Toy soldiers?

i have a small collection ..a mixed lot mostly. i collect old tootsie and midge toys ,pre war . when i purchase lots there are always a few lead soldiers in the mix..so now i collect them as well

I used to have oodles of teh Airfix stuff as a kid... but I gave those to my kids to play with once they were bigger.

I collect 50's- early 60's era Marx play sets that include figures but I don't collect individual figures.

I do remember a series of figures that came in a box kinda like the old Matchbox cars. I believe these were historical/military subjects. About 1/35, 1/48 scaleish, hand painted and made of that hard brittle plastic. (bakelite?)

Also figures that looked a lot like the figures in play sets but you could separate the torso from the hips/ legs. Their weapons were separate pieces.

If I could find out what these are called I would collect them.

most of mine are pre war lead or pot metal. soldiers,sailors, animals and people.i have maybe 30 total. they are more of a side collection than something i collect earnestly. As A kid i had a few marx sets. cowboys and Indians. the fort Apache set. Dartari set . space set can't remember the name of that one. and a few others. they are very pricy now a days if the sets are complete and the boxes are in nice shape. i'd love to see some photos of your collection

Hi bubba Joe , yeah I'd love to share some pictures if I can ever figure how to post pics from an iPad, maybe even join a group build too. You're prewar figures are probably barclley manoil or grey iron. Those were the big three back in the day

In the early 50's, I had a Marx playset, based on the TV show "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet."  They also made a similar playset based on the show "Space Patrol".  I was a great fan of those shows.

I frequently see people on Fee Bay breaking up these sets and selling the pieces individually.  That is a shame.  A full set is hard to find these days.

I was into The "Sharpe' Series of books buy Bernard Cornwell,so I did get those figures of Sharpe,Harper ,and a redcoat

My friend who owns a local hobby store used to have a buzillion.  All the Conte Civil War (Every set!) and all Conte Viking figures. He sold the all because the store was suffering so bad.  Too bad because he had to sell them for a fraction of their value.

Hi codyj, I also have a ton of conte.great stuff. Mostly WWII .cool part about conte is the 1/32 stuff is dead on in scale

I do, though I don't generally buy commerically finished figures.  I buy castings and kits, and paint them in a gloss finish.

My preferred scale is 1/32 or 54mm, and my favorite periods are the 18th Century, especially the Seven Years War, and the Imperial German army.  Here are some of my pieces.

From my Imperial German collection...here's the Kaiser (as a younger man) and his eldest daughter, Viktoria Luise, in her uniform as the honorary Chefin of the 2. Leib-Garde Husaren-Regiment:

The Kaiser is a Tradition figure; Viktoria Luise is a one-off originally produced as a master by a friend of mine but which he never issued.

Some Garde-Jäger, from the old Rose Miniatures line by Russell Gammage:

Three field marshals, also from Rose:

The Duke of Mecklenburg (left) with an ADC, figures by Stadden from the old custom figure catalog:

Three hussar officers, also Stadden figures:

The one in the middle is usually identified as Crown Prince Wilhelm, the Kaiser's eldest son.  But Stadden's portrait figures were generally not very close resemblances

At Christmas, I set up a display under my tree, the Kaiser's Christmas Parade.  This shows some of the commercial figures that I have bought, because they were very good and fit with the Rose, Stadden, Imrie-Risley and others:

Those are the Kaiser-Alexander-Grenadiers, a series produced by the now defunct Guard Corps.  Guard Corps was a collaboration between Alan Silk and Ed Lober, who had both produced very successful lines on their own.  They teamed up and issued the Alexanders, a set of early Wehrmacht in parade setting, US Civil War cavalry, and derived from that series, some 7th Cavalry.

William Britains also issued a set of Imperial German field artillery, in the Charles Biggs line in the early 90s, which I've collected for this display:

Someday I'll had horse teams for the field pieces; Britain did not make those.

More to follow...

And from my Seven Years War collection...

Frederick the Great, a figure by Ulrich Puchala, based on a Menzel illustration:

A pair of Prussian dragoons, figures by Stadden:

I added the mug of beer and the pipe.  The figures' poses suggested these to me.

Three Prussian cuirassier officers, also by Stadden:

I look for Stadden castings at shows and on eBay, and snap them up where I can find them.

Some Prussian hussars, from left to right, the 8th regiment, or Belling's hussars; the 1st, or Kleist's, also called the Green Hussars, and the 4th:

The Belling hussar is by Puchala, who produced an excellent catalog of SYW Prussians (now available from Mueritz-Miniaturen, of Germany).  The other three are from Dolp, another German kit maker.

A mounted Prussian general officer, also by Stadden:

I ordered that figure from Tradition years ago, probably the last person to order a custom figure from them.  A couple years later, they discontinued the series, for lack of demand.

Here's another Puchala set, and officer and his batman or valet:

Puchala made such animated figures and sets!

Another Puchala figure, a portrait of Hans Karl von Winterfeldt, Frederick's close advisor and friend, till he was killed in action in the Seven Years War:

Puchala's portrait figures are very good likenesses, based on contemporary illustrations, and immediate recognizable.  Puchala himself has moved on to producing figures in larger scales.

