The Latest News!! 05/14/2023 ~ MFCA 2023 Show Review Part 2, and some Hobby News.

Happy Mother’s Day to every Mom out there. Today will finish the second part of the review for the MFCA 2023 Show. If you missed the first part you can read it over here, The Latest News!! 05/08/2023 ~ MFCA 2023 Show Review Part 1, and some Hobby News.

There were miniatures of all different scales. Some were 90mm in height and others were around 28mm. There was a vendor that had a bunch of tabletop gaming miniatures. The name of the store was Champion Gaming. You can check them out over here, https://www.facebook.com/championgaming.

Not every vendor was selling hobby related items. There were a few selling historical related books. One was Aaron Elson. His Father served in World War II. While doing some research about his Father, he decided to write a book about him and other Veterans too. You can check out his website over here, https://myfatherstankbattalion.com/.

Next up is Hobby Bunker. They usually setup a mini store. From plastic toy soldiers, painted metal miniatures, hobby paints, models, 3d printed buildings, foam buildings, and hobby related magazines. They have it all.

Here are some more pictures from what Paul Amory was selling.

“SABOT Miniatures LLC specializes in miniatures, figures, paints accessories and books for the discerning scale modeler and figure painter. We carry a growing assortment of miniature, paint and accessory lines, many of which are not carried by anyone else in the United States. We were formerly SABOT Publications LLC, and produced 22 reference books on mostly modern United States military tanks and vehicles.” I grabbed that from their website. You check them out over here, https://www.sabotminiatures.com/default.asp.

Here are some random pictures of different vendors, plus one of Scale 75 USA. I was trying to get back to take more pictures of the show and the competition. But I was too busy with the table. Scale 75 USA makes some nice paint and sets that I have gotten over the years. You can read more about them over here, https://scale75usa.com/.

Here are some more pictures of from different artists of the competition area that I found on the internet.

We end the review at my table again. Saturday was slower for us most of the day. People would trickle in from the competition all day. Most of the collectors wandered to other vendors. Throughout the day a few people would take a look to check out what we were selling. I had a bunch of good talks throughout the day again. A Man named Allen stopped by a few times and told us he would stop by before he left. About a half hour before the show ended, he purchased the Blacksmith shop, the Potter shop, Viking Raider camp and a bunch of the bagged figure sets. It was a fun show. We will be back next year.

While at the show we picked up a few things. One of the nice things with the show besides looking for certain items, is talking to fellow collectors and vendors. One gentleman that was with his son, gave his raffle tickets to Carolyn. She was lucky enough to win an item through the raffle. She sent me to pick out an item that was on the table. This is what I chose for her.

I picked out a Conte Civil War set. The metal miniatures were hand painted. They represent the Texas Brigade flagbearers & a drummer from the Confederate Army. When we see him again, we have a gift for him.

Another gentleman that we meet was Arthur Etechells. He gave a set of plastic toy soldiers made by a company called BUM. The set is hard to find. It will be in my collection for a while. The funny thing is on the box it says “Tarzan, King of Apples…”. I was looking for a Pirate set that BUM had made for a while now. After the show I found one on eBay for $20. I will do a review of that in a future post.

Here are some of the things that I purchased from the show. I am always looking for books to help me with my research when designing the miniatures and accessories. I purchased two books about the French Armies of King Louis XV for $60 and two Osprey books for less than $25. The rest of the books I spent around $20. There was a couple to the left of us selling books. I had noticed a bunch of people throughout the two days taking a look at what they had. I wished I had taken a look the first day. The books were really cheap. Most of them were $2.00 to $5.00 a piece.

Here are some more pictures of the items that I got at Gettysburg. I had picked up some Barzso French Artillery figures the year before at the Midwest Show without the cannon. I figured I would use them with the metal cannons that I have. The cannon above is a Barzso 32 Pounder Cannon.

Here are 5 Barzso Naval Cannons. They are welcome addition to my forts.

Some Barzso Cannonade.

Barzso Major Pitcairn Character figure. He was missing the horse, so I am using one of my Warhorse horses for now. I will test out one of my other horses in the future for him. He looks good with the Warhorse British Grenadiers.

Here the Barzso Col. John Parker character figure.

Here are some mixed figures that I got in a bag. There are some American Civil War & Pirate theme miniatures. Most are Barzso. The figure with the top hat is by Replicants.

We will be in Virginia in about 3 weeks from now, Saturday June 3rd. I have never been to the Show in Annandale, titled as “Heart of the South” Show. Will will have our Warhorse resin miniatures, Barzso/LOD toy soldiers, some foam products and some things from my collections. Send me a message if you are going to the show and are looking for something in particular. On August 27th, we will return to Gettysburg for the second show they are doing this year. That is it for now. Thanks for reading.

