COMMENT TIME III

Western Clippings

Here is a great web site  for old television and movie westerns www.westernclippings.com

2/18/09

Memphis Film Festival

All you fans of those good old western television shows should head down to Memphis Film Festival. The festival will be held at Whispering Woods Hotel and Conference Center in Olive Branch Mississippi south of Memphis. The festival will be presenting "A Gather of Guns A TV Western Reunion.  The guests scheduled to appear are Will Hutchins (Sugarfoot), Denny Miller (Wagon Train), James Drury (The Virginian), Robert Horton (Wagon Train), Robert Fuller (Laramie), Ty Hardin (Bronco) Jan Merlin (Rough Riders) Henry Darrow (High Chaparral), Peter Brown (Lawman), Don Collier (High Chaparral) and Les Gilliam. Also appearing will be Jeff Connors Chuck Connor's son who will have various of his father's memorabilia including the "Rifleman" rifle.

For more details go to  www.mephisfilmfestival.com

2/11/09

Marx 60mm GI sells for $325.00

Our Good friend Brian Johnson sent us this auction of a rare sitting 60mm Marx GI. The figure went for $325.00. The auction had 14 bids. I can not remember if I have ever seen this figure. You can check it out at this auction

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250360737501

2/5/09

Odds and Ends

We have not receive any full reports on the Michigan show yet. We have been told that sales were slow. We are waiting to hear on the portions of Joe Saine's auction which had Glen Smith's  items.  We did hear the Warlord prototype furniture went for over $300.00. I am hoping to have the sale list up in two weeks. I have been held up with a heavy workload and I finally figured how to transfer my old information from the old computer. If you remember last July the old computer complete crashed. Both the mother board and power supply died but the shop I had it at was able to pull the information off the computer on to a disc. I had a problem to pull the information from the disc until yesterday. I figured a way to transfer the word documents to the computer and convert them from a read only document. It is a slight complex process, which takes time but it necessary for me to get my book I have been working on the last year. 

Soldier news is quiet. People are mention BMC is doing a Battle of Lexington and Utah Beach sets. No details have surfaced as to what is in it and who is making it. Please remember just because people are saying  its BMC it might not be. This is due the numbering system of Stevens Hobby.  The New York Toy Fair is in two weeks and while I could go to it this year I am passing because when I did go there was very little new I could use for the business. With me now concentrating on old items it is more of  non starter. I will wait for reports on various web sites. I have heard the English Toy Fair was a disappoint only some new Shleich and Papo items in 90mm.  As to TSSD we will have to wait and see if he will have an item out for the West Coaster or his Texas show. The Texas show has moved check TSSD's web site for details.

Speaking of shows Laurie and I will be at the Marx Meet in West Virginia. We had to cancel last year as we adopted Percy that weekend and need to bond with him. He has come along swell, but we can not have him with other dogs or people yet. He really like to wear a sweater unlike Sparky who can not wait to take it off when we put it on him. 

1/27/09

More on the New Ray

Our good friend Chris Salomon contact us with some more information on the New Ray. Chris got their farm playset with Barn from 3000 toys. When you see the picture on 3000toys website farm house comes with a shed not a barn which Chris said attaches on to the back. The one problem he had with the set the windmill he got was modern instead of the classic one pictured. The farm set picture shows a thresher machine which will go great in your western settings. Chris said that he got some modern figures in his western set.  If you check out the miscellaneous section of New Ray on 3000 toys you will see some other variations of the Wild Hunting.  Chris said that 3000 toys gave him a 15% deduction on his order so check them out

Odds and Ends

Chris passed along some other information. He saw at Target a new line of 1/32 scale tanks all plastic. He said they are from FOV and are new molds. The tanks have less detailed very few separate parts. I checked my Target on Tuesday  I did not see the tanks, but I did see Bravo Team. Bravo Team is an exclusive for Target. One aspect of Bravo Team is two 54mm figures on a card for $4.99. The figures are modern soldiers and are made Unimax. Also from October Toys comes 54mm Zombies. The figures are being sold ten figures for ten dollars. Chris also mention that New Ray does a Amish horse buggy which could be in a western scene once you take off the modern features.  The Amish forego modern features but the various states where they live require the buggies to have reflectors and rearview mirrors.  I look for them when we are in the Pennsylvania Dutch country where some of the flea markets Laurie and I willing be visiting soon.

1/21/09

Attention All Dealers, Pickers and Collectors in Eastern Pennsylvania

Effective February 22,1009 there will one more person out looking for plastic figures; ME. That's right I will have Sundays  free again in about a month. My human job has shift bid every six months and last bid I got stuck on Tuesday and Wednesday off. This time I was able to get a great shift with Sunday and Monday off.  Those who have been checking out a Wednesday market I am giving it back to you.

New Ray Update

Our good friend Chris Salomon review on another source for the New Ray Western series. Chris noted a web site www.3000toys.com which is selling the new western covered wagon, stagecoach and house for $28.95. They also have some of the Wild Hunting series available so check it out. 

New Figure  Offerings

We got a nice email from Lynn Graves alerting us to two more new items for this year. The first is from McFarlane's which is offering  54mm military figures  for around $5.00  Check out Toys R Us for these figures. The second new item is a new western series from New Ray.  The figures are 60mm and are being sold various ways.  Lynn said he got at a feed supply store a set with the plastic cabin that has been used in the Wild Hunting series and western barn. TSSD has the  New Figures with a wagon or stagecoach. We thank Lynn for sharing this information and we will keep you posted of any additional offerings as we hear them

Pik-A-Toy

Recently another site talked about a company called Pik-A-Toy and their rack toy offerings. I wanted to share another sample of  Pik-A-Toy a Howdy Doody  String toy. This toy had been originally used as a  giveaway and this was one of the leftovers that Pik-A-Toy purchase for resale. From the other examples I have seen so far from this company I feel that this company bought closeouts or end runs to fill their racks. As you can see they did a plain header for their product. I pick this one along with some other of this figure out of drugstore in the 70's.  I figure that they sold to smaller business and very likely was out of business in the 60's. Hopefully more research will uncover more on this company.

01/01/09

 Year In Review

It has been an interesting and tough year. Many of the outside factors first the high gas prices and then the economy have  effected the hobby. The shows were slower than in years past and the dealers are finding the action over sooner than ever before. We got the Conte Collectibles Spartan figures which have found favor with many people.  Barzso did a new playset, AIP came out with a number of new sets Weston Toys  added to their Western line, Replicants  did some new figures and playsets and TSSD had two new sets for this year. That was about it, Pegasus did not follow up with anymore plastic figures in 1/32 scale. Likewise Call to Arms did not have anything new though there is a report of them doing something new for 2009. Hat has gone back to 1/32 scale but for how long. Imex finally released their Mexican Lancers but the plastic is brittle. In the general toy market Supreme from Hong Kong came out with Crusaders and Saracens. Many of the figures are copies of the King and Country metal figures. I like these figures very much and plan to add more to my collection in the future. (A review of these figures will be up in the near future.)

The shows and flea markets have had a rough time this year. The effects of the internet and the high gas prices have taken a toll. One of the major flea markets saw the number of dealers setting up go down. One of the dealers I know at this market has  plans to reduce the size of his stand due the lack of business. The shows have seen a drop off in sales. Even shows like Chiller which gets large crowds from the movie and television stars they bring in, the dealers had a hard time.  A source who attended Chiller told me that one dealer said he had broken even on Sunday the last day of the show.  This source said the crowd was tight with its money saving it for the autographs with the stars. The shows we attended we saw the same thing or we saw little or no items to buy at reasonable prices.

For Laurie and myself it has been good and bad. We added a new friend Percy to be a brother for Sparky and they are getting along great. Percy has learn to jump on the sofa and bed and is a very happy little dog. Another bright thing was Laurie winning the tickets to England or we would have not gotten over to England.  We got to see many of our European friends and meet an new friend Axel. We got to enjoy through him the show again even though the show is doing like other shows  ending early. The collection got some great new items including some Polish figures and Hong Kong Kung Fu figure from the Plastic Warrior  Show. I was able to add other nice figures through out the year including the Conte Spartans and the Supreme Crusaders and Saracens. One of my favorite figures that I got this year was medieval figure reaching for  his sword I got in a junk box at a flea market The figure was made in China and I have no idea where it was used.

On the other side a number of projects did not get off the ground due not having enough time for them due to my human job tiring me out. I hope to get them off the ground in 2009 including my sale list.  I  made a few missteps  which I have corrected to make me stronger in the coming year. The computer died in June throwing me off track on a number of projects well and I am still fighting to get transferred to the new computer.  Laurie saw her  work go down this year which  has been a strain on our plans.

For 2009 we will working to get back on track with our plans and begin a new era for ourselves and the hobby.

Dollar Store Find

When I was out looking for presents this season I found this cute playset called Marine Life for $1.00. It comes with what you see here and would be a great addition to any underwater scene. I have planned use it with my MPC Sea Creatures in a display some day.

Happy Holidays

Laurie and I would like to wish everyone  Happy Holidays. We both had  Tuesday and Wednesday off. I will have to work on Christmas Day, if it is slow it will be a half day or less.  Tuesday we went to a local museum to see a display on Hess's Department Store. This store was an important part of our lives. Laurie and her father worked there. We both had great experiences with the store. Their toyland was really wondrous especially when they had the Marx playset displays. Most of my Marx playsets came from Hess's. Like many other great things the store is gone, just memories.

After that we went to Bethlehem to get some treats for the boys from a Doggie Bakery. I stopped at comic book shop called Dreamscape to see if I could get three remaining Who's Who's DC Figures I need. I was able to get the figures which are really great. After we got the treats we checked a toy shop called Toy Magic  and I got the Playmobil  catalog and several PVC figures.  Once that was done we went to one of the few chain restaurants we go to regularly Texas Roadhouse. We like Texas Roadhouse for their chili and ribs. After doing a bookstore nearby we headed home and caught up on a DVD we had not seen.

Today once the weather gets a little better (we had a ice storm) we went to Beachhead Comics to pick up my books and wish the owner and his dog  Omla happy holidays. Once that was done we  did a holiday tradition of going out for a dinner before Christmas then we will be in for the night. This we went to the Hometown Diner.

One quirk I have at the holidays is I must get some toy soldiers for Christmas. It goes back  to a Christmas when my mother bought nothing but clothes for me. I was so disappointed that I had to go out and buy some toy soldiers after Christmas. This year I took care of this problem by going to the local Hobbytown and ordering the Supreme Crusaders and Saracens. The figures are great some of the poses are copies of King and Country metal figures.  I have place them aside along with some Schleich knights for Christmas Days.

England's Woolworth's Closing Down

This is a picture of  an U.S. Woolworths store  that closed years ago and is now used for other business

We have received  news early this month that Woolworths in UK is closing up. The chain has been on hard times due competition from various stores. Woolworth's tried to find a buyer, but was unsuccessful. Like our Woolworth's the store  was source for toy soldiers in the  50's 60's and 70's for many English collectors.  In my trips to England, it was a joy to go to Woolworth's as Woolworth's here was important part of my life as my favorite aunt worked for them many years. I would walk into the Woolworth's in England and feel I was back home. I did not get much out of the English's Woolworth's except Kinder Egg.  Still it will be missed by many people. Our very good friend Peter said that he passed one closed to see elderly women crying.

12/11/08

Breyer Spirit Collection

As promised I have taken pictures of the Breyer's Spirit Collection. There two items in the collection the first one is mounted Indian with a cloth teepee. You also get some animals and accessories.

The other is a blacksmith with two horses. The blacksmith is about 65mm and does not have a base. I figure the Indian and blacksmith are resin. I may be wrong. Let me know if you have opened the display.

12/10/08

Odds and Ends

Things have been quiet around here, I have gotten out to few flea markets, but the pickings for figures have been slim. I did see one of the large Wild Hunting sets.  I was able to get two of the Breyer spirit sets for half price. I will be doing pictures soon of them.  The craft stores have been selling the Lemax items for half price.  We checked one of them out yesterday and they were out of many items.  Reports coming in on the London Toy Soldier Show have said the sales were very good. We are waiting to hear how the panel our very good friend Peter Evans was on.  This time of year which is tough for many of us try to give something to those that are less fortunate. Laurie and I will be giving to the local shelter. I will be also giving to Toys for Tots.  We hope to have pictures of the boys in their sweaters. Percy likes his sweater while Sparky hates his sweater.

I will  have a few new articles up in the next two weeks. Take care.

Forrest J. Ackerman

A name from our childhood Forrest J. Ackerman has died.   Forrest J. Ackerman was the editor and writer of Famous Monsters of Filmland for many years. That magazine introduce a generation of young fans to the great Universal horror films and much more.  It inspired many young people to enter the film industry  such George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.  Forry was noted for his  collections, props, photos and books. At one point it was over 300,000 items. I had the privilege to see it many years ago. Forry had many interesting items which only the collection of Bob Burns surpass at that time. Sadly much of the collection was sold to help Forry's medical bills. Forry was 92.

11/29/08

Supreme Knights

Here are the foot knights that  go with the mounted knights. They are a little stylize but they would go well with with any knight army you are trying to put together.  The company that makes them is Supreme in Hong Kong not BMC. The misnomer on the BMC connection is due to Stevens Hobby a distributor of hobby items uses the BMC coding in its listing. In fact Stevens has TSSD figures with BMC code number. Going through their listing of items I found two interesting items. One his for a Robin Hood castle which should the Supreme Robin Hood figures. The other item is Supreme Russian knights they are not yet available, you can see a small picture at the Stevens Hobby web site.  You can not order direct unless you are a dealer. I am going to try a local shop and see if I can order my crusaders and Sacrens.  Another item they have for sale is the Trojan horse incase you missed it when it was out a few years ago. The Trojan horse comes with Playmobil like figures  and a battering ram an fort.  something to fill your stocking this Christmas.

11/26/08

Back Again

It has been really awhile since I last posted.  We are still waiting to see the new TSSD Civil War and Weston mounted Mexicans.  It has been reported that AIP will be doing more mounted figures:  1882 Life Guards in red, Royal Horse Guards in blue, Northwest Frontier 1880 Hussars in gray and Boer War 13th Hussars in khaki. Future release to be Mounted Russian Cossacks, Mounted German Uhlans and WWI Mounted British Lancers.

We did some roaming recently as I had a Sunday off. We got to see one flea market that I had reports that had not been doing well. Sadly the reports were true.  Several of the stands were empty and the dealers had the look why am I here. I knew it was bad as one of the eating stands was closed and the other food stand which usually had a brisk business was dead.

Still in all I did fine at this flea market and another market near by getting some interesting items for resale. I also got the above figure from our friend John it is a hard plastic spaceman I have never seen before.  Sadly part of one foot is missing. I would normally pass on a damage figure but I got this sample until I find out more of this figure.

Laurie and I did a flea market another day which was much more busy and I was able to get some  figures including some Beton figures. I was also able to get two Remco Federal Express figures, which I will keep. I like to get civilian figures  as they show how society changes. I once picked up a large set because it has a figure on a mobile phone. 

We have not talk about our two mascots Sparky and Percy lately. They are doing well, but Percy has figured on how to jump up on the sofa and the bed. This has annoyed Sparky as these spots were his special domain.  They are get along well, but Percy is still not friendly with other people and especial other dogs.   Next year we hope to get him straighten out this bad habit with obedience training.

Our very good friend Gerry Watts passed along a report on the Langhorne Toy Soldier Show. The show only had fifteen dealers but he and a friend did very well. Gerry is the go to guy to find hidden treasures among his selection.

I should be putting up sections of the sales list shortly. I am not happy with many of the pictures, but will have to use them for now. The problem is I can not control the quality of the pictures. It has been a hit and miss on the pictures. I hope to have this corrected with some Christmas sales to get a better camera. We will also be selling movie lobby cards and other items in slaes list.  Laurie is amazed with some of the items I have turned up in the last few months.

11/11/08

Hackensack 2008

Go to the link below to see our article on Hackensack

Hackensack 2008

Herne

We have hear from our good friend Axel Sohnius and our very good friend Andreas Dittmann about the German Plastic Show held in Herne Germany.  The show was very successful as the show had the largest  crowd in two years. The sellers reported they had good sales. Stephan Kuckuck has switched over from selling Timpo to Playmobil but is still selling Dom figures. Despite the economic downturn the prices remain high. The number of foreign dealers were down. There were two from Belgium, two from Holland, one from France and John Begg from England. Axel was able  to get a Kinder Egg Tarzamn Figure to complement his Kinder Egg Jane figure. He was able  to get some Timpo pieces for one of the Timpo Solids he collects. Andreas said he got some interesting items as well. Andreas said he got a Elastolin medieval wagon. A  skin-diver which was an advertising item from Shell Oil and Dinky German halftrack with a Pak gun.  He was able to get many of the new items that are available here in the states. If you are into Timpo or Elastolin this is the show. The next show will be in March and we will information for it.

Playset Magazine

At Hackensack I finally got a chance to get the last three issues of Playset Magazine.  Overall I did not miss not getting  the magazines on time. There was one major gaffe in the Wagon Train article, John Wayne did not play Ulysses S. Grant on the episode of Wagon Train directed by Ward Bond.  He played General William Tecumseh Sherman. John Wayne would play the same role two years later in How the West Was Won. The role of Grant was played by Paul Birch who had done Grant and Lee in other shows. In looking up his biography on IMDB.  I found this comment he made on playing the two roles "There were times when I was switching those two roles so fast I could have surrendered to myself."

I agree with Sean Beans on his reason there are more Flint McCullough figures over Seth Adams. He did some research and check with the diggers in the landfills and found that runner for Seth Adams had be closed off. This is a practice that  Marx used before.  I was shown years ago the 45mm Indian kneeling mold now owned by Glencoe Models. In the mold we discovered that the paddle part had been sealed off. Glencoe opened up the paddle part so you now have the figured as it was originally planned.

I will do an future article on the rarest Marx Figure.  I also notice that the magazines are no longer carry the UPC code. Does this mean the magazine is no longer available except through  certain shops and Playset  Magazine itself.? There had been a unconfirmed rumor that the magazine was going to be available at Borders or Barnes and Noble.

Something that Upset Me

In issue No 40 of Playset Magazine under a picture of a figure bag of the Men of 76,  it is mentioned that Effren Arenstein of Lido who later  started Toy Innovations was proud of his  knock-offs of Timpo swoppets.  This comment annoyed me, if statement is correct the man thought there was nothing wrong to copy Timpo figures and be proud of it. Timpo spent time and money making the figure which this gentleman copied and stole their design.  If the statement had been on the Men of 76, then that is different story as while the figures are of the same concept as the Timpo swoppet type figures they are original  poses unlike the Transogram poses which were close copies of the Timpo figures. I do hope Playset Magazine misquoted him.

11/05/08

The Big Question

The big question people have been asking is what new items are coming from Conte Collectibles. At the East Coast Toy Soldier Show we were able to get an answer  from Richard Conte on his future plans. First up for metal are Zulu and 24th Foot figures. Richard showed us samples of the metal figures which are coming from a new factory in China. These figures look great. For plastic collectors next year we will  see Immortal figures  to fight against Spartans. Also just reported on the Conte Collectibles website that  the warehouse will be moved to North Carolina which is where Richard is living. This will allow a more hands on to the day to to day operation for Richard. 

Political Comment

My only comments on the election I was 477 of 950 people  that can vote in my voting district. This was at  2:00 PM. When Laurie voted she was 644 at 5:30PM. She had no problem walking in and vote.  Our district was expecting a 80% plus turnout. One of the polling places in Allentown had a three hour wait.  From what I am hearing much of the country had a great turn out.  It makes feel good that people were concern to vote.

Floyd Wilson

Please contact about the figure you were looking for? I have some information on it.

Allentown Toy Show

As I said before I would not be at the Allentown Toy Show this year due to my work schedule. I had given up my share of the table I had shared for years with John earlier in the year. I was very disappointed  at my sales in 2007 and felt I could use my time better elsewhere. From the reports I have received I made the right decision. The number of dealers was down and the show had taken out a whole row. The crowd was in the first hour and then a trickle.  One of my source heard dealers complain where are the people? Sales for most dealers was horrible. Dealers started to pack up and left at 1:00PM even though the show was to stay open until 3:00PM. The dealers had no problems leaving.  The only one score we heard was a party got two Marx space cars,  and a group 45mm Tom Corbett spacemen with helmets for only $60.00. Talking to various sources there will be more dealers giving up on this show. It is sad to see the continual decline of this once great toy show.

11/03/08

Catching Up

I have finally got a chance to do a little writing. The human job has been very busy due the launching of a new phone. I did not get to Allentown, but from the reports coming in I did not miss anything. The number of dealers were down and sales were poor. I will have a full report up on Allentown in a day or so. We did do Hackensack and had a great time.  My favorite part is seeing people and getting a chance to say hello.  Mike Westbay who we get an annual picture with ask when I will have a new list. I replied that human job has blocked up everything. The other problem is I am having a problem transferring files from one computer to another and have not got a chance to get one of my computer experts in to resolve it. So I will have to rebuild the list but I have to deal with the Ebay listings with their changes at the same time so it gets to be fun. Also I am trying to get the internet list up with  a camera that sometimes takes good pictures and other times does not.  I will have a few days off but Laurie who is off the same time also wants to get some chores done around the house so I will be busy. 

One of the interesting things Laurie and I usually do after a show is get a good meal. It is something that my late father taught me. Before he got married he used go to the horse races.  He told me that they always respected a man who after betting on the horses that he had enough money left over to buy a meal.  I have carried that tradition on, we always stop for a meal. It celebrates the good time we had that day. 

Odds and Ends

Once again the human job has taken precedence over the site.  The work has been back to back then I am trying to keep up on my Ebay sales , which has left very little time for other things.  Right now I am on hold if I will be at the Allentown Toy Show or not due to schedule snafu. I will know more next week. I will be at Hackensack with Laurie . We will be in at 9:00AM and will be there for awhile. I know people will be there earlier, but I am coming to a point I get what I get for either for resale or myself. I will be more interested in seeing old friends than what I acquired. It has been reported on the Conte Collectibles website that Richard Conte and gang will be back at Hackensack.  I am sure he will have items for sale and may let us in what he has planned for next year.  I will be picking up some of the AIP if he still has that great deal of four for three.  I have a few other items on my list, but will be looking for other items for friends.

For our European friends next month will have the show in Herne Germany run by a our very good friend Peter Bergner.  Then in December London will have the December  show run at Royal National  by King and Country. This year they will have a panel on toy soldiers at 3:00PM. They will have various people from the toy soldier hobby including our very good friend Peter Evans.  It will be taped and placed on TSTV  Toy Soldier Television. We will not be over due to the cost of airfare and other things.

Hobby news, it has been reported in Plastic Warrior that the new owners of Toyway are discontinuing the Timpo line. When the remaining stock is gone that is it. Imex has released their Presidio Mexicans in 54mm. They are in a red plastic and stiff plastic. There are two boxes foot and mounted. The box with the foot has 12 figures in 7 poses.  The mounted has 12 figures but may only has six horses!. We are waiting to find out more about this mix.  The latest Plastic Warrior is out and as always has great articles including one on an egg cup that has figures around it.  So far no one has seen the Russian production of the new Roman or Greek figures. The figures are very nice and will fit in with other 54mm figures.

10/15/08

Michael Eck a local collector and dealer have passed away at the age of 46.  Mike had business know as Historical Miniatures. Mike had tables at various shows in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  I had seen Mike recently at a flea market and I asked him if he had been to some flea markets on Sunday. He replied that he had not been out on Sundays as he had newspaper delivery route.  Our condolences to his family

10/08/08

Odds and ends

It has been a busy time for us here. I finally got a weekend off from the human job to go to a flea market and it rained. I still had a good time. I will not be at the Allentown Toy Show with a table. I had decided after years of poor sales to give up my half of the table to John. It was just as well as I could not get off on Friday even applying for it  months in advance. I will be in on Saturday and will be over to Hackensack for the Sunday show. Laurie will be with me at Hackensack and will have along the pictures of Sparky's birthday. Sparky is the first dog that Laurie and I know when he was born which was in September. Our previous dogs have been strays that have been rescued and taken to the shelter. Sparky we know was living with an older couple who had to give him up when they had to go into assisted living. Because of that situation we have paper work showing when he was born. Because we do not know Percy's birthday as he was a stray we celebrate his birthday as well. We had a doggie cake and hats. I will put the pictures up in the near future.

I occasionally get a chance to drive by the old homestead and see that the new owners has made more improvements. The garages in the back have overhead doors instead of side doors.  I hope he did not tried to expand the garages as he can't. The side walls have horizontal beams every four feet. The story I was told that the woman that own the house before my parents had though putting apartment on the top of the garage. They put in horizontal beams but never went through with building the apartment.    I am glad we are out the area as in the last few months they had a home invasion across the street and someone was shot down at the corner. With having a good postal substation near me I do not have to go downtown for anything anymore except my haircut. 

TSSD Next Offering

We have gotten a little more clarification on TSSD next figure set. It will be Civil War. The set will have wounded, artillery crew and mounted . The bags will have 10 different figures plus two horses. no duplicates for $18.00. The figures will be done in light and medium blue and gray. The horses will be in two new colors.  The figures are some of the nicest to come from TSSD. Laurie likes the artillery man TSSD calls the Big Swede. TSSD hopes to have the figure out for the holidays.

Marx Duck

I tell people that I have physically handled over ten million figures and have seen at least 35,000 different figures.  I have seen many figures and accessories, a number of items have been hard to find or too expensive. Case in point the above Marx Duck, I can not remember every offering this item for sale. (Those of you that still have copies of my old lists can check and see if I every sold it.) If I saw it for sale it must have been expensive.  Like their other vehicles it is nice piece craftsmanship. It is something I will keep looking for in the future.

Forbidden Planet

The above figures are not  a new item,  I finally picked them  a few weeks ago. This is one of my favorite science fiction films. I did not see it when the movie came out, but caught years later on television. These figure were done by M.S. Oliver. who also did the remake of the Marx falling horse and rider. These figures are nice addition and it is shame he could not do more of the crew.

10/01/08

Two Unidentified Figures

Here are two interesting figures that I recently picked up for the collection. The one on the left could be Italian  I may be wrong  and the other one I have no idea. The figure is a semi-flat like Lido. There is triangle on the bottom of the chariot but I can not make anything out. So let's see if anyone  can identified the figures.

I Don't Know Whether to Cheer, Laugh or Cry

It is being reported in the various media outlets that Jerry Bruckheimer has selected George Clooney to play the Lone Ranger. Also for the role of Tonto they have selected Johnny Depp!  I can not wait for protests from the American Indians.  Related to that the long delay  Green Hornet is slated  to film with Seth Rogen in the title role. The film will be directed by Stephen Chow  who will play Kato.

9/28/08

OTSN Update Part Three

TSSD next release will be Civil War. It will have ten poses including two mounted cavalry. The poses look great. Nick is hoping to have them for Thanksgiving. Hobby Bunker has a two story foam building besides their bunker.  We will get more information once  the show is over.

OTSN Update Part two

More information has shown up on the show. TSSD has done foam TSSD clapboard cabin. Replicants playset is the Execution of Charles I. The set contains new and old figures from Replicants. I forgot that there was another area that Replicants has done a number of figure English Civil War. The set contains  character figures of Oliver Cromwell and Charles I. The buildings are made of cardboard.  Steve Weston is also showing an advance showing of his mounted Mexican bandits. What is nice there are three different horses including a falling horse.

More details on the Barzso new items have come up. The Daniel Boone playset is $250.00. The new figures are  the four characters, Cherokee Indians 7 poses and pioneer in tricorne hat to be captain of the fort.  The figures are in resin. The fort is $200.00. The Fortified Abbey is $180.00. We will keep you  informed as we get information.

www.playsetmagazine.com/otsn_2008b.html

OTSN

The First news is in from the show. Jim Clouse  has let us know what the new Barzso playset is Officially Licensed Fess Parker Daniel Boone Playset. There is also Officially Licensed Fess Parker Fort Boonesborough. For Robin Hood fans there is a fortified  Abbey. You see pictures of the the new playset and a Plastimarx Ben Hur.

9/24/08

Conte Collectibles Spartans

One of the big surprises of last year's OTSN show was seeing the prototypes of the Conte Collectibles Spartans. What made these figures exciting was that you could change the position of the arms and heads to create new poses.  The change of poses opened a new realm for figures.

After many months of waiting the Conte Collectibles Spartan figures have finally appeared and are well worth the wait.  The series has 23 different poses which are divided over 9 blister cards. Each card has seven poses five figures which are the same through out the 9 cards and two unique  poses.  The figures are very well detailed. The figures are 60mm and will fit well with any ancient figures in that scale. The figure arms, hands and heads easily turn to make new poses. You can also take the arms hands and heads off the figure and place it on another figure to get a new pose. My only wish is that some of the weapon's arms had a socket at elbow to change pose as some of the arms when put on another figure do not look right. 

We would like to thank Conte Collectibles for the unsolicited samples. Getting these unsolicited samples allow us to give you an review earlier than planned.

Marx Variation

An interesting Marx variation has shown up from Canada. The new variation is the Marx 54mm pioneers in 50mm. These figures were used in a playset called  Fort Garry. The figures were found by Brian Irwin who was able to trace the  through 1959 Eaton's Christmas catalog. Brian said catalog show the fort with the smaller Jungle Jim fort walls. Brian also mention the catalog shows the Fort York which has the figures in 54mm. The question comes up why did Marx do the figures in 54mm. The smaller size indicates that the figures in the Fort Garry were copied by the pantograph method.  When you pantograph figures and want to keep them in the same size you lose 3mm in the transfer. The question is why they were copied. Just a number mystery to figure out.

OTSN Let the Games Begin

While people are already at the hotel, the real action will not start until Wednesday. At that time dealers will be opening their rooms to show their wares. Thursday will see more room opens and then the show will be on Sunday. While Laurie and I will not be there, I will monitoring various sites and emails to see what is happening and will report here. The two big questions will be what is Barzso's new playset and also what is the Replicants playset.  We will keep you posted.

9/20/08

Mystery Solved

One of the interesting puzzles in figure collecting is the above figure the Hong Kong copy of the Britains Cavalier with sword. It was the only figure of the four Britains British Civil War that was copied. For years it was a mystery why it was done and then I realized the secret when talking to Laurie last week. I was at my flea market which I can go to on a Wednesday because of my schedule when I spotted the above figure in a junk box. I picked up as the figure as collector like this figure. That night I was showing to Laurie and explain its background and that it had pop up in blister card from Hong Kong which had three of the Robin Hood Character figures and this large doll that was suppose to be Peter Pan. Then it hit me the figure is to be Captain Hook. Notice how the hand is crooked it would give the impression of a hook. This was a way for a Hong Kong factory make a item for sale. The card comes up once in awhile the figure are not easy either.  I had the blister card which I sold on Ebay and if I find the picture I will share it with you.

9/19/08

OTSN UPDATE PART III

Hobby Bunker will be displaying and selling their wares on the first floor of the Hotel during the show. The reason they are on the first floor is because of remodeling being done to the fourth floor. TSSD has announced the name of their latest playset Road to Berlin . The playset will contain various TSSD products plus much more. You can see a listing of the contents on their web site. The show price for the playset is $169.00.  The Hotel is doing renovation so the front entrance is closed and you will need to come in the back. Finally Laurie and I will not be there.  When we did a shift change at my human job I put in a request for the days off, I was waitlisted. By the time I finally got notice of the time off  the airfare had gone up. So we will pass and try for next  year.  I will get a chance if the weather is nice to get to a flea market or two.

9/16/08

Hong Kong Knight Set

My very good friend Peter Evans and I send each other interesting new figures we find in our respective countries. Recently I got a knight playset from Peter that I found  very interesting. In the first picture I have posted  show a great tree and interesting dragon. I really like the dragon as he different than what you see normally in the sets.  The knight included in the picture is 45mm and can be used foot or mounted.

_{The playset  includes a very nice battering ram which can be used by 54mm knights as well.}

The set comes with five knights one which can be placed on a horse or one foot. The knights are okay I can not tell if they are copies of of other knights. It is a nice set to include in your collection.

Replicants Playset

Steve Weston has given  some hints on the Replicants playset he will be bring to OTSN.  In a posting on the Hobby Bunker forum he stated that the set will  have 35 figures, accessories and buildings. Nine of the figures will be new and will consisted of  several character figures. The set will sell for $140.00 and Steve will only have a 20 sets and several are already sold.

Steve did not say what the set will be, but with my knowledge of the Replicants line I figure it will have to be something related to Western, Medieval or Civil War. We will see in a little more than week if I am right or wrong.

