was looking for. The bad news is Ron will soon retire.

He and Ken from LOD are releasing “Yorktown Playset”. “Battle of Yorktown, Attack on the Redoubt # 10”. This will be Ron’s last playset and it is limited to 100 sets being made. I am glad that I went to the show, I was the first to pre-order a set. They will be taking 50 pre-orders of the set and then selling the rest at the show. Also Ken is having a Great Promotion with a chance to win a “Yorktown Playset”. If you pre-order 4 of the new Revolutionary sets, you get a 5th set free and an entry into a drawing for a free Barzso Yorktown Playset to be released this fall. Sounds like a Great deal to me!!! You can read more about the promotion over here at LOD Revolutionary War Pre-Sale (Buy 4 Sets Get 1 Free). 

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I purchased a bunch of the new old Barzso sets, some old Airfix bagged sets and boxed sets, bagged Conte sets, Marx German Motorcycle figures and a mix of different loose figures.

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The show was smaller than most of the other shows that I have been too, but it was a quality show. It was a plastic toy soldiers dream come true. There were a few small children that were amazed by all the marvels to be found. I had a great time. I spent about an hour shopping and another 3 hours talking to different people. There were a bunch of dealers that just sell at the shows. There were plenty of boxes to rumble through to search for that missing figure that you have been looking for. Loads of vintage plastic figures, plus new plastic sets being sold. 

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The first dealer I saw was Rick Eber with his Vintage Marx figures and playsets. He always has plenty of vintage toys. Visit Rick’s website for more information Rick Eber’s Marx Playsets.

Todd Nace had a nice setup of vintage plastic figures, vintage painted metal figures and some playsets.

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Me and my girlfriend(Carolyn) spent some time talking to Gary & Susan Wendeln. Very nice people and helpful. They had a lot of vintage plastic figures and playset too. I purchased some bagged sets of Airfix from them.

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Another vendor that was there was Doug Whelen. I spent some time talking to him, he is a really nice guy. Doug is a Veteran and a retired Police Officer. Right now he is unemployed and was selling off some of his collection. Some of his offerings were Marx Ben Hur Playset, Marx Ben Hur figures, 6 inch Marx figures, CTS Alamo set, Heritage Alamo set and a Marx Zorro set. Plus some other toys. You can reach him at 276-920-2899. 

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Kole Sterling was another nice guy that had vintage plastic playsets and figures for sale. 

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If you are looking for Barzso figures you have to come to one of the shows that Ron attends. At the show he was selling some of the older sets for $25.00 and the new old sets for $22.00. He also had some of his foam pieces too. Loose figures were $2.00 a piece. Plus some character figures at different prices. I got Long John Silver for $10.00. I revisited his table a few times, adding  a few  more sets each time I stopped by to talk. Me and my girlfriend had a good time talking to Ron and his wife Mary Ann. 

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Jim Clouse of BattleBoards USA was another person that I had looked forward to meeting and talking too. He creates the foam pieces for Barzso playsets and now LOD. Besides that, his custom made terrain pieces are great. I will have to get some for a few of the playsets that I have. His work is a piece of art to me, it’s really amazing to see.

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While I am talking about amazing work, Ed Borris custom figures are Great. He takes existing figures and then through different techniques he changes the poses. Sometimes by he heats up the arms and legs to change the pose. Other times he cuts figures up and then attaches them to new bodies, heads, arms, legs or different weapons to create a new custom figure. He uses metal pins to ensure that you figure is solid. Fantastic quality in each figure. Mike Kutnick was with Ed and they had some vintage sets and figures for sale too.

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Paul & Donna Amody had some highly detailed painted metal figures for sale. Truly their figures are a piece of art. You can email them at handheldwarriors@gmail.com. 

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I was glad to meet and talk to the new owners of the New Hope Design metal casted 54mm metal kits toy soldiers. Frank & Ellen Nefzger of Battleguard Ready! had sale on the sets at the show for $15.00. These castings are really nice. I am glad that they are making the figures here in the USA now. 

Battleguard Ready! Facebook page

 

Bill Richardson had a nice display of vintage toys.

 

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Besides the toys, there was some nice artwork by Doug Dearth. 

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Joe Hail had some nicely painted figures for sale. He also has a painting service. If you can’t or don’t have the time to paint you own figures.

