Greg Liska’s AWI insanity. that is what are very good friend Greg Liska called his recent purchase of Ideal Revolutionary War figures. I better let Greg explain.
I recently saw the ‘pool bottom blue’ Ideal AWI recasts on Ebay. I full well knew they would be a broken mess but my hand would not stop moving to make an offer on them. I at least made a very low offer and figured, ‘nobody will accept that’ and I could resume life. Nope, offer accepted about 20 minutes after I made it. I wanted them so bad because they matched my MPC (Hobby Bunker) AWI recasts that were advertised as Hessians. I knew I couldn’t use them together, but it sort of legitimized that color choice for Hessians. Yeah, I know, I need to be telling this to a professional. Anyhow, I’d been working on a 60mm French and Militia unit. Adding this in was not a big stretch. There were about 50 grey ones in the Ideal lot and they were split between the French and Militia (so half were painted brown and half white). In a recent battle, with my son controlling the Continentals and their allies, I took a few pics. This doesn’t showcase them enough. I’d added AIP guys where colors fit and the cavalry is not even shown in the pics. Artillerymen were available in close colors, although I painted the Hessian ones the perfect matching ‘1960s bathroom blue’. You can’t even tell they were painted, the match is so good. Some conversions from BMC Alamo Mexicans were done, heads by ‘All The King’s Men’.
Greg added this additional note I would like to say my huge thanks to everyone to helped contribute to the amassing of these new units. Each is roughly about 180 guys in which there are about 20 artillerymen, 9 cavalry, a 6 man band (drum and fife), 2 flag bearers, about 15 officers, the rest infantry.
Nice ,not insanity. A big Fun!!!Great deal/job and show/battle
I’m wondering when I will get time x this!!LOL!!I wish
Wow !!Ideal recasts. Where have I seen them before?
Oh yes, Bill. You’re to blame for my insanity! Hey, I don’t know your Ebay name. Did you sell me this lot? I know you mentioned them, but since you couldn’t dangle them before my eyes, I resisted.
Wow, we seem to be featuring a lot of items sold to us by Mr Nevins.
I agree with Erwin – it’s not insanity when you get so much enjoyment from your buy!
Nice job Greg !
Would have gone nuts to have a set like this growing up !
Thanks for encouraging me. If I had a ‘shrink’ he’d be calling you all ‘enablers’. This whole thing was put together over many weekends, and I mean weekends ONLY. That’s the only time I’m home. The Hessians were the last to come aboard, but since I had worked on some 250 Ideal AWI guys before, I had the best and fastest procedures figured out. Replacing broken musket barrels and swords with the correct gauge pins, coating all protruding unbroken parts with clear glue, priming and painting pins and metal heads, replacing heads on 3 of the poses, painting the 3 frontiersmen poses either brown or blue to go with frontier militia. I was curious as to how much time it would take, so I kept a tally. I knocked all that out on 270 figures (there were some BMC Alamo Mexicans in there, too) in about 20 hours, spread out over 2 weekends.
Oh, and Mark – I’ve obviously already gone nuts. I think my inner child is punching his way out.
Nope. I have not sold on Ebay in years. You got those from one of the flea market dealers who bought them by the gross from the vendor who had the original storage unit find.
I’ve got them in medium blue, light blue, gray and red.
I would have given you more, had I known that you still wanted them.
Ed, I didn’t sell those to Greg. I gave them to him.
Yeah, I know you mentioned you had them in light blue. I just had no idea they would be the perfect shade of blue to match other ‘Hessians’ in my collection. So yeah, I threw away a little bit of money. I couldn’t bring myself to ask you for more free stuff. Just not ‘right’. I missed the boat when you offered.
Hey, I’m a nut too one of those conversions I actually took the time to shave the bed roll off of a broken Reb I got from Don Perkins. I think I have turned into a perfectionist late in life. Sometimes I’ll make a guy not like the way he looks and tear him down and start over. Not to mention I have done about 700 Alamo conversions and like 10 Civil War. Obsessed or focused?
I’m new to this forum and referred here by Erwin. He thought maybe the forum could help and specifically those who do conversions.
I have vintage figures from Marx: pioneers and others: Tim-Mee with pieces of sprue still attached to them. With my newer figures, I remove the sprue with an X-acto #11 knife and also use the X-acto to remove the mold flash. I like to get a smooth surface so the sprue mark is minimally visible.
On the old figures that I see on eBay, a lot of times I see sprue marks left. I am afraid to cut the old figures because I don’t want to lower the value. I’m most afraid of cutting the figure and ending up with a patch of different colored plastic. On the other hand, a chunk of sprue on a figure’s head looks ugly.
I din’t see this topic covered anywhere in the archives.
Thanks for any help.
Jon
Welcome your question is very valid. My feelings if there is a piece of the sprue on the figure I would remove it. Sprue marks I would leave alone. We will see what other readers think.
I don’t believe anyone would consider the value lowered by removing old flash, even if the color exposed is a bit different. I do it with my vintage figures all the time.
Jon, if avoiding any decrease in value is your priority, the best course of action would be to never handle the figures, never remove them from the sprues, and never open the bags or boxes. In fact, avoid touching them at all cost. Ideally, don’t even look at them. Store them all in a climate-controlled room and don’t ever let them see the light of day.
Undoubtedly, some of today’s collectors rue the day 50 or 60 years ago they opened their Marx playsets on Christmas morn, and thereby “lowered the value” of the childhood presents their parents lovingly purchased for them.
I may never have a lot of money in the bank, but I read my comic books, re-enacted the 68 & 69 World Series with my baseball cards, and played with my toy soldiers. I may not be able to sell my collection for a fortune, but I’ve been a rich man for the experiences.