9/14/08

Back Again

Once again  the human job has taken over my life these past weeks.  At my job I have been working  days of back to back calls with no let up in sight. The calls are very mentally taxing one call will be on a blackberry and the next call will deal with voice mail. When you come out of a day of back to back to back calls the only thing you want to do is chill. I am working on a number of things for the web site that I hope to have up in the week. First up is a review of the Conte Collectibles Spartans. Then we will doing a review of the TSSD German Elite Troops. I will be looking at a new knight set that our very good friend Peter Evans sent over from England. The set has some nice pieces that can be used in any medieval setting.  We will have a look at some older items as well.

Sparky and Percy are doing well. It is nearly three months and the two have bonded well.  We had a birthday party for them last week. Laurie got a cake for dogs and they enjoyed it immensely. We know Sparky's birthday as he had been originally with a older couple had to turn him into the shelter as they were going into assisted living. We do not know Percy's birthday as he was a street dog like Jasmine before he came to the shelter. Since we do not know his birthday we decided to celebrated them together. I will have photos of the boys in the party hats up soon as well. 

OTSN Conte Collectibles

It has been reported on the Conte Collectibles will not be at OTSN due to a family event happening the same weekend. Joe Baker their web master may be there with the new plastic Spartans and samples of the new metal.

9/03/08

Odds and Ends

I have not been out  to flea markets due to the car being in an accident.  As I just getting ready for work  I hear  a load  bang and scream oh no. Sure enough some idiot hit my parked car in the front. The person was doing some survey and did not realize the car was there.  It took a couple of weeks to get it straighten out, but the car is now being repaired.  Because of the damage I kept it to local driving. We final got a rental car and did a flea market on Labor Day. The market has been one that I have done over the years and gotten good stuff. This time it was a dud. The crowd and quality was terrible I bought one item. The only figures I saw were Auburn which the dealer wanted $3.00 each except for the mechanic which he wanted $5.00. I passed on these items. I hope to get back to the flea market I do on a Wednesday and I may check out  a hobby shop.  Laurie check a local toy store in Bethlehem to see if they had anything, but all they had were some six inch knights for $12.00. They have now put their Papo line behind glass.

OTSN

Some information on what will be showing at OTSN has surfaced. Hobby Bunker is showing a foam bunker they will be showing at OTSN. It will run for $40.00 and will have reissue accessories such as a cannon and ladder. Steve Weston will have a playset from Replicants.  TSSD will not have a new figure set this year for OTSN. They may have a new figure set for December no guarantees if it will come to pass. They will have their German elite troops.

Chiller Theater Update

Chiller has added two more names to their guest list Leslie Nelson and Richard Dreyfuss.  I will be trying to get Leslie's autograph as I have enjoyed him for years on so many shows including Swamp Fox.  So if you are in the New Jersey area on October 25, 26 please go and see the great stars that gave us many exciting moments in movies and television.

Tom Terry

People ask me from time to time if I know about Tom Terry. My reply is we are not on speaking terms due to an incident years ago and I have no idea how to contact him.  Recently going through Ebay I found that Tom is selling his old issues of PFPC under the id of  pfcmagzine. He is selling the magazines at a reasonable price. I seen the magazines be sold for as high as $25.00 each. So if you looking to missing issues of PFPC or want to give him a note here is your chance. 

8/20/08

Odds and Ends

AC Moore had a special today of  50% off an item and I picked up the Lemax skeleton stagecoach for under $10.00. There selection is weaker than  Michaels which I am hoping they do a similar special as I want to get the Lemax serpent boat.  The Conte Spartans have appeared around the country and the collectors comments have been positive.  Steve Weston is suppose to have a playset from Replicants at OTSN. Our logo of the mounted knight is covered in the latest issue of PW. It is known as the baronial knight and is only one of three figures know in existence.  The one owned by Laurie and me is the most complete one so far as it is missing only the helmet.  You will see an nice article on how we acquired it. 

Chiller Theater

Chiller Theater has just announced their line up of guest for their October show and there are some great names appearing at the show starting with Burt Reynolds. That's right Burt Reynolds along with him will be Angie Dickinson, George Kennedy, Linda Evans, Morgan Fairchild, Patty Duke, Linda Hamilton  and many more.  It is always a great show with dealers selling  various items including toy soldiers. I picked up at one of the shows a six inch Marx Viking.  If you are interested go to their web site www.chillertheatre.com for more details.

8/12/08

Odds and Ends

I got a nice surprise this past week. One of my bosses went down to the  Atlantic City to the casinos. She spotted Army Men Gummis and bought them for me as she know I collect toy soldiers. I shared them with my team.

Sparky and Percy are doing well and are use to each other. It is fun to was them rough house one minute and the next minute laying down beside each other.  I got luck tonight when I was walking them. Both of them jump up on to a stone wall of our neighbor has. I thought they were going for one of the bunnies that are in the neighborhood.  It was not  a bunny but a skunk! I quickly pull both guys back and  headed for home. Fortunately the skunk went the other way so we had no problems.  We have skunks in the area as we every so often get their smell. This is only the second time I have seen a skunk in the neighborhood.

I have not been out much lately as some one hit the car. The car was parked but the person doing a survey and was not looking. We are waiting for the  check to get it repaired.  I am working to get the files transfer and it has been fun. The easy transfer does not work so I have to get time to copy files. If that does not work I will have to pull other people in to help.

Conte Collectibles Spartans

The Conte Spartans are now being shipped by Conte Collectibles from the Carolinas. If you made an order you should  see them soon. This information was up on the Conte Collectibles website.

8/08/08

Coming in 60 Days

We have mention over the last few months that we have been working on various projects. We are now letting you in on one of the projects. The long over due sales list is coming. I have been trying to get this project up for some time.  It it something that made Stad's famous our list of figures we offered twice a month. Each list was loaded with figures from around the world and our sales list will carry on the tradition. The great thing with the list on the internet I can show pictures with the figure listing. So stay tune as we gear up to give this new aspect of Stad's Stuff.

Another project that will start soon is Random Thoughts. Random Thoughts is my comical look at the world. I tried to get this going a year ago but the human workload took its toil on getting it off the ground.  It will be stupid criminals, stupid idiot and my take on the world. I am getting tired of impatient drivers and I like  know where people  get special permission to use left turn only as a passing lane. So stay tune.  

8/06/08

OTSN

OTSN is  less than two months away and I am sure the speculation is starting on what new items will be showing. With Conte Collectibles Spartans now in the country, what new surprises will Conte have? Will Conte be showing prototypes of the Immortals to go with the Spartans? Also will he have a new playset?  Likewise will we see a new playset From Barzso? Like wise what will be the latest set from TSSD? Hobby Bunker will it have any new reissue figures? Also will see the long over due figures from Imex?  We know that one party will have some new figures at the show. At the moment I can not say what the figures are? If I get a release I will let you know.

Lemax Part Two

I checked out the other Art and Craft store in our area that cares A C Moore and came away very disappointed. There selection of the Lemax was even worse that Michael's. They had only a few of the large sets and none of the individual figures. Like Michael's, A C Moore had the items at 25% off.  It looks like I will have to order some of the items I want on line. 

8/02/08

Toy Town Part Two

As I fear the Toy Town  show that had moved to a week earlier had been a disappointment.  Paul Osiadacz reported in the Marx Group that there were only three dealers selling Marx items. Last year he had found 12 dealers dealing in Marx items. I ask him how was the over all crowd and dealers. Paul replied that it down on both counts. It will be interesting to see the reaction from people this weekend when they find no toy show at the Fest.
 

Lemax

The Lemax has  started to show up at the Arts and Craft shops in my area. I was able to get the two Egyptian skeleton warriors, a mummy attacking two archeologists, two pirates and skeleton over a chest. They also had the Egyptian chariot with some kind of creature and great barge with skeletons fighting a giant Cobra.  The first store I check Michael's had a smaller display than last year and they already had 25% off! I will check A C Moore's next week to see what they have. 

7/31/08

Fun Time in Computer Land

I have been having a fun time this past week. The computer decided to totally crash on me Monday a week ago. Fortunately I had the next three days off to resolve the problem. I went to one computer repair company and found it would be  six days to ten days before I could get a response. I went to another source and would able to get it back in three days. I actually got an answer sooner than that the computer was completely fried. The mother board and power supply would cost me over $800.00 if they could get the parts. I decided on getting a new computer. That took me another day to get together, but I found a computer to meet my needs. The next fun thing was getting the programs and data up.  That has taken the rest of the week as I fight to get the programs to work.  I am still working on some aspects of that.

The good news is with the new computer I will be able to do more than before. We have been working on several projects which will be coming on line in the coming months. So stay tune. 

7/20/08

Toy Town

There has been a major change on the toy show that has been with The Das Aws Fecht. In years past the toy show was on the Saturday of The Das Aws Fecht.. Due to them losing the land where most of the dealers were placed, the toy show part was moved to the week before. It will now be held at the Macungie Memorial Park on July 25 and 26. I have no details on times or if there is any admission charge. In the past the show was free. Add to the confusion there is a pre-toy show at the Days Inn on August 1. Also Jake's Flea Market is having toy show on Saturday August 2. Jake's Flea Market is near Gilbertsville PA on Route 100. 

I will not be at any of the shows due my schedule at the human job. Normally I have the Friday and Saturday off, but my schedule got change to Tuesday and Wednesdays off.  I have not tried to get Saturday off because it is very hard this time year to get the day off or switch with someone. It will be the first time I have this show in 20 years, but I not upset as last year I did not find that much.

7/16/08

Plastic Warrior Show 2009

We have just heard from our very good friend Paul Morehead that they have confirm the date for the 2009 Show of Plastic Warrior as May 9.  This is a great show, I can not say enough about this show. It is a great show where you can find plastic figures from around the world. It is only 60 tables but it packed with goodies. There is so much to look at you will over load.  We will be keeping you informed about this show in the coming year.

The Boys Part 3

Sparky and Percy have bonded as brothers. I found this out the other day when we took both of them to the Vet. While one was in with the doctor the other was upset and worried as he wait out in the waiting room.  It has been an interesting four weeks Percy is ready for a walk at 4:00AM. They love their walks. Percy is very vocal when he sees other people or dogs and they both would like to chase the rabbits in the neighborhood.

7/09/08

Roaming

I got out yesterday to various  stores to see what I could find. The first stop was Target were I picked up some of the Mythology and Wizardology figures at $2.62 each. I checked the other figures at Target but found nothing new. From there I headed to Toy R US which I had not been in months. Someone had mentioned on the Marx groups about some Indiana Jones pieces that might interesting for the collection. I did not see them, but I did see the Transformers movie scenes which have some interesting figures. From there I went to Borders checking out the magazines and discover that they had from England: Toy Soldier Collector. The magazine is a little pricey but they mention our very good friend Peter Bergner so I had to get it. Peter does the King and Country shows in London besides the Plastic Warrior Show. The article which was on the March show spotlight his table loaded with lots of plastic trays to pick figures. As I mention in my article on Plastic Warrior show Peter's tables are treasure trove of fun. Finally I stopped at Hobbytown but found nothing there.

7/03/08

Supreme Crusader and  Saracens

A collector posted on the Marx Group of a new series of Crusaders and Saracens being issued. Hearing of the these new figures I decided to go hunting and found them on Michigan Toy Soldier Company website. They are are great set of figures and have gone to the top of my want list. The Crusaders consist of  16 figures 4 mounted and 12 foot. The Saracens have 12 figures four mounted and 8 foot poses. What make the Saracens interesting is the four mounted are on camels! The poses are very interesting but may be copies from different copies. Still these are great figures at affordable prices.

Conte Collectibles Spartans Update

Note only the red figures will  be available at this time

The latest word from Conte Collectibles on their Spartans is they are now  shipping to Conte Collectibles from China. They are expected to arrive in August. Conte Collectibles is taking orders.   Conte Collectibles will be selling the Spartans by the case. Each case will have ten cards: the nine different cards containing the 23 different figures (each card contain seven figures five the same through out the nine different cards and two  unique figures) plus one  duplicate card Conte Collectibles choice. The price for the 10 cards would normally be $24.00 each for total of $240.00. Conte Collectibles is offering a special for  ten cards of $200.00 plus shipping if you are interest check at their web site for further details

6/30/08

Unknown Figure

Here is an unusual figure I picked up recently. The figure is  60mm and from the way he is dress the figure was done in the 70's or 80's. What is odd the back is concaved for some reason. Any information is appreciated as always.

The Boys

It has now been two weeks and we are getting use to having two dogs in the house.  Percy is getting along with his older brother Sparky though Sparky will not share his toys. Every so often they will start rough housing and think they will tear each other apart. The next minute they are laying side by side on the blanket. It has been an interesting time.

6/18/08

Odds and Ends

We have Sparky's new brother Perseus in the house and hope to get some pictures up soon.  We have had an interesting new addition to our neighborhood a real turkey. Laurie spotted it  a few days ago and final saw it yesterday. We think it is a female looking to set up a nest.  We will see if it shows up again.  I am wondering how the flea markets and toy shows are being effected by the high prices. I did a flea market last Wednesday and the place was full. I am planning to go tomorrow with a friend and see how it is.  It will be interesting to hear if the Marx Meet was affected by the gas prices. Speaking of Marx Meet, in the Marx Group Ed Bielcik has put up picture from the 1987 Marx Meet. It is an interesting time capsule of history.  I do not remember much from the show except  the problem getting there and I did so well I bought some of the Marx soft plastic Korean War figures from Peter Fritz. It was an interesting time.

Barzso Collectibles

When we were at the Plastic Warrior Show, we asked Barzso if he would have a new playset at OTSN. Ron replied that he has one planned and is hoping to have it ready for the show depending on various factors. We did not ask him what it will be as we want that to be a surprise.

Kung Fu

When we were at the Plastic Warrior show one of the items I picked up for myself were some more Kung Fu figures. As I mention before I had seen these figure years ago at mall and had passed. This time I was able to get a number of the figures. The figures come either foot or mounted. The figures are design as a swoppet type, which means you can take the torso and change the legs.  The figure I got in January is of the same type. With this purchase, I have enough of these figures to satisfy my collection.

6/12/08

Plastic Warrior Show

For my report go here

Plastic Warrior 2008

6/10/08

Comment Time

Once again my work schedule and projects have back up my time for Comment Time. I have a new schedule with lousy days off though I can now do two flea markets I could not do.  The new schedule has my body clock so confused it is worse that going to England.  I hope to have the pictures and comments on Plastic Warrior show up in a day or so. Laurie and I had a great time at the show, but before we know it the show was over. This one show we can stay from start to finish as there is so much to see. It is a show everyone can find something. Also we get to talk to our old friends and new friends.

 We had planned to go to West Virginia for the Marx meet, but will not be there due to Sparky getting a brother. Laurie felt that he needed a friend to be with him when we are at work and has been looking at the various shelters for a friend.  She found one last week a male Chihuahua Terrier. There were two other parties who had place a reserved on him but back out. We went over to the shelter today with Sparky and they got along so we decided to adopt him.  We will named Perseus  or Percy. Because we will get Perseus next week we will stay home and bond with our new friend and his big brother Sparky. It will be the first time either of us has had two dogs at the same time.  Giving Sparky a brother is similar to concept I have worked on in one of my projects. I have been working on sword and sorcery story for the last year. One of the bits I have in the book is  the hero buying a free slave two sisters. The idea giving a free slave sisters or brothers in the story is they can have a family to relate.  I hope to have book done by the end of the year if not sooner.

Conte Collectibles has pushed the date back of the Spartans to July.  Conte Collectibles is selling some of the pewter figures from playsets which you should see a list at their web site. Armies in Plastic is coming out with the Charge of the Light Brigade figures. I have not seen the new TSSD German Elite Troops yet and when I do I will give a review. Italeri is coming out with some nice Napoleonics which should be in stores soon.

Corgi Sold

Corgi International has been sold to Hornby for Fifteen million dollars. Hornby is the company that bought Airfix.

Macy's to Host FAO Schwarz Stores

Toy Book reports that Macy's has signed an exclusive agreement with FAO Schwarz. FAO will have toy stores in up to 275 Macy's stores this fall.  FAO Schwarz will be Macy's exclusive toy store.  The size of the stores will vary from 200 to 3500 square feet which will depending on the store.

Michael Murray

It has been reported in the Marx Group that Michael Murray has passed away.  He had been battling cancer and lost the fight. Our Condolences from Laurie and me.

6/04/08

We received samples of the new Replicants Western figures at the Plastic Warrior Show. Replicants has been doing figures that fill gaps in the plastic figure world. The four figures are examples of that credo. While there are many Indian figures done in plastic, there have not been many Apache figures done. Peter Cole has designed two figures that fit that need. The Apache firing pistols really nice as Peter has the figure sighting down the pistol. The other Apache with club is another good pose.

The two other figures are a nice addition to the western field.  The mother with baby is not just holding the baby, she is cooing the baby. The man is walking with his rifle in a relax pose not expecting any trouble.  All these figures are well worth adding to one's western collection.
 

5/27/08

Round Two

Sorry for not writing sooner, but I have been busy with work at the human job and various projects. One of the projects was getting prepared to go to the Plastic Warrior show. I will have more to say on the show in the near future. One of the things I did at the Plastic Warrior show was talk to several people in regards to the Timpo Viking Chieftain. 

In a recent Comment time I mentioned I had asked a person where he had gotten the list that named the Timpo Viking with a face mask or Sutton Hoe helmet as the Viking Chieftain. I did not get a response so I did my posting. I have discovered that the person has now posted on his web site an answer. He answers by referencing Michael Maughan’s book, A to Z Timpo.  In the book, Michael Maughan mentions the figure I have pictured above, as a good commander figure. This person goes on to say that he has not seen any packaging listing the figure as chief and the collectors he has dealt with like to call the Sutton Hoe helmet as the leader.

That is a nice answer but he has not done his homework.  If he had done a search of Timpo web sites he would have found that a large group of collectors calls the Viking with the arm raised as the chief. These collectors are from Germany and are perhaps the largest group of Timpo collectors (I will let the British and Germans fight this out).  An example of this can be seen at the following web site.

www.timpofiguren.com

We were able to get to the Plastic Warrior Show this year and I had hoped to talk to Michael Maughan, but he was not there. I did speak with Peter Bergner who is the largest Timpo dealer in Germany, and also spoke with Andreas Dittmann who is the leading figure expert in Germany, and they both confirmed that the Viking with arm up is called the chief. Likewise, Michael Smith of England, a noted Timpo collector, agreed with their findings. Timpo did not mark or title most of their figures. This classification came after the release of these figures and has been adopted by a large number of collectors to help identify the different Viking figures. 

Also, this person interjects how certain figures have the correct helmet, therefore attempting to show off his supposed expertise and avoid the issue at hand, concerning the designation of the Timpo Viking Chieftain. At the period of time many of the companies that made Viking figures had the wrong helmets as historical accuracy was not important. The Vikings never wore helmets with horns. There is even some question as to whether or not they wore the Sutton Hoe helmet, as only one has been found so far. I have known for years that the Vikings did not wear helmets with horns, unlike most of the Marx figures. When these figures were issued back in 70’s historical accuracy was not as important as it is today for collectors.

I was also chided by this person that I did not thank him for identifying the game pieces of the Annie Oakley game as T Cohen.  I know many figures and who made them but there are many figures I do not know and I freely admit that. I am happy when people identify unknown figures and I am happy to give them credit. However, I will not give credit to a person who starts their email with the words “I could bash for not knowing these figures.” Either this was a joke or a real dig I find very condescending and do not feel the person deserves a credit.

Lastly the person chided me on mislabeling the Plasticraft pirates as Plastic Sculpture pirates. I made a mistake. It happens. I will admit my mistakes unlike many other people who I have pointed out their mistakes. I found it interesting that the person came up with this mistake now as I mentioned the pirates back in December. I am surprised he did not pick it up sooner; I guess he just got the Plasticraft pirates information and used it on me. This person tried to equate this simple mistake to when I make a rare mistake. As I have mentioned, a major mistake for me is where I get my information completely wrong as I did on the Marx Fox Hunt set. A simple mistake is when I misidentify or get a date wrong. As I mentioned earlier, I have seen many different figures over the years. A rough guess would be 50,000 different poses, so it is easy to get names mixed up.  I admit that I am not perfect but this other person seems to think that he is. Anyone can read information in a book or article, but until you physically get out into the field and handle the figures yourself, don’t hide behind your book knowledge.

WESTON MEXICAN BANDITS

Steve Weston has continued western series with a set of eight Mexican bandits. Inspired from the western movies of the 60's the eight figures are ready to take control of a town and do their dirty work. The eight figures are in action poses and worthy addition to your western scenes.

Marx Figures Found and Identified

Getting into the field one can find information and items that you will not find in books and magazines. The information that you can find may not reach books and magazines for months or longer. An example of this is  the two figures we purchased at the Plastic Warrior Show. We were able to get the Marx Toboggan and the male skier. These figures came in a bag of of five figures and a tag.  From the tags, we get the Marx id number for both figures. The toboggan we have the id number HK4845 and the male skier we have the id number HK4843.

The figures are marked Marx Toys on the bottom.

Unknown Roman Soldiers from Russia

At the Plastic Warrior Show Dmitry from Russia showed me some 54mm ancient Roman figures made in Russia. Dmitry asked me if I had seen these figures before, I remarked  I had not seen them before and called my very good friend Peter Evans over to see if he recognized them. Peter  collects ancient plastic figures and he did not recognizes them either. The figures  are 54mm and would work well with the Marx Ben Hur figures. Dmitry gave me permission  to photograph the figures and Ron Barzso was gracious to allow me to use part of his table for the photograph. If you recognizes these figure let us know so we can pass it along.

POLISH FIGURES

One of the things I enjoy about Plastic Warrior Show is the different figures you find at the show.  The figure on the left was purchased from a dealer who was displaying various Polish figures. At the moment I have no idea who made it and if it to represent Zorro or some other figure. The other figure I got from my very good friend Peter Evans, who got it Tomasz Karpowicz. The figure is well detail and is a resin type. The figure is 60mm figure  and they do other figures. At Peter Evans' apartment he show Laurie and me some Russian figures made by this company that are well detail as well. One of the figures is playing a concertina.

BATTLING PIRATES   

Laurie and I got out on the Saturday before Memorial Day and did a flea market. The flea market was some what disappoint though I did find a few odds and ends. We headed back to home via Flemington New Jersey were I stopped at Toy store Toy Kingdom. One of the items I got was a set of pirates called Battling Pirates. The set comes with pirates, skeleton warriors and accessories.

The figures are 40mm and are nice. I may have the figures already with a a different set I bought last year.  It is interesting how the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie with its skeleton pirates has inspired toy makers to add skeleton figures with their sets.  I also got the following pirate figures loose

They are 40mm as well. Does anyone know who made them? I have another set our very good friend Peters Evans sent us in the 30mm range I will be photographing plus 60mm sailor that I picked up loose at Toy Kingdom.

5/12/08

TSSD  Newest Offering

TSSD has announced its latest release Late WWII German Elite Troops. The set has 6 infantry figures: kneeling firing machine gun, man to assist with the machine gun, German kneeling firing panzerfaust, German standing firing Gewerh rifle with scope, MP40 shooter firing from the waist and kneeling firing MP40.  The set have for the first time in this two mounted figures with horses mounted firing pistol and mounted carrying rifle.  The each bag will have one each of the mounted and two each of the foot. The bags will cost $23.00 a $1.00 increase. The figures will be available in light and dark gray.  Some of the sets will be available in Texas at the show next week.  
 

5/04/08

Free Comic Book Day

Jeff the owner of Beachhead Comics with Scott Hanna noted Inker for Marvel and DC

We stop off today at Beachhead Comics for Free Comic Book Day.  This is a great promotion that the comic book industry is doing to bring young people into the stores. It is something the shows should think about doing. I was telling a collector today that when I go to the shows I see the same people when I go to the shows. The shows have to promote more if they want to survive the changes we are going through.

Conte Spartans

Richard has given a update on his web site on his Spartans. If everything holds right we should finally see these figures in June. The figures will be sold seven figures on a card. Each card will have two unique poses and five poses that will be the same through out the cards. The five poses will be three phalanx poses and two shield poses. Because there are 18 unique poses you will have to buy 9 different cards. The tentative price for the cards is $22.00each. If you want the complete set you will have to set aside $198.00 plus shipping. 

Marx Prototypes Sell Very Well on Ebay

Collectors recently got a chance to bid on a number of Marx prototypes on Ebay. A dealer named toy-hood sold some very interesting prototypes. One of the most interesting of offerings was the female slave from the Ben Hur playset.  This figure was not produced but shown in the photos of the Ben Hur playset in the Sears  1959 Christmas catalog. The figure sold for $355.00. The prototype of General Patton also went for $355.00.  The 1958 prototype of  Battle Damage cabin went for $811.01. Some of the other realized bids were 60mm union standing firing rifle went for $128.49, the 60mm cavalry standing firing rifle for $135.49. The Marx army training center truck went $164.49.  An unusual item a vacuum form display for Artic sets went for $152.50.  An Auburn train engineer prototype went for the $102.50. The least expensive prototype was the doll house child for $51.00.

If you wanted the hard plastic Magic Marxie you would have had to spend $202.50. We thank Brian Johnson for the tip on this auction. 

Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show

Here is my second the report of the shows we did the last week. We had a good time at both shows. I hope you enjoy my reports.

Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show  

5/01/08

MFCA 2008

Here is the my first of two show reports MFCA. This is the oldest of the toy soldier shows in the country. You catch my report at the link below.

MFCA 2008

4/29/08

Back Again

It has been one of those busy weeks for me again. My human job takes up my time and I have been busy with various projects. In between this Laurie and I got to go to the MFCA show and the new Gettysburg show. I will have pictures up in a few days of both shows.  One thing you will noticed on those and other Pages we will be putting Stad's on the page. This is because I found someone connect to our page with out asking permission or noting who's site it was.  I will be trying to do some updating to the site as well giving more color.

4/23/08

Odds and Ends

We are getting reports that a number of items that collectors are waiting for will finally be appearing. First up should be the Pegasus Russian WWII Naval figures followed by their two sets of gladiators. Laurie and I were impressed by the figure samples at OTSN and I will have to watch that one of the figures does not disappear as Laurie wants one gladiators for her desk if she can get it painted. Also suppose to come out this month are the long awaited Spartans by Conte. These figures are really going to  be popular due the ability to put them in different poses.

It is interesting to see if the shows will be effected by the increase in gas prices. It will be interesting how many people will be using the internet over traveling, Speaking of the internet I was able to get some post cards of one of the department stores that used to be in Allentown. The postcards are of Hess's Department Store during its flower show. I will see if I can scan them in with my new scanner  and share them with you. I was clued on to them by our friend Brian Johnson.

Here is another  group of figures I have picked up over last few weeks. Going from Left to right is Jescan Indian, The Phantom. a odd cowboy, MPC man with a camera and Indian that goes with the cowboy we recently got.  I have not gotten a chance to read the base of the Phantom so I am not sure who made it. I have the other figure that was done of the Phantom which was a copy of the Lone Star Tarzan painted to look as the Phantom. I like getting modern figures as it shows the change. I bought one set of figures just because it had a woman on mobile phone.

Congratulations

Our friend T J Turner is a grandfather. He now has grand daughter, her name is  Liberty Turner Angle.

4/13/08

Memories

It is interesting how when you are asked something and it triggers other memories. One of my very good friends asked me who made a figure. The figure was man with a pistol and satchel.  I knew it was from Ideal and was sold with several other figures and gun that fired plastic bullets. It trigger other memories of this item. I remembered where I had seen this item as a child. I had seen the the toy on a rack at a drugstore that was about quarter block down the street on the other side. I had seen and thought the figures were great, but knew my parents would not buy it as the pistol fired bullets. I later got the figure years later.

The drugstore that I had seen the figure was where I had bought my comic books when I was a child. The store was run by a husband and wife. The wife ran the store in the morning and the husband ran it in the late afternoon. Because the husband was nasty, people then to avoid it at night and most of the business was done by the wife. Sadly the wife died before the husband and the business went down hill. I would still get my comic books there and I had made an arrangement with his wife  before her death to pick up the unsold newspapers for recycling. Because my picking up the papers I might had been one of the last people before the man that ran the drugstore committed suicide. The building was later sold and the drugstore was changed into a bar.

4/11/08

Replicants

Fans of Replicants there will be two new sets at available the Plastic Warrior show. What they are I have no idea and I like surprises. We will have to wait until after the show and see.

4/07/08

Sorry for the long delay, but I have been busy with other projects. I hope to get back on a regular schedule in a week.

Timpo Viking Chief

I like to go through web sites and see if I can find any bargains for either resale or for the collection. I notice a dealer had some Timpo Vikings for sale. Curious on the price I checked further and found that he listed one of the figures Viking with face mask as chief. I was surprised by this as that figure is not the Timpo Viking chief. The above picture is the Timpo Viking chief. It is a hard figure to find. I ask the party who has a number of resource books on toy soldier what was his source for his figure as chief. I never got an answer.

I had to Laugh Twice

At a recent toy show I noticed a dealer had a box set of the Airfix Italians in the box. The price on the box was $225.00. I wanted to laugh in the dealer's face, but courteous I just walked away. An hour later I notice that the dealer had a sign on the box that he had cut the price in half. I wanted to laugh again, but I waited until I was outside.

AIP

Beside the Bengal Lancers AIP is doing, they have another new set coming up British Naval Party. The set will have 20 figures in 8 poses.  The set will be done in two colors blue and white. Steve Weston should have pictures of the figures in the near future

MFCA

    Our very good Friend Gerry Watts has told us that the parking is free at the new site in Delaware for the MFCA show. There is a rumor going around that the new site was going to charge for parking.

Conte Collectibles

Conte Collectibles has announced that they will be moving their operations to a new location. They are unhappy with their landlord's increase and have decided to move. Hopefully the move will allow them to get larger facilities to hold their product. They have not mention whether they are staying in Las Vegas or moving to another city. Right now they are having  a sale on some of their bulky plastic figure packs. So check it out as it may be a good time to stock up on this product.

Chiller Theater

The latest Chiller theater will be May 2 to 4. As always they have very diverse group of stars including Ernest Borgnine, Mickey Dolenz, Bill Daly, Lindsay Wagner, William Davis, Avery Brooks and much more. The tickets are $15.00 in advance and $20.00 at the doors. Besides the guest you will have dealers with various items for sale. The show is being held at the Parsippany Hilton in Parsippany New Jersey. Come early as the show fills up.  For more information go  to

www.chillertheatre.com

Lone Ranger 75th Anniversary

This year is the Lone Ranger's 75th anniversary. The Lone Ranger first started on radio and movie to movies and television. There has been a new comic book series Dynamite Entertainment. I have been up and down on the series. Scoop has that Jerry Bruckheimer supposedly have the rights to do new movies.

Super Heroes

The next couple of months will have some interesting super heroes movies. The first up is Iron man the trailer looks interesting. This will be followed by Indiana Jones in a fourth movie. After that will be the Batman with Heath Ledger as the Joker. The hints and rumors on this movie make it a must see in my busy schedule. They trying another attempt at the Hulk. While not a super hero as such you will have the X-Files. The Star Trek has been postpone until next year. Also next year is the long awaited Watchmen movie. I seen some stills and I am curious to see how it comes out. Also on the boards if the rewrite works is a Justice League of America movie. 

Get IT Right Part 3

Well folks it is one of the those rare occasions I goofed in  my information on plastic figures. The cowboy sitting and the farmer boy with the pail were not part of the set but were part of the Colonial Doll House playset. How did I do the goof. I was asked by the editor of Plastic Warrior if I had any of the Marx fox hunt figures. At the time I said I did not have any of the figures. (I since discover that I do have some of the figures.) I mention this to a friend and he said had the complete fox hunt set.

When Laurie and I went to visit this friend to photograph the set, the party had the figures set up as you see in the picture I previously posted. He stated to me that he had set it up like the photo in PFPC 69.  I took his word on this as I had trusted his judgment on other Marx items in the past.  I broke one of my rules of not checking the information thoroughly as I usually do. I took the information he gave me gear the information based on the picture.  I know now I was wrong.

In the future I will be more careful with my information. I have already reviewed my mistake and I have made corrections. This issue is now settled.

