Since a very young child I was a fan of P.C.Wren, yes I was able to read at a very young age… since then The BEAU GESTE trilogy (in fact five books and some short stories here & there) influenced my taste for toy soldiers and have collected them in all kind of scales (see elswhere in this Blog). In 54mm my DORSET collection precedes the REPLICA BRITISH 2nd AFHGAN WAR at least a couple of decenies… influenced by A GENTLEMAN’S WAR wargame rules (Howard Whitehouse) I am nowadays squaring the collection into 12 minis units to fight each other (for fun and tweaking the rules a bit). Of course the minis are not only used for AGW… a lot of scenarios can be played with each Army alone… more of that one day.
I let you with two recent additions by Antony Spencer head of design at IMPERIAL/DORSET (and ALL THE QUEEN’S MEN too I guess).
I was rather laconic yesterday (health issues)… nothing to worry about too much I guess. It is not always fun to be seventy.
Today I will show you what excellent service means… You ask for some French Foreign Legion castings with a detailed note explaining what you want… then Antony from IMPERIAL/DORSET SOLDIERS takes the trouble to send you the pics of them TO BE SURE the match is OK.
You can not ask for more!
I will be back buying from them in a monthly basis… already other orders are on the pipeline. You can not have a better deal!
It was a necessity… specially for the small cabinet… the “TOKIO Tube look” is gone… so are The French Foreign Legion and the late British Empire (Kakhi)… gone to my old office to play A GENTLEMAN’S WAR with them…
So there you have it, the part of the collcetion in action stances is gone back to wargaming in Andorra la Vella… and the “ceremonial part” stays in Pal.
About time if you understand me. Yesterday afternoon it was a lot of work putting the Toy Soldiers in boxes to be moved and reorganizing the display on the small cabinet… the whole of six shelves was “gone”… but the result is satisfactory… I was already told once in Facebook that my figures needed space to “breathe”… alea jacta est.
Enjoy!
The French Foreign Legion and supports… are gone to another cabinet in my office.So did the Kakhi British in Afghanistan… 6 shelves emptied in total…This is the new look…You could do with some close ups but you got the idea alright!There it is… door closed and all tip top.The “big” cabinet slightly thinned down in numbers…There you have it… closed down and “up to the nines”…
The last Eleven of the Berkshires at Maiwand 54mm Replicametalsoldiers Andrew.
Updated December 2020.
It required time, but they are in the cabinet at last. I did found Andrew Stevens line of Traditional Toy Soldiers in FaceBook, his trade mark is REPLICAMETALSOLDIERS. They are quite Britain’s style but brand new, meaning no Antiquarian prices (or “oldies” look). I can recommend his products because I am really satisfied. I always wanted a range like that and he really adapts himself to your need (in fact so well that another order is on the way I fear!).
At arrival and unboxing, boxes are a delight on its own.The whole order sorted out together.The “hole”. You get a “hole” by cramming up the rest…Fixing a hole.Actually I needed two shelves which will be completed with the current order. Finally the RCMP emigrated to the Household Division Cabinet to make place. All Colonials now here.The Colonel.
It was a long wait but worth the time, as usual I could not stop there and passed another order for some odds and ends and some Corps of Guides units (after a while I added Gurkhas and Highlanders too!). THAT would hopefully stop my collecting in 54mm for a while… if you do not count 5 SPAHIS I am asking for at Dorset Soldiers on the 1st of September.
It must be puzzling for some of the readers that I collect in 54mm and wargame mainly (when I do) in 6mm… but that is that.
After years waiting for them the officer of Spahis will get troops to command!, the parcel with 5 SPAHIS is on the post. I was very late on deciding to add them to my collection (after all at some point of their history they rebelled and killed their French Officer’s… similar to the Indian Mutiny but other times and reasons…)… a colourful outfit no doubt about it… but mainly because Henri de Beaujolais was an officer of Spahis… you must be careful with what you read when very young… Dorset Soldiers under a new management after Giles Brown retired.
Original paint from DORSET.
Well, BTW excellent packaging, boxes, DHL, terms and time elapsed from command until arrival… everything went without a hitch. Customer satisfied. Will buy again from Dorset Soldiers.
Officer Royal Corps of Guides 54mm REPLICA METAL MODEL SOLDIERSRaj Indian battery.Simply great!This one is dedicated to Nigel Price.(Because he is a retired officer of Gurkhas)Queen’s Own Royal Corps of Guides 54mm.Last but not least the Gordons in Afghanistan (Kandahar).