A Prussian infantry officer of Infantry Regiment "von Kleist" (Nr. 27), by an unknown maker:

This figure is cast in two parts, the torso, with coat, and the base, with the legs from the waist down.  I have another kit by the same maker, with a different torso, of a grenadier.  But I don't know who made them.

Frederick's brother, Prince Heinrich, who commanded the Prussian armies fighting in Saxony and central Germany, also by Puchala:

I like painting colors, so here are some flag-bearers.  An officer of Regiment "Itzenplitz" (Nr. 13) with a company color:

This is another Stadden figure, and I think originally, he held a spontoon in his left hand, but it was empty when I got him off eBay.  I added a flag, using a piece of brass rod for the staff, and tin foil folded over and laminated with CA glue.  I outsmarted myself, though, in making the folds so deep.  It was very difficult to paint the center of the colors.

Another ensign, from Regiment "Kleist" (Nr 9), a figure by Puchala:

The flag is also a piece of foil, folded and layered with CA glue.  The wrappers from Reese's peanut butter cup miniatures make very good flags, and folded in quarters, are almost an exact match in scale.

And my oldest ensign, made over 25 years ago, when I first got into casting, using Prins August molds:

A Fähnrich of Regiment "Winterfeldt" (Nr 1).  With this figure, I came up with my method of using folded tin foil for the flags.

Cavalry standards...a color party from Seydlitz' regiment (Nr 8), also from Stadden:

In this case, they made the flag by soldering a piece of tin to a brass rod.

A dragoon standard-bearer, Regiment "Duke of Württemberg" (Nr 12)

Also a Stadden figure.  I had to modify the flag, though, it was square, and dragoon standards had a shallow swallow-tail.

And some other makers' figures...this is a great pair (pun, too) by Rylit of German:

I call it "Adam and Eve".  A Marketenderin selling apples, offers her wares to a dragoon from the Rochow regiment, I think.  Rylit has a great catalog of figures in various poses, and many of them depicting camp life, rather than strict combat or marching poses.

Here is a collection of figures distributed by Archiv-Verlag, "Archive Publishing", a sort of German Franklin Mint (except for Franklin Mint-Germany):

These figures were sold in a limited edition series, already painted.  From left to right, a Jäger, a dragoon officer, an officer of Frederick's Garde regiment, a hussar officer, and another Jäger.  I later found these figures available as kits from another company, and after I got Rylit's catalog, I noticed that some of them were in her catalog, too.

Here is a Prussian hussar officer, by New Hope Models, from their Osprey Men At Arms series;

This figure is based on the illustration in the MAA number on the Prussian cavalry, and represents an officer of General von Ziethen's regiment.  I use him as a figure old Ziethen himself.  I painted the Pelz wrong, though.  At the time, the only source I had said the officers wore tiger skins as cloaks, but they were leopard skins.

Here's an Imrie-Risley kit of a French hussar, which I've painted as a Prussian hussar from the Seven Years War:

The uniform is virtually identical, because at the outset of the French Revolution, it hadn't really changed in the intervening years.  These I/R kits are an excellent source for SYW hussars.

Another Rylit figure, illustrating the variety of poses, a Prussian musketier taking a break to rest his aching feet and enjoy a meal of a chicken leg and a mug of beer:

A Zastrow dragoon figure, also by Rylit:

Two Franklin Mint figures, sold in an unpainted finish, which I painted with matte colors as an experiment:

and last one for today, a Prussian Jäger by Puchala, from a Menzel illustration:

I added the base from a piece of tin, some putty, and a bit of tree root with tea leaves glued on for the shrub.

Thanks for looking!

Brad

I used to collect 54mm figures, but switched to 1:6 scale about fifteen years ago (old GI Joe-size).  Since they aren't really model kits, they don't need assembly or painting (although some folks do that kind of thing)--just equipping and customizing.

Here's my take on Sergeant Saunders and Lieutenant Hanley (Combat!, 1962-1967).

Very cool, checkmateking2!  Yes, the 1/6 or 12" figures have really become popular over the past 10-12 years.  A number of makers produce figures with very realistic faces, even portrait figures, and there are a lot of great accessories, and even vehicles.  I've seen some guys build dioramas with the large figures, too.

If you guys are interested in seeing more figures like the ones you've all mentioned, and if you've never seen it, you might want to visit the Treefrog Treasures Toy Soldier forum:  www.treefrogtreasures.com/forum

I'm a member there, too.  There is a thriving collector and painter culture there.

Hi baron, I also do my own casting and painting.wonderful collection you have, do you attend Otsnl

Hi, Raualduke, do you mean the Schaumburg (Chicago) toy soldier show?  No, unfortunately, I haven't made it there, yet.  I'm a member of the MFCA, though, and help run our annual show.  I also visit Bill Lango's East Coast Show in Hackensack every year.  We have a number of small shows here in the East Coast throughout the year, too.  I'd like to get to both Chicago shows some day, both the toy soldier show and the MMSI show.

Do you have a particular area that you focus on?