3/25/08

Sorry for not posting but I have been busy with work and other commitments. I will comment on my on going discussion in few days. I am try to get time to review some data and pictures.  In mean time enjoy these other items

Figures Find

Here are the figures I found at the New Jersey toy soldier show. As I mention in the article below I had no intentions of getting any figures for myself other than the Blackcat Russian Napoleonics. I did find these figures at Gerri Watts' stand with the exception of the two chimpanzees. That I got from Bob Jones.  It was unusual and I added it to my collection. The Scottish Highlanders are Hilco. These are the first 60mm figures I have seen from this company. The bandit is Timpo and I may have him. I had the figure as a child and called him Outlaw Blue because he was most blue in color to me.  I had him until one of my dogs got him and chewed him. I did get a version in aluminum years ago.  I have no idea who made the flat figure and man walking in the beret is French. The goofy cowboy is from a group of figures I have seen over the years but have seen no documentation. These figures plus the Kung Fu figure I mention cost me less $8.00

Odds and Ends

We have heard from our friend Mark Hegeman on the female Elf I recently showed on these pages. The figure is from a game called Everquest. Mark said she is missing a staff. The reports on the UK Toy Fairs are not good. The major companies if they are doing anything new it is in the 90mm range. The one bright spot is a company called Wild Republic which is doing 60mm figures of knights, cavemen, pirates Greeks, Romans and Astronauts. The poses are somewhat static. We hope to have samples in the near future. Our reporter was also impress with some resin figures he saw. You can get much more details in Plastic Warrior.  Laurie and I did some shopping the other night as Target and I got to see some of Star Wars figures I had not seen in the smaller ranges.

I did pick up one of the Mythology figures Poseidon which I have above.. As mention in the next article I got the issues 37 and 38 of Playset Magazine and I was pleasantly surprised with the issues. the layout was not usual crowded mess and there were no major mistakes. The Civil War playset No 2646 looks like it was something you would get at a five and dime.  I hope that Playset Magazine keeps up this improvement.

I was asked at the New Jersey show if I knew when the Conte Collectibles Spartans would be out.  I really don't know. Likewise I have no idea when Pegasus figures are coming out either.  My feelings on new items if I see it at a show I will buy it. The chance of getting it locally is getting harder and harder.  I saw that a local hobby shop called Hobby Hangout is closing in May. They could not find a buyer for the business so they are selling off the building to a Party Warehouse.

Hobby Bunker has gotten the Glencoe reissues of the Marx pioneers run in several different colors. You can check their web site for information. No word when the next release from TSSD. Conte Collectibles has sent a flyer of new poses in metal and plastic of Zulus.

New Jersey Toy Soldier Show

Laurie and I did the New Jersey Toy Soldier Show that used to be held at Schutzen Park. I had not been able to go last year due to work, so this time I got the time off to go. We left early and even before the show we struck gold as we got gas for only $2.99 a gallon (Around here it is $3.29 a gallon.) We are arrive at the show about half hour after the show open. The show was held at the Crowne Plaza, which we knew from some Chiller shows. They had the lower room and because of the layout the room was much brighter. We immediately looked for our very good  friend Gerri Watts. 

Gerri looked good despite being hit by a goal post at his human job.  Gerri lost some teeth and will have some major dental work in the coming months. Gerri's stand is the first place to go as he is always loaded with a great selection and great buys. This time was no exception as he had a wide variety of figures including the Timpo Cossacks. The Timpo Cossacks are an interesting group of figures. First the poses are different. I like the Cossack ready to the throw lit powder keg.  Second these figures are hard to find due to the fact they they are very fragile.  From what I have been told a talc powder was used in the process that makes them very brittle. Geri had picked up a lot that day which we bought as I know how to handle these figures in shipping.  I had not planned on getting any figures for myself, but found several interesting ones, which I will be showing in a few days.

After Gerri's stand we walked around and some other old friends such as Bob D'Angelo. Bob deals in comic characters and dinosaurs. Bob had ceramic dinosaurs that Laurie liked but she could not put in her budget so  she had to pass for now.  Bob Jones at the show had a nice selection of plastic including the World War One vehicles by Remco. One person had a box which was marked Herald Models. It was from Hong Kong and had some crude swoppet grenadiers. The dealer said to us it was done by Zang after he sold the company. I told I don't think so and politely walked away. It was still there when we left.

Most of the other dealers we knew such Glen Fink and George Guerrio.  Glen's table had many loose figures to help out fill in your needs in Marx and other figures.  George is noted for his diorama pieces. I was able to get from him the latest Playset magazines and the Blackcat Russian Napoleonics.  I was able to get a Kung Fu figure from Alan Ford. I had seen the figure about 20 or more years ago when I took my mother to shopping mall. I was going through a toy store and saw the Kung Fu set from Hong Kong. I passed on it at the time figuring I would see it again. I have not seen the set since, but I had acquire two of the poses.

Allan is another source to fill out your figure needs. Allan is one of the few people that regularly carries the Lord of the Ring Figures. There were a number of dealers with plastic as well. One dealer had a wide selection of Giant pieces. This dealer must had 20 Giant caissons. I remember when if you had Giant it was gone before you knew it. Another dealer had a number of plastic figures, but the prices were very high.

We stayed at the show until 12. By then the crowd had dissipated. Our very good friend John had come to the show on his own and he had left by 10:30. I talked to him later and he said he had a good time. He bought well and sold well.

Blackcat Russian Napoleonics

I picked up at the New Jersey show last week the Blackcat Russian Napoleonics for a friend and myself. These figures are nice. They nice detail and help fill in a gap for those those collecting Napoleonic. The only minor quibble I have is there is no kneeling firing pose. Blackcat is talking lots more Napoleonics including short runs of officers, artillery crews etc. This is a exciting new line and I hope everyone supports it.

3/16/08

Get It Right Part Two

I recently checked again the article I talked about back on February 23 regarding the Marx molds. The author of the article had revised the article and corrected the mistakes he had made. The author stated that I put my foot in my mouth by listing the Marx cowboy sitting and the farm boy with pail as part of the Kentucky fox hunt set. The person went on to say that Marx liked to throw figures in the playsets and I did not know what I was talking about.

On that point I would have to disagree. I was right in what I said. The cowboy sitting and farm boy with pail were both part of the Kentucky fox hunt playset.  I did not come up with that information, but Francis Turner did in issue 69 of PFPC.  For that issue Francis reviewed a Marx #6990 Country  Split Level Dollhouse. This was one of the larger dollhouse playsets which came with various extras. One of the extras was the Marx Kentucky Fox Hunt. This group came with the fox hunt figures and the addition of the cowboy sitting and the farm boy with pail. Also included in the Marx Kentucky fox hunt were two trees and a rock. Francis did a picture of the figures which was duplicated by my very good friend John for an article done for Plastic Warrior. If you look at the picture above you will notice all the figures are the same color. This indicates that the figures were in the same mold frame. The editor of PFPC remarked in a footnote that he had test shots for playsets that never came to be. 

These figures would not had been tossed in but would have been in a bag, which they were, in   the Kentucky fox hunt set. I learned from Peter Fritz that he had discovered the way Marx laid out playset boxes. One thing was that their figures were placed in bags. The listing that Francis did in PFPC placed these 2 figures in question in the Kentucky fox hunt bag. So I was right in listing the two figures as part of the Kentucky fox hunt.

In final analysis the person who has his foot in his mouth is the author of the article I noted for his major mistakes. If he copied the information from the Glencoe Ebay listing he would not have had to rewrite his article. He further compounds his error by not knowing how the playset boxes were set up.

Looking Around

This past Friday after meeting Laurie for lunch I decided to check out a local bid board. After  checking the items for bid I stopped at a stand to see if they had anything interesting for sale.  This stand is loaded with fast food and other figures for sale. In January I purchased two figures from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame for my stories. This time I found the four interesting figures pictures above. The first one is another Captain Jack in 60mm. Next to him is a 120mm Elf female warrior. I have no idea who made her. She may be missing a weapon. In front of her is a 54mm Spiderman for my superhero collection. The last piece I believe is from one of the Star Wars Battle packs. I paid $10.00 for all 4 items.

CHANGES

Changes can be planned or unplanned. Changes can be good or bad. This past week we had a good change. Last week both Laurie and I had to take our cars for repairs. When I went to pick up Laurie, so she could do some shopping, she pointed to a car, a Chevy HHR. We had a Chevy HHR in Las Vegas last year as a rental. We almost did not have one due to some foul ups at the rental place. Once we got into the car, we fell in love with it. It proved its worth when we were going to Sedona, Arizona. The one road to Sedona is a very curvy road and we did it in the dark and in the rain. Laurie was very nervous, but I was unconcerned as I had been trained on every curvy road in Pennsylvania by my late father.  Leaving Sedona we took a different road, which was not curvy, but we hit snow and ice. We had no problems getting through, but we saw 7 serious accidents. The mileage was great and we started to think about getting one.

We decided to get the HHR that Laurie saw and after some negotiating we bought the car. We decided to keep her car and trade in my car as it had nearly twice the mileage of her car. Her car and my car had been bought at the same time, but because of the shows I had more mileage. My car had been used hard in the 12 years I had it. It had been used to move things from when I closed the business and when I moved out of the old house. Because of its ability to carry things, I needed to call on friends only a few times to move items. The car was dependable and protected us in a nasty accident several years ago that we walked away from with only some bruises if that. I hated to give it up, but realized the need for a new car. Laurie will use the HHR on weekdays and I will have it for the shows.  I will have pictures up on it soon. 

Annie Oakley Game

Hakes Auction has an Annie Oakley game which has some interesting pieces. The game pieces are plastic figures of four different types. Three of the figures are copies Marx figures and one I do not recognize. It will be interesting to find who made them.  You can see the game at the location below.

http://www.hakes.com/item.asp?Auction=193&ItemNo=61981

The value is put between $100.00 and $200.00

My Philosophy on Collecting

My philosophy on collecting  can be summed up in the following exchange from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

       Indiana Jones: Elsa never really believed in the grail. She had thought she had found a prize

      Indiana Jones: What did you find Dad?

      Henry Jones: Me, Illumination.

When I go to a show I go with the idea I will not find anything. I go with the idea of a nice walk, an escape from the real world for a few hours and a chance to meet old friends and make some new friends.  If I do find anything it is a bonus. What I have enjoyed for over 16 years is that I have been able to share the hobby with the lovely lady of my life, Laurie. She enjoys going to the shows as much as I do. We make it a wonderful day with a show and a good meal after the show. It is the best of two worlds.

Odds and Ends

The Blackcat Russian Napoleonics are out and the people who have gotten them are very happy. The company is promising to have French Napoleonics out in Spring with much more on the way. With the other companies making Napoleonic figures it should be a good time for collectors of this era. Barzso Collectibles has done a ruined castle wall. From the pictures I have seen it looks fantastic. Still waiting for the Pegasus new 1/32 scale figures. The reports on West Coaster have been nonexistent. If you attended the show let us know how it was.   I will have a link page up shortly. It will be an ongoing page. It will have various sites referenced for you in the hobby. I will be putting up two Timpo sites from Germany. One deals in the swoppet style of figures while the other site deals with solid Timpo figures. We will have links pages including our friend Juan Herrimada's Spanish blog and Eric John's site for western figures.  Naturally I will have Plastic Warrior's web site.  I also want to have other non soldier sites on it such as Mark Evanier's News From Me site. I don't agree on his political views, but love his information on entertainment. Another site I will be adding as soon as I get permission is a great site on Wonder Woman collectibles.  Also around the corner is Random Thoughts which is my comedy site. I have more on the way and the sales list will be up as soon as I move some shelving into the basement for the boxes.

Pirate Empire

Our very good friend Peter Evans sent us this very interesting playset from England called Pirate Empire. Made in China the set has an interesting mix of items many not in scale to each other. I like the pirate boat. It could be used as a skiff in a pirate story. The cannon fires little shells which would be illegal in the United States. The skeleton pirates are cute and about 45mm. I like these odd ball figures.

2/23/08

I get very annoyed when I see incorrect information especially in our hobby. I saw that today when someone made some comments about some figures he recently acquired from Glencoe Models. The person got four different figures from Glencoe Models 60mm cowboy sitting, 60mm farm boy walking with bucket, 54mm Jungle missionary and 54mm lady hunter walking with rifle. The person made a big deal about these figures and at the same time made major mistakes.

First all of Marx figure molds were individual cavities so they could be taken out of the bolsters. The bolsters could be used for other molds. Second the person said that the sitting cowboy and farm boy were done by Glencoe. This is wrong as Glencoe in their Ebay listing of the cowboy sitting and farmer boy stated that he bought the figures in late 70’s early 80’s from a dealer who had access to Marx Toy Company. This color has showed up in other figures that I have come across over the years. There is a rumor that this color was use to test the molds before selling. The color on these figures is a color that Glencoe has not used. I know this as we have been very good friends for over twenty years. I have been usually the first person to buy their various figure offerings and have help Glencoe with information.

Third the party hedges on his information on the history of the figures. The cowboy sitting and farm boy with bucket were part of the Kentucky Fox Hunt Set. They were done in cream to be part of this set. This information was found in issue of PFPC from an article done by Francis Turner. The missionary and lady hunter were first used in the Jungle Jim playset. They were replaced in the Daktari playset with the female walking and jeep driver.  Some people feel the woman walking may have been use to represent one of the leads in the show Judy.

The missionary and lady hunter were part of a group of figures that Glencoe issued about 10 years ago. The other figures in the group were several of the 54mm pioneers, 60mm Davy Crockett and Untouchable character figures.

When I write an article I tried to make sure it is accurate and I expect to see the same in other articles by other people.

2/21/08

More Figure News

After our last posting we received word that AIP will be doing Charge of the Light Brigade figures. According to information on various forums the sets will be 17th Lancers, 4th and 13th Light Dragoons (same figures different colors) and 11th and 8th Hussars (same figures different colors). Each box will have five mounted figures hopefully no bugler poses. These figures will be out in late summer.

Italeri has release two 1/32 scale World War  artillery pieces. The first is Russian ZIS 3 AT Gun. The gun comes with 6 Russian figures three in quilted uniforms and 3 in long coats. The other set is German Pak 40. This gun also comes with 6 figures all in long coats.  Both of the sets are selling for 12 pounds in Europe and should be selling here for around $24.00. These sets should be showing in the states soon.

Finally Playmobil is doing Egyptians to go with their Roman line. If you go to their website you can see some of the items that they will be coming out including a Sphinx and a Pyramid. They a Pharaoh's boat, but what I am interested in is building for Egyptian village. The building could be used in a Western scene and it just right for those who do not like foam buildings.
 

2/14/08

Odds and Ends

We have a new company for plastic figures Black cat Miniatures. This company has done pewter figures and has done a set of Russian Napoleonic figures. The figures are being sold 16 figures in 8 poses for $19.00. These figures will fit in with your Conte Collectibles Figures. You can see pictures on the Hobby Bunker forum. Speaking of Hobby Bunker they have reissued the Marx 60mm army marching and the exploding bunker. No announcement from TSSD if they will be releasing their new figures at West Coaster or at the Texas show. Steve Weston has up on his  website samples of the AIP British Royal Navy. The figures will be in three colors blue, white and tan. The box will have 20 figures in 8 poses. The figures should be at the Plastic Warrior show.  Our very good friend Peter Evans was at some Toy Fairs in UK and reported that it was disappointing. The only major new item was Papo has done some of their knights in 50mm! Why couldn't they do their figures in 54mm like most other companies. We will wait for  some reports from the New York Toy Fair. We gave up going to the show for various reasons as did many other people. So as we get news we will let you know.

2/08/08

Robin Hood Richard Greene

A recent  announcement that the first season of The Adventures of Robin Hood Show starring Richard Greene would be on DVD (instead four episodes for $5.00 or less) reminded me that I want to pass along some comments on the article done in issue 35 of Playset Magazine. Like so many of the articles done in Playset Magazine some information is placed out before the collectors is totally wrong that ruins the rest of the article. Case in point is the Richard Greene Robin Hood article. It was stated the show made 165 episodes wrong, the show did only 143 episodes. My information is not from some secret sources, but easily accessed web sites Wikipedia and IMDB. Wikipedia has it as 143 episodes and IMDB has the number at 142. The web site www.robinhood-tv.co.uk/ has the number of shows as 143. This last source is a group of people who are dedicated to the show and publish a quarterly newsletter on line. This newsletter goes into show with many interesting facts such as many of the writers were Americans who been black listed during the communist scares of the 50's.  Another interesting fact the actor playing Little John Archie Duncan was out of the show for ten episodes as he was injured on the set saving two children from injury.

Two final items on the article on Richard Greene. The cereal premium giveaway figures were done in a light green or mint green. The figures that show up in red and blue are from the Rubenstein figures bags, though Mexico in the early days did run them in various colors.  You can tell the different as the Rubenstein figures are in soft plastic while the Mexico version are in a stiffer plastic.

AIP Naval Landing Party

According to various sources AIP next release will be Naval Landing party. The set will have 20 figures in 8 poses.  The figures will be released in two colors. The officer will be in Foreign Service helmet and the other figures will be in Sennet hats. The figures are to be released in April.  

Conte Collectibles Cog Ship

Conte Collectibles has announced that their Cog ship will be able for sale. The ship is made of cold resin and is big. It is about 30" long with flags in place and about 2 feet high according to the Conte Collectibles website. The ship has fore and stern castles for much more playability. The ships does not come with figures. Figures for the ship will be offered later. The edition is being limited to 250 ships split between pewter and plastic. Suggested retail price is $349.00 with an introductry price of $260.00 plus shipping for preorders and first 25 collectors buying early. Shipping is going to be oversized due size.

1/31/08

Figure Find Identified

We have two of our very good friends from Plastic Warrior Paul Morehead and Peter Evans on our figure find. Both of them identified the figure as Huggonet. This is a French company that made plastic figures.  Peter Evans filled in with more information. Huggonet was a general plastic company that produced cheap souvenirs and promotional items. Cafes and hotels would buy cheap toys to give away to children and they could buy the Huggonet. Peter feels that Cafe Percheur had Huggonet stamp their name on the base of the figure. Peter got in a large bag of figures but with out any markings. Besides the figure I found they did Saxon archer, Roman bugler and Roman officer in the set. All four figures are copies of similar Elastolin figures. Chances are I may other examples in my collection.

I would like to thank Paul and Peter for their help. They are a great bunch of people I am happy to call friends. We have had many good times in the past and will in the future. 

1/27/08

Figure Find

I never know when I will find a unusual figure for the collection. The latest one came in a bag of figures I bought last year at OTSN. Laurie and I were roaming the rooms and I spotted a bag of figures. In the bag were some Jean figures and two of the above figure. I thought it was a Hong Kong copy of the Elastolin figures and purchased it.  I did not inspect the figure until this month as I got ready one of my special lists.  I thought the figure was odd as the figure is stabbing instead of slashing. I noticed on the bottom some writing and got out the magnifying glass on the bottom was printed Cafe du Vx Pecheur. Right away I knew that this was not a Hong Kong copy.  I checked my book on French giveaways and found nothing. I wrote to two of my European friends to see if they had heard of the company. One has written back and advised me he had not but would check with his French contacts. Going through Ebay I found that someone was selling a poster for Cafe du Vieux Pecheur.  The coffee was from Cherbourg France and the word pecheur means fisherman. The interesting question how did two of these figures  show up in Chicago?

This find is another in the long list of figure finds we have done over the year. One of the most famous is the figure that graces our pages. Laurie and I were at Hackensack some years ago when we spotted the knight. I had no idea who made it, but both Laurie and I like and we bought it for $25.00.  Several months later we were visiting a friend in England and he shows us this knight figure. He tells us it is the rarest Cherilea figure. I replied we have the knight, horse, shield and lance. This has been with many of our finds it is matter of being at the right place at the right time.

We will be working with friends to find out more about this figure and the company that made him. I am keeping one for the collection. The other one has been sold.

Timpo Conversion

I have promise a new friend from Germany Axel a photo of Timpo conversion done by Joe Falce. Joe took a Timpo swoppet cowboy and changed it into the Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger is one of my favorite television shows. Marx and Lone Star  made figures of the Lone Ranger, but I like the one that Joe did the best.

1/25/08

Disney Store Buy

I got out of work early yesterday and decided to go to the local Mall. The Waldenbooks is closing due to Barnes and Nobles moving into mall area and they have an exclusive. I was able to pick up several books at 40% off. Next door is the Disney Store. They were having a 50% off on merchandise. I was able to pick up the variation of the Pirates of the Caribbean set. They had change two of the figures and added the dog. The set normally sells for $7.99, I was able to get it for $4.23 including sales tax. They were closing out the Meet the Robinsons set at $1.56. One person bought all of the sets. The Disney store also has sets for Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.

One other thing I noticed at the mall was they had a new store called Smart Toys. They had some of the 60mm Star War figures for sale individually. The price for the single figures are $4.99. I passed on them.

Timmee Russians

Mark Hegeman was kind of enough to send us two pictures of a set of Timmee Russians he sold recently in red. The set had twelve different poses. The figures came in red, green and orange.  As I have mention before I never saw these figure as a child. I saw them occasional at show. I finally got a lot of them when I went to Tijuana Mexico. That was when a dream came true and I found  bags of Marx and Timmee reissues. That find was 30 years ago.

1/21/08

Odds and Ends

I hope you have recovered from the holidays.  For most people now that the holidays are over the question is when will the next toy or toy soldier show be. For me my next show is not until March 16 when Laurie and I will got to the show at Crowne Plaza in Secaucus. I was able to get that day off. There are some shows sooner, but it is hard to get a Sunday off at my human job. Conte Collectibles has announced that their Roman Galley ships are in for plastic collectors. They are only doing 100 ships with unpainted figures. These ships are now available at special price of $400.00 plus postage. Conte Collectibles is having special sale to make room for the new items check out their website.

Speaking of Spartans check out Plastic Underground for their take on the Spartans. They are also showing photos of their Persians. Our very good friend John stopped in and check the Timmee Russian Sparky found. John feels it is an original, I will put photo up shortly after I clear memory in the camera. I have a bunch of pictures to make copies and then I will take a photo of the Timmee Russian, along with Timpo conversion done by Joe Falce. Joe converted a mounted Timpo cowboy into the Lone Ranger and I have promised someone a picture. Also I will be doing a picture of a figure I got at OTSN last year. I bought a bag of figures as I thought it had Hong Kong copies of Elastolin. I discovered I was wrong and will report on my finding shortly.

Last week Laurie and I were guests of over good friend John and his lovely wife Maria to see John's new toy room. Along Mike and Noreen Russo we had a pleasant evening of food, conversation and viewing John's toy room. John's room is nicely laid out and shows his collection of figures, dinosaurs and dinosaur fossils. In his figure collection it was nice to see his displays of Marx, Timpo and Elastolin figures. The dinosaur collection has pieces from Miller, Schleich and others. John a piece of a mammoth tusk which got last year. It was a nice way to spend an evening.

Pirates of Caribbean Package Variation

Walgreen's got a variation package of the Zizzle Pirates of the Caribbean figure set. The set has two figures from the set. The price for the two figures was $5.99.

1/10/08

MPC Palm Trees

We rarely get to see what people do with the figures and accessories they buy from us either on the lists or Ebay. One exception is James Dunlop of Canada. James bought a lot of our MPC palm trees on Ebay and painted them to use with various displays. The first picture shows the palm trees use in Indo China setting.

The second photo has spacemen landing on a strange planet. James plans to also use the palm with a dinosaur setting as soon as he gets the garage back.  James liked the palm trees so much he bought a second lot from us.

01/08/08

Sparky

We are getting use to our new friend's tricks and quirks. One of his little tricks is Sparky likes to climb on top of the sofa and make a nest. So far he has not found any new items for the collection. We still have not gotten him to go out on the chain so we are doing a number of walks a day when I am off it can five or six before the day is out.

01/01/08

Happy New Year

On behalf of Laurie, Sparky and myself we wish you all a Happy New Year. Last year was interesting time in our hobby. On one side we saw a number of new items being produced. On the other side we saw how internet  has effected toy soldier shows more and more. Likewise the we are wondering if the older playsets have stagnant in price and desirability.

For 2008 we are waiting the Conte Collectibles Spartans and the Pegasus figures. We will see how some new shows are trying to buck the decline of the toy soldier shows.  We will see if the prices for old playsets continue to go up or not. It should be an interesting year.

Christmas Memories

Our very good friend Les Barley told us of a exhibit at the Liberty Bell Museum. They were having a exhibit of Hess's Department to go with performances of Pip the Mouse.  Pip the Mouse was a puppet show that Hess's put on every year for Christmas. It came a tradition as the toy soldiers outside one of doors to the store. So we decided to take a look.

The Saturday after Christmas we went down to the exhibit. Out the the Liberty Bell Museum was two of the toy soldiers that use to decoration Hess's. We got into the museum and who was standing there but our very good friend Les. We looked at the exhibit of Hess's Department Store. Hess's was an important part of both Laurie's and my life. More so for Laurie as she and her father had worked at Hess's. In the exhibit they had a DVD running of the one of the Christmas shows Hess's promoted. It was a combination fashion show and showing of the automaton toys that grace the top shelves of the toy department. These automaton toys were like a clown trying to lift a weight or cat ironing. The show was placed on a local Philadelphia show as we did not have a local station  in those days. After looking at the exhibit we went into the lower room where they had a train display and some of the automaton toys that grace Hess's.

We enjoy the exhibit and hope they do other ones like this one. The Liberty Bell Museum is at Zion Church. This is where the Liberty Bell was hidden during the Revolutionary War.

Spanish Plastic Book Update

We have heard from our good friend Juan Herimda that his book will now be published March  2008 by Andrea Miniatures. Andrea Miniatures will distribute the book worldwide. As we get more details we will let you know.

Good Luck and Congratulations

Today Ed Schmidt retired from the post office after 42 years. Ed worked in the main post office helping people with their mail. He was one of the people at the post office who helped Stad's in getting packages out. Ed would make sure that we had the right address and he was the one that  help us learn how to ship international packages. He helped out with another retire postman Mel in getting two three foot Barbie dolls to England. These dolls had been purchased by our very good friend Peter Bergner when he first visited us too many years ago. (We could not ship to Germany because of the size, we could send them to England.) Ed helped us and many other people he will be missed at his spot in the post office. If you like to see a video and the article on him you can go to the following website.

http://www.mcall.com

 Target Clearance

Check out Target as they have a clearance on some of their Schleich  figures. I was able to get some of their mounted knights that normally sell for $13.00 for $9.48. They also have a sale on the foot knights as well.

Marx Moon Base

Telstar Logistic has posted a picture of the Marx Moon Base Playset from Sears 1962 Christmas  Book. They have an inflation guide that the playset which sold for $8.97 in 1962. Telstar Logistic has a inflation guide that each 1962 dollar would be worth $6.51. So the playset would be cost today $58.39.   If you want to check it out go to

http://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2007/12/merry-shopping.html

12/26/07

Super Circus

If you interested in some background on Super Circus you can go to www.tvdays.com. There they have an interview with Claude Kirschner who was the ring master of the show. Claude explains how the show started and background of the various. The interview has clips from the show. You can also find the interview at You Tube.

Sparky's Surprise Present

It has been now been almost three months since we got our new little friend Sparky. It has been a learning process for both Laurie, Sparky and me. Sparky does not like to go out on the chain as we do not have a yard, so we have started to do a lot of walks. Sparky is very inquisitive and has been searching the house. Yesterday while Laurie was home early from work Sparky ran into the kitchen where Laurie was getting ready for Christmas. She noticed he had something in his mouth. She told him drop it and discover it was a toy soldier.  When I got home Laurie showed me the figure, it was Timmee Russian marching. I am not sure if it is an original or a reissue.  I never saw the Timmee Russians until found the reissues from Mexico over 25 years ago. I only found them once in my visits to that country. The originals I have only seen occasionally. The last time I saw an original was two and half years ago at the Plastic Warrior show. Our very good friend Michael Smith had one and my mind was not clicking fast enough and my very good friend John got it. John later sold it for good money. I don't know where I got this figure so it will go into the collection.

12/22/07

Toy Shop to Cease Publication

It has been reported on the Toy Collector Magazine Website that Toy shop is ceasing publication after 19 years. The March issue being released in January. While no information on why Toy Shop was being cance, we are sure it was another effected by the Internet. At one point Toy Shop  was bimonthly this was because of the different toy auctions. This ended with the rise of of Ebay and other auction sites. It was a great magazine it will be missed.

Christmas Shopping

As I mention a few days I was going to buy a  few  toy soldiers for Christmas. This goes back to a Christmas as a young boy where I got clothes instead of toy soldiers. I have taken care of this problem by going to a several hobby stores and Sears. The one hobby store had the Americana Andersonville and cavalry sets. The Andersonville had some new Union Civil War prisoners and accessories and the cavalry has new poses. The cavalry figures are very poor and I held off on them until yesterday.  I have several lists on new plastic figures. The first is figures I will buy when I see them. On that list right now are the Conte Collectibles Spartans and the Pegasus WWII Russian Naval figures and gladiators. The second list is items I will buy if nothing else is available. On that list were the Americana Civil War figures. On the list right now are the TSSD Civil War mounted figures and the Weston cowboys. A third list is for item I wish I could buy if I had the money. That includes the Barzso Robin Hood castle and the Conte Collectibles Viking Raid set.  I was also able to get four of the Star Wars figure sets. Sears had a special where the first set was full price the second set was half price. These were the figures I wish had come out when the movie had come out. I will look for them loose in the flea markets. My very good friend John and I have not seen and Lord of the Rings.  I also got some great items for Laurie, but that will have to wait until after Christmas.

While shopping I got to see the Playmobil Roman ship and it is nice. The price is  only $56.95. If I was doing Roman sea battle this would be the ship to get. Don't get me wrong the Conte Collectibles Roman ship is very nice, but because of the price it would only be a display piece. The Playmobil Roman ship at its lower price I could own several and not worry if they got damage. The coliseum that Playmobil does is nice as well, but there I have the problem of room.

12/21/07

York Toy Show

Our last toy show of the year is the York Toy show. This is a very enjoyable show as it still holds the magic of what toy show should be. It has a wide variety there should be something for everyone. Every time we have gone to the show we have gone away happy.

We arrived at the show about half hour after it opened. The show has two big halls, we always do the left hall of the entrance (Laurie will say I am left handed) We noticed that the aisle were wider and a few tables were empty. Still there was plenty to pick from. One dealer was selling Forces of Valor vehicles loose and at great prices. I bought some bunkers and figures, while Laurie bought a stuffed animal for Sparky. Another dealer had 60mm Marx figures where I fought a sports figure  and the bear in tan. Another dealer had some newer figures which I was able to get  for a collector.  I was able to pick some other figures from other tables  before heading to the other hall.

We stopped and said hello to Glen Finke and Gary Dutko before we headed to the other hall. Glen had his tables loaded with plastic figures and cars. Gary was looking for Conte Collectibles figures to use for his conversions. Gary has a thriving business on Ebay selling conversions of various Conte Collectibles figures. Gary has recently started to do conversions of the  TSSD cavalry. Gary said he had some qualms because he does not like to paint the figures, but have the figures in original color plastic. He has been doing well with these conversions.

We headed over to the other hall which still had the aisles at the same width as last year. The first table we stopped at was run by Harry Davis. Last year I got a MPC Army tent off. This year we did not get anything. We walk the hall and ran into our very good friends Gerry Watts and his wife. Gerry's table is a great table to look for items. We had only seen him a few weeks before but he had items I use for resale and my collection. One of the items I got for him was Pech/ Oliver British figure that I found trolling in his $2.00 box.  Jerry said he did very well at Hackensack and Langhorne, while John Stengel of Marxman who was next him said that he had done well at Hackensack but not Langhorne. Jerry said that he gotten some good buys before the show. We headed to the other tables and bought few odds and ends including a few Giant like items. After several hours we headed home happy with our finds.

12/17/07

Odds and Ends

We have gotten some more reports on the London Show and from what we have heard the show was a great success. Our very good friend Peter Bergner was interviewed by King and Country TV. On his interview Peter said he made his goal for the show in the first two hours. The show is good source for new items. The old items can be hit or miss. When we have visited in years past, I have been able to get some nice old items. We used the show as an excuse to go over for the holidays.

I am working on my report for our trip to Las Vegas this year. This year we did a trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. We did not get to the Grand Canyon due to snow. In fact coming from Sedona to Williams where we were going to stay, we saw 7 accidents some quite bad. I have an additional problem in trying to get things done. Sparky wants to be the center of attention. He will come over to the computer and try to use the keyboard. I will also have a report on Young Frankenstein the musical. Laurie and I took a bus trip to New York to see it. I still have to do the York Toy Show. 

I hope you are ready for the holidays. I have to get a few presents yet. I getting Sparky a remote control car to see how he reacts when it is going back and forth. Laurie got him a stuff rabbit as he is always going on alert for the the rabbits when we are on his numerous walks. We will have a nice quiet Christmas as I have off and we will enjoy the holiday with a movie and a quiet dinner.

Pal Greek Dancers

When we showed you these figures a few months we listed these figures as Athena. We have been recently informed from a Greek collector Markos Plytas that these figures are not Athena but another company called Pal.  Markos said this was a company that did figures before Athena like Zang did Herald before Britains. You can tell the figures are Pal by look on the bottom of the figure  as it will have the word Pal and a palm leaf on the bottom. The Pal figures are close to 54mm.