The Latest News!! 05/08/2023 ~ MFCA 2023 Show Review Part 1, and some Hobby News.

The past Friday & Saturday was the MFCA Annual Show & Mart. The exhibition is for painters, modelers and collectors of Toy Soldiers of all skill levels and interests.

The Marketplace also attracts hobby vendors from throughout the United States. Vendors providing everything from miniature figure kits, plastic and wood models, books, Toy Soldiers, Militaria, Art, and connoisseur figures.

This was a different type of show than we usually do. Most of the shows we have setup as a vendor have been traditional toy soldier shows. Since Warhorse Miniatures is can be collected as a toy soldier or a model to be painted for a diorama, we decided to check out this show. I have been to this show in the past, about 7 years ago. It is a good show for painted metal toy soldiers, resin miniatures, paints, historical books, and you can even find some plastic toy soldiers.

The show took place over two days. Here are some pictures from the first day. It was hard for me to get around the room. It seemed like every time I left, I had to return to my table to answer some questions. The first day Paul Stadinger stopped by to say hello and he spent some time with us behind the table.

I think this vendor was AC Models. He had resin figures and resin accessories.

Another Vendor that I saw had some old painted metal toy soldiers. Joe Wallis was the name I saw. He is an author of books about Britains toy soldiers. Here is a website about that, http://leadsoldierbooks.com/index.html.

The next vendor was Minutemen Toy Soldiers. George was busy setting up a bunch of the painted metal toy soldiers from brands such as King & Country, First Legion, J.J. Designs, W. Britian and others. You can check his website over here, http://www.mmtoysoldiers.com/.

Paul Amory had a huge selection of the finely detailed painted miniatures for sale. Works of art.

Here are some pictures of the vendor that was across from us.

Here are some pictures of the exhibit from the Artist and our friend, Steve Pyle. He does some amazing work.

Fast Eddie had large selection of mainly Osprey books.

Here are some random pictures from the show.

Here are some pictures of different exhibits from various artists. I was not able to take pictures of everything. The room was packed when I was trying to take some pictures.

Winged Hussar Publishing had a table setup too. I purchased some books from him. You can check them out over here, https://www.wingedhussarpublishing.com/.

We will end the first part of the review here with my table. We had a nice selection of the Warhorse Miniatures resin miniatures. When first opened we had a collector come straight to our table and request a Krampus figurine. We also had a nice selection of the LOD/Barzso resin miniatures, foam houses and plastic toy soldiers. I setup a small display of the Saxons. Mainly the village pieces. We had the Blacksmith shop, Potter shop and the Pig Farm setup with some of the Saxon prototype houses. It was a slow burn for most of the day, but we were able to sell some things that I had for a while now. It was fun to talk to new & old friends.

Here are a few of the different things that I had picked up at Gettysburg a couple of weeks ago. Most of it is Barzso. The Blacksmith shop, some French Tents, New Orleans character figures, a split rail fence and a teepee. The mounted British in the last few pictures are Replicants I think.

The second part of the review will be this weekend. Well, that is it for now. I will be in Annandale, Virginia on June 3rd. Then returning to Gettysburg on August 27th. Thank you for reading.

The Latest News!! 04/24/2023 ~ 2023 Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show Review, MFCA 2023 Show, and some Hobby News.

Yesterday was the 15th Annual Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show. It was a really good show for us, sales were up. It was fun to talk to the fellow collectors and other vendors. The weather was nice, and a good crowd attended. Paul Stadinger was happy with his finds. There was a nice selection of different things. Something for everyone. I also found a few things; one was a holy grail item for me. We will start the review now. You can click on most pictures to enlarge them.

There was a nice selection of vintage Airfix and other brands with the dealer to the left of me. His prices were good.

Paul Amory was at the show with his beautiful paint metal miniatures. He will be at the MFCA Show on May 4th & 5th. I will be at this show too.

If you like Britain Detail figures or Swoppets, there was a collector that had a bunch of those.

Scott Canady had some nice Vintage Marx and foam pieces.

Steve Connell had a nice selection of many different things. From vintage Marx to modern painted metal. I crumbled under pressure when I saw his selection of vintage Barzso.

Fast Eddie had a bunch of tables setup with all kinds of different types of toy soldiers. His next show is on Saturday June 3rd in Annadale, Virginia. I will be setup at that show too.

The reasons we go to the shows is find rare items or some deals. Every show is different. You never know what you will find.

Some of the vendors are very talented. This one had some nicely painted figurines.