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Rick Berry of Michigan Toy Soldier was there too. I didn’t get a good picture of his table. I am using one of his pictures from the show. He was selling a lot of new plastic figures like Plastic Platoon Vietnam figures and X-Force toy soldiers.

 

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John Stengel Jr also known as the Marx-Man and owner of Action Castings had plenty of vintage plastic figures too. I picked up some loose Conte, Barzso and TSSD figures from him. I talked to him for a while about what is going on with his figures. He said that there are some delays and he should have American Civil War marching figures and WWII German paratroopers for September at the Chicago show.

 

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Daniel McLean of Toymiester had some nice vintage plastic figures and Tin buildings. 

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Robert Way of Trains and Toy Soldiers had plenty of Conte figures at great prices. He also had some exclusive display items too. I purchased 2 Conte German sets and 1 Viking Set from them. He was very helpful.  Check out their website they have plenty of items for sale.

“Trains and Toys Soldiers is a family owned and operated business in the heart of the USA.  What started as a model railroading hobby has turned into a fast growing online business specializing in model trains, toy soldiers, and die-cast collectibles.  We have also added a line of children’s wooden railway toys, model kits and tools.  Our mission is to provide our customers with quality items at a reasonable price and great customer service.”

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Francis Turner of Marx Toy Connection had his vintage Marx figures and toys at the show. I got two of the German Motorcycle figures from him. He is offering a chance to “Pick” his Marx Museum.

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William Britain was one of the only vendors selling painted metal figures at the show. I joined the Collectors Club again, they are the only company of painted metal figures that I do collect at the moment. I wonder who won the prize?

Well that’s it folks. It was a wonderful show and at the end of the day I left happy. It was nice to talk to fellow collectors. I also visited some antique stores and found a few things. My girlfriend was happy to find some nice Pyrex bowls to add to her collection. I crossed one thing off my bucket list by meeting Ron Barzso. Next will be going to the Chicago Toy Soldier Show.

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The next show that I am planning to go to is the Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show. You can read more on that in a blog article that I did a few weeks ago, Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show 2018.

 

Also if you have not done yet, please pledge the Crowdfunding * Hat 1/32 Seven Years War Austrians

Toy Soldier Review & Interview ~ Petite Guerre Toy Soldiers & Nino Serra

/ Warhorse Miniatures / 6 Comments

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Last month I read an article about Petite Guerre Toy Soldiers on Stad’s Stuff by Erwin Sell. You can read about that here, Stad’s Stuff.

After I read the article I went to the website and ordered some of their figures. The owner of Petite Guerre is Nino Serra, he is also the sculptor. They are located in Italy. Petite Guerre means “Little Wars”, which is the style of his figures. 

“More specifically, my interest focuses on the Petite Guerre, the unconventional, small-scale warfare that played  such an important role in the conflicts of the 1740s and 1750s: the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years War, and of course the French and Indian Wars.” ~ Nino Serra

Petite Guerre Toy Soldiers

So far they have some Native American Woodland Indians, Canadian Militia, British Infantry and now French Hussars. 

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After I emailed Nino and ordered some of his figures, we chatted as I waited and after I received them. I told him that I would do a review and he answered a few questions that I had. So here is a little interview we did.

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Warhorse Miniatures:  Greetings Nino, I am glad you have some time to answer a few questions. The first question I have with most creators or owners of companies is how did all this start?

 

Nino Serra:  Greetings to you Mike, and thanks for the opportunity you are giving me to present my work on your blog!

I grew up playing with toy soldiers, and began attempting at making my own white-metal figures as a boy in the early 1970’s. At that time, I used the lost-wax method (non-reusable wax masters and plaster molds). The results were quite frustrating, though, and for many years I achieved nothing. 

I then started using RTV silicon rubber to make the molds, and things gradually improved. By the time I went to college, I was able to sculpt and cast a few figures of my own. However, pressed by more important things, for many years I could spare only little time for the hobby… 

About fifteen years ago, I decided to make some toy soldiers to play with my twin kids, then three years old, and in the process ended up with a small range of white-metal figures.

Having successfully experimented with resin / hard plastic, I am now perfecting and expanding my range of figures, and hope they may meet with the interest of other toy soldiers enthusiasts. 