Markos found us using Google. The interesting thing as we corresponded was he attended the last Plastic Warrior Show. I do not remember seeing him there, but both John and Laurie do. We hope to meet up at next year's Plastic Warrior show. The only problem we are having is the air fare. The air fare is over $800.00! Half the fare is taxes and fees. We will be working on trying to go. 

12/09/07

Update Peter Fritz is Still Alive

At the York Toy Show, we ran into one of Peter Fritz's old friends who I had talked to in Allentown. He related that he had seen Peter last wife the previous week, who had said she had seen Peter at a doll show in Hartford Connecticut. Our source thinks Peter may be living in a veterans home in the Hartford area.

    Guy Madison

On our recent vacation I came upon the  following information on Guy Madison. In the Las Vegas Review Journal they noted that Guy Madison's five acre ranch was for sale in Morongo Valley California. The  2800 square foot home has many different  features including a removable bedroom window so he could shoot rabbits and coyotes from his bed! The property was for sale for $847,000.00

His costar in his television show " Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok" Andy Devine has the main street of Kingman Arizona named after him. This is because he is Kingman's favorite son. His family had moved to Kingman after his father had lost his leg in a railroad accident and used his settlement to buy a hotel in Kingman.

Back Again

We are back from Las Vegas where we had a great time. I will be putting up a report shortly of our trip to Sedona and the Las Vegas. While we were gone not much has happen in the hobby. We are still waiting to hear on the London show. One dealer has reported on his web site it was a very good show. The latest issue of Lee's Toy Review  has a list of the Star Wars Unleashed. In the article is  a listing of the two inch figures. One item of interest is that Dollar General has an exclusive on these figures. The exclusive is individual cards of eight different figures.  You can get Lee's at your local comic shop or Borders or Barnes and Noble.

Conte Spartans

While we were in Las Vegas, I called Conte Collectibles to check the status of their Spartans. I was informed by their representative that they were waiting to hear from the factory and it looked like  that the figures would not be here until after the new year. When the Spartans come they post notice on their website.

Plasticraft Pirates

Here is an interesting question are these figures reissues or original figures. I picked these Plasticraft figures up at the York Toy Show from a dealer. He said that he got them from a party that got them out of a warehouse and they were from the 70's. I have no idea if this true or not.   

Update 5/26/08 I had the wrong name for these figures. They are Plasticraft not Plastic Sculpture sorry about that. Also I have seen the Plasticraft soldiers sold in colors like the above pirates.

Email

My new email is not working right and I do not have time to resolve the problem until after the vacation. So until further notice use my old email address pestad@gmail.com  I am sorry if you tried to reach me.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE

I picked this set up at one of the few  5 and 10 stores left. As you can see the set is a mish mash of various pieces. The accessories are for 54mm. The tower is for 25mm figures. The Figure is 3 inches tall. Vehicle is for 45mm maybe 54mm. How much did I pay for this set $1.47.

CHRISTMAS

In this season do not forget others less fortunate. I will be giving to Toys for Tots and Laurie will  get toys for a child in a shelter through her job.

I will go to a local hobby shop to get a few figures for myself. It is quirk I need to get some figures for Christmas due to one Christmas  with my parents. I was already for Christmas day and I open my presents. Everyone of my presents was clothes!  I was so disappointed. I took my Christmas money and the next day went out and got toy soldiers. I tried to advise Laurie on getting me some soldiers, but she seem to translate it to clothes. Realizing this I will go out and buy my own soldiers so I can enjoy the holiday.

We both have the day off and will go to a movie if there is anything out that interests us. If not we will watch some videos. Sparky will be there to get one his five walks for the day. He does not like to go out on the chain (we have no fence), but will go for a walk in a second. 

ODDS AND ENDS

It has been quiet out there since we last wrote. Nothing new has come out. As we report in our New Jersey show report the Conte Spartans may be in for Christmas or the new year. Speaking of Conte Collectibles, it is reported on their web site that they will be at the 21st Annual  Middle Tennessee Civil War Show in Nashville Tennessee on December 1 and 2. Also on December 1 is the King and Country show in London England. We have not been able to go the last few years due to the high airfares. Now with pound at over $2.08 per pound, it has made things more expensive. Still it is a good show as I found great things and it has been good time for us to be with great friends. We will miss it and our friends.

Our last toy show of the year will be the York Toy Show which will be the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It is a great show and I find great items like last year the top to the Ideal pirate ship.  After that it will be a trip to Las Vegas where we will go to Sedona and the Grand Canyon before seeing Las Vegas. I will stop at my favorite hobby in Las Vegas and hopefully get some new Gashapon toys. These are vending machine toys that are simple fantastic. I hope to do a picture or two in the future. We have some favorite eating places that we will go to and just enjoy the sights. Then it will be back for few weeks of work before the holidays.

Happy Veterans Day

Playset Magazine 36

It has been awhile that I have review Playset Magazine. The reason is the magazine is no longer available through my comic book shop (I can not wait to hear this story.) I was able to get a copy of the latest issue of Playset magazine at the East Coast show. Issue 36's main article is part one of the Marx Civil War playsets. On one hand the article is one of the best layouts this magazine has seen. On the other hand we have gone on over this topic before in this magazine and other places. The new information seems just minimal some background of the process in making the set. The author never comments on why the poses were selected and how accurate the poses are. Also a note should have been posted that the Jefferson Davis figure would be mention in part two.

The OTSN article had a great holler. The author admits the crowd was down, but it like saying the Mongols had a few less horde. Not funny folks the crowd was down for the pre-show. It was interesting that the Conte Collectibles got short shift in the reporting. Not one picture of their fantastic new articulated Spartans, better to waste a half of page on the latest repaint job on the Britains Civil War.

The Article on Ron Barzso's Robin set and castle are nice. The castle has to be seen in color to really appreciated it. It was the other major surprise of the show.

East Coast Toy Show

Here is our report on the 25th East Coast Toy Soldier Show

                                                     East Coast Toy Soldier Show

Allentown Toy Show

When I first set up at Allentown Toy Show over 20 years ago getting a table was difficult. The crowd waiting to get in extended for several blocks. The internet changed that and over the last few years it has been in a decline. The crowd got smaller and smaller and getting a table got easier. 

This year I got at the show on Friday at 9:00 AM to meet my very good friend John. I had given the table over to John several years ago, but still share it.  When I got in I could see the aisles were bigger and there were less tables. We quickly set up  and started to walk around. The items that were available were down. I looked over one source and found nothing worthwhile to buy. I walked around I noticed a couple of Marx playsets mostly castles and gas stations. I was told a Captain Gallant playset sold outside in the parking lot.  Also a Marx prehistoric playset was bought by a dealer.  A western town building sold for $250.00. A Remco Big Caesar complete with no box was available for $350.00, but did  not sell. A Marx Roy Rogers Rodeo Ranch the small set sold for $100.00. It was a put together. A lot of Marx Battleground and Desert Fox part lot was available for $300.00 but did not sell.  Two Ideal Disney pirate ships in various conditions sold. Loose items were there but nothing exciting. One party said he had gotten two Marx Civil War in reverse colors he got same pose in two different areas.  Some Marx trucks sold for $40.00.

I was only able to get three Processed Plastic Army trucks and some Marx birds loose. Selling on dealers day was horrible I sold nothing. The people did not ask prices they walked by. My very good friend John did very well.  I was able to trade with Glen Finke for Crescent Robin Hood.  I also saw Mark Hegeman who was walking around told me that the West Point cadet poses of attention and marching in gray coat were done in Warriors of the World style. They were done with a card and put in a plastic bag. Mark got 8 soft plastic Warriors of the Worlds for $15.00. Disappointed with the days results I headed home for the next day.

On Saturday I got at the show at 7:30 and after setting up looked around to buy. I did a little better getting a nice lot of Marx figures including Wagon Train Seth Adams. The figure is not perfect, but I feel can double my money for what I paid for him. I also got a lot of MPC Germans and Boy Scout Region Three slide for Ebay. I passed on a lot of Captain Gallant tin for $75.00 which some one bought and tin for the Alamo which was unsold. I did not see anything for myself except for some tin Napoleonic flats. I had gotten one years ago in a lot and had not seen any until now. The dealer had three but at a price of $55.00 for the lot I passed.  The crowd started coming in at 9:00AM and was over in ten minutes. The sales were poor I was not the only one who disappointed. I talked to several dealer friends and they were not happy with their sales. One told me he had done only $105.00 and his booth cost him $160.00.  When it came time to leave I was happy to get out of this disaster.

Annual Peter Fritz is Still Alive Report

Every year at the Allentown we see one of Peter's Fritz's friends George and see if he knows the status on Peter Fritz.  Peter was one of the more controversial people that has graced this hobby. There are many stories on Peter which would fill a book. I had him once come up to me at a show drunk as a skunk demanding me to give him a Untouchable playset as he had a Beverly Hills Doctor, who would pay him $4,000.00. Peter was also know to store playsets in a shower!

George said he had talk to Peter's ex-wife and she said that Peter is living in Connecticut. He has several operations and and is not in good health. No one knows where he is living.

Great New Web Site

Eric Johns has set up a great new web site on Marx Western Figures.  The web site covers the various Marx Western Figures Marx issued. I have check the site and enjoyed it very much. It is a work in progress and if you can Eric do so.  The web site is

http://homepages.roadrunner.com/thejohns/inventory.html

Filling the Blanks

It seems that people do not reason why BMC Mexicans were put into the Sears Alamo playset. The answer was the Marx Toys ran out of Mexicans figures from Mexico and could not get any more from Mexico due to a dispute. They had to get Mexico and got the BMC Mexicans from China. We confirmed this information years ago with Jay Horowitz who owned Marx Toys at the time of the reissue Alamo playset and Bill McMasters of BMC Toys

Richard Conte

It has been reported on the Conte Collectibles website that the owner and founder of Conte Collectibles Richard Conte will be at the Hackensack show. This will be a great chance to meet and say hello to Richard Conte and find out about his products. I am sure he will have samples of the new Spartans for you to look at and experience one of the hits of the show.

TSSD

It has been reported on TSSD's web site that their home/business is fine. Other than outside of the house being coated with white ash, everything is fine. They should be able to start to ship everything starting Monday.

Lemax

As Halloween gets closer stores are giving higher discounts on their Lemax Spooky Town Collection. Michaels's is now 50% off and AC Moore is at 60% off. I would not wait as the supplies at these stores is going down. I am going to check out a local department store chain tomorrow called Boscov's. They are suppose to have some items I can not get at other two stores. I will try their local store tomorrow, but I do not have great hopes.  They did not set up a store in my area until last year. Prior to this the closest store was 15 miles away. when they finally open the store everyone was happy until they found it did not have the merchandise of the other stores. Since then sales have been down. We will see.

California Fires Update  

Word is coming out that TSSD's home and business survived the fire. We will know more soon and will pass along what we heard.

25th Annual Toy  Soldier Show and Sale

The  25th Annual Toy Soldier Show and Sale will be on  Sunday November 4, 2007. The show goes from 9 AM to 3PM. This show is always fun, you never know what will show up Our very good friends Gerri Watts and John Reichel  will have tables at the show. Each will be located at different parts of the building. There will be other friends there with tables with lots of surprises. Laurie and I will be roaming around as I could only get part of the day off and have to be at my human job later in the day.  Hope to see you there.

Allentown  Toy Show

John and I will be at the Allentown Toy show  on Saturday November 3, 2007 with a table. At this show John and I will have a wide mix of toys including figures. There will other people there as well. You never know what will show up one year mint Alaskan town playset show up. We will be there until around 3 on Saturday.

   Random Thoughts

I hope to the first posting of Random Thoughts in a week. This will be my comic turn on life. I have several good ones for posting. I am just trying to get time to write them. Between the human job and our new friend wanting lots of walks it gets tough. Sparky is doing well and we are getting use to his quirks.  so stay tune for Random thoughts as it gets me back into comedy.  

Condolences

We just heard our very good friend Andreas Dittmann's father Edmund Dittmann passed away on September 22.  We extended condolences to Andreas and his family for their loss.

California Fires

We have heard that Nick and Deanna of TSSD have been forced to evacuate their home and business due to the fires in California. According to their web site they are safe in a hotel room waiting to see if they have a home or not. We wish them well and will keep you posted.

Not Interested

That was what a number of collectors and dealers were saying when a dealer was trying to sell a Marx doll house recently at a flea market. Finally one of our friends came over and was told that the doll house was for sale for $40.00 which included the brown box under it. The person looked in the box and found a hedgerow and a complete hunt set. He bought the lot and counted his good fortune.

Hail Spartacus!

I recently posted a picture of a dog on my home page. After we lost our great friend Jasmine, we thought we would not get another dog. But after a few weeks, we realized that we were missing something in our lives. After a search we found this cute little 8 pound 13 month old Daschund/Rat Terrier at our local shelter. One day we visited our local shelter and we took him out for a walk, but Laurie still had some reservations. A few days later Laurie stopped back to the shelter to give a donation for treatment of an abused dog. She walked back to check if there were any new additions in the small dog area, and she walked passed the dog we had out the few days before and he started to cry. Laurie went over to him and talked to him and said "mom and dad will take you home". The dog began to wag his tail. Laurie put in for his adoption and we brought him home the next day.

He has now been with us three weeks and has become a part of the family. His official name is Spartacus, but we call him Sparky. I did not give him that name, Laurie did. He is the first male dog for Laurie and the fourth male dog I have had. Sparky is a live wire and we are still getting used to him and to the number of walks he wants. He is really a lap dog, likes to cuddle and sit on the chair with you and watch tv as well. We will keep you informed.

Barzso Playset Merrymen and Sheriff's Men: A Review

The Barzso Playset Merrymen and Sheriff's men are available in the Robin Hood playset and are available in box sets of 60mm 16 figures in 8 poses.  These figures are the first figures from Barzso Playset in soft plastic. The first set we looked at  was the Merrymen. The eight poses are standing firing bow, kneeling firing bow, advancing bow and arrow, attacking with battleaxe, advancing with sword, defending with long staff, lunging with sword and  reaching for arrow. The faces are nice and these are good and exciting poses.  These figures are a good complement to the Marx 60mm Merrymen and give you poses that Marx should have done.  I like the Merryman advancing with sword and running with axe. The figures I like least are the advancing with bow and reaching for arrow. 
 

The Sheriff's men are a nice complement to the 60mm Merrymen and the Marx Figures. There are eight poses: kneeling firing bow, standing firing bow, standing firing crossbow, shot with arrow, marching with spear, with two handed sword, with sword and shield and with pole axe. I think that the Sheriff's men are a little nicer than the Merrymen. I like the Sheriff's man marching with spear. It is a pose long over due. You can have him walking on a wall or  have a group of them walking in a group. I will be looking for extras in the junk bins to make my army group. The figure I like the least is the Sheriff's man with the pole axe. It is the pose. The sheriff's man is holding the pole axe to either push some one off a horse or to push a ladder back from a wall.  The figure would have  a shorter pole axe.

These figures are great additions to the Robin Hood legend and will add to Marx 60mm figures.  

FOV Historical Legends Cancelled

We have heard from various sources that FOV has cancelled their Historical Legends series. The reason for this cancellation is that neither of their major clients Target and Wal-Mart wanted the series. This is a shame as the second series had some interesting items including a Roman chariot.

Weston Toys Mexican Peasants

One of the areas that has had very few plastic figures has been Mexican people. Most of the Mexican people  that have been made are bandits. Weston toys corrects that problem with his release of Mexican peasants. Inspired by various Western movies of the 60's and 70's, the set has eight Mexicans defending themselves from attackers. Two of the figures have not been lucky one is dead over his pitchfork and another is on the ground with hand to his chest. The other figures are in fighting mode. There are two different standing firing rifle one with flintlock rifle the other with a Winchester, Mexican running with machete, advancing with shovel, swinging board and woman swinging a broom. The woman swinging boom is my favorite figure of the set. It is pose long overdue.  She would look great in a western scene where you put her out in front of a store and have the Mexican on the ground. This would give you a the scene she had beaten him for some reason.  The figure I like the least is the Mexican with board. I would rather have him a farm tool. The figures are nicely done and a welcome addition to your 60mm western scene.

We are Back

We are back up. It has taken us a little longer that we wanted, but the computer had two major virus which had got into the system files and the computer had to built from the top down. We had a great technical person Andrew Moritz, who did a yeoman job of saving our material including 3723 pictures. Without Andy's work I would have been behind the eight ball and had months of work to get back up.

When I got the computer back last Sunday the 7th, I had several jobs to resolve. One of them was reestablishing our connection with our old website Stad's 22. Andy was unable to save the settings and I had no idea where the information was as it was three years ago I had set up the web site. The solution was to contact our provider. I call him up and discovered the number was disconnected. I went to the internet seeing if he had change the number and discover the number posted on his website was one I had. Not having any other information I was forced to find another provider. 

This is the second provider to go out from under me. This time I decided to go with someone national. I discover the price offered by the various national providers was much cheaper than local providers and they give more space. After careful review I have picked my provider and now we will see if their claims are good as they claim.

 With the change I decided to get a new domain name. It is one of many things I have wanted to change on the web site. I have held off because various reasons. Stadsstuff will reflect the directions I want to go in the coming years. The first thing is I will be able to put up a full active shopping cart system for the items we will have available on the site. Another thing I want to do is a reference area for plastic figures. The major guides are so out of date and there is no likelihood they will be update. I want to correct this error and the best place is put it up on a website. This way I can take my time to get it right. It will cover plastic figures and accessories from the U.S. and foreign. Laurie and I are already talking about it and hope to have  first parts of this reference area up in 90 days. This will be an ongoing project and will take several years as money and time will allow.

Another new item will be a comedy section which will be related to our upcoming comedy videos. Laurie and I will be doing bits together and separate. People who have been around us know that we come with some great comedy and it is now time to share it with the world.

We will not forget our old features especially Comment Time. We will look to enhance and improve Comment Time, but we will not forget how important it is for the hobby.  I learned that recently when I did a search of my name. I discovered that a collector wondered if I was still around. Another collector replied and gave my web site. The collector was happy to see I was around and able to read Comment Time again. Comment Time has been and will be a source for information. I am not afraid to stand up to the powers to be. We have a lot of information to put up in the coming days including our visit to OTSN. Yes we were there and had a great time. I will be giving my impressions on the show. I will tell you this there is lots of great new items that are out and will be coming out in the coming in future. Both Barzso and Conte had great items for the collectors.  We will have pictures and much more.

So in closing we are back ready to continue to our dedication to the hobby.

OTSN

As I mentioned  above Laurie and I were at OTSN. I have done a full report of what we saw at the show. I know it is a little out of date which is due to the computer problems, but with all the great things we saw we want to share with you. Not all of it maybe up, I am trying to get it up as fast I can so I can do my reviews of the Weston's Mexican peasants and the Barzso's merrymen and sheriff men.   I hope you find  the report as interesting as we did.

OTSN 2007

THANK YOU

Laurie and I would like to thank all of you for the notices on the loss of our friend and mascot Jasmine.  It has help us in this time of grief.

 ..

Latest update 9/11/07

JASMINE R.I.P.

It is our sad duty to report the death of our beloved mascot and friend Jasmine. As many of you know she has been battling various illnesses this past year. Despite all of our efforts and the efforts of her doctors the illnesses finally caught up with her and she passed away today (September 5, 2007.)

It seems only yesterday that we first saw her in the local animal shelter. She had been dog of the week. Laurie fell in love with her right away, it took me a little longer because I was still missing our previous dog and mascot Cindy. Jasmine soon found a place in my heart and was going to work with me. Anyone who visit our business was greeted by her smile and wagging tail. One person brought her broccoli, which was one of her favorite treats.  I also remember how she would sit out with my one worker Bill in the back when he took his breaks. Jasmine would stay with Dolly my other worker until she left then would become my dog again.

After I closed the business Jasmine retire to the house and became a house dog. Laurie and I had many great times with Jasmine until her recent illness. She will be missed. We had her for nearly fourteen great years.

Lemax Spooky Town Update

If you do not have a Michael's check to see if you have A C Moore. A C Moore is doing 30% off their selection of Spooky Town items. I check out Michaels on Saturday and had gotten some monsters and a pirate set. A C Moore had a smaller selection but they had items that I did not see at Michael's. I got two pirates sword fighting and two pirates playing cards. The have some set pieces that are nice if I had the room. So check them out.

Odds and Ends

If you have a Michael's (arts and craft store) in your area check them out as they are carrying Lemax. Lemax does a line called Spooky Town. The figures are in resin and about 60mm. In the Spooky Town series you find some pirates and other items useful for your stories and collection. Michael is  a good place to look at the various items. My good friend John  check them out and got some accessories that he will use for his Roman display he sets. Another reason to check them out is they are doing various specials  right now they are 25% off. Laurie and I plan to check it out this Saturday.

It has been reported that Ron Barzso had  to go into the hospital this week for "minor surgery". This is relate to the problem he had last year. From reports surfacing on the internet, Ron is at home and is resting. Hopefully this minor surgery will not cause Ron to miss OTSN.

Our very good friend Peter Evans reports he has the Sword and Sorcerer figures in Italian packaging. The art is the same just the words are in Italian. Peter also notes the two figures are different in another way as one is beardless and the other is not. 

For fans of Timpo figures there is a great new site www.timpofiguren.com This site was put together Michael Kohler of Germany has lots great pictures of figures. Michael had a Timpo Mexican in yellow which is the first time I have see that version. It is a work in process and Michael is adding every day. there is a forum but it is in German only. Other parts of the website is in English and German.

Pirateology

On Sunday I was looking at the Target ad and found that they were having a sale on their Pirateology figures.  I later talked that night to my very good friend John and he said that the figures were nice and 1/32 scale. I finally got a chance on Friday (8/31) to get to my local Target. The figures are nice. There six figures in the series two are very familiar pirates Blackbeard and Captain Kidd. The other pirates are new to me  Chang Pao, Arabella Drummond, Kheir-ed-Din and Jack Rackham. I did a search in Wikipedia and found that the figures are part of series of children's books put out by Templar Company in the UK and Candlewick Press in the U.S. The Pirateology book is the fourth in the Ology series and deals with the search by Captain William Lubber for the pirate Arabella Drummond around the world. My search also found that Chang Pao and Jack Rackham were real pirates. I have not found any information on the others. This book and others in its series would be for children,

By Thunder

The Marx group has been getting emails of a new playset that is suppose to debut at OTSN. The emails have a Roman sail background and hint at a playset dealing with ancient Rome. Several of the promotional emails have shown Roman figures that look well detailed. The person who is giving this material has not responded yet to any emails sent to him. Whether this is a complete new company or an old company hiding behind a facade doing this playset has not determine at this time. We will keep you inform on this matter, but I would suggest like me not to get upset not knowing what is going on as it will come out in next month at OTSN. 

The Sword and the Sorcerer

Fleetwood did a number of interesting  toys that are of interest to toy soldier collectors. Below is an example of two their cards. They are from a movie called The Sword and the Sorcerer. This movie was released in 1982 and starred Lee Horsley.

The items on the card have no relationship to movie. The second card has two figures. The interesting thing about the two figures is the figures are the same except having  different arms up.

I recently sold the two cards on Ebay and the two head dragon sold for twice the figure set.

OTSN

OTSN is is little more than a month away. People are wondering what new items will show up. Barzso should have a new playset which no one has any idea yet what it will be. TSSD should have a new set of figures, which rumors have as Civil War. Conte Collectibles should have its Viking playsets. Whether they will have any of the plastic Spartans we will have to wait and see.

Waterloo 1815 WWI Italians

One of the collectors on the Marx Group pass along the following link to show the new Waterloo 1815 WWI Italian Troops. There are eight different poses and will be in 54mm. They are suppose to be out in September in Europe. No idea when they will show here.

http://www.hatitalywaterloo.it/

Das Aws Fescht

The latest Das Aws Fescht was a strange and disappointing weekend. It was a strange weekend because there was a toy show on the day before of the toy show and no one knew about it. I saw no announcements on it and no one seemed to know. Since I had Friday off I decide to check the two possible locations for the show. The first place I stop at the Days Inn Conference Center did not  show an notice on its billboard for a show. I decided to drive around the main parking lot and see if  there was an indications of a show. I glanced in the door of the hall to the ballroom and notice a table of table of toys. I decided to park and do a closer inspection. As soon as I walked in the hallway I found there was a toy show and paid my $5.00 admittance fee.  Walking around the tables, I found very little in plastic figures with two exceptions. One dealer had a lot of  Military figures for $40.00. I looked the lot over and decide the resale value for me did not justify the the purchase. The other source of plastic figures was Francis Turner of the Marx Museum. Francis has a wide array of figures ranging from loose figures to mint playsets. I was able to find a few items for resale. I talked to Francis about his sale last month and he said he did good. He was setting up at the show tomorrow and I said I would see him there. After stopping to talk to an old friend I headed for home.  

The disappointing part of the weekend was the show itself. I went over to the show early Saturday morning. We normally go over on Friday night, but it was so hot we decided to pass. Get over to show early Saturday morning I decided to walk over the tables in the outside area. I was glad we did not come over Friday as I was sweating as soon as I was out of the car. I did not find anything in my first walk through except for a Timmee stretcher team with wounded figure and Superman 40's pencil box.  I stopped at my very good friend John's stand. John told me a partial Artic set and a partial Welles Fargo playset sold the night before. John said he got a few items.  While  sitting at John's table Steve Falken and he complained of with items. I walked around again and saw a battleground playset for $125.00. I also saw two Ideal Combat Engineers Playsets. I did not see anything else to purchase. I talked to other people and they were finding a few items for their collection. I missed a nice lot of battleground items for $60.00. I headed back to John's stand were I bought a lot of early Cherilea knights and a single Lord of the Rings figure. John was  the only dealer with any Lord of the Rings figures.  There were a large number of spaces empty. 

As I was sitting at John's table,  Paul Osiadacz  came over after buying from Francis Turner who was across the way from John. Paul seem happy as he had bought more items to use with his caissons. Paul and I walked up to the two buildings that had some inside dealers. When the show started it had use the inside of a local school building. Due to that school's on going remodeling they were using the upper buildings of the school complex. There was very little Marx. One dealer had some buildings but I did not bother to ask about prices. One of my contacts had a mixed lot of figures which after careful review  I passed. Some one else bought it.

I headed back to John's table. He had made a trade for two big boxes of plastic. I went through it and could not find anything of use.  I walked around one more time and headed home. This had been one of my poorest shows. I had spent half of what I spent on Friday. I looked at it as just one of those things. If I had gotten the battleground lot it would have made the day.

The big question will be if the show will be there next year. The land where the outside show is held is owned by a church which is planning to build on the land.  It looks like that the church has finally decided to  build and the dealers were given a survey to see if they would do  a show at a different date. so we will have to see if this show continues or not.

You never know what you will find

I was going through a dealer's two dollar box and found the above figure. When I saw it, I knew it was an unusual figure and purchase it . What I did not know it was a Johillco figure. It is a Johillco Scottish Highlander charging. It is missing the separate shield.  According to my source it is quite rare. Even if it is not rare I would have picked it up as it unusual pose.

Jasmine and Her New Dress

It has been awhile we have talked about our friend and mascot Jasmine. She has been doing well despite her having diabetes and Cushing disease. Her eating habits are back to normal instead of carrots she gets string beans. Laurie got her a dress to cover her body as the Cushing made her lose much of her hair so she can stay outside if she want to.

Turkish Sailor

Recently we visited a source and bought some interesting figures for resale and a few figures for the collection. One of the figures I am keeping is the above figure which for now I am going to list from Turkey. You can see  the figure is similar to the Peco and Payton. I had gotten from our very good friend Michael Smith a comparable figure from Turkey but as army figure. The pose is the same the above figure. Michael got the figure in Germany which makes sense as Germany has a large population of Turkish immigrants . This figure was gotten in the United States, which makes me wonder how it got here. The source said there was no other similar figures.

Replicants Rogers' Ranger Figures

Replicants latest set is Rogers' Rangers. The Rogers' Rangers was independent company of rangers that was attached to the British Army during the French and Indian War. (source Wikipedia) They were used in various battles during the war. Many people know about Rogers' Rangers from the movie Northwest Passage based on the book of the same name.

In August 2006 Replicants  held a contest with Plastic Warrior  to design a figure  for Replicants to produce. The winner was PR Jones which was a Rogers' Ranger. Replicants added their  Iroquois in a red coat and created two new figures to complete the set. The two figures are Rogers' Ranger fighting and Indian trying to scalp him. The figures are designed to inter lock together. The Indian has dropped a sack. I like the two figure set even if the ranger's right arm seems a little long. I have had other two figure fighting before not in a pose of like this. I like how the Indian has pulled up a tuff of hair to scalp. The figure that was done from PR Jones' design is nice and could be use in other situations  Another enjoyable series from Replicants.

Odds and Ends

We will have several new items to look at this month. The first is the Waterloo 1815 who is doing a set of  Napoleonic Prussians. According to reports the set will have mounted officer and 8 foot poses. Americana is releasing two two new set of Civil War cavalry and artillery. I have seen pictures of the civil war mounted and they are using the same horse. The poses are the same for blue or gray. Hobby Bunker has reported that the Supreme Romans are copies of the King and Country metal figures. Steve Weston is doing another WWI Tank this time a German tank.  I have done two technological upgrades in the last few months. The first is I have a Blackberry. My human job gave me such a discount for five years of service I could not pass it up. I can now check my email just about anytime. The second thing I have done is add a cable modem. I had dial up but I need the cable modem as I want to send various videos to the internet. One of the first will be of the Marx convention. I will be also doing comedy videos.

The next big show for me is the Aws Fecht the first Saturday in August. I will be there bright and early on Saturday running around seeing if I can get any goodies. The competiton is always tough but you never want you will find. It was my first toy show and I believe the only one that my late father ever got to with me.

Comic Book Flats 

We have been made aware of a great site for back ground on the comic flats. We all remember those great ads in the comic books which offer you a 100 figures for $1.99. When you got the figures they were  flats and how disappointed we were. This site looks and at the figures and gives background. The ads for the Revolutionary War set and the Romans was done by the comic book artist Russ Heath. Russ said he was paid $50.00 each for the ads and had never seen the figures until the founders of the site showed him. The authors also  tracked down the two  of the people who made some of the figures Milton Levine and Joseph Cossman. Milton who got famous for the ant farm had read an article in the Kipplinger letter  after WWII that suggested  the best businesses to go into were toys or bobby pins. Milton found a company that made the prizes for cracker jacks and the rest is history

Supreme Romans and Vikings

Yesterday I went for a little trip to a hobby store that I know gets toy soldiers and I was not disappointed. The store had both the Supreme Romans and Vikings. These some of the nicest figures I have seen in a while at a reasonable price. The Romans cost me $9.95 a bag and the Vikings cost me $6.95. Each bag had four mounted and  12 foot. The figures are well detailed and have excellent faces. The poses are nice and will go well with your 60mm figures. There are some flaws some of the mounted figures do not sit right on the horses, the weapons need straighten and getting the separate spears into several figures is a pain. The figure shown in the picture above I will have to drill the hole for his weapon. Another Roman the spear is blocked by his shield.

The Viking set has too many figures with horned helmets. The horned helmets did not existed and if you would try to wear a horned helmet to the York England Viking exhibit you will be turned away. You have two good non-horned helmet figures which I have included in the photo above. These figures will be great to fill out your Viking stories. Check your hobby story especially if they order from Stevens International.

Odds and Ends

When I was in the hobby store I noticed they had for sale  a coliseum which is right for 54mm and 60mm figures. It made by the same company that made the Trojan Horse a few years back. The set comes with  knock offs of Playmobil type figures.  It was priced around $40.00. Also while I was there a man came in to buy figures for a gigantic racetrack layout. He came into my area and pointed to the BMC  Iwo Jima  bag and that he had painted the figures. He was upset that the bag did not have any figures with Garand.

The latest issue of Plastic Warrior is out and my favorite part was a letter by Ashley Needham. He related how several young boys got some figures at the Plastic Warrior Show and had to play with them right away. Ashley lamented that more children are not brought to these shows, I agree. The issue has articles on plastic flats, Britains buckboard  and much more.

Our very good friend Peter Evans clued us into some new figure offering from Archie McPhee. They have done a zombie set and pirates. You can set the figures at their website. I hate the zombie figures, but Laurie likes them so I guess we will end up getting them.

Marx Convention 2007

Sorry for the delay in getting the report and the pictures up for the Marx Convention, I had to get one or two  names and I let this slip by. I have been  surprised on how little comment on the show there has been on the web.  Laurie and I had a great time and she is ready to go back especially if I make sure we go to the dog races again. One rule I follow on a trip I try to make part of the time for something for Laurie. I find many times I enjoy what she wants to do.