The two pics above are from a megaset titled NAVAL BRIGADE, for once it is not mine at all (sadly… lol)… but could not resist posting the pics on the blog. That shows that collecting 54mm toy soldiers is alive and kicking. Andrew REPLICA Metal Model Soldiers. Someone must be very happy with this set!
Not that it is very easy this days to find what you need or want, so the core of this post is just to praise the excellent comms and service provided by Replica Metal Soldiers Andrew.
Here they are in its proper place with its officer and in reserve. Changed the colors of some pom-poms.
Andrew Stevens is a one man band and has a full daytime job and of course a family… so do not expect him to be FAST! (not shouting it is just emphasis)… but oh boy!… well worth the wait.
For those asking themselves about the officer I already had that one. They mix very well with the scale of Britain’s (of course) and particularly ok with Dorset Soldiers.
This is a part of my hobby I do not indulge a lot anymore due to lack of space in the cabinets… but I manage to squeeze in something now and then.
Got 6mm Baccus Chasseurs d’Afrique and Spahis -thanks to Igor (now retired) who suggested the proxies for the later-
That is an “old” view of one of the cabinets… contents much changed by now!
The final Collection of The Household Division in 54mm + some extras.
The “big” cabinet under the stairs where the main theme -not quite original- is displayed. The Household Division units by shelves. Some of them have been converted (lancers become sword troops) and some sold (Regimental Bands Mounted not in State Dress) to add specials and vignettes of the Trooping of the Colour ceremony (The Queen’s Birthday Parade). Middle of June every year.
The complete REPLICA METAL SOLDIERS&MODELS collection (khakhi), it was collected during 2020 but the last parcel arrived in 2021. Maiwand/Kandahar . Absolutely fantastic old Britains style but brand new. Andrew Stevens did such a great job following sparse instructions… Cabinet a bit crowded but a delighted collector!
Close up to show the Guides Cavalry in the third rank…Tradition of London Royal West Kent set complemented with some DUCAL made to order -aka RSM at the center back and the Band not included in the pic- , and even some “conversions” by me as the Ensigns with the Colours and the Pioneers.
For a Blog who deals on Toy Soldiers or has the burden of the topic attached from the very beginning I have waited enough to do a post on the subject. You see, at least for me, ALL of them are Toy Soldiers. But there is a firm distinction of what is considered a “classic” Toy Soldier -and we are talking Antiques here- a bit snobbish and pricey if you please… “New Toy Soldiers” is an even more puzzling definition which I am going to explain too and for once I will not write a lot myself, all has been written to perfection by others… I began collecting 54mm Toy Soldiers -I should have said New Toy Soldiers as you will see- as everybody else who does. I like them. Bring back memories of a happy childhood when I did parades of soldiers on the floor following the counsels of my maternal grandad. They were my favorite toys and that’s that. When visiting London as an adult I couldn’t resist visiting the shops of “Tradition of London” and “Under two Flags” and started buying some red boxes as a result. It probably all started because when quite young my parents come back from London with an spectacular gift, a set of Britain’s with Coldstream Guards on a big box with two trays inside -superposed- ColdstreamGuards Band, Guards Marching, Guards at the present, Officers, Ensigns with Colours etc. Later on I even bought the books who described all those goodies and even finally knew the reference number of the set.
Well, as I have said, I am not a collector of Antiques, neither Britain’s, Mignot, Lucotte, Heyde or the like, I do not particularly see the point of “flats” even if some are beautiful pieces themselves, and I firmly stayed with my times and the “new” products available then.
Top of the big cabinet where the Household Cavalry are with some personalities.Lower part of the Cabinet. Some specials and the RHA. You can see the Welsh Guards on top.
In fact you only need to read the books about it by the specialist James Opie. For me the unavoidable volume is Collecting Toy Soldiers, he has written a lot of books on Britains, one of them the real “BIBLE” (The Great Book of Britain’s: 100 Years of Britains’ Toy Soldiers, 1893-1993) -bought it in Hamley’s myself numbered edition and all- but of course there is no point for me in all that because I do not collect Britain’s, but if you do, get Opie’s books, really top stuff. Much more interesting for me was the book by solo wargamer legend Stuart Asquith The Collector’s Guide to New Toy Soldiers, a 1991 book -got a dedicated copie- who funnily enough deals with the new brands and manufacturers from 1973 onwards -post hollow cast Britain’s- that by now are “new classics” because in those nearly fifty years have ceased to exist or are much more less preeminent nowadays. Let’s mention DUCAL or FORT-DUCAL (Jack and Thelma Duke who become long distance “friends”), Tradition of London, Dorset Soldiers (Giles Brown times), Marlborough, and some other minor interests of mine.