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Warhorse Miniatures: After seeing your figures first hand, I am truly impressed. How many years did it take you to achieve the level that your at now?

 

Nino Serra: It certainly took some years until I could make decent enough figures. 

At the beginning, I subscribed to a couple of military modeling magazines, bought a few books written by well-known military miniaturists, and gradually familiarized with different materials and sculpting techniques. 

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Warhorse Miniatures: I see you are fond of the French & Indian War era, is there any other theme that you are interested in?

 

Nino Serra: I have always been interested in 18th-Century military history and warfare. I think it all started with reading “Treasure Island” and “The Last of the Mohicans” as a small boy, and with a fascination for tricorne hats and flintlock muskets…

Beside the French-and-Indian Wars, I would like to also cover other conflicts of the mid 18th-Century, in particular the War of the Austrian Succession with its colorful variety of irregular warfare specialists.

 

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Warhorse Miniatures: Are there any brands of figures that you collect, like Barzso?

 

Nino Serra: I am not a toy soldiers collector. Over the years, though, I have occasionally purchased plastic toy soldiers (Airfix,  Italeri, Hat, Barzso, Accurate, TSSD, etc…) to study and use as a reference in order to improve my own figure design.

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Warhorse Miniatures: I was reading your blog about the muskets you created. I noticed that you’re trying to stay historical accurate with your figures, right?

 

Nino Serra: Yes I try to stay historical as much as I can. 

From the blogs and forums that I occasionally visit, I can see that most toy soldiers enthusiasts, collectors or wargamers, are indeed historically conscious and are usually put off by figures that are not accurate enough. 

This said, I also like my figures to look a little naive, or “toy-like” (that is why, when I paint my figures, I keep the shading and highlighting at a minimum and finish them semi-gloss).

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Warhorse Miniatures: What are your plans for the future?

 

Nino Serra: At the moment, I am working at a few more Canadian Militiamen and British regulars, as well as Highlanders and French regulars. I would also like to add some command figures to my range, as required to play skirmish wargames…

I am also working at more mounted Hussars, and possibly other irregular figures for the War of the Austrian Succession / Seven Years War period.

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Warhorse Miniatures: And lastly I will conclude the interview by thanking  you and asking you if there is anything else you would like to talk about or say. 

Thanks again, Mike.

Nino Serra: Although I would love to do so, I do not have the facility to produce soft plastic toy soldiers, nor the the means to mass-produce figures for the wider public as industrial manufacturers can do. So, at least for the time being, I will keep operating at a hobby level and produce my figures in small batches upon demand.

Thanks again + kind regards, Nino.

Here is my review of Nino’s figures. I love them, to me they are a piece of art. I ordered the French Canadian Militia and Native Woodland Indians. One of my favorite Toy Soldier companies is Barzso Playsets. The French & Indian War and the Seven Years War are some of my favorite conflicts to study. So if you’re like me, you will have to get some of Nino’s figures. I like the appeal of a raiding or war band of mixed French & Indians. 

With that said, the are for die hard collectors. I say that because of the cost, which is around 5 Euro each. But it seems that most new figures or the older Barzso figures can cost that much these days. One of the reasons for the high cost is these figures are hand cast and the molds have a short life. They are a Hobby based production, not an establish company. You can visit his blog and see how the process is done, it is very interesting.

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The Petite Guerre figures match very well with most of the current Barzso figures. They vary from 54mm to 57mm tall, but are the same scale. The reason for this is to make them more natural or an accurate realism. Some people are 5 feet, some are 6 feet. Barzso’s  earlier figures were on the small size, so they will not match well with the Petite Guerre figures. The most recent Barzso Indian sets match very well with the Petite Guerre Indians.

The Petite Guerre figures are not brittle, the weapons are strong. This resin mixture is very good. I like the sculpting of the Natives, it captures the look of the Huron or Iroquois people. One of my friends has the same shaped head. 

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Also the French Canadians look great, there are not too many figures sculpted that depict French Canadian Militia. 

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All in all, they are a welcome addition to my collection. When I finish painting these figures, I will take some more pictures and do another post. I purchased these figures to paint them. As of right now I think the colors are gray and black. The Vallejo paints that I used adhered very well. I am looking forward to seeing more of his Canadian Militia and French Regulars.   

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Paul sent me some of his pictures to use for the review. Erwin also got his British Infantry figures. Here are Erwin’s pictures. 