Marx Convention 2007

CHANGES

We are changing our email address again. The new email address to reach us is pestad@gmail.com The old one is being retired as of July 21,2007. I am discontinuing that email address as I am discontinuing service with that internet provider. I have nothing against they are in fact in my old building, but they are unable to provide high speed internet service in my area.  They piggyback on Verizon's DSL service and it is not coming into my area in the near future. I am going with my local cable provider so I can upload my videos.

I am going be doing videos for the internet. The first will be various comedy videos. Next to toy soldiers comedy is one of my great loves. I have done various comedy items over the years including several unsold comedy pilots. I have wanted to do stand up but have not been able to various other commitments. I have been watching the rise of the You Tube and would like to enjoy the fun. Besides bits from Laurie and myself I am hoping to promoted some of my coworkers at my human job.  Other videos we be putting up are videos from various shows we will go to so you can see the various aspects. I have about 7 minutes from West Virginia which I will have up if it is good. Also we will point out videos we find on the hobby.

I am hoping to final to get some sale items up to this web site. This project is slated to start by the end of July. I have a new set up for photos which I have been testing and will be using that for the photos from now on. More is planned, but will have to wait until get time to put it on the agenda.

ODDS AND ENDS

AIP is coming out with 95th rifles this is the second set done this month for this group. Italeri released their figures last month. The AIP set has eight different poses including a figure laying on his back firing. You can see pictures of the figures at Steve Weston's web site. Replicants has done a new set of figures. They are two Rogers Rangers fighting Iroquois. One Iroquois had been released before ( Iroquois in redcoat with rifle and club) the other pose is new. The new Iroquois is design to fight hand to hand with one of the two new Roger Ranger figures. Replicants had also done some Napoleonic/ Mexican heads for conversions. 

The latest King and Country show was interesting time from the reports I have received. The dealers in the old hollow cast figures had slow sales while the plastic dealer seemed pleased. Steve Weston besides having the new Replicants figures and his cowboys had samples of his Mexican bandits and peasants. One of my sources said he like the Mexican peasants as you could use them with Zorro figures which is some lacking from the Zorro playset. He especially liked a Mexican woman who was using a broom as a weapon. These figure will be out later this year. Right now Steve has his cowboys for sale. The King and Country show had lot of old Timpo for sale. One of the hits was a dealer from Italy selling plastic figures for 25 pence ($.50). The show is divided into two rooms which are separate by a courtyard. The next show will be the first Saturday in December.

Hobby Bunker is showing pictures of the 6 inch figures they are reissuing. They are also show some sports figures which I do not recognize. One thing I do know they are not Marx. Our good friend Juan Herrimada has an interesting picture on his blog. It is a picture a Lafredo Roy Rogers figure. The figures mounted with a lasso. Take look at it.

Another site offering the Supreme Vikings and Romans is Toy soldier Depot. Gerado also mentions that Supreme also does crusaders and Fantasy warriors. They are also the company that does the 60mm Greek figures that are being sold as Romans.

One of My Favorite Figures

Over the years I have acquired many different knight figures from around the world. The first knight figures I had were from the Prince Valiant playset by Marx. This figure is from Germany and I believe it is from a company called Manruba. Why is this figure part of my 100 favorite figure list? the answer is the pose. Most of the other knight figures I have are in action poses with weapons. This figure is different he is holding a rolled up document in his hand. When I look at him I wonder is hold some peace treaty? I don't know but he make for a different figure. He is about 60mm and come in various colors. The figure is not hard to find in Germany. 

Supreme Vikings and Romans

Our very good friend Peter Evans clued us on a new offering of Romans and Vikings. These are figures done by a Hong Kong company called Supreme. According to Peter the figures are  combination of copies and new poses. They are available at Michigan Toy soldiers and may be available else where. The pictures on Michigan's site make they a worth addition to the collection. 

ODDS AND ENDS

It has been a busy few busy weeks. First my human job has been busy with back to back calls. These calls can be quite taxing and tiring trying to figure out why person device is not working. We also had a vacation to Wheeling West Virginia for the Marx Convention. It was a great time and we had a lot of fun both in the items we found and the people we met. We got to see an old friend of mine that Laurie had not met Chuck Rastelli. Chuck and I go back to the beginning days of the hobby.

The news has been quiet. Most of the makers are holding their new items for OSTN. Hobby Bunker did announce they have done some more reissues. Their latest releases are two six inch Romans and two six inch WWII Russians. They are not sure what will be next, very likely the next reissues will be the marines and Japanese. They will be doing some of the battle ground accessories as they do not have all of the accessories.

One thing we did not do in Wheeling was go to the Marx sale held by Francis Turner. Talking from people who went they said the sale was divided into two areas one for playsets and the other area for loose items. We heard that an airport playset with the SAC style building either mint or stapled was available for $2200.00 One person bought a Comanche Pass for $165.00. The people said there were a number of farm and doll house playsets. The loose stuff was mixed up and you had to dig. I am sure there will be other reports.

One thing we will have up coming is a new series my 100 favorite figures. I am sure each of us have favorite figures. My number one favorite figure is the Marx 60mm pioneer revised pose firing flintlock pistol. I had the figure as a child and in my stories he went from being a villain to good guy end up being one of the most powerful figures in the government of my fictional country. I have found other figures which I really like for various reasons. Some of the figures are my one of my 100 favorites because how I acquired it or have a story behind it. The figure we use as our logo is one of the 100. Laurie and I bought the figure at a show in the states because we like it. At the time we had no idea who made it. Six months later one of our friends in England was showing us the rarest figure made by Cherilea. He had only the figure. I replied I have figure, horse, shield and the lance. Our friend gave me a look like where you get that. I decided on the figure for the main page because the figure symbolize the spirit of Stad's. Sometimes it is a favorite figure because of the pose. That will be the case with the figure we spotlight soon which will be a knight figure that is an unusual pose.

Some more news Italeri has released its 1/32 scale Napoleonic British green jackets and Mamelukes. Pictures have appeared on a Polish website. The figures look great. They are up to Italeri standards. I have already placed the them on my  want list. Another issue of Plastic Magazine has come out. The issue has articles on The Alamo and interview with Fess Parker. Didn't we just have an issue on the Alamo recently? I have not seen this issue or the previous issue on D-Day as my local comic book shop is unable to get it from its distributor anymore. I will wait to get those two issues at show as they are not a priority.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

It never fails every few weeks we get the owner of Conte Collectibles telling of new figures that will come out. The problem is these figures will not be out for many months or years. The past history of this company is may be one or two plastic groups a year. Last year we saw from this company the new GI figures that were used in the Bloody Omaha playsets and that was it. The Viking playset that was suggested for Christmas will not be until this fall. It has morphed into three playsets. The Spartans which were promised in plastic are slated for the 2007, but the question will they show up in 2007 or be delayed for some reason?

Let us make some things clear about this company. Unlike  some other people I like the figures and will tell people public  the same. I think some of the figures are some of the nicest figures being done today. I bought some of Conte Collectibles figures just this past May. I bought a blister card to get one hard to get figure, otherwise I enjoy getting these figures out of junk boxes or at bargain prices.   If I had space and the money I would buy some of the playsets. What I do object to is the  packaging of the figures. I do not like the way you are forced to buy 10 sets to get all the poses leaving you with duplicates you don't want. I also do not like the way playset set series are started, but not completed. I pity the poor collectors waiting to get their Alamo series done. How many years have those people waited for completion? They keep getting promised it will be finished.

Another thing the owner of Conte Collectibles brought up on his web site was toy soldiers forums. He sited several toy soldier forums where he was bashed. We have only seen the one site where this happen and that was many months ago. Those people who were doing the bashing are no longer there. Since then it has been quiet. If you know of any forums still bashing Conte please let me know as I am curious to see them.

NEW BLOG SITE FOR TOY SOLDIER

Our good friend Juan Hermida has set up a blog for toy soldiers. It is being done to promote his long awaited book on Spanish Toy Soldiers and to showcase other figures he is interested in. The listings so far have shown metal and plastic. I really like the stylized Greek on the horse he showed. The information is in Spanish. There are free language translators out on the web to help you if you do not understand what is going on.

http://spanishtoysoldiers.blogspot.com/

ODDS AND ENDS

From the reports we have seen, people had a good time at the Texas Show. There have not been much reports on what items were there other than some of the new items. The promoter is looking for a larger venue for next year.

The Disney Store set of the Pirates of the Caribbean figures has been changed. They have delete two figures and added two of the pirate crew plus the dog. The original sets have been heavily reduced and you might be able to get some of the first set. The different with the Disney figures and the Zizzle figures is the Disney are 60mm and the Zizzle are 54mm.

Speaking of Zizzle their figures that come in the Zizzlingers are showing up in Big Lots. The figures are about 54mm which come in packets that you dissolve in warm water. The series has 24 different figures.

So far the new FOV Historical Legends have not shown up. I stop every other week at Target to see if they have gotten them.

It is now six months since Conte Collectibles announced a Viking playset would be coming out. Conte keeps showing pictures of what suppose to be in the set on their web site. From the pictures it looks nice, just no date when it will show up.

PLASTIC WARRIOR SHOW 2008

We just got word from our good friend Paul Morehead that next year's Plastic Warrior show will on May 17, 2008. It will be back at the Richmond. I will have more details we will post them.

ODDS AND ENDS

The TSSD Fire Support Group are out. When we get a set we will do a review. Weston Toys' first figure set cowboys is out and should be showing up with various dealers in the near future. The figures are suppose to be at the Texas show this week. The Texas show will be the first toy soldier show in Texas. The show has an interesting line up of dealers and we will see how it went.

Laurie and I will be at the Marx meet in West Virginia next month. We had a great time two years ago. The meet has a dealer room, lecture and the museum itself. It is a great time, hope to see you there. 

Valley Forge Show

I have put up a report of the show with pictures I hope you enjoy it.

Go to VALLEY FORGE

Alamo Chapel

I have placed some pictures of an interesting version Alamo Chapel that was at the MFCA Show. I am sure the pictures will generate interest.

Go to this link Alamo Chapel

Prototype Roman

Our very good friend Peter Evans has done some fantastic work. Peter recently sent us a photo of a prototype Roman he did for a company. It was not used as the company got a cheaply produced set of Romans in China. Hopefully this figure will be made in the future. The picture is larger normal as I do not know how to reduce pictures from email. I hope you enjoy this surprise.

Roman

Valley Forge

Valley Forge was a disappointment. Our very good friend Gerry Watts could not be there due to back problems so one of our major sources was missing. What was there was not very exciting. I am working on a full report. I will not be at Hackensack as I have to work. We are hoping to get reports on that show as well.

Marx PX Building Surfaces

You may have heard that a Marx PX building surfaced at a flea market. The answer is it is true. It surfaces at the Black Angus market. The report was the building was disassembled and in the playset box. The source said that the box was fair. My source did not know if the building was complete or not. The building and the box sold for $45.00.

Odds and Ends

I have not written lately because one it has been quiet and two I  have been finishing some training for a new position at my human job. Somewhere in May the TSSD Fire Support figures should be out. No word on the Weston Toy cowboys and Mexicans, hopefully there will be update soon. Likewise nothing new on the Conte Collectibles Viking playset that was announced last year. Laurie and I will be at Valley Forge along with our very good friend John. We will not be setting up and only be there on Friday. I will get some photos to share with you of the show.

I got out to the flea markets last Sunday. I checked out several markets in Adamstown PA and only found some doll house furniture for Ebay. I did run into two collectors Tom and Pat. Pat said he got a partial blue and gray playset. The only other item that showed up was a Marx PX  building which sold at 5 AM. The one market had its seasonal opening and was poorly attended. My very good friend John went to a the Extravaganza at Kutztown on Thursday. He got a good box of figures, but he did not see any playsets at the show. This show usually had several playsets.

One item I got in the doll house furniture was one of the western chairs in yellow. I figure it was used in a  doll house does anyone know?

Jasmine is doing fine. Her new diet and daily shots have got her stabilized.

Yes It Is A Marx Figure

Here Is The Germany Version

Zizzle Pirates of the Caribbean Figures

This was a nice surprise that pop up in various stores 54mm pirates of the Caribbean figures. The figures are done by Zizzle and are nicely done. There three different series so far Captain Jack Sparrow and Crew, Chinese Pirates and Davy Jones. Each set has four figures. The one set I like the least are the Davy Jones figures. They seem under size. I may be wrong. The figures are nice and a worth while attention to anyone's pirate collection.

Marx on You Tube

Gabriel Mccaffrey posted on the Marx group the following item he found on You Tube. It is a commercial for the Marx Carry All playsets. Enjoy, I hope this link works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Day7vLthW1k

AIP Clarification

Neil Cosgrove has past along on the change of the AIP boxes from 10 figures to 8 figures. Neil talked to the owner of AIP, who stated that while number poses is going down to eight poses each box will have 20 figures. He feels this should speed up the release of sets. You can see the new sets at Steve Weston website.

ODDS AND ENDS

It has been a little busy around here as I am learning a new job at my human job. I will be doing technical support for blackberries and other PDA devices. In April I will be getting a blackberry, which allow me to have access to my emails just about anywhere. This will come in handy when in Europe, as I will not need to find an internet cafe to check email.

There have been several shows in Europe and the reports have been good. I have been surprised the last two issues of Playset magazine have not had any major items to upset me. Laurie and I will be at Valley Forge on Friday along with our very good friend John. John will be doing a table at Hackensack on that Sunday. I will be at my human job. TSSD hopes to have their latest figures fire support in May. I figure I might get the set in June. They are planning on selling the sitting figure separate so you can use him as a driver. AIP is doing two Napoleonic sets Russians and Prussians. Due to increase costs the boxes will only have 8 different poses instead of the 10 different poses of previous boxes.

Conte Collectibles still has not come out with their plastic Viking playset. There is no word of a release date. Barzso showed at the Indianapolis show some foam building additions to his hacienda series. Another item that should be out in May is the first figures from Weston Toys. These figures will be cowboys. Also the Italeri WWII Germans and Russians should be available from various dealers. I have seen photos of the figures and I like what I see. Several collectors have mention of a mountain that is sold for outdoor ponds that will go well with figures. It is being sold at Home Depot.

I will be doing a report on the new Pirates of the Caribbean figures soon. They are by Zizzle and are 56mm. There are three different groups in the series Captain Jack Sparrow and crew, Chinese pirates and Davy Jones. Each set has 4 figures. They are being sold at Target and Wal-Mart. I also like the Star Wars Figures being done in that scale and will try to pick up some as well. I only bought the first two sets of the Pirate of the Caribbean as I am trying to budget myself. It is also a way to treat myself on pay day.

Walt Keener

We have just learn that Walt Keener has passed away. Walt was only 54. I had met Walt over the years and it was always a pleasure to sit and talk with him. I met Walt first at one of the legendary auctions where the Marx inventory was sold. We would met at OTSN and get a chance to talk. He share my good fortune when I found the love of my life Laurie. I had not seen Walt the past few years as we have not gone to OTSN. He will be missed.

Dollar Store Find

Other weekend, I went with Laurie grocery shopping. I don't if you are like me I want to go to one store and get done in one shot. Laurie is the exact opposite. She will go to three different grocery stores to save money and besides not all three stores have what she needs. At the last grocery store we went to there is a dollar store. I decide to go in as I read all the magazines in two previous stores. In the dollar store I found a new item by Supreme pirate skeleton figurers. No doubt done to cash in on the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, these figures are a nice addition to your collection. The figures are 56mm high and come with a nice set of accessories for $1.00.

The each bag has three different pirates skeletons and a bunch of accessories. I especially like the snakes. If I get enough snakes I will make snake pit. The one comes with a row boat with oars. The oars are glue on. I like the tripod as it easy to put together. Many of the accessories will be useful in other stories. Supreme also makes a dollar pirate set with normal pirates. These figures have been around and are not new.

Odds and Ends

Conte Collectibles has stated that they will be releasing the back part of their Alamo Chapel either at OTSN and/or New Jersey shows. There are no specifics on what will be in the playset, but they have hint figures of Mrs. Dickinson and baby, Doctor, wounded and other women. Other items that Conte Collectibles has hinted are Mexican assault teams and Mexican cavalry. Besides this new announcement we are waiting for the Vikings set and the Spartans in plastic a pretty big schedule for this company this year.

TSSD has put up on their site what will be in their next figures set. The set will consist four U.S. soldiers in overcoats besides soldier firing machine gun, soldier firing bazooka, soldier with mortar and firing bar.  The last four will be in Marine green as well as Army green. TSSD website has pictures of the prototypes. These figures will be out in May if everything holds together.

TSSD also announced that Pegasus will be doing 1/32 scale figures this year. At the West Coaster Pegasus show a  Russian WWII sailor and two gladiators. TSSD has mention also on their web site that they have helped four companies with their 1/32 scale figure projects. One of those companies is  Weston Toy which will have soon cowboys, followed by Mexican bandits and Mexican peasants. No mention who are the other three companies, but these companies should be showing at OTSN. With the new items from Italeri, AIP and Call to Arms, it should be a bummer year for new figures.

One final note on the New Jersey show my very good friend John was nearly in a bad accident going to the show. Got on a piece of black ice and nearly flip his vehicle. Fortunately he was able to keep control and get to the show. He said found some nice items including a Mighty Matilda.  If you are into horror stars the Chiller show is the place to go. It will be held April 13 to 15. and will have an interesting group of stars to get autographs. 

Shows

The reports that have been coming in on the West Coaster Show have been positive. The people who reported on the show said  it was the best show for plastic with ten rooms of plastic before the show. The show itself was successful with many of the dealers reporting brisk business. The new items at the shows were the TSSD Alamo Chapel and Weston Toys WWI tank. You can see photos of  TSSD rooms at their website, but there were no captions when I last looked so many of the people who are shown on the photos are unknown may be unfamiliar. Hopefully TSSD will update the pictures with captions.

The New Jersey show that was held this Sunday did a brisk business as well from what I was told despite some foul ups on dealers tables. Hobby Bunker was doing a brisk business in their new reissues including the Tom Corbett furniture. They had a box of western furniture in various colors which they were selling for $1.00 each.  Our very good friend Gerry Watts had some Dearborn 45mm pioneers mounted on horses. What made these figures unusual was the horses had bases. The base version was used for playset display boards. A number of dealers were selling the new Conte GI's loose, however if you were looking for the GI with two different machine guns it was not available loose. Also another dealer was selling FOV vehicles for $15.00. It was a good show from what I heard and I am sorry I missed it, but I could not get off from work.

The Coming Soon TSSD Figure Set

The next figure set from TSSD is fire support. The set looks like it will have a machine gun with man sitting and a mortar with a shell. The set looks like it will also have a soldier firing bazooka and possible several figure in overcoats. The set is set for coming out at the Texas show. Since the cat is out of the bag, hopefully we will have more details in the coming days.

Television shows on DVD

With the advent of video tape we could finally see television shows from our childhood. DVDs increase the number of television shows out. Not just samples but complete runs of the shows. The prices on some of the television shows are very cheap Laurie got me a three episodes of the Lone Ranger for $1.00.  Some of the shows have held up well like Rocky Jones Space Ranger and Have Gun will Travel. Other shows have been disappointments. One show was I was looking forward in getting was the Buccaneers with Robert Shaw. I was able to get two discs of the show with four shows on each disc. The show disappointing, the stories were bad and the way the producer of the DVD had done the disc the shows were out of order. The first episode has a former pirate who comes to the island as the new governor and arrest Shaw because he misses the deadline to give up being a pirate. The character disappears and I have no idea what happen. Even the stand alone shows are bad.  The only bright spot was I only paid $10.00 for the 2 discs.

One nice thing with discs you might get extra features or commentary from people who were involved in the show. One of the discs coming out in the feature is Ghostbusters. This is the live action show with Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch and Bob Burns. Bob Burns a playset collector has done commentary for the disc and knowing Bob I bet he has forgotten a great story about the show like he forgets other things. Years after the show, Bob was at a horror show where he met Laurie and me. At the show he was telling a group of people about the show and this idiot said did he play Larry Storch. We got a great laugh out of it and I would kid him about it occasionally when I got lucky to get a hold of him. Years later Laurie and I went to a show where Larry Storch was signing autographs and told him the story. I got him to sign a photo, which I paid saying he was the real Larry Storch and sent it to Bob.  It was good laugh. I do not know if Bob has the picture yet.

Never Know What You Find

Two weekends ago Laurie and I went to local farmers market to see if we could get a coat for Jasmine. Jasmine is feeling better, but has lost a lot of weight and too small for her old coat. We found a coat for her and walked the market. In the dollar store I found three inch SWAT police and Firemen. The SWAT looks like copies of 60mm figures I had gotten a year ago. The firemen are unknown.

The next weekend I went to the local train show for two reasons. Laurie was doing a travel show there and had some questions on the building. I did not expect to get anything as in the past I have found very little. I stop at one stand and found a Gibbs mounted Indian and a Marx rock for $1.00. Then I was able to get WOW Grant and Lee. Finally I found some Renwal furniture.

UPDATE ON JASMINE

Our mascot and friend Jasmine is doing much better. A month ago her sugar level was 700. Her check up this past week was 63. The new diet is working out.

New Items

TSSD has announced a 4 piece Alamo chapel showing a full size chapel with gun ramp. One collector Dick Wood posted on the Marx Group the following information. The Alamo chapel  will has façade 21 1/2” long equal to the BMC and Conte Collectibles facades. The building itself is 25” long. Chapel Walls are 7” high and the façade is 9” high. The chapel building comes in four pieces. The four sections can be bought separately so you can use your present façade instead of the TSSD’s façade. There is a picture on TSSD’s website showing the new chapel. The price for the complete Alamo chapel is $165.00.

The new Alamo chapel brings up interesting dilemma for Alamo collectors. Do you buy the new Alamo chapel from TSSD or wait for the Conte Collectibles chapel? The TSSD will be available shortly, while there is no timeline on the Conte Collectibles. The other factor is when the Conte Collectibles Alamo chapel does come out what special items will be included. There will be no dilemma for some people as they collect everything Alamo related.

Another question with TSSD is will there next set be Alamo related or not. Set nine is to premiere at the show in San Antonio Texas.

The WWI tank is out from Weston Toy Company The tank is $28.00 and is available at AIP.

CONTE COLLECTIBLES HIP BOOT DANCE

When I was a little boy, my father told me that if someone told a story that seems unbelievable or too good to be true, it was time to put hip boots on. One of those people that make me wants to put hip boots on is the owner of Conte Collectibles. He tells so many stories I am ready for the hip boot dance.

Every so often he shows a photo of a prototype that excites the plastic collectors and sets them into a frenzy. The problem is that many of his prototypes do not show up for years, if ever. Case in point is the latest prototypes that Conte Collectibles is currently showing on various websites. The prototypes are two western figures. The two figures are first of a series of western figures Richard Conte wants to do. The prototypes are fantastic; the problem is when they will come out? Right now plastic collectors are waiting for the Viking Raid playsets and Spartan playsets, not to mention the collectors who are waiting for the next playset in the Alamo series and the further playsets in the Omaha series. The owner of the company, Richard Conte, has stated that his company is small and he has to deal with problems with his suppliers. The last plastic playsets done by Conte Collectibles was first offered at OTSN in September, but buyers did not get the extra figures and boxes until February. This playset has been in the works for several years. The Viking playset mentioned for Christmas is still not out. I am sure that we will hear a reason for this delay.

Richard Conte has stated in one forum that he might come out with the western figures as part of the collector’s club. Please folks, note the word “might”.  To do the western figures as a collector club option, you run into a series of new problems. The first problem is will the figures be an exclusive to the collectors club or will they be released later in a playset or on a card? If they are released later, will they be different from the collectors club? Some people look at the collector club items as investments instead of enjoyments. The next problem is what to charge for these figures in a collector club offering. As has been noted by Richard Conte, the individual mold for each figure can cost upwards of $2000.00 to make. This does not include the cost for running the figure mold, packaging and shipping. With these potential high costs, the western figures could retail from $5.00 to $10.00. Because of this high potential retail cost many collectors may wait until the new figures come out in regular issue. Finally, if Conte starts this collectors club for plastic figures, there is a final problem. He will have to do other figures for this club as the collectors will be expecting more.

So in final analysis, it would be best if Conte Collectibles stop showing photos of items until they are closer into the pipeline of being issued.  I doubt that it will happen so I will keep doing my hip boot dance when a new photo comes out.

Odds and Ends

It has been a trying few weeks for Laurie and me. Our friend and mascot of the business, Jasmine, has not been well. She was diagnosed with possibly having Cushing’s disease last year, but she did not have any of the signs other than a loss of hair. Then in the beginning of February she started to drink a lot of water and kept begging for one of  her favorite food, carrots. It was discovered that she is diabetic and we had to rush her to the animal hospital. She has stabilized, but now has to eat a restricted diet and get insulin twice a day. For those who have met her she has lost a lot of weight and we will be working to get that weight back on.

Another problem we had to deal with is the weather. This past week we had our first major winter storm of the year. It caused companies to close and major highways close down for days. They had a section of the interstate closed for 50 miles and they are now dealing with the aftermath of the closure. There are a lot of unhappy people and I am sure that we have not heard the last of it.

For Laurie and me, we went to work and found our jobs closed despite notices they were open. The next day I had to get AAA to pull me out as the car was stuck in ice & snow. Laurie’s car was stuck as well and to be pulled out of the ice.  We will be happy when spring arrives.

The toy soldier news is interesting. FOV is doing more historical figures. They are expanding the Roman line including a chariot and some new poses. With the new poses you will be able to do a modified turtle as you will only have figures with their shields overhead or in front. FOV is adding more knights to the range and also a new group called Celtic knights. The Civil War range looks like it is staying the same and the Vikings and pirates are being dropped. These figures will show up somewhere between April and the end of the year. You can see the new figures on Michigan Toy Soldiers Site.

Italeri is supposed to do four more 1/32 scales for this year. The four sets include Napoleonic Mamelukes, British Green Jackets and two more WWII sets. I am waiting on confirmation on these sets. We are hearing a rumor about Pegasus that has made 1/72 scale figures is planning to do 1/32 scale figures next year. We will keep you posted.

Our very good friend Peter Evans has sent us two items of new figures which we will bephotographing soon. The first is a series of skeleton warriors made in Hong Kong.  These figures come with weapons such as maces and shields and will be great for ancient armies to fight. The other item Peter sent me was a 54mm PVC figure of Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean holding a compass. It is sold by a company in England that children can use in a game. The figures are not cheap, but will be a great addition to your pirate collection.

Speaking of Pirates of the Caribbean how many of you bought the pirate ship for your 54mm figures? I know of one person on the East coast that has six ships to do pirate battles.  Another picture we will be doing soon is a picture of some figures from Spain that are copies of Beton. These figures were sent by our very good friend and collector Juan Hermida. Juan sent along a history of the figures, which I will post on Comment Time along with a picture in the very near future.

The Plastic Warrior show was a rousing success despite the previous days of bad weather and one or two dealers who could not come down from the North country due to the weather. The tables were quickly covered and people had a good time. We heard that the show was well attended and a good time was had by all. Replicants showed its new figures: four different mounted Norman knights, and sold out quickly. Two other tables had the new Replicants Norman figures that sold out as well. Another dealer was dealing in loose Conte Collectibles figures and was doing a brisk business along with other figures. While the show was a success, Plastic Warrior is looking to move next year’s show back to May. We will keep you posted.

Speaking of Conte Collectibles we are hearing that dealers are already breaking up the blister cards of the new GI figures and selling them loose. The loose figures are selling from $1.00 to $2.00 each. We will not see if this report is true as I can not get off from my human job for the next show in my area.

The following item was posted on the Marx Group site. Lemax is adding to their Spooky town theme a pirate section. Some of the figures are haunted and dead type figures like Blackbeard’s ghost, and they have a nice selection of living pirates. The figures will be in the 54mm to 60mm range. I am hoping to get to a train show this week where several dealers of the figures will be there so I can hopefully get some the items. Lemax are done in very good quality resin and are great additions to your scenes. They also do monsters such as Frankenstein and the Mummy.

Below is the web site if anyone is interested.

http://lemax-spookytown.com/spookytown2007.asp

For the next piece of information we have to thank Brian Johnson. He clued us into the great accessories that are being made for fish aquariums that can be used in your dioramas. We checked on one of the super pet stores this weekend while there to buy biscuits for Jasmine.  In the fish section they had various temples and columns you could buy. I was really tempted to get a nice ancient temple that would be great for your Indiana Jones type stores. The price of the large temple was only $24.95 plus tax.

Italeri Winter WWII Russians and Germans

Italeri next releases will be World War II  Winter Russians and Germans. The pictures we have seen of the figures are great. In the World War Winter Russians you will get 16 figures in eight poses. The poses are marching, charging, standing firing, with mortar, kneeling pointing (possible to go with the mortar), kneeling firing machine gun, firing machine gun propped on wall piece  and submachine gun overhead. In the World War II Winter German you will get the 16 figures in 8 poses. The German poses are officer with schmesier, firing machine gun propped on wall section, standing firing, with mortar, kneeling firing panzerfaust, charging and two different firing machine guns at waist. The figures are nice and give you some new poses. You can check them out at Jadar Hobby from Poland. they should be available in the U.S. in few months. We would like to thank Brian Johnson for the heads up.

The Marx Western Furniture Jail house side to be Reissued.

It has been reported by Hobby Bunker that the Marx western furniture mold with jailhouse accessories has been repaired. This set contains items such as the jail bed, bar and the teller's cage. The furniture should be out in February. This will allow collectors to get the Marx western furniture at a reasonable price.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Here is the Pirates of Caribbean set Laurie got me for Christmas. The figures are 60mm and are great addition to any pirate figure collection.

British Toy Fair

 We have heard from our very good friend Peter Evans on what he saw at the British Toy Fair. Peter reported that he really did not see much really new. Britains had a stand and Hornby is continuing with Airfix production. Peter did not relate at this time if Hornby had announced any release of the Airfix 1/32 scale figures. There was a toy wholesaler offering the Roman figures that had been offered by Toyway at 40% percent less. This company also was offering skeleton warriors and a really nice set of 54mm knights and dragons.

In the large scale Papo have a great Overland stage, a few new pirates and a Greek Hoplite. Schleich is doing a pioneer covered wagon and family. And that was all that seen at the show. Peter should be doing a full report for Plastic Warrior.

Playbook Fairy Tale Figures

I have finally finished my article on the Playbook Fairy Tale Figures. You can find that article below

Playbook

This will be the first of many articles I want to do in the future.

Odds and Ends

I hope all of you that ordered the Conte Collectibles Viking Raid for Christmas had fun with it. Oh I forgot the set is still not out. I wish the owner of Conte Collectibles would not announce things until they are in their warehouse.  The last I heard on the Viking Raid playset is it is suppose to be out in the first quarter of this year. I have been looking at pictures of the Conte Collectibles GI's blister cards to see what is the best way to get the 27 different figures with out spending $100.00 and getting so many duplicate poses. I am only interested in one of each pose as that is my collecting preference. Because of the make up of the blister cards I am only planning to get one which has the figure firing machine gun and holding a schmeir gun in the other. I am planning on picking the blister card in March, if I can the day off from human job. Then I might get one more blister card and wait to pick up the rest of the figures loose.

I should have the latest issue of Playset Magazine in the next two weeks to review. I am hoping to have a picture of the Pirates of the Caribbean figures I got this Christmas.

Shopping

We did our quarterly visit to the local mall. I really hate going to the mall as it is so bland. One thing I saw that several stores that been there since the opening of the mall were gone. The only thing I saw interesting was the Star Wars Battle Packs. They have expanded beyond the figure packs and are offering larger arrangements including a rebel fighter. It make us me think back when Star Wars came out, how many of us were wishing Marx had done a playset. Now you can complete that dream.

Etch-A-Sketch

Did you know that Etch-A-Sketch was created in France? It was developed a Frenchman Arthur Granjean who called it "L'Ecran Magigue". In England it was sold under the name Doodle Master Magic Screen." The name was change to Etch-A-Sketch when Ohio Arts bought the rights. The toy was first sold here in July 1960. Etch-A-Sketch has been with us now for more than forty years with very few changes. In 1998 it elected to the Toy Hall of Fame.

Source Scoop which weekly source on happening in comics and collectibles.

 IT SEEMS I AM NOT

It seems I am not the only one who is unhappy with the way Conte Collectibles has packed their 27 new GI's. To buy them you have to buy 10 different blister cards. If you bought the 10 cards it could cost you between $100 to $150.00 No other company packs their figures this way. The reason we are given that Conte Collectibles packs the figures this way so you can have more of certain poses.

I am refusing to buy the 10 cards. My collecting needs are one figure of each series. As I have stated before I will buy one card as I want one figure as it is so over over the top. I will review the other cards to see if any others are worthwhile to buy if they have eight different figures or more from the card I want. I will get a look at the cards in March.

