Plastic Warrior Show 2008
Some of the many items you could buy at the show
I had not thought we would be able to go to the Plastic Warrior Show this year due to the high air fares. Laurie went to a travel meeting and came back with a surprise she had won two free tickets on Continental Airlines. Better yet we could use them to go to Europe. The next problem was could I get the time off to go to the show. After much wheeling and dealing I was able to get the time off and we set ourselves to go to England.
We left for England on Thursday May 15. The flight was packed with only one or two seats empty. The food was typical airplane food. The entertainment center going over was not bad as you had a selection of 350 items. Because of rough turbulence the food was served late and we had only two hours of the lights off so neither of us got any sleep on the plane.
After getting through customs we were able to get the underground to our hotel the Royal National. The hotel allows checking only after two so we went to get our money change and for me to get some magazines for work. The mobile phone industry in the UK is six months or more ahead over the U.S. I like to get magazines to show my coworkers what we will be dealing with in the future. After doing these two quick jobs we head back to the hotel.
One thing in Europe you will find is many hotels do not have wash clothes in the room. We had forgot to bring wash clothes and decided to purchase them. When we were out getting our money exchange we stopped at several places and could not find them. When we got off at our tube stop I had noticed earlier a new shopping center called the Berwick Center. I decided to go over to the center and see if I could find some wash clothes. I walked into a place called Super Drugs and found the wash clothes. They are called wash flannels in England. Please on my purchase I head back to the hotel. Going out a different access than I had come in I discover a Holiday Inn we had been looking for which had a pub in it. I decided to take Laurie back to the area later and show her my finds.
I had told Laurie meet me at the bar in the Royal National Hotel. While I was waiting for Laurie, I order a Magners which is a hard cider we like as neither of us like beer. As I was enjoying my drink and trying to figure out the game of Cricket, Laurie came over to the table spitting bullets. Somehow the cloak room clerk had given her a hard time over getting a bag she needed. It is at that time in married life when your wife is cursing the four winds and you are not responsible for the problem that you either tune your wife out or have another drink. I did both and tried figure the game of cricket out.
Finally our room was ready and we took our bags up to the room. The room was the most disappointing room we had at the hotel. The room was not bad it was clean and had enough space but it was a typical dorm room if it was at a college twenty years ago. Tired we took a nap and relax after the long day.
After a good rest, I took Laurie to the pub I had found in the Holiday Inn. The pub is called Callaghan’s and is like so many typical pubs in England after having a Magners we decided to eat. One of the things you will find when you eat in London food can be so expensive if you are not careful. One place you can get food at a fair price if pub. I had chicken tik tat and Laurie had a beef pie. Both of the dishes were around six pounds each which is about $12.00. The food was very good and we decided to make it a regular stop on future trips. After another round of Magners we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the next day.
We were up bright and early as I had not slept since 3 AM. We had breakfast at the hotel. The hotel room rate included a continental breakfast which included fruit drink, rolls and cereal. This meal was included in the hotel room. If you wanted a full English breakfast you could get it for 4.50 pounds or little more than $9.00. After having our continental breakfast we headed out for the show. Because of where we were located we had to change trains but I had done it before so I knew which stations to use. If we had use our old stop to do it we would have to go upstairs and down elevator. The stop we used Hammersmith you get off the train and just walk to the other side of the platform which is only a few feet to get the other train. We arrived at the show and greeted many of our old friends out in the parking lot and got ready for the show.
Marcus Krause Enjoying a break from the busy show
When we entered into the room of the show we noticed a change, many of the dealers we had seen there for years were not there. Undaunted we started to look for items. We started along the row which was against the stage. The first dealer I spotted had several six inch Marx British figures which I purchased. I was also able to get some other figures from him in 5 pound bags. From him I went down to Daniel Lepers who has been at the Plastic Warrior shows for years. He used to bring large quantities of Café Storme and Mokarex, which have long disappeared. He still brings interesting figures. I was able to get off of him a French sailor with a machine gun and Indian which he said was Grand Canyon. I could not hear him right due the echo of the building so I will have to check around. I was pleased with the purchases. We stopped at the table of an old friend Marcus Krause. I told him that I had lost 1 billion dollars on the lottery and I felt I was like the government. (When the amount gets high around 100 million or higher I play $5.00. Mega Millions was over 200 million so I had five chances to win). We found some figures from his table and headed on. The foreign dealers were down this year. I do not know if it was the time of the year or the internet but the only dealers in were from Belgium or Germany.