Matt from Hobby Bunker had a lot of new painted metal figure sets and some plastic for the show. He will be at the MFCA 2023 Show too.

Bob Hornung is also very talented with his handmade and painted creations.

There was plenty of antique & vintage painted metal figures.

This year there was a vendor with a lot of models.

Nathan Fogt is another very talented creation of custom toys.

There were a number of different vendors with different brands of new or recently made painted metal toy soldiers.

Here are some random pictures that I took.

Rick Eber had a ton of nice vintage plastic figures and playsets. Mainly Marx. He had some Conte Vikings and the Character figures from the Battle of Stamford Bridge set.

Some pictures of the show itself.

Thomas Hiller brought a lot of his collection to sell. He did a lot of toy soldier converting and then painting them. I was lucky enough to purchase his Conte Medieval Cog. I should have purchased some of his miniatures now that I took a closer look at them while editing these pictures.

If you like to go through plastic tubs of plastic toy soldiers, there was plenty of them.

There was a lot of vintage playset and bags of toy soldiers.

And lastly, we come to my table. As usual I had my resin Warhorse Miniatures, LOD/Barzso resin toy soldiers, some foam items and a few Russian brands of toy soldiers. I set up a little display to show off the British Grenadiers that I am working on. I had some sample figures for sale. I should have them finalized sometime next month. I also had my new Confederate Marching Infantry. I will be at the MFCA 2023 Show on May 4th & 5th.

Here are a few of the toy soldiers and accessories that I purchased. I wasn’t expecting to be getting that much. I have not been really looking of anything lately. But once in a while it finds me, lol. Steve Conell had a bunch of vintage Barszo products with him.

Up until yesterday this was what I had seen in regard to the Conte Medieval Cog. It was almost like a myth. About 7 or 8 years ago I saw the box at a show. It was really expensive, but I was still tempted. So, when I saw it yesterday, I was hesitant in checking it out. I really have not purchased that much the past few years. I have been more focused in making things. But I am still a collector. I had expected that someone would have picked it up before I got a chance to get over there. I think it was within the first hour of the show that talked to Thomas Hiller about the ship. He had a price that I was comfortable with, and we made the deal.

After I had purchased the ship Thomas packed it up. I did not expect that the box would be that big. Thomas still had the original box. Unless I sold all the foam products, I had with me I would not have any room in my car. Luckily for me Paul Stadinger was at the show. He lives about a half hour away from me. So, he took the ship and I picked it up today.

That is it for the review of the show. Usually, I would say until next year I be back for the Gettysburg Show. But this year there is another. Steve Connell is having a second show on Sunday, August 27th. The same place, 10am to 3pm. Admission is $7.00 for adults. There will be more information coming out, http://www.mwtoysoldier.com/Shows.html.

We are pleased and excited to announce that our 80th Annual Show and Mart, an event dedicated to the hobby of collecting miniature figures, returns this year on Friday and Saturday, May 5th and 6th, 2023, at the Radisson Hotel-Philadelphia Northeast, 2400 Old Lincoln Highway, Trevose, Pennsylvania. This is our sixth year at the Radisson-Philadelphia Northeast, and we look forward to returning to this great venue. Manufacturers, designers, artists, dealers of connoisseur figures, old and new toy soldiers, model vehicles, and other related items are invited to exhibit. We also invite dealers of uniforms and costume prints, books, post cards, military histories, and modeling supplies that enhance collecting or displaying miniatures.” ~ MFCA

On May 5th & 6th, respectfully Friday & Saturday I will be setup selling my resin Warhorse Miniatures at the 80th MFCA Show & Mart.

May 5th and 6th
Friday – 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday – 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Radisson Hotel Philadelphia East
2400 Old Lincoln Highway, Trevose, PA 19053
267-520-6692

Here is a list of the other vendors:

Artist Preservation Group Inc
Armand Bayardi
Birch Tree Enterprises
Black Cat Models
BMC
Champion Gaming
Dan Jones
DVH Designs
Arthur Etchells
Hobby Bunker
Bob Huryk
James Molenaro
Keller Enterprises
Last Cavalry
Little Tin Soldier
Michael Jones
Minutemen Toy Soldiers
Model Cellar
NCMSS
Old Toy Soldier
Oral History Audio Books
Paul Amody
Relic Rack
Richard DiBenedetto
Sabot miniatures
Scale 75
The History Shop
Fred Unger
Warhorse Miniatures
Winged Hussar Publishing

The next show I will be attending after the MFCA show is on June 3rd. The “Heart of the South” show in Annandale, Virginia.

That is it for now. Thank you for reading.