January Chiller Cancelled

The January Chiller has been cancelled. The show was cancelled due to the hotel wanting more money. If Chiller had agreed to the demands of the hotel, they would have had to increase the admissions and vendor rates. They hope to have a show in April.

Comansi Cavalry Figure

People know my collecting interests are based on poses more than completing series. It goes back to when I did stories when I was child. It  has allow me to find interesting figures for myself and other collectors. An example of this is Comansi cavalry figure pictured above. The figure above is throwing a barrel. He could be throwing a barrel in saloon fight or on a wall. I have seen this figure both painted and unpainted. The figure is about 4 inches tall. We will be showing more interesting figures in the coming weeks.

Reflections

I thought that I would take time to reflect back on the year and look at the year ahead. This past year saw a number of items being made for the plastic collector. If you collect 1/72 scale figures you had a great year of new figures. It seems that a new set was coming out every week. Next year the tidal wave of new 1/72 scale figures will continue. People worry if the market can handle the amount of new figures promised. In the 1/32 scale market we had a number of new figures as well plus several new playset systems. The best in my book was the Barzso Tripoli which when combined with the fortress walls gave you one fantastic playset system. The old items have had an up and down year. Some items got great prices while other items just sat. Toy shows and toy soldier shows had a so so year. The attendance has been down and the number of dealers have been less. Some material has gone for silly prices, while other items are selling for half the price they were selling a few years ago.

As to the year ahead, I see we will have more new items in the 1/32 scale. Conte Collectibles is claiming they will have out their Viking Raid and Spartan playsets. The problem will be when, as this company is known for announcing projects and being late. The playset that was touted for Christmas 2006 is now to be available in the early part of 2007. TSSD will be doing more figures this year also. Their first new set should be out for the West Coaster. The questions will be if it is one set or two, whether the set or sets will be part of the same eras they have already done or a new era. Also will TSSD do a playset with the new figures? People will be speculating what Barzso's new playset will be and wonder if Ron's recent health issue will delay a new playset. We will also have a new player, Steve Weston. Steve has put together two sets of figures inspired by the movie Magnificent Seven with a third one in the pipeline. There will be buildings and much more. Steve is also doing a World War One tank. We will also see new items from Replicants and Armies in Plastic.

For Stad's, this past year has been a year of re-building. We have done several lists and have been happy with the results except for a few hiccups that have now been corrected. The new year will see us doing a list a month. Our Ebay sales have been good and in the new year we will be pushing them hard. I have made a commitment to do a sales list for the website by the end of March as well. We will be working on projects related to the hobby and we will also have several projects not related to the hobby. We will have a non toy soldier Blog coming up by the end of  January, which I will let you in on very soon.    

ODDS AND ENDS

It is amazing some of the listings you see on Ebay. Someone on Ebay tried to sell a Rel cowgirl implying that it might be Dale Evans or Annie Oakley. Another person is trying to sell the individual Marx presidents for $9.95 each. I have problems selling a group of five presidents for that price. On the other hand three mint Marx army trucks went for over $1000.00!

I hope your Christmas was good. Laurie got me a sweater and a set of the Pirates of the Caribbean figures sold in the Disney store. The figures are 60mm and are of six of the main characters from the movie. I have this quirk on Christmas presents, if you are going to give me clothes for Christmas, you must buy a set of figures as well. It goes back to a Christmas my parents gave me nothing but clothes and I was very disappointed. I bought for myself the Alexander the Great figures from Hong Kong and Crusader knights also from Hong Kong. I will do a review of the figures in the future.

For my birthday I got myself the World Figure Museum Figures from Japan. These figures are part of the Gashapon sets sold in Japan. I had seen a picture of the figures in the article done by Jan Boers for Plastic Warrior. I checked the internet and found someone selling them on Ebay. I ordered them and can say they are some of the finest plastic figures I have ever seen.  You think you are getting metal figures with the detail and paint jobs each figure has. The set is various figures from European History including an English Civil War Figure. The only figure in the series that is not from European history is the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II. I will be checking Ebay in the future to see if I can find other figures like these.

New Stupidity?

It is amazing where people come up with prices and information. Take a look at 250065638472 on Ebay. The person has up Barzso's Last of the Mohicans playset up for sale. The person has it as the holy grail of playsets. I think many people would disagree with this statement. Next thing I would question is the price. yoYu can bid $1499.99 or buy it now for $1500.00. The playset maybe worth the price or it may not. We will have to see. Thanks Andy for the heads up.

Las Vegas

This December we could not do our vacation to Europe so we decided to do a trip to Las Vegas. Laurie was able to do a travel show, while we were out there. We would be out during the NFR Rodeo.

We left Tuesday December 5. The flight from Philadelphia to Las Vegas was not full so we had room to relax. The flight arrived on time and we had our luggage 5 minutes after getting into the baggage area. Getting on the Hertz bus we noticed a sign that no cars were available. We had already reserved our car so we were not worried. We arrived at the Hertz counter and the three clerks did rock paper scissors to decide who would wait on us. We got our car and headed on our way.

Sights

Since we have been to Las Vegas several times before this trip we had only a few places to check out. When your wife is a travel consultant, you know that part of trip will be spent looking at hotels. We looked at several hotels outside of Las Vegas. The best of three we looked at was the Ritz Carlton at Lake Las Vegas. They built it to look like an Italian Village. We also looked at Red Rock Canyon, a series of rock formations west of Las Vegas. In Las Vegas we went to the Bellagio to see their Conservatory. The Conservatory is decorated in flower displays that are a wonder to behold and changes with every season. This year they had polar bears made of flowers and flying reindeer made from nuts. While we were there we saw the plan for the new Cityscape Center. This project will be made up of hotels, entertainment venues, shopping and much more. The area will include Bellagio and Monte Carlo plus a new hotel, the Mandarin Oriental. There will be a 500,000 square foot entertainment center. If this project goes through it will cost seven billion dollars. They hope to have it done by 2010. There is already a monorail between the Bellagio and The Monte Carlo.

Shopping

There were two types of shopping we did this year. One was two different western merchandise shows that were held in conjunction with the NFR rodeo finals. These were quite amazing shows. You had a wide range of items. Many items you figured to see at such shows were western garb and fencing for your ranch. The show also had various dealers in artwork and jewelry. One of the best pieces of western art that I saw was a bronze sculpture of a moose standing in a river of lily pads. The sculpture was part of a fountain. At one of the merchandise shows I met Buck Taylor from Gunsmoke.  Buck is doing artwork of western scenes and of some of his movies.

The other shopping is various stores of Las Vegas we have discovered in our previous trips. One store I found on our last trip is Hobbytown. They sell the Gashapon from Japan. Gashapon are toys sold in plastic capsules or cardboard boxes. They are great. Some of the toys need to be put together. I was able to get Laurie some great dinosaurs. I got some superhero figures for my superhero figure collection. We also went to a store that sells only British goods. I was able to buy kinder eggs and Laurie got some of her favorite McVittie cookies. I also found the Tower Records store which is going out of business. I found a Disney DVD of Swamp Fox and Elfego Baca. They had Lord of the Ring Figures, but I had all they had. I went to the Gamblers Bookstore and got two books on video poker I was looking for.  Laurie was able to find a pair of Birkenstock shoes at the local Birkenstock store.

Food

Las Vegas is a town known for food. You can eat cheaply or you can break your budget. We went a different route. We went looking for different kinds of restaurants which would not break your budget. We used the magazine Las Vegas Life as our guide and we found several good places where two could eat for under $50.00. If you like Middle Eastern food there is Paymon's Mediterranean Cafe. Laurie had chicken with curry which she said was better than Punjab's in London. Another great place was Firefly Tapas Kitchen and Bar which does the Spanish style of tapas, which is various little dishes that you share. Another new place was Himalayan Cuisine which has a lunch buffet of dishes from Nepal, India and Tibet.  We did not forget our old places. We went back to the Prime Loft at the Orleans. The prime rib dinner there is only $13.00 and it includes a great piece of prime rib, a large baked potato and the house salad. Another old favorite is Don Miguel which serves authentic Mexican food. We ate there twice as the food is very good and reasonable.  For breakfast, with the exception of one day, we did the French Market buffet. The price for two people at the buffet was $13.97 with tax. The selection was wide and you could have an omelet made with your pre-selected ingredients. Other breakfast choices included French toast, waffles, all types of American breakfast food, Chinese food and Mexican food. The one exception was Sunday when we ate at the Original Pancake House at Green Valley. While the bill was higher than the French Market buffet, the food was just as good. The omelet at the Original Pancake House was the size of small meat platter and two inches high. The omelet came with pancakes so you did not need lunch. The only disappointment in food was the lunch buffet at the French Market. The quantity was there but the quality left a lot to be desired.

Shows

We saw two shows this year. The first one we saw was Blue Man Group at the Venetian. Laurie received two tickets from attending the Travel show. The show is different is all I can say about the show is that it is different and hard to describe. We also saw Jeff Foxworthy. Laurie found out that he would at our hotel so we got tickets early. The tickets were for the center section on the floor in the eleventh row. Foxworthy was great. The only problem we had was the guy next to Laurie kept falling asleep and leaning on her. How could anyone fall asleep through such a great comedian I will never know. We did not do any of the NFR Rodeo events as they were sold out months in advance.

Gambling

When you gamble you can be foolish or you can make the casino work for its money. We play video poker as it is a game that you have better odds of winning. We are using various books to improve our skills. Because of the books and our playing skills we only lost $50.00.

Final thoughts

After a week of fun we had to leave for back home. One thing I strongly advise is get to the airport early as the line for security is huge and slow. Once you are on the other side there is not much in food or entertainment. While we were waiting at the gate we saw a fire across the street from the MGM on Tropicana. We later found out the fire started by a homeless person in an abandoned business. The flight was fine as once again we had room and we arrived on time. The only annoyance was that TSA went through our luggage but had not included their paperwork. They also saw fit to again steal the luggage strap and had opened the clear plastic ziplock bag containing Laurie's shampoo and other liquid toiletries but had not re-zipped the bag closed. They also left the contents of the luggage, all the clean clothes, a mess. They had opened a shampoo bottle which was not closed right and caused some of the clean clothes to be soiled. Laurie has her own definition for the letters TSA (totally stupid a..h...s). Next time we go to Las Vegas we will use it as a starting point and explore Arizona. We wont fly in or out of Phoenix as they now use a complete "see everything" body scan or you have to submit to a full body pat down. No thanks!

York Toy Show

Aniplast Figures

Laurie and I decided to do the York Toy show. I was able to get the day off so as we would not be going to Europe, we made this the last toy show of the year. Driving to the show was a little tricky as there were patches of fog on the roadway. Despite the fog we arrived at the show about half hour after the door opened. I was not worried on getting early as I figured it would be already picked over. I sometimes get my fun on seeing what I can find other people miss.

As Laurie and I got to the building holding the show we noticed a nice crowd of people waiting to get in. The line moved quickly and we were inside in less than 10 minutes. The show is divided into two large rooms. We usually go to the left side first as the other side has most of the dealers. Laurie spotted Sinclair dinosaur for $12.00, but she realized that she had it. She later saw the same dinosaur for $35.00 on the other side. Moving up the aisle, I spotted under a table a T Cohn naval gate. The dealer started at $10.00 but quickly dropped the price for $5.00. I passed at that price as I did not like the condition. At group tables loaded with super hero figures, I found three snap together superheroes for $3.00 each. The figures are 60mm and their bases can interlock.  I got Robin, Superman and Wonder Woman.  I have been having problems getting Batman now from several series. One of my collecting areas is superheroes. I am amazed how easy it is to get superheroes in 54mm and 60mm today. I had wanted a superman figure for stories as a child and been force to paint a ring hand figure to do my stories. Now there all the superheroes you want.

We went over to the other room. Going in we saw Harry Davis, but he was being interviewed by a television station from Harrisburg PA. We went back to his stand later to see if he had anything. Sadly there was nothing we could use, but Tom Stein was able to get a Daniel Boone Blockhouse for $35.00. We do not know if it was one with yellow letters or not. The only new dealer for us was a dealer with $.50 a figure bins. Most of the figures were damaged or common, but if you dug through the mess, you could find treasures.  The most unusual item I found in the bins was the Ideal pirate ship mast top. I also found two damaged Aniplast knights. These hard plastic figures are from Berlin Germany.  I have never seen these figures in Europe and how to find out more in the future.

We saw a number of dealers that we have seen before. One of our sources had an item called Playbook. The Playbook is a series of fairy tales with plastic figures. I had gotten some of the figures a few years back, but this was the first time I was able to get a complete book. I will be doing an article on the series soon.

At any show we have to stop at the tables of our very good friend Gerri Watts.  Gerri despite having a very poor year in finding plastic still comes up with great items. I was able to find items for resale and buying.  Gerri said he had a good day selling and buying. He was finally able to sell some items he would have sold at Hackensack. Gerri also found some good items under tables of other dealers which he was quite please.

Another table we stopped at was Alan Ford, where I picked up some Reamsa and Jescan reissues. Allan had gotten a table at the last minute and had an array of plastic items. He had several playsets, but had not gotten much response to them.  Alan showed me some plastic figures, which I recognized but could not think of the company.  I will be checking with people to see who made them. I will do a picture when I get up in the collection.

Other regular dealers there were Glen Finke and the Marxman. One dealer not back was Francis Turner from the Marx Museum. The show had a lot of different items and you really have good time hunting. Many times I had to look under the table at a bag of figures. I was able find a Lord of the Rings set I missing by looking down. There were a couple items I would have bought if my budget would have allowed. The crowd seemed very cautious on their purchases as we did not see a lot of packages. We had a great time even if we did not spend as much as the previous year. Still if we are able to get back next year, we will go.

Update on Langhorne Show

We have heard from two sources that the Langhorne show was much better in sales than first reported. The sources said they did well.

Odds and Ends

Hobby Bunker has announced several more reissues. They are coming out with the 45mm space figures from Tom Corbett. They also have the furniture for the space figures. They will also have the other western furniture out soon as they have repaired the mold. No further word on whether if the Conte Collectibles Viking Raid playset will be out for Christmas. The owner of Conte Collectibles has been quiet on this project and other projects. Perhaps collectors will hear from him soon. The Langhorne show was not very good from what we heard. We will be at the York Toy Show tomorrow which will be the last toy show of the year for us. Normally we would do the King and Country show in London in December, but this year the prices for Europe were not cost effective. We were also trying to do the German Plastic Show run by our very good friend Peter Bergner, which was the week after King and Country. We were not able do it either because of the cost. Hopefully next year we will be able to do these shows.

Marx Wrought  Iron Fence Reissue

One of the first reissue items from Hobby Bunker is also a mystery, the Marx Wrought Iron Fence. No one knows where the fence was used. Some people thought it was used in a doll house playset. I thought it might have been used with the zoo playset. Wherever it was used, it is a great addition for your scenes. It can be used for a graveyard or to surround a mansion. Wherever you use it will be a great addition to your collection.

TSSD Marines

One of the items that I purchased at Hackensack was the TSSD WWII Marines. These figures were done to be companions to the TSSD WWII Japanese. The figures are well detailed except some the figure's noses are not well defined. The poses are a nice mix of action poses to give diversity to your scenes. They easily mix in the TSSD WWII U.S. Army.

My pick for best and worst figures of the TSSD WWII Marines. The Marx Bunker is included to show the problem with the foot up pose.

The figure I like the best is the figure fighting with a shovel and knife. The figure is very dynamic with the shovel back ready to hit an enemy. My only gripe with the figure is the position of the bayonet. The figure has the knife pointing down. In this position the figure can only defend with the bayonet. In real life a marine would have his bayonet up so he could attack with either weapon. Even with this minor negative, it is a great figure to have as a part of your scene or collection. The figure I like the least is the marine advancing with rifle at the side and one foot up. First, the figure's facial expressions are almost non-existent and the nose is poorly defined. The next problem is the figure is designed to have one leg up to step on a log or some obstacle. The leg is too high and the figure looks off balance. It is a shame the figure is not better as your battlefield needs some good non-action poses.

The TSSD WWII Marines will be a welcome addition for those fighting the Pacific War.

Playset Magazine 30

The latest issue of Playset Magazine is out and while it does not have major gaffes like previous issues it still leaves a lot to be desired. The article on "The Greatest Playset" is a waste of space. The article is a couple of people telling what their favorite playset is. It is nice to hear what somebody's favorite playset is, but the space could have been used for other things such as the Jescan Ben Hur figures or P&P resin figures and accessories. The article on the Morphy auction could have been half the size. A number of the playsets were mint box stapled and were bought by people who could afford to pay the silly prices that they reached. The problem with these realized prices is these playsets have to stay mint sealed stapled to possibly get higher prices in the future. For me if I want an old playset, I would want it open so I could enjoy the playset.

The article on Remco's Big Caesar is a typical cut and dried article that Playset Magazine does. The article listed  the contents and gives some facts. They could have mentioned that the cardboard sails are usually missing or damaged. What some collectors have done to get around this problem is make color Xeroxes of the sails. The Ben Hur article gets some input from Frank Rice who designed the playset. Frank confirmed that the playset was an early idea for a Roman playset which they added items on to make it the Ben Hur playset when MGM came to them. This is great information but it is also repeated in the Questions and Answers. What could have been in the Questions and Answers was why the character figures were in purple. Also a surprise is the picture of the prototype of the female slave. Playset Magazine did a photo of the Sears ad highlighting the female slave. Playset magazine had a very good picture of the female slave in a previous issue. I was surprised that they did not use that photo in this issue. Why the female slave was not used in the playset is another question that could been answered. The rest of the article  is a break down of the contents of the playset and the various playsets they issued with the differences . The reissue section on the Ben Hur playset is not bad, but needs some corrections and enhancements. The present version of the playset comes with one main structure piece. The version we sold when the reissued Ben Hur playset first came out came with two main structure buildings. Those playsets  had their curved sections in blue. The playset that Stad's sold had the seated figures. The Mexican reissue of the Ben Hur playsets are notorious for not having good quality control. Also certain pieces such as the lattice for the Ben Hur chariots could easily break. It should be also noted that the Mexican version comes with a complete arena where the Marx version comes with only half an is thatarena.  The reason the Mexican playset had Robin Hood pennants is they did not get the standard molds. These were acquired by Excalibur Hobbies and were issued until Excalibur went out of business. The Roman emperor and empress are not reissued, but are copies of those figures. They were made in Russia.

The remaining part of the magazine is devoted to reviews of the new playsets and OTSN.  The article on OTSN is not crushed together as in previous issues. The article notes the number playsets for sale, but from what we heard  many of those playsets did not sell. The reviews on the new playsets are nice, but you see the pictures better on the web of the playsets. The fort walls that are available for the Shores of Tripoli playset are more impressive on the web than in the magazine.

One finally note this issue is the Christmas issue, yet there is very little mention of the holiday. As a Christmas Spectacular issue, this issue of Playset Magazine leaves a lot to be desired.

DISAPPOINTMENT

I was waiting to see if Playset Magazine would own up on their mistake on the Marx Elliot Ness and Al Capone molds. In the previous issue they claimed that the molds were lost, which was a complete falsehood. Their response was to bury their correction in a small article, where most will miss it. This kind of mistake requires a much larger notice. Likewise in a previous issue they tout that OTSN would see a playset that would change the hobby. In this issue we see nothing about the revolutionary playset. The playset that Playset Magazine was very likely talking about was The Shores of Tripoli. The playset is nice, but it is nothing new. Not owning up to these disappointments is no surprise. It is why I do not support this magazine

Matador

Here is the matador and bull we got at the Hackensack show. Looking at the bottom of the figure it looks like it was made in England. The figure may be missing its hat. The arms move up and down.

I Apologize

In our write up of the Hackensack show, we placed the wrong name under one of the pictures. It should have been Leanne not Lillian. I apologize for the error. We hope to see Paul and Leanne at a future show.

Allentown Toy show

The Allentown Toy Show is the closest toy show I do. It's only a few blocks from the house. It is the only show I will do this year as a dealer. The show is a two day affair, Friday and Saturday. Friday is dealer set up.  This is the first year in about three years I could do the Friday setup. This was because  my schedule at my job had changed and I now have Friday and Saturday off. It was good that I had Friday off because Laurie, who normally covered my days off, was packing her things up at work because  they were moving to a new location.

I arrived early on Friday to meet my very good friend John, who I was going to share a table with. After setting up our goods, John and I walked around. Walking around I noticed less playsets than in previous years. The rarest playset that I saw this year was a Rev War playset for $500.00, which sold very quickly. There were lots of loose figures, but most were common Marx or MPC. I did find a hard plastic Marx Foreign Legion and some other figures for resale. I was surprised on dealer day, I was able to sell some items I had been carrying around for years. One of the newer items I was able to sell was a Donny Osmond notebook. It was sold to the same woman who had bought the David Cassidy notebook the previous year. I had brought the notebooks many years ago at a cleanup sale at Hess's Department Store for $.25 each. I had used them to hold plastic sheets of Boy Scout patches. Satisfied with the sales of that day, I looked forward to the next day.

The next morning I arrived early and helped John open up our table. Once that was done I walked around to check the last few tables that had not set up Friday.  On one table I found a Timpo Roman Chariot. Another person found some Remco WWI vehicles. John got a box lot that had a mounted Lone Ranger figure.

The doors opened and the people came in. The crowd was small and the response was poor. Items that would have gotten a look were ignored. I was able to sell a few items, but I was off on my sales for the two days as were other dealers. We just sat there talking to a few people we knew. If it had not been for Friday I would not come back next year. I did hear a number of dealers saying they were not coming back. I will come back next year, but I do not have high hopes for this show.

Hackensack 2006

Go to this the link below to get the report on Hackensack with pictures.

Hackensack 2006

Conte Collectibles

In the last few weeks, we have been hit with a flurry of various press releases from Conte Collectibles. Several of these press releases have been related to various projects that Conte Collectibles has proposed over the years. The bottom line is many of the proposed projects will not see the light of day for various reasons. Other proposed projects may be seen in some altered form from the originally planned idea. An example of this is the figures that were to be in The Vikings Movie playset will now appear in the Viking Raid playsets. The figures have been changed in facial and colors so as not to interfere with the copyrights or trademarks.

This information is all well and good, but much of this information should have been released years ago. This has been an on going problem of Conte Collectibles; they have failed to communicate the status of their projects. Conte Collectibles would hint or announce that they would be coming out with some great new item. They would even show prototypes of the items, then nothing more is heard. Because nothing more is heard, the collector is left in the dark not knowing if the item will come out or not. Hopefully Conte Collectibles has turned over a new leaf on communications, but we are not sure. Their latest press releases are steps in the right direction; however one of their press releases to the Marx group did fallow the old game. After giving a reason why an item was not made, a hint was made of some new product that may come out. The problem with this is Conte Collectibles already has a full plate on its agenda.

What is a collector to do in regards to Conte Collectibles? The answer is when you see an announcement of an item from Conte Collectibles you should let them know you will be interested in the item when it comes out. Failure to do so could get the item canceled. Case in point is the interior castle parts for the Warlord tower and the Spartacus playset. Once you have let Conte Collectibles know your feelings, forget about the item until it finally makes it’s  appearance. This is the best way to deal with this situation.

Allentown Toy Show

My very good friend John and I will be set up at the Allentown Toy Show this Saturday November 4. The show is held at the Allentown Fairgrounds, which is easy to find. The show goes from 9AM to 3 PM. The show has a wide array of items for you to enjoy. I will have several bins of figures, which will have many surprises. I will also have various toys for sale. John will have figures and other items. There will be other dealers there as well with figures. Laurie will not be at the show this year as her company is moving to new headquarters this weekend. Laurie will be with me at Hackensack. See you at one of the shows.

Chiller Horrible

Laurie and I decided to go to Chiller after having a great time at their Spring show. We should have stayed home. We got to the show in record time despite an accident on the road. When we arrived a half hour after the show opened, we found that the parking deck and lots were full. We had to park a half a mile away. Once we got into the show, we were misdirected by one of the security people to get our wrist bands. Because of the weather the guests who would have been in a tent were all over the hotel. You had to go upstairs to see some of the guests, while other guests were off the first floor. The rooms upstairs were hot where the temperature was 80 degrees. Some of the guests were in the hallways to sign autographs. The first floor people directed us again to go into one room. The security person put us in the line for Anthony Michael Hall, who was asking a ridiculous price for his autograph. I am not opposed to paying a fair fee for an autograph, but his price was not worth it. It turned me off on getting an autograph from anyone else. There was a line for other people which we passed on. We had earlier passed on  getting Peter Criss of Kiss as the line was too long and the hallway was too warm.

The one minor bright spot was the dealers room as I was able to find a few items. One dealer had some DC Direct figures that I had previously missed. They are 60mm and are well done. I will show pictures in the near future. I also got some monster figures. They are 2 inches high. I got a six inch Marx soft plastic Viking blowing the horn for $15.00 from Kevin of Kilroy Toys. Kevin had been on my list. He is expanding his house and said that many of the items he was going to put into the addition he is selling. I noticed that bootleg DVD's were down. One other dealer had three 6" Marx Romans and wanted $30.00 each.

After  dealing with the hassle of autograph rooms, we left the show. There was a massive line waiting to get in. I was hoping to see the fire marshal to tell him of the mess on the temperatures. No such luck.

The bad experience from this show has turned us off from going to another Chiller show. The layout is horrible, parking is non existent unless you get there early or get lucky. There was very little  information on who was where. It was not a pleasant experience and we will not go back unless they get a better location and even then we will have second thoughts.

Playset Magazine No 31

For those interested in what will be in issue of Playset magazine number 31 the main article will be on the Ideal Batman Playset. Also in the issue will be an article on the Marx Armored Attack playset.

More on the Marx Molds

Hobby Bunker has noted on their website that the Marx Western inside furniture is being produced right now. This is the mold that contains the jail furniture. This mold has never been reissued. The Marx German 88 has been found, but has not been tested. What this means is that the mold needs to be check to see if the mold may have any problems or not before they can run it.

Roaming

Laurie and I did some roaming today to two farmers markets today. I did not expected to find anything which I was right. I only bought three figures which one was from Mulan. I saw a MPC vinyl case set, but did not bother to ask price. One bright spot was seeing an old friend of my father's Louie Hedges. Louie is 89 and he said that everyone he worked with is dead. Louie has a little used tool stand at a the Gilbertsville Farmers Market. He does the stand when the weather is nice. It gives him something to do. It was good to see Louie as it brings back some memories of the past. I would leave my father at his stand while I would walk around.  Laurie and I walked around the two markets and could not find Chili powder. Laurie is looking for chili powder without salt or sugar at a reasonable price. Her old source has changed the mix to include salt.

ODDS AND ENDS

Laurie and I will go to the Chiller show next Saturday. This is a great show to meet some of the old movie and television stars. We will do the dealers area to see what we can find. While most of the items in the dealers area are horror, you could find some figures. The week after that I will be at the Allentown Toy Show with my very good friend John. We will be sharing a table and we will see what we can buy and sell. Laurie will not be there either of the two days as office is moving to a new location. This new location will be near a Big Lots so she will be able to check it out. On Sunday Laurie will be with me at Hackensack. I will not have a table as I did not do well last year. We will be in and roaming around seeing our old friends and finding a few items.

We have been quiet on the status of the Spanish Plastic book as we had not heard from the author Juan Herrimada for while. We had been worried about him as he had not responded to  our emails or letters. Juan finally got back in contact with us. The company that he had been associated had major problems which required all of his time. He is hoping to have the book out Late November. When it is available we will let you know.

Here we go again. Conte Collectibles has announced that they will be putting out a playset for Christmas. The playset will have the Viking ship with cold cast resin crew,  some pewter figures and plastic Vikings which are old figures that have been released. The set with the siege tower will not be until 2007. If you want this playset be careful it might be in your home for Christmas. Even Conte Collectibles has admitted it.

Big Lot Find

Marx and MPC Molds to be Reissue

Matt Murphy has posted on his website that over 100 Marx and MPC molds were purchased by a company. (Matt does not give a name.) These molds were purchased from the Marx Toy Company which has gone into bankruptcy. Some of the Marx molds include Japanese, Marines, various battleground accessories, 45mm marines and navy figures plus much more. Some of the molds have never been run. According to Matt the first molds to be run are

Marx Training Center ladder in yellow and gray

Marx rod iron gate and and fence

Marx Playhouse props and furniture

45mm marine and navy figures

Johnny Tremain character figures

These reissues will be available from Hobby Bunker shortly. 

I Had to Laugh

I was not going to respond to a comment on the TSSD web site, but the more I thought about the comment I started to laugh.  I could not believe TSSD would use this comment to attack my review of their WWII Japanese figures.

In a response to my review of their new WWII Japanese Figures, they posted an email from someone. The person stated that he had changed his machete into having a point and he could do a lunge. That machete is an exception to the rule. Most machetes were not done with points. Some machetes were done with a point, but the TSSD Japanese is shown with a more common machete, which does not have a point. You can not lunge with that type of machete, so the pose is wrong.

I am surprised how TSSD is picking on my mostly positive review of their figures. Their figures have two negatives, the one pose I have already discussed and the faces of some of the figures. They should learn to relax as they will hopefully be getting positive reviews soon from magazines.

JC Penney Christmas Catalog

JC Penney has their Christmas Catalog out and there are a few items of interest on. On page 295 there are two items, the first is Dragon Castle playset. This set sells $24.99 and comes with a castle that can be a carrying case. The other item on the page is Dueling Buccaneers. The pirate playset comes two ships a wharf and loads of accessories and figures. The pirate playset sells for $29.99 On page 309 is combat zone playset which comes with 8 figures, building and lots of accessories. The Combat Zone is $24.99. Page 319 is offering the 10 piece Breyer 1/32 scale horse set for $19.99.

Disney Store

Laurie and I visited our local mall as she was looking for some earrings. I stopped at the Disney store and found they have a figure set for the Pirates of the Caribbean. The set includes six figures from the two movies including Captain Jack Sparrow. The figures are between 60 to 65mm. They are done in China for a company in Canada and and are exclusive for the Disney Stores. The set of six sell for $12.50, but because they are new you can not mix them with the special the have on the other figure sets which included a Narnia set. So I have decided to wait. 

TSSD WWII JAPANESE A REVIEW

TSSD has released two new sets of figures: WWII Japanese and WWII Marines. A friend of mine attended the show and got me the WWII Japanese, which I wanted to review. My first impression was that the figures are well detailed. TSSD has decided to have all of the Japanese figures with helmets which is a good idea. The Japanese are smaller in size to the TSSD marines and GI’s. This was done to show that the Japanese were smaller in height than the average American. This is the first time that a company has tried to show the height difference of the opposing forces.

The set has eight different figures in nine poses. TSSD has wisely marked on the back of the header card that you will need to dip the rifles in hot water. You may have to dip some of the figures as well as I had two of the charging figures drooping over too far.

As noted, there are nine poses because one of the figures has been designed to be carrying a flag or a rifle. The figure has plug in hands which you can place with either a Japanese flag or rifle. This is a great idea as it allows you to decide how many flag bearers you want for your army. I would pick this figure as my favorite figure of the group.

My least favorite figure is the Japanese with a machete. First, the machete is not as well detailed as the other weapons. Second, the figure looks like he is lunging with the machete. A machete is a slashing weapon, not a lunging weapon. If the figure is supposed to be slashing, the figure is off balance.

What keeps the TSSD WWII Japanese figures from being great figures are the faces. This is because many of the noses on the Japanese figures are not well done.  The Japanese kneeling firing rifle is an example of this problem. I have pointed this problem out to several other people and they agree that the faces hurt the figures. If the figures did not have this problem I would rate them above Airfix and Marx Japanese. With the problem I can not.

Some people have complained that the poses are bland. What they mean is that the figures are not action type poses, unlike TSSD’s other figures. I think this comes up because of the Japanese firing the automatic weapon is so similar to the Marx pose. I do not find them bland. They are good action poses. 

Collectors will now wonder what TSSD’s next figures will be. Will they be more WWII or Civil War?  We will have to wait and see.

NOT A SWOPPET

TSSD is stating in their advertising that the Japanese advancing with flag or rifle is a swoppet. It is not a swoppet. A swoppet is a figure which you can take completely apart and put together again. Also you can interchange the pieces with other swoppet figures. As a child I would move the Britains bandit off his legs put him on the legs of the cowboy with the lasso. The swoppet figures were made by a number of companies, notably Britains and Timpo. The last thing you would want to do with these figures is glue them.

TSSD’s Japanese carrying either the Japanese flag or rifle is a plug in hands figure. Most of the time you are going to decide what hands you want and glue them to stay in. TSSD’s figure is similar to some early Conte Collectibles figures from Canada which had plug in arms. When Conte Collectibles moved their figure production to China, they did away with the plug in arms due to the problem of having to glue them. They would not stay in place by just plugging them in.  