I first collected whatever took my fancy… but then in following years I rectified, concentrated by themes and sold items (strange been FFL) to make place for others. Those I sold. Dorset Soldiers.All the Queen’s men small 54mm. Also sold. Beautiful but not relation to my main interests.Only the RCMP remains in my collection (now two shelves because I bought more of them) and the marching constables have been modified with a gun at the slope idem as the Colour Party. The Denmark Royal Guard I sold with deep regret as the Band was done specially for me by Giles Brown from Dorset Soldiers using kits from Tradition and recast instruments. The Greys above also had to go because of lack of space.
Collecting 54mm traditional Toy Soldier gloss figures -not to be confused with 54mm Military Modeling figures- become an habit, and finally even purposefully build cabinets where made to show them at home… not playing stuff anymore I fear… and even less for kids.
Always enjoyed The Trooping of the Colour and The Changing of the Guard ceremonies or pageantry. I even mixed manufacturers once… by now all are Ducal.
It was not a straightforward process!, I bought sets that later I did sell to “make place” and finally concentrated in some themes dear to me and now is a fairly steady collection not subject to sudden whims or extreme changes of direction anymore. But from time to time I add a piece or two, always filling gaps you know…
As a picture is worth a thousand words hereby see what I mean.
DUCAL band of the Royal West Kent made to order purposefully.Tel el Kebir set.Cavalry by DUCAL and Mountain Guns by Tradition of London.Last but not least theme on my collection French Foreign Legion by DORSET SOLDIERS, its former owner Giles Brown was really helpful.Two models added in 2018 thanks to a gentleman contacted in Facebook. painted by me.General Wolseley, Replicametalsoldiers Andrew, 2019 addition.Same as above but French General. XIXth Corps d’Afrique.
Steadfast set… I have asked for the nurses (both) and the Medical officer (fourth from the left)
My armies have no casualties, sorry about that… for me Toy Soldiers never die… and of course I found annoying the idea of wounded and streach-bearers… I am particular about that. So there you have it… I bought the nurses… the doctors… an on purpose incomplete set (NO wounded etc.).
Finally the Wagon is on its place… Steadfast Wagon and Ducal and Tradition mounted Officers.Finished Collection on this Cabinet. A lifelong achievement…
I could still squeeze a couple more of Gordon Highlanders but all depends on REPLICA (read Andrew Stevens). I am quite satisfied as it is. And YES it took me years… 11 shelves: top 3 French Foreign Legion (in the 1st Cavalry and Mules Mounted Infantry); 4-6 REPLICA Second Anglo-Afghan second war; 7 Artillery; 8 Tel el Kebir; 9-10 Royal West Kent; 11 Colonial Cavalry. Nothing post 1900 interests me as a collector.
I added two gunners on the left so to make a crew of 4, bought two nice guns (if guns can be considered “nice”) and completed the crews set with 3 more gunners… and added a sailor and an officer to the right. That was all I needed and they are at last in place. Tradition of London on the back (Two mountain guns on mules marching…). Enjoy (even if you probably had to zoom on them).
Guess it is better if I provide the zooms myself.
The finally completed Artillery set… thanks to Steadfast pieces.Zoom 1Zoom 2Zoom 3
For those really observant… the “white towel” around the body of the Maxim is a putty “repair” because years and eons ago it came broken and I was unable to glue in place in other way… there… all explained.
Britain’s extra large set (two trays) Coldstream Guards… fantastic gift from my parents!detail
On a trip to London (UK) my parents had the great idea of bringing to me this awesome set of BRITAINS… one of the last produced before going “plastic”!
I was really pampered because I had been sick for quite a time.
Now, that brought along a lot of reminiscences… just seen in an Auction in the USA… not that I am going to bid at all… I had the real thing at the time it was needed…
I already had a lot of plastic, rubber and aluminium toy soldiers… but that box suddenly become the apex of my loot!
Sorry for the poor quality of the pics but they were really small.
As a result you all know I was hooked on Toy Soldiers for life…