Erwin Sell did a review too on Nino figures over at Stad’s Stuff check it out.

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Happy Easter Everyone.

Happy Easter

 

Hat 1/32 7YW Austrians prototypes sizing

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Here is the latest update on the Hat 1/32 Seven Years War Austrians. They posted some pictures of the prototypes. I hope this is a good sign that maybe we shall see these sets produced. The Crowdfunding 1/32 7 Years War Austrians is still active. If you have not pledged to get these sets made, please pledge now.

“Comparison with 1/32 Wurttembergers. Production figures should have 4% shrinkage and thinner base.”

 

I wrote an article about this in an earlier post, you can read and see more pictures here Crowdfunding * Hat 1/32 Seven Years War Austrians.

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Besides these figures being used as Seven Years War Austrians, some of these figures could be used as Hessian Musketeers that served in the British Army during the American Revolution.  The Barzso/LOD Revolutionary figures sets are coming and so is the Yorktown playset.  These will be a welcome addition to reinforce your troops.

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Don’t forget about the show in Gettysburg in April, Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show 2018 .

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Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show 2018

/ Warhorse Miniatures / 3 Comments

Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show

Spring is around the corner and so is the Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show. I try to go to the show each year. This has to be the best place for a Toy Soldier show with all the history your’e surrounded by. Besides the show and Battlefield, the town of Gettysburg is a really nice place to visit too. This would be a nice weekend to come and stay at Gettysburg. Take a walk around the town, Steinwehr avenue is a good place to start. Plenty of antiques stores and historical related shops to visit. Destination map of Gettysburg. Some of the shops sell Toy Soldiers too. 

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One of those shops is the Gettysburg Miniature Soldier Toy Soldier Shop that is owned by John Zawaba. It is a nice place to visit for both plastic and metal figures. One of the last brick and mortar shops around.

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Now back to the show. Last year the show was great, you can read more by reading my review here Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show 2017 Review. The show has both plastic toy soldiers, painted metal miniatures, historical items, hand crafted diorama pieces, books and other toys. Besides all the toys,  it’s a great place to talk to fellow collectors and dealers. 

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The show is on Sunday, April 29th, 2018. Show hours are 10am to 3pm. Located at the Eisenhower Hotel & Conference Center, 2634 Emmittsburg Road, Gettysburg, PA 17325 (717) 334-8121. Aspire Grand Ball Room. There is plenty of parking, the hotel is outside the town. Admission is $7.00, Children under 12, Free with an Adult.

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The show is promoted again by John Stengel Jr and co-promoted by Carl Hoegermeyer. They do a wonderful job at the show. Maybe we will see some new figures from John this year. You never know what he is bringing.

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Toy Soldier Preview ~ LOD Enterprises Barzso Playsets Revolutionary War Infantry Sets

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Last week Ken Ciak of LOD Enterprises Toy Soldiers shared with us some pictures of the prototypes of the new American Revolution Infantry sets. This is a joint venture with Barzso Playsets. There are 4 new sets that will be released later this year. The sets include British Regulars, British Light Infantry, American Regulars and American Light Infantry. Each set will include 8 different poses. The figures will be the same scale as the earlier sets of Colonial Militia and British Grenadiers that were done by Barzso and now produced by LOD.

Click on the pictures above to get a closer look at the pictures. Below are some pictures of the prototypes and figures from the older British Grenadiers & American Colonial Militia sets.

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The color of the British Regulars set will be the same as the British Grenadier set. The color of the American Regulars set will be the same as the Colonial Militia set. 

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The color of the light infantry sets for both sides will be a slightly lighter shade of red and blue.

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The action poses of the British Regulars are really nice.

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The British Light Infantry set is a nice surprise. The action poses are really good too. 

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With some customizing we can have some Queen’s Rangers.

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The American Regulars looks really good too. Looks like they are ready to assault the redoubts at Yorktown.

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Lastly the American Light Infantry is filled with action too.

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These sets will be make a fine addition to the earlier Revolutionary sets. There should be a Yorktown playset later this year. And so far by the looks of it, it should be epic. When you combine the new sets with the older sets you will start will over 45 different poses to go with the future Barzso/LOD Yorktown playset. And for those of us that can customize figures, we have a lot to work with to create new poses. 