Some collectors going through Peter Bergner's junk boxes.
We walked around some more and stop at our very good friend Peter Bergner’s table. Peter had some of the Italeri items for me at cheaper prices than what I would pay in the states. He also has the Janetzki Arts figures which are some great 60mm resin figures. The company does figures for Prince Valiant and Karl May western figures. I got a buffalo hunt diorama for Laurie. Peter was also doing a very brisk business in his junk tables. You could see that the collectors piling up the baskets with their finds.
Peter Cole of Replicants celebrating his latest releases
You had to be very careful in your buying as one person might have a figure for 2 pounds ($4.00) and if you went to the other side of the room the same figure could be had for 50 pence($1.00). Several dealers I had bought in the past my purchases were limited due to their prices. I was able to find other dealers with figures in my budget.
Laurie with our friends Tomasz on the right and Axel on left
The show was not only to meet old friends but to renew friendships with one you had lost contact and meet a new friend. I believe I had been in contact with Tomasz Karpowicz years ago and we lost contact. We had seen him at the last Plastic Warrior Show we had attended, but had not gotten a chance to talk to him that year. It was due that I was very tired. This time I made sure we contacted each other and made sure we got a chance to talk and renew our friendship. Tomasz told me later he got 120 new figures for his collection. Of which twenty of the 120 figures were off his want list. The new friend was Axel Sohnius from Germany. Axel had bought some solid Timpo figures off me on Ebay and we had started a correspondence. He had missed part of the show due to no one in the town knowing where the show was. Once we got together Laurie and I took him under our wing do see him around the show. Axel was able to find some solid Timpo Figures for his collection. Axel repairs many of his Timpo figures as many of the solids are very fragile.
Ron Barzso and his wife
Another new face at the show was Ron Barzso. Ron had a table promoting his figures and buildings. Ron was over with his wife and some friends doing tour of the various castles and the sites up in Nottingham. Ron stayed all day at the show and had a good time. He had a great time greeting people who were interested in his figures.
When you do the Plastic Warrior Show even though it is a small show in size you can easily miss items because of the plethora of material. I had that happen when I had stopped at a table for the second time. I saw the dealer had the Crescent Executioner and asked the price. He replied it was 45 pounds ($90.00). Just then I spotted a Marx 60mm Arab kneeling the rifle was damage but at 2 pounds ($4.00) it was worth picking up. Another dealer had loose Atlantic Western which I could use. Everywhere you looked there was something of interest.
Some of the Helmet Kit Figures
The crowd started to come in and the tables were active. People were able to get items for collection. One of the new dealers was the new owner of Helmet the figure kits. They had their figures on display and the kits for sale. Steve Weston had his Mexican bandits just in time for the show and was doing a brisk business in them and the AIP products which Peter Bergner said he was selling also.
During the show had a raffle of various items donated by the dealers. They had so many items that they had the children at the show pick an item. One of the nice things you do not see at the U.S. shows is father and grandfathers bringing children to the show.
Steve Weston who had his new Mexican bandits for sale
After a few hours of doing the tables Laurie and I went over to the pub across the street from the show for lunch. The food is good and worth every penny. We went back to the show and met Axel who we mention earlier and did more buying. By this time the crowd had thinned out and the dealers were ready to leave. The show was done by 2 which were several hours from the last time. I made some last minute purchases picking up two of Plastic Warrior guides and the second edition of Timpo Book by Michael Maughn. We had gotten this book from our very good friend Michael Smith who we had hoped to see. He got us up to date on his life and showed us his latest purchase the original masters for the Britains Robin Hood figures that were done a few years ago. As the dealers were packing up I did some last minute purchase and we took Axel over to the pub for some drinks. The place was crowed with football fans but we found a spot and share a few drinks with Peter Evans, Axel and several other people from the show. After about a hour we head back to the hotel and relax before trying a new restaurant called the Giraffe. The food was good, but the price for the fancy hamburgers and desserts was too high for what you got, so we will not go there again.