Comic books? I recently spread out and purchased 4,000 comics, it’s a diverse assortment and they are all for sale.
I lost my comic book AND baseball card collection when I went in the Army. They were all stored in the house we owned in Illinois to live in when we weren’t off with Dad somewhere.
I was at Ft Sill going through Artillery School and Dad was home on leave packing the rest of the family up to take them to Germany with him. Somehow he got into the closet in my bedroom and decided to clean it out, he took my entire comic book and baseball card collection out to the trash and burned them!
Mom had a duck fit when she found out what he’d done, but it was too late.
Over the years occasionally you would hear about this or that comic selling for hundreds, even thousands of bucks and I would casually mention how I used to have that issue. I had some real collectibles, Fantastic Four #2, EVERY issue of SGT Fury (after all, they were Airborne…) – sad to think of it now.]
Mom never let him live it down. Maybe it saved my younger brothers’ stuff.
I’m just glad I gave my kid brothers my toy soldier collection to “take care of” while I was gone (if I had outright given them to them they might not have fared so well) or they would have been in the bonfire, too.
When I hear concerns about about doing something which might “lower the value” of our plastic toy soldiers (removing the sprue, opening the box, cutting off flash, converting the figure, touching the figure, etc.) I think “Good Grief —- Is this what our “hobby” has come to?”
And does a Timmee figure even have such great value that having the remnants of the residue of a sprue on the top of the figure’s head really make a difference in someone’s financial status? Aren’t we talking minuscule amounts of money here? Especially since most Timmee figures end up being sold in bags or groups, rather than as individual figures. That should tell you something about their “value”.
And if you’re trying to do anything other than having a little fun while trying to recoup a few dollars from your “toy soldier investment”, here’s a NEWSFLASH: I attended the Royal Oak Michigan Antique Toy Show this Saturday. Rick Berry was there, and Steve Connell (new promotor of the Indiana Show was there, along with Rick Keller’s partner from Ohio —- also a “Rick” — can’t remember his last name). There were lots of Marx figures and other toy soldiers, both plastic and metal, for sale. Prices on every conceivable type of toy soldier were LOWER than even a year ago. And even with the lower prices, other than me there didn’t appear to be too many buyers. And then Joe Saine showed up walking the aisles, announcing that he’s been losing money on his Michigan Toy Soldier Show and Auction, and might not even do one this year. Why? Too few attendees.
So, Jon, enjoy your figures for what they are and don’t doubt for one minute that regardless of what you do to them, their monetary “value” will likely continue to DECLINE.
Don
One of the problems for shows it is the same old people with very little or any new blood. On Ebay I am able to sell Payton horses yes Payton horses. Try to sell them at a show. Another dealer has been doing well with selling Rel Cavalry on horses. As I have stated before many items have to be bundled to sell. It has been rougher time.
The other Rick was Rick Kellar I hope I spelled his name right.
Paul, it was Rick Keller’s “partner” from Ohio who was in attendance —- not Rick Keller himself. But the “partner’s” name is also “Rick”. Rick Keller himself is down in Florida at the moment, where he likes to “Winter” these days. Remember, as we all get older, we can’t take the cold quite like we could in our younger days. But here in Michigan, with my Indiana wife, we have no choice —- the house is paid for, we’re all settled in with our dog, cats, books, toy soldiers, a brand new furnace we were recently forced to buy, and we’re not moving. It would take Santa Anna and 5000 Mexican Regulars to pry us out of here.
Rick Lipp..
Thank you. All I could remember was “Rick from Ohio, partnered with Rick Keller”. In any event, Rick Lipp and Rick Keller are both a pleasure to do business with.
I think too much was made of my lower the value comment. Apparently buying and enjoying the figures is the value of them. I do have a number of 50 to 60 year old toys which I may have over-paid for.
I like the Captain Gallant FFL and Arabs which generally sell for $10 and up a piece on eBay or dealer sites. Those are my main options for acquisitions in Southern California because I only know about the Westcoaster Toy Soldier show out here.
I am a novice about this stuff and thought I asked a valid question. I didn’t want to ruin something that cost me $10 or more.
As for Tim-Mee, I have acquired some pirates in groups for about $3 each. I got them because I like pirates and Navy. I only saw a few offered on eBay and one seller who seemed to have a lot was listing them at about $8 or $10 each. Doesn’t mean he was actually selling them. But I didn’t find them anywhere else.
I’m a novice who was given a few toy soldiers as a kid in the 60s and 70s, but never had Marx. Then between 10 and 15 years ago I bought some BMC, TSC and CTS playsets and figures for my son. He gave them back to me and now in my dotage, I have regained interest. Just another older guy who likes this stuff because I grew up seeing the commercials and reading the Christmas catalogs.
Thanks to Admin, and others for your help. I think the consensus was to cut off something that bugs me and if it’s just a mark, don’t bother shaving the figure down.
To Greg Liska: I like your conversions, especially the new heads for BMC Grenadiers. I’m not ready to try that. My first conversion project is taking BMC Hessians and converting them to Delaware Light Infantry (my reenactment group.) I’ve been shaving down their mitre caps to light infantry helmets and their knapsacks to haversacks and adding canteens. I like my results so far, but nothing good enough to share in photos. Thanks for your inspiration.
Welcome to Stad’s World, Jon. It has been a wonderful ride!
Thanks, Paul!
Damn, Jon! Now you have ME thinking about making some LI figures. They seem to be lacking in the mix from any plastic figure maker. That and Dragoons. Must stop myself….must….stop….
Jon – Thanks so much! Changing out heads isn’t really hard. What really helps is just having a few of the right tools. What do you have? Adding and subtracting gear on a figure is a lot of careful carving and fitting. That’s some tougher work, usually.