A Comparison of Japanese Figures

The picture give you an idea of how the new TSSD Japanese will work with other maker's figures. The figures from left to right are Lido, TSSD, Atlantic and Marx. The figures should go well with each other. Also you will have the BMC Japanese and Airfix Japanese which will work as well. 

Napoleon

I got this figure in England last year at the King And Country show. This figure is on a Britains horse and the figure is from a French kit, which I forgot the name. I like conversions as they give you poses you will not find anywhere else. I hope to show you other conversions in the near future.

Chiller Theater Show

From October 27-29 Chiller will have their show in New Jersey. This is a great place to meet some of your favorite stars. This year they will have Robert Culp and Bill Daly. They will have other movie stars and people from other parts of show business. You can mingle with the stars get your picture taken with them and their autographs. Please be aware the stars do charge for their autographs. There is a great dealers area where you never know what you will find. 

My Laugh of the Day

A maker of figures has chided me for only listing 7 Japanese figures from them when they did 9 figures. Gee, where did I get the information? Why it was the figure maker's web site! They had listed 7 Japanese on their web site before the show, when I posted the listing. I had questioned if a cavity was damaged? This company is known for doing 8 figures and their web site had 7. I was hoping to get an answer from some one. I forgot that I had that note when they listed nine figures. I noted in Comment Time's list on OTSN it was one of the fine new playset systems you could get at the show. From reports of the show they sold out all of their playsets that they brought to the show.

The maker also chides us on having a sea wall in their playset. We noted the playset was supposed to have a sea wall. We were working on comments from people. The set does not have a sea wall. We were wrong. We admit our mistakes unlike other people. We later noted that you could see a list of the contents of their playset on their web site. 

I know why this maker is picking on me. It is because I did not like his Russian figures. I still do not like his Russian figures. I am waiting for his Japanese figures, which I have coming in from a source. I have heard the figures are bland (the poses are not exciting like their other figures.) I want to see them for myself and will give you my opinion. It is my opinion. You decide whether you want them or not. Makers have to realize that they are going to get criticism.  I will get the marines in November at Hackensack and review them as well. I will be also be getting some AIP sets I have been waiting to buy and review them. So I guess that maker will be upset again, depending on my opinion of these figures I purchase.  

PLASTIC WARRIOR SHOW 2007

Next year's Plastic Warrior  show will be on February 10 instead of May. The date was moved for various reasons.

OTSN A Look Back

This year's OTSN was very interesting. Collectors of old plastic had a wide array of items to choose from. One collector estimated that there were 400 to 500 playsets at the show. They ranged from the common to a Marx Gunsmoke Playset. A Marx Wagon Train playset sold for over $4000.00. Dealers were reporting their sales were slow unless unless you had items the people were looking for their collections or resale.

This year was the year of playset systems. Collectors had three different playsets to select from TSSD Tarawa, Conte Collectibles Bloody Omaha Beach and Barzso's Shores of Tripoli playset. Each maker had various add-ons to enhance the basic playset.

The most impressive of playset systems was Barzso's Shores of Tripoli playset The basic playset has two very nice foam buildings, two gun emplacements, a nice selection of accessories and figures for both sides of the conflict. What sets the Shores of Tripoli playset apart from the other fine new playsets is the pirate fort. This jaw dropping add-on to the playset was the talk of the show. Each wall was about two feet long and  about ten inches high and comes with a turret at one end. Each wall is highly detailed on both sides and painted to a high standard. Barzso has wisely offered a starter set of two walls, one with a gate and one without a gate for $110.00 at the show. Some people were just buying two walls, while others were buying the four sets of the walls to make a completed fort. In discussions with my very good friend John, we figure you could get away with two sets of walls so you have access to the back of the city. John was looking at the walls to use with Captain Gallant or Lord of the Rings. I am sure collectors are hoping these walls and the other playset systems will show up at other shows.

The only controversy at the show was the unanticipated  appearance of Richard Conte of Conte Collectibles. Conte had not been expected to appear again at the show because of bad experiences with the hotel and the show. Conte showed up in the rooms of his webmaster Joe Baker, where Conte displayed various products and sold various items including the Omaha Beach playset. Conte also showed prototypes of upcoming items for both plastic and metal.  Other than the tension of having Conte at the hotel and show, nothing happened.

New Term

I have created a new term on which I would like some input from fellow collectors.

I have created a new term, playset system. A playset system is where a company offers a starting playset on a subject then sells additional items such as add-ons or other accessories  to enhance the playset experience. The idea of expanding a playset beyond its original content is not a new idea. As children we added items to our playsets whether it was figures or accessories. When the new playsets came out their makers started to do add-ons as they could not put all the items they wanted in their playsets and keep the price point. They solved this problem with doing add-ons for the playset. Seeing the success of these add-ons, makers of new playsets are now coming out with additional items when they release their new playsets. This gives the collectors the opportunity to decide how involved, how much they want to spend, on their playset experience.

Finally up

Jim Clouse, the webmaster for Playset Magazine, has finally put pictures up of the OTSN show. The first pictures of the new items with more photos promised. Jim's excuse is he stayed at the show instead of going home each night. You can see the pictures at www.playsetmagazine.com

I posted up at the Marx group about the lack of photos. This is one of the few things, the photos from the show, that I enjoyed from the magazine. I realize why I like this is because we got to see color pictures, which the magazine will not have due to the cost. Also having the pictures on Playset Magazine's site gave a neutral look at the material. Until yesterday (9/24/06) we had to depend on maker's sites to see the new items. Finally we will see some of the rooms with old items.

Several people remarked how they like Playset Magazine and think it is a quality magazine. You have your right to your opinion, if you like pretty pictures it is fine. The problem for me is the magazine's major mistakes such as the Untouchable character molds are missing when they are not, just makes my blood boil. It is sloppy research, which I can not stand. On the other hand the article on Lido by Kent Sprecher has good information. I checked it against the article in Collecting Toy Soldiers on Lido. The information that Richard O'Brien had on the company was the same as Kent except that Richard said the company was sold because of disagreements, where Kent glossed over it. The article is what it is, an overview. The next article on Lido will have to go into major detail such as why they made their figures the way they did and some of the various sets.  When I review an article or figure, I try to be as neutral as possible even if I do not agree with the person and his opinions on other matters. The article is judged on its own merits, not on the person involved. That is the way it should be. 

For Something Different

From Brian of Canada, Ebay had a Marx Skyscraper playset selling for just over $4,000.00. The tin had been assembled but had been taken apart. To see the playset go to Ebay listing 120033208468.

OTSN More Info

We are getting reports on the new items but not the old items. Playset magazine has not done its usual job of posting pictures of the show. In fact people are having going to the TSSD website to see pictures of not only TSSD's new set but also Barzso's new playset, Tripoli. The Tripoli playset is impressive. The figures are in resin like the other playsets Barzso has done.  The TSSD Tarawa playset has sold out at the show. They still have bags of the figures at the show. Conte supposedly does not have the Omaha Beach playsets at the show. They will be shipping after the show. I have not heard from a second source to confirm. CORRECTION 9/27/06 IT HAS NOW BEEN CONFIRMED THAT THE PLAYSETS WERE THERE AND SOLD, JUST THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE THE BOXES WHICH WILL BE SHIPPED LATER.

One party has said that there are a number of new foam items at show. We have already mentioned the TSSD bunkers which are a great add on to their Tarawa playset. Hobby Bunker has a foam warehouse and town house. Foam Tech has a new trench piece with a large bunker.

Hopefully we will have more information later today. 

OTSN First Report

We have gotten our first report in on OTSN. First off the new Barzso playset is Tripoli. In the playset you get Barbary coast pirates and U.S. Marines plus two adobe buildings and two gun batteries. The playset is also loaded with accessories which Barzso is noted for. The playset is selling at the show for $220.00. Barzso is doing an add on of a Barbary Coast fort. For $110.00 at the show, higher later, you are getting two wall sections. One section  has a gate, the other section is just a wall.  Each section has a turret. The walls have been painted to a high standard. The walls are designed so you can buy more walls and make a complete fort.

Conte Collectibles is there with the Omaha Beach playset. Reports say they do not have boxes yet, but I am sure they will ship them to the people later if they do not come in time. The playset is a mix of plastic figures and metal accessories. TSSD has their battle of Tarawa playset at the show. You can see on their website what is in the playset. They are supposed to have additional add on foam pieces to expand the playset. My source felt that the TSSD marines and Japanese will work well with the BMC Marines. The source also liked the Japanese figures and said that they are in scale with the Marx and Airfix figures. We hope to have a set of the Japanese in the near future. CTS foam pieces from the Imo Jima Playset are being sold separately at the show. You can get them two ways- painted for CTS for their playsets and painted at a higher standard for collectors. My source said that some of metal collectors were impressed with the higher paint jobs and and buying them. My source felt if you added in the CTS foam pieces plus the additional TSSD pieces to the Tarawa playset you would have one impressive battle scene.

We are hoping pictures of these items will show up on Playset magazine's website soon to give you a better idea. The website is www.playsetmagzine.com which they have done pictures of the previous years. My first source is not into old playset so we will have to wait.

OTSN The Show Begins

While people are already at the OTSN show, things will not be in full swing until Thursday. It is at that time we should start getting reports on the show. These reports will cut through the hype and give a more clearer picture of the new playsets look. The reports should also report what old Marx playsets show up and what sells etc. This should be one of the most interesting OTSN shows in years. We will try to pass along what we hear.

One thing I have been asked is my comments on the announcements from Conte Collectibles. I have read them and will hold comment until after OTSN. The comments will be under the walking through the mine field. I wanted to use word field, but Laurie thought no one would get it. When reading Conte's comments you have to read them and read them again to catch all the subtle points. This takes time and I have four different projects fighting for time as well. It will be an interesting read.

More OTSN

Surfing the web I noticed that one person was thinking of canceling his visit to OTSN because Richard Conte of Conte Collectibles would be there. This is a foolish reason for not going to a close by show. As someone  else pointed out to the person , you do not have to go into the rooms where Conte is promoting his product. OTSN has other rooms to find treasures for your collection. I strongly suggest  that if you are going to the OTSN show you go to the Conte Collectibles room to see the new product and see one of the most controversial people in the hobby, Richard Conte. In the last few years since Richard and his company burst on to the scene, we have seen people praise and condemn Conte and his company for various reasons. This show will give people a chance to hear Conte directly on his side of the story. After hearing from his side, you should roam around the halls so you can hear the other side.

While you are at OTSN, visit the other new makers such as Barzso and TSSD. We are getting more and more reports that the new Barzso playset will be Tripoli. TSSD is slowing releasing details on its playset and we should know more in a few days. Also there will be dealers of old materials ranging from figures to playsets. This will be a very interesting OTSN show this year.

Request

Anyone going to OTSN could do me a favor.  I would like to know if any foreign dealers show up at the show. Right now the only foreign dealer I know will be there is Steve Weston of England.  I am especially interested if there is a dealer from Denmark selling Reisler figures. Reisler figures are made in Denmark. These figures range from cowboys to WWII figures. I have a collector who is looking for figures from here. If the dealer is there can you get an email address or regular address that I can pass along to him.

IT JUST GOT BETTER

The Marx group had a news release from Conte Collectibles. The news release stated the founder of the company Richard Conte will be at OTSN. He will be at OTSN with one of his sculptors Robert Ortiz, who will be giving sculpting demonstrations. Conte Collectibles will be in two rooms which are under Joe Baker's name. The rooms will have displays of the Omaha Beach playsets and prototypes of new Vikings poses and Spartans. Having Richard Conte there will allow collectors to ask many questions including when certain items will be done such as the furniture for the Warlord Tower and the remaining sets of the Alamo.

OTSN FOLLIES

The OTSN show is only few days away and the fun and games are starting already. We now know our information on TSSD new playset is correct. The playset is Tarawa Atoll. The set will have 17 new figures. This piece of news is interesting as it means one set of figures has only 7 poses.  Did one of the new figure cavity molds have problems? As to what else is in the set, those details are being kept secret until the show. Likewise the figures with the exception of two poses are being kept quiet until the show.

At the same time Conte Collectibles will be showing Bloody Omaha No 1 and 2 playsets in Joe Baker's room. Joe is Conte Collectibles web master. They are supposed to have 20 to 25 of each playset at the show. We will have to see about this. There also may be blister cards of the figures.

Finally an unconfirmed rumor is the new Barzso playset will be Tripoli. If this is the playset then it will be dealing with the Barbary Coast pirates and the marines. We will have to see.

Marx Elliot Ness and Al Capone Figure Molds

Not An "Unsolved Mystery"

The latest issue of Playset Magazine stated that the Marx Elliot Ness and Al Capone character molds are missing. The situation is the molds are not missing, they have been in production for years. Stad's was one of the companies that sold these reissues for years. In fact the one of the people who contributed to the article sells the figures on his company's website for $8.00! Boy I bet someone is embarrassed. They should be as it is one more example of poor research and sloppy journalism.

Playset Magazine 29

I got my latest issue of Playset Magazine 29 and once again I was disappointed. The Untouchable article was not up to the usual review of a playset. The article opens up talking about the television show how it was violent and the controversy. No where is it mentioned why Marx  did the playset and other items. The magazine has access to people who worked at Marx, who could have given insight on the selection over other shows. There is no mention that the figures were original for the set. Also there is no mention that the Marx skyscraper figures could be a good enhancement to the set. The article points out a prototype of a sitting figure they saw at the Official Marx Museum, but they missed mentioning the prototype of the exploding beer truck. This item was written up in the PFPC issue on the Untouchable playset. No mention is made on the accessories if they are original or from previous sets except fence and telephone poles. The article does try to list the various Untouchable reissue items that you can get to make your own Untouchable playset at an affordable price. However, the magazine listing only talks about the Untouchable header bags, when these items were also available as a boxed playset. The reissue Untouchable playsets were originally sold in plastic "clamshell" boxes. Some people have called it a sewing box. The reissue Untouchable playset was later sold in a colorful cardboard box.

The article from Kent Sprecher on Lido is very good. There has been very little written on the smaller plastic figure companies. The article gives a good overview of the company. We find out that Lido sold their figures to other companies when they needed figures. We also find out that owner of Giant was a relative of the founder of Lido. Hopefully Kent will have an article in the future on Giant and explain why they used the name Giant when most of their figures were 25mm. The information for the article was gathered from various interviews with family members of the Lido founders including one of the founders, Seymour Arenstein, who is 86.  Kent, through the interviews with the family, gives a good overview of the company. Much of the information confirms what has been printed in Collecting Toy Soldiers by Richard O'Brien on Lido. 

The New TSSD Figures Are

The new TSSD figures are WWII Japanese and WWII Marines.  As to the specific poses we will have to wait until TSSD posts pictures on their web site or someone gets pictures. There is also supposed to include a foam sea wall.

New Paint Style For Britians Deetail Figures

Britains has released the Deetail figures in a new improved paint style. The question is, do we need another paint scheme? What we really need are new figures. Hopefully, with new management, Britains will see the light and make new figures and retire the old Deetail figures.

 More on the FOV Historical Legends

The FOV Historical Legends figures are now starting to show up with regular dealers. The dealers are getting one part of the series that seemed to miss Target, the American Civil War figures. One problem the dealers are having with the Historical Legends is that the figures are sold in assorted cases which means the dealers have no control over what they can order. This will lead to dealers selling out of certain items and being stuck with other items. Due the fact that the dealers might be stuck with stock, they may not reorder, which could lead to certain figures being hard to get. We will keep you informed.    

Playset Magazine

I went to my local comic book shop and found that they did not have the Playset magazine. A call the next day from my comic shop told me it would be in next week. No problem on my part- I can wait. It is one magazine I do not need to have in a timely manner. I can wait and see the articles for my reviews.

I did get the first issue of the Lone Ranger comic book. It is a six part series. The first issue was disappointing. At the end of the book, they have Tonto killed and a bad man who is going to kill the Lone Ranger. The first issue is the attack on the Texas Rangers. They are going after one crook and no mention is made of the Butch Cavendish gang. The writer decided to add Reid's father who was not in any of the other versions. I will see how the rest of the series goes before I will decide to buy the regular series when it comes out.

One series I have been enjoying is 52. This book is put out once a week by DC Comics. The series traces one year with out Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The spotlight is on the minor characters of the DC universe. While the series is good, I have been enjoying the sections of Isis and Black Adam. I think if DC does not screw it up they have a major new character in Isis to rival Wonder Woman. The character is much different from the television version.

OTSN

For you going to OTSN you are now down to 10 to 12 days.

Airfix goes into Receivership

We have just got word that Airfix has gone into receivership similar to our Chapter 11. The reason was Heller has gone under and the molds are tied up with them for more details

 Airfix

Odds and Ends

I am a little behind on posting as I have been busy with projects and Ebay. I hope to have a post on the Marx 60mm Vikings in a few days. For those of you going to OTSN you have between 13 to 15 days until the show. Everything has gotten quiet. It seems that no one wants to tip their hand. I will be watching for reports on the show and let you know. Be careful out on the internet as there are some new Paypal scams. The scams will either be that you purchase an item which you did not or they will email you that you won an item but it is for someone else. Do not respond to these emails. Either forward them to Paypal or delete them. I hope get my copy of Playset Magazine tomorrow and see how it is. I will post my review as soon as I see it.

More Fort Lido Memories

George Albany sent me his memories of Fort Lido and with his very kind permission I can share them with you.

The Fort Lido you pictured on Comment Time  brought back some memories. I had completely forgotten that it had existed. As I recall, it came in a header card bag (correct term?) with other Lido figures. I remember playing with one around the end of the last Ice Age when I was a kid. I can't remember if it was mine or belonged to one of the kids I played with. Several of us may have had one as there were three or four of us who were big time toy soldier guys. I think that I may have tried to improve mine by taking a knife and trying to make the door open better, but unfortunately, all I accomplished was to weaken the hinge and the door came off.  Amazing what triggers childhood memories, huh?

HAPPY LABOR DAY

Hope you had a good Labor Day. Laurie and I had a quiet Labor Day. I had to work Sunday, but had Monday off. On Sunday we went to our local fair which had been hit with rain most of the week. If I did not have tickets for the fair, we would not go. It is not the same fair Laurie and I knew as children. There are less animals, exhibits etc. We walked the the fair and the only thing we had were pierogies. For those who do not know what pierogies are, they are a filled pasta (noodle dough) with mashed potatoes. the pierogies are then boiled or fried. The stand we go to boils them. We did not enjoy them this year. We went to a local hot dog stand. We always do that as it is cheaper than buying them at their Fair stand. This year we had a cheese dog which was good. Monday we just relaxed and let other people go to the  fleas.

Stupid Food Idea

At the fair I saw a stand offering loaded fries. What is loaded fries? Loaded Fries are french fries topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, chives and sour cream. Can we say potential heart attack?  

More on the Fort Lido

Brian from Canada spotted an Ebay listing with the Fort Lido. The Ebay number is 220023689413. The fort is with Lido Arabs and Foreign Legion. The fort is missing the back wall. The fort would be out of place in the desert as it is a log fort. When I got my Lido Arabs and Foreign Legion as a child I got as a vacuum form piece that could have been an oasis, but was out of place.

Stupid Movie Remake Idea

IMB.com announced that Peter Jackson was going produce a remake of Dam Busters. The movie was made in 1954 and chronicled the British effort to blow up several German dams in World War II. The new movie would cost 30 to 40 million dollars. The reason they want to make a new movie is because when the original movie was made many of the aspects were still top secret. The new movie would now be able to show the former top secret parts. The problem is, who is going to see this movie? The subject has already been done on the History Channel, so why waste the money? I think a law should be passed that Jackson should only be involved with Tolkein.  I am still annoyed over King Kong.

Playsets Rock At Morphy Auctions

This past weekend saw several Marx playsets sell at record prices at Morphy Auctions. Many of the playsets were factory sealed mint playsets. The prices were surely new records for these playsets. Some of the playsets that sold were Captain Gallant $7020.00, Zorro $9360.00, Jungle Jim $7020.00 and Rin Tin Tin  $5850. Non character playsets went for high prices as well. A Fort Apache sold for $3217.00 and a Marx Alamo for $4680.00. Playsets that were open and may have been incomplete sold for high prices as well. A Wagon Train series 2000 sold for $1750.00. This set may have been missing three wagons and 20 Indians.  Another playset, a Sears Disneyland, went for $1872.00 and a Revolutionary War playset Series 1000 went for $994.00 Likewise a Johnny Tremain playset, which had a water damaged box, also went for $994.00. The above prices listed include a 17% buyers commission. Sources for this information are www.scoop.com and Ebay.

Forces of Valor Part 3

I picked up my final sets of the Forces of Valor Historical Legends. I got the four figure set of the pirates and the four figure set of the Vikings. I also picked up one of the sets of Romans for a friend. I can see that people have been buying as there were only two sets left of the Vikings and Pirates. The Romans had one set left which I got. My very good friend John said he had no problems getting the Romans in other Targets to add to his army.

The early release of the figures to Target has upset some dealers. One dealer has gone back and forth on whether he will carry the figures. The dealer finally decided to carry the figures, but has advised that he will carry the figures. Another dealer has tried to tell people the sets in Targets did not have accessories, which is not true. The regular market is supposed to get the figures early September. According to  reports there is a fourth series American Civil War. What is in it we do not know and must wait until these figures show up.

The 24th Annual East Coast Toy Soldier Show

The 24th Annual East Coast Toy Soldier Show is on Sunday November 5, 2006. The show will be from 9 AM to 3PM and will be held at the Fairleigh Dickinson University. You never know what you will find in new or old figures. Laurie and I will be there for a short time as I can not get a full day off. Admission is $6.00

Playset Magazine No 30

For anyone who cares, issue 30 of Playset Magazine will be Ben Hur. The latest issue of 29 is out and should be in collector's hands shortly.

More on the Fort Lido

I have heard from several collectors on the Fort Lido.  One of the collectors, Wayne Woods, passed along the following comments:

I was looking at your picture of the Fort Lido and was wondering if that went to a set I saw advertised on the back of a cereal box when I was a kid. I think it was Post Toasties Corn Flakes.

I remember the figures were Lido cavalry men/civil war and they were fighting Indians and there was a fort. I know I never saw the set in stores. I was living in Illinois at the time and toy soldiers were quite popular. It is the only Lido fort I ever remember seeing. It had to be in late 1963 early 1964.  I remember because of where we were living at the time.

I didn't get the set. I was only seven years old and a buck and a half they wanted for the toy was a lot of money back then. Were those the days?

I know that Lido baseball figures were giveaways by Nabisco and Frosted Flakes had the soldiers. So the fort could have been a cereal offering as well. I have heard from two collectors who remember seeing the fort in a header bag. I hope to get a report from one of them once I get permission.

Here We go Again

For those who having been waiting for the Conte Collectibles Omaha Beach playsets, a report has popped up by Conte himself stating that the sets will be out this fall. Please remember fall goes from September 21 to December 20. It might be at OTSN. If these playsets are at OTSN they might be limited quantities  like last year for the figures. If the playsets are out for OTSN it should upset a few other makers of new products.  The two Conte Collectibles Omaha playsets will have 23 new GI figures, which would mean there will be no new German poses. Also the playsets should have the poses that were offered last year at some shows. It will be interesting to see how many of the figures in the Omaha Beach playset have not been available for sale. We will post more details as we get them. 

Also Conte is stating that 23 of his Spartan figures are going to be in plastic. These figures are at the factory in the mold making process. No breakdown on how many figures on each side or a time line when people might see these figures.

Dollar Store Find

I stopped in a dollar store recently while Laurie was doing some grocery shopping nearby. Not figuring on getting anything I found four different pirate sets for a $1.00 each. Each set comes with one pirate about 50mm plus some accessories. Some of the accessories do not fit in such as a catapult, but for a dollar how can you go wrong.

IS THIS THE BIG SECRET?

As you know people were told that that something big was going to be revealed at OTSN, but it was a secret. Well the big secret may be a playset called Battle of Tarawa. It will be a playset with Marines and Japanese with accessories such palm trees etc. I do not know if this information is true or not. The Marines may be new figures or they could be previously released figures in different colors. We will have to wait and see if I am right or wrong. I really don't care if it is true or not. I am tired of this game of people having to wait until OTSN to know what the surprises are going to be. It is like we are to be amazed by the great new product that will spring forth. Most companies announce what is coming out. Forces of Valor announced their Historical Legends at least 6 months ago. I have been waiting for these figures and when they showed up I was ready to buy them.

 Look, the special buyers already know. The average guy would like to know what the item is so they can figure out their budget. Letting them know a month or two in advance is not going to hurt the product. Also people will not be able to rush things out in that short of time to counter the new product.

Now as how did I get this information, did I put phone taps out? Did I bribe someone who knew? No I was having a pleasant conversation with someone on toy soldiers and this comment came up in passing.

Well if I got it wrong on this I will admit it. Maybe I will ask a psychic the next time.

Fort Lido

This week I have the week off and have been going to various flea markets. At one of the flea markets I found this uncommon item Fort Lido. This fort is a simple fort of four sides two long pieces and two short pieces. As you can see the fort is not in scale to the figure. If I was setting up a scene I would use the fort as a prisoner stockade. The prongs for the fort are not that good and I am sure lead to a lot of damage. I wonder if this fort was sold in a box or on a blister card. The fort was in a box with Lido Civil War figures. This is the first one I have seen and I will be keeping it. Have you ever seen it?   

Forces of Valor Historical Legends

Saturday I went over to my local Target store to get my next set of  Forces of Valor Historical Legends. I purchased the two large Knights of the Hundred Years War sets and the small Viking two figure pack. My very good friend John pointed out that there is a figure in the small set which is not in the big pack. The figure is with a spear and he could be used as a foot soldier in a medieval army.  The store seems to have all of the figure sets and I planned to buy a Roman set to send to a friend in England.

My very good friend John has bought several of the Roman sets to populate his Remco large and small Roman galley ships. The figures work very well on the small Gladiator ship. If you added the spear ballista on the ship and put a figure behind it, its even better. John noted that the Toyway Romans go well with the Forces of Valor figures. I will get the final two sets to complete the collection on my next pay day.

A Few More Reasons Not to Deal in the New Material

I have been saying that once I get back in the field selling again with certain exceptions I will not be dealing in the new material. I have recently seen two examples of dealers getting the short end. The first example is Forces of Valor Historical Legends. The figures are in Target stores, but the figures will not be available in your hobby stores or from your favorite toy soldier dealer until the end of August. One dealer was debating whether he should cancel his order as his customers will already have the Forces of Valor figures. In this business if you do not have the item when it comes out, you have a very good chance of losing the sale.

Another reason for not dealing in new material is the Papo figures. The Papo figures were only showing in educational toy stores and hobby stores. The Papo figures are now being offered in A. C. Moore stores. A. C. Moore is a chain of craft stores. The stores are selling the Papo figures for $1.00 less than what some other stores can sell them for.

Toy Hunting

Laurie and and I decided last Saturday to go for a ride after lunch. We stopped at a Walmart's as Laurie was looking for a no sugar and no salt Ketchup. I checked around the toy shelves and found a Battle of Dresden playset by the Ultimate Soldier 32X. The set contains six bunkers, five figures and a German 88. I had wanted to get a German 88 since I missed a Corgie's version many years ago. The price was $16.99. After that we went to Big Lots to see if they had anything new in as well. Over the last year they have gotten various Lord of the Ring figures and sets. This time they had some of the mounted figures which they were selling for $3.00 each. One price guide has them at $15.00 plus. One other item I found was a set called Rodeo. This set was made by New Ray and it is actually four sets around a Rodeo theme. I purchased the one with two bucking bulls and two rodeo clowns. The figures are 60mm and nicely done. The sets are $6.00 each and I will pick up the other sets as I can.

Roy Selwyn Smith

We have just learned the Roy Selwyn Smith passed away on June 16. Roy had been involved in creating many of the Herald plastic figures and the Britains swoppets. Roy also designed the famous Britains knights of Agincourt metal figures.  Peter Cole of Of Replicants has written a wonderful obituary on Roy and you can see it here

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/obituary/0,,1837864,00.html

The only thing I want to add is Laurie and I had the pleasure of meeting Roy several times. I can say Roy was a quiet and unassuming man who was amazed by the fame that was given to him. It was a pleasure to meet one the people who made the figures we have enjoyed and played with.

Forces of Valor Historical Legends

The Forces of Valor Historical Legends series have come out and it has been worth the wait. It has been reported on the Marx Group that the figures were showing up in the Target stores. I decided to check the local one on Friday as it was my day off. The figures were mentioned on the group. The figures are being sold two ways. The first is a large group which the packaging has four foot figures or the packaging has two foot figures and mounted figures. Each set comes with accessories. The accessories are great and will be added to many playset set ups. The large sets are being sold by Target at $9.99. The large grouping has two different sets of pirates, two sets of Romans, two sets of knights of the 100 years war and one set of Vikings. The other packaging which I call the small packaging has either two foot figures or one mounted figure. I know the foot pirates had accessories, I do not remember if the mounted come with accessories.

The figure are nicely detailed and listed as 1/32 scale. The only disappointment on the series is there are only five different pirates, so if you buy the two big sets you will have three duplicate figures. The way to get around that is to buy the small set as it has the two non duplicate poses. This way you will have only one duplicate pose.

The Forces of Valor Historical Legends has made some good selections.  Hopefully they will expand the line in the near future.

BOY DO I LOSE TIME

I did not realize that I have not updated Comment Time for awhile.  Part of the reason there has not been not much news. The flea markets are hit or miss affair. One weekend you might find nothing next weekend you have it overflowing. Also many of the flea markets have been hit by rain or heat. I talked to one dealer, who set up last weekend and he said there were only 30 dealers at the flea market. This flea market normal has three to four times as many dealers.

The new figure market has been quiet. The long over due D Day playset from Conte Collectibles is still not out. They have five months to keep their promise that it will be out in 2006. Also I can not keep a secret Playset Magazine has hint at some fantastic new product from a certain maker. According to Playset Magazine this manufacturer is doing something in a brand new area of the hobby. What it is, well it is a secret. You have to wait until OTSN. Frankly I don’t care; I can wait and see what it is. I am waiting for the Force of Valor figures slated to come out in August. These figures were previewed earlier this year and will be from various historical periods including Romans and knights.

Playset Magazine 28

The latest issue of Playset Magazine issue 28 with the exception of two items was not annoyance as previous issues. This issue was on the Marx Construction Camp playset. This playset was done to take in the demand of construction toys. The playset was popular and sold in several different versions. The errors and omissions were very minor. The article does not list the size of the figures. The construction figures are 45mm. The magazine has started to list what items of Marx are being reissue. This is overdue piece of information needed for the collectors. The only thing wrong with this information is that pieces can come in other colors. Dinamicos is known to have done their figures and pieces in different colors. What can make this information more reliable is to add the statement that other colors could exist.  The construction workers were done in reissue and were used in a farm playset that was sold in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I do not have any information if they were sold separately. It would have been nice to note the differences of the Big Inch Pipe Line notable the building is a Quonset hut instead of a cabin.

EBAY BATTLEFIELD PLAYSET

The other thing that annoyed me in issue 28 of Playset Magazine is trying to defend the sale price of Marx Battleground playset that recently sold on Ebay for $9000.00. The listing had two hard to find playsets one mint in the box. My attitude is if someone wants to pay that price be my guest. What I object to in the article is implying that this purchase is a sane investment. I would disagree on several levels. First playsets and all collectibles are intangible assets. What that means you may have a harder time selling the item. It may sell for higher than what you paid for it, then again it may sell for less. I have seen many items I have purchase do that. I recently sold a Key to Fantasyland which I purchase twenty years that would do well. Instead the items did not sell for several Ebay auctions and finally sold for a loss. On the other hand I had a set of Battle Beasts in Greek Packaging which I hoped to get $5.00 sold for nearly $200.00. Second the items are playsets, what you do with them do you put them together and either play with them or display them. So if you take mint box playset and display it the box, you now reduce its condition and therefore reduce the price. Third you have to realize that this price could be anomaly. You had several people get into a bidding war and they could have got caught up in the bidding frenzy. Finally there is a lot of silly money out; there are people they do not know what to do with it. These people make as much as you and I make in a year in an hour or a day.  An example of this is story that float around the hobby years ago that Steve Spielberg had bought three playsets for ten thousand dollars. The story was false, but I found out that year Spielberg made 50 million dollars. So if he had bought the playsets, it was chum change.

The fact of the matter is I do not look at what an item sold for. I look at what I am willing to pay for it. Most the items in my collection have been purchased for under $25.00.  I pass on getting my number one want years ago when it was offered for $1500.00. I got it the way I wanted in a junk box for $5.00! The post exchange front  that was the loose playset in the deal show up at a toy show in the past year where a collector got it for $300.00.  So keep hunting you will never know what you will find out there.