On a different note, Hat is still having the crowdfunding for SYW Austrians and they would make great Hessian Musketeers for the British Army.  Musketeer, Hessian Regiment Von Bose, Yorktown 1781 

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Toy Soldier Preview X-Force 1812 Militia

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Here is a preview of some of the Expeditionary Force War of 1812 American Militia. Some of these figures could also be used as Alamo defenders or American militia units from the American Revolution and the French & Indian War. These should be available later this year. I will get a set of these to use with the Barzso/LOD Revolutionary sets coming out later this year. I will be doing a post on those other sets later this weekend.

 

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Crowdfunding * Hat 1/32 Seven Years War Austrians

/ Warhorse Miniatures / 4 Comments

A few days ago I was reading about Hat Toy Soldiers at the Hobby Bunker forum. They have a few polls about figures in 1/32 scale. They are now trying to produce few sets of  Seven Years War Austrians by having a crowdfunding. These sets deserve to be made. I hope they get enough support to make this happen.

A few years ago I purchased about 10 boxes of the Seven Years War Prussians. The Prussians are really nice and are very hard to find these days. I have been using these guys as Hessian troops to go with my Barzso American Revolution figures.

 

 

 

Here are some digitized samples of the Seven Year War Austrians below.

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 Set A – Fusiliers

 

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Set B – Grenadiers

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Set C – Command

 

The sets look really nice. I have been waiting a long time to add some more Soldiers that could be used as British or French Soldiers for the French & Indian War. You can build a nice army with few boxes of these guys. So head over to the crowdfunding page and order a few boxes so they will release these sets this time. Maybe we will see some British or French Infantry in the future?

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Here is the link to the crowdfunding page, 1/32 7YW Austrians

 

 

I found some more pictures, these figures look like some of Hat’s best work in this the 1/32 scale.

Latest News!! New Figures & Projects.

/ Warhorse Miniatures / 5 Comments

I would like to wish all my collector friends from around the world a Happy New Year. I hope I will see some new figures or playsets at the Toy Soldier shows this spring or at least by the end of the year. Barzso Playsets might release some new figure sets or have some old figure sets back in stock in the near future. We shall see in time. 

There was a bunch of new products that came out the last few months of the year. Mainly from X-Force and Russian makers. Paul from the Stad’s Stuff page has reported most of these sets already. I will show a few pictures of some of these sets that I found either on the company website or ebay.

Today on ebay I saw a limited edition Publius Viking for $14.99!!

Expeditionary Force keeps producing new figures about every other month it seems. Last year they started releasing Napoleonic Wars figure sets. They also branched out to the War of 1812. Some of the British figures could be used for both Wars. The Highlander figures had different Uniforms at the Battle of New Orleans than they did at the Battle of Waterloo. For me it is not a big deal if everything is not exact. These sets are going for about $32.50. Here are a few pictures.

 

British Highlanders

British Line Infantry

  British Royal Marines

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Also last year there was a bunch of Vietnam related sets from different companies like Mars and TSSD. But the best so far have be made by the Russian company called Plastic Platoon. So far they have released 3 different American sets. They are going for around $55 to $60 or so on ebay. Hobby Bunker has Plastic Platoon figures also. Here are a few pictures of the American Vietnam forces. 

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Another Russian company is Chintoys that start releasing sets of Napoleonic Officer sets and now US Civil War Officer sets. I saw some of the mounted sets on ebay today. They are going for about $50 for each set. Here are some pictures.

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Here are a group of Medieval figures that are made by another Russian company called Warhansa. The set of Knights & Sergeants includes 5 different figures for $32. I think these are the best sculpted toy soldiers they have made to date. 

 

Inzhener Basevich released some new figure sets based on the Russo-Japanese War. One set for each side. They are really nice, but are priced around $60.

The most common thing about all these new figures is the price. The cost of plastic Toy Soldiers have gone up so much the last few years. These are collectors prices and not prices for “Toys”, which is what the hobby of Toy Soldiers have become. It is for Adults now and made for a collection. Not as toys that we used to get when were kids. I remember going to the store and getting a set of Airfix toy soliders for less that $4.00. And now you cannot even get one figure for that price!

I ordered some new Playmobil parts and will start making some new customs soon. Besides that I will be finishing some other projects that I have been working on for a while.