SPEAKING OF COLLECTING

I was checking out the magazines at our local bookstore when I found an article done by someone Laurie and I knew. The article was on the close of the Movieland Wax Museum by Daniel Roebuck. Dan is big fan of wax museums and had as one of his father’s day and birthday presents going with the family to the Movieland Wax Museum. Sadly the museum went out of business. Dan tried to get his favorite wax figure Boris Karloff as Frankenstein, but was out bid. He did get some other items, which made his remark about his acquisitions strike me as odd. The new items would be in his collection until his wife put a pillow over his face.

I hope Dan is kidding, but this brings up a very important aspect of collecting, you have to keep aware how the other members of your family are going to react to your hobby. You must balance hobby needs to the needs of the family. Your family comes first, the hobby comes second. If you are going to a toy show you see if there is something your family has planned. Or see if you can combine the two so part of the day is yours and part of day is the family.  Next you do not let your purchases get out of hand that it affect the family budget. I have little use for people who use their food money for the hobby. One final thing you can do is get the family involved in your hobby or a related hobby. A great example is the Marx doll house playsets. Laurie enjoys my hobby, I have gotten her interested again in collecting dinosaurs and this gives us two areas to look for.  

 I still remember meeting a collector in another hobby and saw how obsess he was. What he was missing and I saw was how his family was despising his hobby. This collector was upset that he had to go to Disney World to keep his family happy.  I felt sorry for his family and had no respect for the collector.  The reason I had lost respect for him as he lost sight the hobby is fun not obsessive.

1776

Hope you all had a good 4th of July. I had to work. No rest for the those who work in technical care. I had planned to do some flea markets, but they can wait until another time. We did get to do one tradition beside having hot dogs and corn, we watched 1776. This is one of our favorite movies. Laurie helped do costumes for a local production of 1776 years ago. I have enjoyed it since seeing it at Radio City in 1972.  The version we watch is the director's cut. This version has many differences from the original release. The titles are different . The original release had the credits go over John Adams going down the steps of the steeple. The director's cut has the credits over a series of drawings. Also in the director's cut many scenes are expanded. One of the scenes added in is a musical number called "Cool Cool Considerate Men". This was cut because President Nixon did not like it. The number is interesting, but I feel it is one of the weakest numbers of the show. We always enjoy seeing 1776 as the music stays within you for days and leaves you little twinkle in the eye.

FLEA MARKET HUNTING

It has been slow around here due to the weather. You may have read that my area had heavy rains and flooding. We were in a pocket which did not get much rain. An areas around had their third flood in 2 years. Many of the homes and business had  just  finished restoring their homes and have to start again.

I have found a few figures for myself and the list, but I have been more lucky for Laurie. I did a flea market with a friend not finding anything. I found some smaller dinosaurs and then found for Laurie  two X-Brand Dinosaurs. These dinosaurs I am sure sold for $25.00, but I paid only $6.00 each. I also got off of Ebay a Moldarama Tyrannosaur. The figure is made in a machine while you wait, These machines made various items including space capsule and pirate. The dinosaurs were the most famous items they made. They were used for the Sinclair dinosaurs that were done for the New York Worlds Fair. I still had my brontosaurus from the Worlds fair which I gave to Laurie. The tyrannosaur I just got for her is smaller than the Sinclair dinosaurs. It was produced at the Field Museum in Chicago. A number of the machines are still in use at various attractions around the country. I got several animals at the Miami Aquarium several years ago.

 Playset Magazine 29

Issue 29 of Playset magazine will be on the Marx Untouchables playset. The Untouchables playset is an interesting playset. It is based on television show that young people were not suppose to watch. It was a violent show for young people. The figures for the playset were original to playset and never used again except for a prototype Dick Tracy playset. The playset one of the few playsets to have tin litho vehicles. It will be interesting to see how their article compares to the article in PFPC. 

One of the interesting aspects of the Untouchables Playset is the character figures Elliot Ness and Al Capone were available for many years for reasonable prices. This was because one party had bought a box of the character figures at one of the Marx auctions. The auctions had come about because break up of the partnership of Bowers and Scala who had bought the Marx warehouse. One of the items was four boxes which contained various Marx items including cartoon figures. 3" Spacemen and other items. The Untouchable character figures were in their own box. The four boxes sold for $50.00! I know as I was the person.

It was amazing auction. I had two flat tires going to the auction. I spent $400.00 that day and still wonder how I scrapped the money together. I fill the back of the car and  still shake my head on the prices. The star of the show was the Untouchable character figures. I was happy sharing my success with the collectors with these figures.

QUIET TIME

The hobby has gone into a quiet mood. It usually happens when school ends. People are more interested in vacations. The toy show circuit dies down to the end of summer. My very good friend John went to the Marx meet and reported that he had a good time. John was amazed on the number of the playsets that changed hands in the two days. He was able to get some great buys and sold well. John reported that there was some one selling dump items. Some of the dump items that were seen included Marx Ben Hur items, the accessories for the skin divers and Untouchable figures. We should see a report in the future issue of Playset Magazine as Rusty Kerns was there at the show on Saturday.

I did a couple of flea markets this weekend as I decide to keep my days off and check the scene. At several of the markets we were able to find some items. The only flea market that was a disappointment was Renningers which had nothing.

Another thing I was able to do this weekend was stop at Big Lots and find several of Play Along Mounted Lord of the Rings Figures for $3.00 each. Big Lots has been getting various items from this series.

The reports on the Norman Joplin show in London were disappointing. Held in the early part of June, the attendance was poor and several dealers reported disappointing sales. We did talk to one dealer in metal who had a good show. He was able to get the Britains military helicopter in the box for $50.00. The next Norman Joplin show will be in September. Norman has been getting a lot of flak recently for doing his shows. There people who feel that there are too many shows in London and that his shows are cutting the pie smaller.

There are not many new items coming out this summer unless you collect 1/72 scale items. There seems to be a new 1/72 scale item just about every week if not more. On the 1/32 scale market there are some new items from Century 21 and the mounted Bengal lancers. This set is slightly disappointment as one of the five figures is a bugler. While some people have stated you can covert the figure, most collectors will not so they will have a wasted pose. I will wait until Hackensack to buy the figures where I should be able to get a good buy on the figures.

The other item people are waiting for is the long over due D-Day playset from Conte Collectibles. Some people thought that this playset would be out for the anniversary in June. We did not expect it as this company is notorious for not getting their product in a timely manner. It should be noted that Conte Collectibles did not set a date for the playset, but still they have been showing pictures on their website for months. Also some of the figures were offered as samples last September at the OTSN show. When will this set be out is any one’s guess. In the meantime Conte Collectibles has left in the lurch collectors who are waiting for them to finish their Alamo and other playset set series.

So it will be interesting to see what turns up in the coming months.  Will anyone find any great figures at the flea market or new pieces will come out we will have to see. We will keep you posted.

Things You forgot You Had

I decided to use pouch two for one of the flea markets. When opening it I discover two items from our Plastic Warrior Show. The first was the Wellington figure I got at the Royal Army Museum. The figure sells for three and half pounds or $7.00. The company Westair does other resin like figure from various other periods.

The other figure I found was Foreign Legion Figure. It is hard plastic and was made in France. I have no idea who made the figure. I got the figure as I felt it would mix in the Marx Foreign Legionnaire figures.

A side note I am now calling the pouch I am using pouch two. This is the honor the pouch that I carried with me for  thirty years first for my Boy Scout patch trading then toy soldiers. Pouch one had been with me on many of trips. It is now retired as it had gotten worn and I did not want to lose it.

Plastic Warrior Show

I have placed my report of the Plastic Warrior Show. The picture might take a bit to load, but wait as you can see all the plastic to select from. We always have a great time at the Plastic Warrior show and it is a shame that more U.S. collectors do not go.

Plastic Warrior show 2006

Dollar Store Finds

I have been hitting all the dollar stores to find the Marx Marines. I have not found them yet, but I did find the following items plus some dinosaurs for Laurie

The first one was done to cash in on King Kong. They had two sets one with an ape and one with a raptor.

The store had two sets called the Castle Heroes The first came with a 25mm figure and a castle front

The other Castle Heroes had a 45mm figure with a Viking boat you could add to your medieval scenes.

Russian Afghans

One of the pieces of  information we got out of Plastic Warrior Show was the Russian company that did the four Afghan figures was planning on doing four more figures to add to the set. We got this information from Dmitri a collector from Russia. HE did not give any time line on the addition to the the figure set. We also asked him about the Marx 60mm Egyptians that are in Russia. He said that mold is in one of the former republics and is missing.

PLAYSET MAGAZINE NO 27

I was surprised this was the first issue of Playset Magazine in awhile that did not have something annoy me like last issue with the Rex Mars. This issue did an article on the Charge of the Light Brigade playset. The article gave a reaction of the author trying to get the playset as a child. This aspect has been missing from many of the articles in previous issues of Playset Magazine. The article points out the different playsets that were inspired by it. I would have like the picture of the Russians to been bigger. The article on Marx Fights Back was interesting but a bit too long. The rest of the articles are the typical fluff pieces PM is known for.

I DISAGREE

One thing I disagree from issue 27 of Playset Magazine is the comment by Frank Rice on the production of figures in Hong Kong. Frank Rice seems to implied the 60mm figures for the Warriors of the World were made from figures sent over. The figures were made from the original cavities which were shipped over. If the figures had been use the Warriors would have been three millimeters smaller than the originals. This happens when you to keep figures at the same size. When you go to smaller scale there is no problem. The cavities could be easily taken out of their frames and shipped to the orient. The molds were over in Hong Kong when Marx was closed and sold. Most of these molds are with Rado.

MARX 60MM MARINES

It has been report in the Playset Magazine that the 60mm Marine figures are showing up in the dollar stores. I have been told by a source they are different colors, but have not confirmed this information. I have tried several dollar stores in my area with no luck.

ODDS AND ENDS

I am working on the Plastic Warrior show article and hope to have it up the end of the week. Laurie and I will not be at the Marx meeting this year. Laurie has to go to an all day seminar on Thursday throwing off our plans to do two days at the show. I have decided to work on several projects including getting a sales list up on the web site. I will have some interesting information on a small company from Italy coming up. 

Figures

Here is an example of some of the figures we found in London. One on the left is possible symbol of German city. The jester looks like he is holding a magnifying glass. The middle figure is Hong Kong attempt at the Britains swoppets.  The figure on the right is a resin figure. This figure is sold in a shop across from the British Museum. The shop sells various size resin figures. I also got a resin Roman. We found this shop through information from our very good friend Peter Evans.

ODDS AND ENDS

In our wandering around London we stopped at a hobby shop. While waiting for John to purchase a Revell crossbow figure, I spotted an Airfix catalogue for 2006. The catalogue said Airfix will be issuing the 1/32 scale Ghurkas and WWII Italians. The reissue of the WWII Italians will be long over due. I was told years ago that CTS looked at doing the WWII Italians, but was told that the mold need work. We will have to wait and see if these figures come out this year.

Replicants for their 10th anniversary has reissue three of their older figures. The three figures are Civil War wounded carried by a fellow soldier, mounted English Civil War Round Head firing pistol and civil war kneeling firing riding rifle.

The Gun Ho Vietnam War Australian figures are coming. A small lot of figures were on sale at the Plastic Warrior Show. The figures look bigger than their previous offerings, but I did not get a chance to compare them with the other Gung Ho figures on the size.

VALLEY FORGE

We have received several reports on Valley Forge MFCA show. The people we talked to said the show was down in dealers and people. The number of tables were down by 25%. The show does not advertise so many potential customers do not known the show is on. The dealers who had regular customers did well, while other dealers had a bad time. One new dealer at the show was Ron Barzso with his products allowing people save the shipping cost. Ron was also the only dealer with the new TSSD Civil War in great coats. I was told the amount of old plastic was down. Dealers who usually carry plastic with their metal only had metals. 

Back Again

It has been awhile since I last posted. I have been busy with work. I will be posting a number of items here in the next week including the Plastic Warrior Show report. The show was great. We had a great time and saw many of our European friends we have not seen in several years. If anyone thinks that the Plastic Warrior show is just a British plastic show just wash your mouth out with ivory soap flakes. The only British plastic we picked up were in two small lot deals. I got many exciting figures both for resale and the collection. We will have many interesting items for you so stay tune. Below it sample

In the photo above are three Marx natives except they are 60mm and were done in Portugal. The figures are very likely copies of the Marx figures. The only reason I did not add them to the collection is the figures were 15 pounds each or $30.00! So  stay tune for more great information.

PLAYSET MAGAZINE 28

Issue 28  will spot light the Marx Construction Camp Playset with tin litho vehicles.

KUTZTOWN EXTRAVENGZA

I decided to take Thursday off and go to the opening day of the Kutztown Extravengza. I had not gone in number of years due to work. I had decided to do the show this year due to my new work schedule does not have Sundays off. I arrived at the show and walked around. The first day is dealers day, but is the best day to find buys. To give you one an example of the buys a person got a mint Marx Farm playset  for $75.00. Another person got Marx prehistoric playset. On a table I saw a Marx playset. This same table had a one story western town, and the Ideal Mounties headquarters missing the plastic parts.

I found several items for the lists and eBay. I got lot of Marx figures including Lassie and Jeff. Another party had a pack mule missing pack. The mule has chewed ear and  some gouges. It will be interesting if someone will be interested in them. I also got some plastic figures with another dealer. My friend John got a nearly complete Sky King figure set and a number of bags of plastic figures. After two hours of walking I headed home.

Odds and Ends

Our very good friend Peter Evans thinks the pirates are from Italy. I am waiting for another friend for his comments. Next week Laurie and I will be along with our very good friend John in London for the Plastic Warrior Show. This year they will be celebrating the tenth year of Replicants. Replicants has over the years come up with some great pieces to supplement your collection. What they are doing this I have no idea as they keep it secret. So it will be a nice surprise. We will get to see many of our friend and share a pint at the pub across the street. It will be a great time.

Also the same weekend will be the Valley Forge Show. This show is a grand daddy of toy soldier show. If it was not on the same weekend as Plastic Warrior show we would be there. You will 

UNKNOWN PIRATES

One of my sources came up with these two pirates plus a third one missing a base. The figures are semi flats and painted. The only flat pirate figure I know of are the comic book flat. These figures may be from Europe. We will have to see.

TOY  NEWS

Play-Doh is celebrating its 50th anniversary. When Play-Doh first came out it was in white and in 1.5 pound can. The next year it was  shown on the Captain Kangaroo Show and came in  three can pack of blue, red and yellow. We thank Toy Book for the information

Target is planning a specialty toy boutique in their stores. The boutique called Time to Play! will  have specialty toy brands for children ages 18 months to 7 years.  Two lines of interest  that they will be carrying are Breyer Horses and Schleich figures.  We thank Toy Book for the information

The flea market season may be in jeopardy due to the rising gas prices. Last week I paid $2.47 a gallon this week I paid $2.69 a gallon. As we know the prices are going up and could be at $3.00 a gallon by the end of the month. This  huge increase will hit the pocket and will force many people to scrimp on their purchases. The high price of gas may effect shows such as the Marx meet in West Virginia and even OTSN forcing people who would normal travel several hundred miles to attending these show will not go. Hopefully this will not be the case, but we will have to see.

According to the Marx group site, the AIP Mounted Colonials will be out in May. No date has been set for the Bengal Lancers.

SUNDAY FLEA MARKETS

This past Sunday was the last Sunday I will have off for a while. We checked out one flea market that is normally open on the third Sunday, but it was closed due to the Easter. The other two markets were opened, but only had a third of the dealers. I only found a early Starlux Indian woman with baby under the Starlux line for $2.00. I would not have done any flea markets, but with my new schedule the Sunday flea markets will be out for the rest of the season. The previous week we had headed down to the New Hope area and had not found anything until Laurie spotted three of Marx Civil War character figures in flat cream. The price was right so I bought them. We went inside a building and Laurie found a Clash of the Titans game for $20.00. She had tried for one on Ebay a few months back. I found some Eyes Right figures before we left.

With my new schedule I will do several  other markets which I normal do not do because Saturday has been post office day for the Ebay sales. 

Explore The Prehistoric World!

A review from Whit Knight
(Okay, this isn't Jurassic Park.)
Explore Le Monde Prehistorique!
(My French isn't that good, and I
don't have a key on this computer to add
an accent mark over the first "e" in prehistorique.)
Recently, I purchased a Dinosaur Big Box (TM), marketed and
distributed by Action Products International Inc. of Orlando, Florida
(www.apii.com, or 1-800-77ACTION).
Out of loyalty to a former employer, I purchased the set over
the phone from The American Museum of Natural History's Gift
Shop. I had the privilege of working at the museum in the late
1960's, in the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Let the buyer beware: I paid New York prices for this, $24.00,
plus $9.95 shipping and handling. This set, and ten other Big Boxes(TM),
are available direct from Action, at $19.99 plus s&h.
The set consists of 36 little dinosaurs, of the type that Safari Ltd.
sells in its "Toobs" or that can be found loose in small-chain toy store
bins. These little guys are nicely detailed, albeit brightly painted.
This is geared for kids under ten years, but over three. I can live with
metallic-blue triceratops and orange stegosaurs. Then there are six,
bigger dinos, all -vegetarian and carnivore alike - with spiky teeth,
and all appear to be yawning, belching or gargling mouthwash.
The set includes six pairs of coconut palm trees; two types of cactus;
and a plant I can't recognize.
It also includes a terrain piece and a playmat.
Not bad for the buck. The accessories can be used elsewhere.
Stay tuned.
Whit

IDEAL PIRATES

At my human job there is little time to write or talk to your fellow coworkers. This is because the calls are back to back. So most you can say hello and that’s it. Occasionally things whether we will be able to talk or write due something that happen. One day we started trading emails back and forward on pirates. I don’t know what started it, but I ended up sending an email saying I would be bringing some pirates for everyone. I had in a box a lot of Ideal pirates left over from the business and made up sets for my team. The next day I put the pirate sets out on their desks. The team enjoyed them, several were going to paint them, and one of team member decorated her CRT screen with them. The figures became a little bright spot in another day of back to back calls.

The figures are some of the finest figures that Ideal had every done. The sculptor went the extra yard and did extra detail not seen on their 60mm figures. The pirate with two pistols has earrings is just one example. The figures are better in reissue as the original pirates were in a plastic that made them hard to stand. Also you have to be careful with the original pirates on leaving the figures on the pirate ship too long as they will react over time to the plastic of the pirate ship leaving foot prints. The reissue figures do not have a base so you will need to create a base for them.

My pirate ship from my childhood is incomplete. I only have the ship body most of the rigging is gone. Laurie has from her childhood the Disney version minus the figures. When you see the pirate ship at either a flea market or show it can easily be $150.00 and up.

ODDS AND ENDS

AIP will be releasing their mounted AWI colonials and Bengal Lancers in May. The mounted colonials will have 5 figures in 5 different poses, while Bengal Lancers will have 5 figures in 3 different poses. I am planning to buy one set of the Bengal Lancers as I have always wanted to have Bengal Lancer figures. I enjoyed the movies and always wanted to have Bengal Lancers. At one point I was buying Lido mounted knights with the lance down, which I want to have a charging line like the Bengal Lancers. I will buy only one box as each box has a wasted pose of a bugler. I will pass on the mounted colonials as they do not interest me.

Chiller is started to put up their list of people who will be at the June show. They had do their show in June due to losing their hotel. Right now the guest list is short, but it has two interesting names Steven Sagel who will only be there Saturday and Michael Gross. Michael Gross is noted for Family Ties and Tremors. I wonder how many people will be getting his autograph for Family Ties versus Tremors.

Laurie and I got out to two flea markets last Sunday. The first one I found a bag of MPC Colonials and at the other flea market I got some game figures for a $1.00 and Tamiya kit. My very good friend John was there earlier and got some Cohn buildings. Both of us remarked how the stands had changed at the one market. Many new faces and a number of dealers were buying silver coins. My Sundays this season will be limited as we had a shift bid and I was unable to get Sunday off. I am enjoying the remaining Sundays until the next shift bid. Because of this change we decided to forego the New Jersey Historical show because of the schedule change. The show is a small show and most the dealers are the same we saw in March.  Also they have move the show to a new location which is at least forty miles away from the old location. If it had been at the old location, I would have done it.

 Playset No 26

It never fails, Playset magazine comes out and they put in some kind of information that really annoys me. The latest issue of Playset magazine keeps up this tradition. 

The issue started off fine. It had two short articles on the Ideal Atomic Cannon and Marx 51 Tank. The author of the Marx 51 tank has found that the axles were done differently so it would create a noise of a tank rumble.  This is an interesting piece of information never mention before. These articles are what Playset magazine needs a little diversity.

The articles on the CTS Alamo Playset  and Barzso/TSSD Road to Stalingrad are adequate. The articles are fluff pieces for their advertisers, which Playset Magazine is noted for. Even being fluff pieces the articles come up with some interesting facts such as CTS had to do the pediment of the Alamo chapel as it is today to keep its retailers happy. The fact the Road to Stalingrad is missing the picture of the Russian figures is unfortunate, but happens especially when you may have been rushed.

The annoyance of the issue comes in the article on the Rex Mars playset.  The Rex Mars playset was a playset that Marx issued using the Space Patrol, generic space figures and Tom Corbett figures without having to pay rights for Space Patrol or Tom Corbett. The name was made up just as the name Captain Solar was made up that was used on a similar space playset.  The set contains three different sets- Tom Corbett group, Space Patrol group and generic spaceman group.  The problem starts when the author wants to declare the generic spaceman as Rex Mars figures. That is fine for this playset only because the copy writer for Montgomery Ward called the generic space figures Rex Mars. You can not use Rex Mars for other space sets, they are generic spaceman. If you want to give them a name I would lean toward Tom Corbett spacemen. The reason I would lean toward that title is due to their space helmets. The space helmet design is the same as the helmets used on Tom Corbett. You can go to www.solarguards.com  and see a photo of the space helmets. Before my description would have to be confirm, the Space Patrol playset would have to be check to see if it came with space suited men. I will see if I have the Starlog special yet for space toys. In the special they had a picture of Bob Burn's Space Patrol playset so we can see if came with space suited figures. If they do we would have leave them as generic spacemen.

It is fine to name some correctly if you have proper documentation. An example of this is the Andygard Civil War figures. These figures have been misidentified as Ideal Civil War. Paperwork was discovered that showed who made the figures, which changed the record. The listing in Montgomery Ward catalog is copy writer's fluff.  To officially classify them as Rex Mars we need hard core documentation. Until then we must classify them as generic spacemen.

A minor annoyance is the parts listing on the Space Patrol figures. Some of the figures are listed as various characters from the television show. The problem is it is the first time where I have seen names for the character figures. I would like to see where they got these names. Was it a listing from some Marx factory sheet or someone's figuring that this figure is Cadet Happy.  If it is from documentation let's see the documentation. If it is someone's figuring, I would have disagreements. The cadet figure at attention is Cadet Happy. The face is Lynn Osborn who played Cadet Happy. I can also accept the figure they are listing as Cadet Happy as well. The figure that is listed as Tonga could be a different version of Carol. The character Tonga was first a villainess before being reformed. I do not know if she was reformed before when the show was issued. This has been a weakness of the parts listings such as note before Roy Rogers is in brown.

Schutzen Park

Laurie and I picked up our very good friend John and headed for our first toy soldier show of the year Schutzen Park. We had a pleasant drive and got at the show 15 minutes before the show open. The doors opened and we headed for our very good friend's tables Gerri Watts. Gerri directed us to another set of tables which had four bins of figures. Hard plastic figures were $.50 each and soft plastic figures were 5 for a dollar. We dived into the bins and found a a number of great items including some Cherilea and Crescent figures. The bins were also loaded with reissue figures. There was so much that everyone found something. Later in the day the bins seem to have more figures including Marx Civil War wounded. After finding some figures we headed back to Gerri's table and bought some of his special bags. Once we finished buying from Gerri, we started through the show.

At one table, we found for Laurie a Miller Hippo and some dinosaurs. At another table Laurie got a series of Dinosaurs that had been put out recently. I was able to buy a set of the Marx Captain Gallant character figures. In the back room of the show, we got a Ray Harryhausen Minotaur for $2.00 John had found a box of model kits for resale. John was able to get several Conte metal sets for 20% off list price. I got a set of the TSSD Russians. We got to talk to several of our friends. Alan Ford had gone to West Coaster and had a good time even finding a Marx playset. He will not be going to Plastic Warrior showwhich is a shame as I am sure he will have a good time. We said hello Glen Fink , but did not get a chance to talk. Our friend Gerri was fighting the flu and Chris Salomon's brother was in the hospital.

After 2 hours we headed for home.

Louis Marx Grave Site

I was waiting for Jasmine to get her second breakfast before taking her for a walk. As I was waiting I decided to check the internet. Using Google, I decided to see what I could find on Louis Marx. One of the items that showed up was a web site www.findagravesite.com. This site shows you the grave site of Louis and Marx and gives you a short biography.

A Second Look at TSSD Russians

As I mention up in my show report I was able to get a set of the TSSD Russians. I have look at them and not changed my opinion. The faces are what hurts the figures. I had one collector write into me saying that the I was wrong on the faces being bad because they were Eastern European. My reply was if you compare them to the ESCI or Airfix Russian figures the faces of these two companies catch the Eastern European face.

The faces are what hurts the figures. The noses on several figures are just the bare representation of  a nose. Another thing I do not like are the arms on two figures throwing grenade and arms out.   Over all the figures are disappointment compared to the earlier offerings of TSSD.

Lone Ranger

For fans  of the Lone Ranger there is a newsletter for you. Called the Lone Ranger newsletter. It has information on the new movie, comic book series and vintage items. The newsletter is  $20.00. If you are interested you contact them at lonerangerfanclub@sbcglobal.net.

WILD HUNTING

Here is a sample of one of the Wild Hunting Sets

TSSD RUSSIANS

The TSSD figures are out and it is the hinted WWII Russians. From the pictures I have seen I am not impressed with the faces. I will get a set if they are less than $20.00. The surprise is TSSD hooked up with Barzso and did a playset Road to Stalingrad.  The playset is decent with buildings and accessories. The buildings may not be in scale but that is not important unless you are into scale perfection. The playset has only eight poses per side which I felt is too few. TSSD is trying cover this lack of figures by saying you can use Charbens, etc. Problem many of these figures are not in scale to TSSD Russians. It is interesting TSSD did not mention Conte Collectibles for the Germans to use in the playset.

Conte Collectibles is releasing pictures of their GI’s figures for their D Day playset. I figure it is in response to the release of the TSSD playset. The figures are great. The faces are great. The figures are some of the finest made. The trouble is how long they will take to get out and the company’s attitude toward the collector. No mention is made of when Conte Collectibles will come out with its final parts of the Alamo not to mention the interior of the Warlord Tower.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF OUR NEW ADDITION

Just kidding, at the Chiller show a woman had a very realistic doll that looked like a baby. We thought it would be a good joke photo. I am sure some of my enemies are saying see I told you Stad sits on the left side of Satan.

We have add two reports

London Toy Soldier Show Report

Chiller Dead of Winter

ODDS AND ENDS

The London Toy Soldier Show we did in December had an attendance of 1217 people. There is a new playset show up called Andersonville. This is infamous prisoner of war camp that was run by the Confederates. People are reporting that it is from BMC. We are checking with Bill McMasters of BMC to confirm or deny if it is from his company or not. We heard from our very good friend Peter Evans who attend the UK Toy Fairs. Peter said that there is a number of new Papo types including Romans. He said that there is a game coming out for Pirates of Caribbean that has 54mm game pirate pieces . It is something to look out for. One other note Britains will be using the Deetail name again for their plastic line.  Otherwise it is very quiet out. The weather has been warm but when the weekends show up it rains or too cold to go out. In another month the flea market season will start  up and we will see what turns up.

Those of you that have requested a copy of our new list will have to wait longer. I have been a little over work I am going to try this week to get it ready.

Laurie meeting one of her favorite comedy idols Ruth Buzzi at the Chiller Dead of Winter. We will have a report up soon on the show.

PLAYSET MAGAZINE No 25

One of the big disappointments of this week was getting issue 25 of Playset magazine. It is a toss up what annoyed me most. I guess the question asked of Dustin if it is the real Trigger. Hello where have you been, it is a known fact Roy had Trigger, Buttermilk and Bullet stuffed. There use to be a joke if Dale was going to have Roy stuffed to sit on Trigger when he died. The second part of the Roy Rogers article seemed meander around. We get a short mention about the 54mm character figures being made. No note is made about the Bullet character figure is a copy of the Rin Tin Tin 60mm figure. The 54mm character figures are in reissue in Mexico and are sold with the Ranch kids. Item that should have more display was the Stuart playset. Instead the photo is squished into a color picture  along with other items. It should have had half of page. Even the color centerfold is a disappointment. The photo is so unexciting, it seems rushed.

Then we get to the next item the Hopalong character figure. It is blazed across the cover. So when we get to the article we are told that one of the three inch character figures looks like Hopalong Cassidy William Boyd. There is no documentation it was made to be William Boyd in fact the editor mention it could be Eisenhower. Many sculptors based their figure’s facial features on people they knew or famous movie people. Mark Harris wrote an article in PFPC on how of the Miller plaster army figures looked like various movie stars. So it could be William Boyd on the three inch cowboy running with pistol, but it can not be called a character figure of Hopalong Cassidy unless documentation is found. The second photo with a fantasy playset box makes one thinks the article is more info commercial.

Another example of info commercial is the review of the CTS Yorktown playset. That could have been done in a paragraph. There is no need for the review except for new foam building. The rest is preaching to the choir. It seems that some one want to practice their knowledge of big words.

Playset magazine needs to change its priorities. It seems to put more emphasizing on making its advertisers happy instead of its subscribers. The magazine should be doing more articles for the subscribers. It should be more diversified nature. The articles on shows should be expanded not pushed into a paragraph. There should be articles on various figures beside Marx. One of the favorite sections of PFPC was Rick’s Pix. If you want to see good examples of magazines that have their priorities right just look at Plastic Warrior and Figuren. Until Playset magazine changes its priorities it will be a disappointment.

THE SECRET IS OUT

A number of people got a nice surprise this past week, the list is back. Yes the list that made Stad's famous is back. I have wanted to do it for long time. I have been disappointed with what I have seen in the hobby. Most dealers are giving short shift to the old items and are only highlighting the new items. Also many people are getting disappointed with Ebay. They have to spend hours looking for items and then worry if they will get into a bidding war. With the list you can quickly look over the items available and decide what you want. The list has many exciting items many of them being offered for the first time in the United States. This list had Davy Crockett figures from Roche. This is a company which did a series of figures related to the Disney Davy Crockett films. The quality and style of the figures is equal to a Timmee. Our next list will have many other new items and will be out as soon as we have time.

FIGURE NEWS

Our very good friend Peter Evans has passed along some more figure news. Emhar is suppose to do Saxon warriors. Peter also informed me the long awaited gladiators have come out from Italeri. Checking one web site Harefields of England it shows they got the gladiators in late December. Harefields has not done pictures so the only other information we have is there are sixteen figures in the box. How many different figures we have to wait and see.

Going back to the Emhar and their Vikings we are getting reports that the figures are 1/35 scale and will be offered by Imex. Once again we will have to wait and see. One English site has pictures of the Emhar Vikings but it is hard to tell size.

STUPIDITY

Driving and talking on a phone at the same time is stupid. Driving, talking on the phone and trying to have the phone repair at the same time is really stupid. Also driving, talking on the phone, talking to your daughter and giving a credit card at the same time is really stupid

MARX BAREBACK HORSE

I am still looking for that Marx bareback horse looking right. I will keep looking for it. It is something to look for when out hunting. When I finally got the Speedwell armor car on fire, my true hunting days were over. It was the only item that was elusive. There are other items I need, but it is now come down to if I see and it is in my price range I will buy it. Otherwise I will pass. I had seen one of the Richard Green Character figures at show and passed due to my budget. I have not been upset as I have gotten other item instead. In England I got some unusual Italian space men. I got the Replicants Battle of Trafalgar playset, a nice playset we will review in the near future. At the London show a dealer had rare Crescent Indians I pass due to the price. I know that I will find something just as nice in the future. You would not believe how many treasures I have found in junk lots.

Video

This last trip to London I accomplished something I nearly did thirty years ago. I took video camera along on our trip. I had been offered a video camera in college for the trip, but the recorder weighed 40 pounds. The camera we used was on of those one time use camera. The camera weighed just a few ounces.  I was amazed how well the pictures came out. I took pictures of the London show and will try for the Plastic Warrior. I have not figured how I can share them with you. I will look at web site has where you can share them.

   Index