Alejo Dorca – Page 29 – My Toy Soldiers & Me

Back to basics

OK the plume is not exact at all… but they are Toy Soldiers!… (Facebook)

After Mr. Horan outpout… something we all are able to do with a minimum of expertise… well… trial and error included… maybe I am assuming too much… but this is what is all about… FUN with Toy Soldiers!

The Mess

Actually it means that the sky is the limit in 54mm Toy Soldiers… Facebook (MTSAM)

Of course the officer in the left needs to see his optician (not that he is going to ever acknowledge this)… A superb vignette that mixes manufacturers and a great scenery or setting. I found the “atmosphere” a delightful reminder of times gone by.

Steadfast

I must say I have come very late in my collecting to unusual subjects (Heliograph party is in the offing too!)… but those are particularly well done.

Traditional Toy Soldiers in 54mm of course!

Taste in 54mm

Wonderful setting and ambiance (seen in Facebook)

You can achieve perfection in many fields… here is an example… you can almost hear the Band.

Feeling Classical today (54mm)

Not really much to add. Those are the stuff of childhood dreams…

Some real “toys”… (toy soldiers in a true sense)

Wargaming can be done in multiple ways… here is one! (Facebook)

Probably the 4 black spots on the horses are a bit too much a simplification… (loved them) but you need all sorts as you know… excellent buildings and scenography! H.W. must be pleased!

54mm Passion

As a first entry see a group of pics of 54mm Toy Soldiers, probably the “IT” most collected traditional scale in gloss finish. For many it is the “true” Toy Soldier… for me any scale is OK mind… but had to mention nevertheless.

This is actually my first post with the new format of making a new Post each day (well, if you do not count yesterday’s joke)… I still think the true collecting scale is 54mm… and it will always be for me “the true size” of Toy Soldiers.

Zulu War minis (did I really needed to explain that?) film version of course! (as seen in FB)

Pics I Collected from Facebook over the years.

I did not want to “lose them”… everytime I found an interesting pic about my passion I published them daily in this webpage.

They are an eclectic mix to say the least… but it was conforting to see there were other gents publishing and posting pics of Toy Soldiers.

So here they are grouped under the 2018 date.

Hope you enjoy some.

Not my period at all… but sheer quality!

SALUTE 53 HIGHLIGHT!

I am too old to travel like that (on a whim), I do not fear flying at all do not be silly, but I do not like been treated like cattle at Airports, the delays, the inconfort, the reduced spaces, the lack of good manners of the general public, and enough of that… I only travel if I can drive my car to it.

So, why this Post at all?

Because I am giving you some shots and a link.

Tel el Kebir in glorious 54mm gloss toy soldiers sponsored by the ITSC (International Toy Soldier Club) and REPLICA METAL MODEL SOLDIERS (both of them in fact are Andrew Stevenson creations).

First the pics,

For once I am not modifying the pic… this is how it was! See Renato seated on the far right of the wargames table. The view is from the Egyptian side.

A close up of the Egyptian forces, 12 figures units as in the A GENTLEMANS WAR rules (not used) and fantastic movement trays also by Andrew Stevenson.

The British attack… I guess in real life (who cares about that anyway) it was not at all like that (better read Donals Featherstone classic Tel el Kebir from OSPREY books) but it looks as a lot of fun!

Now, the link to a YouTube where there is an interview of Andre Stevenson (on his Major General outfit -moustache is real-).

link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVnObdTkVRI

Interview runs from minute 7:21 to 9:02 (for those of you who are always “on the run”)

Splendid Toy Soldiers, active new original poses or stances in the cherished Old Britains style… BUT BRAND NEW!… no lead rot… no extravagant auction prices… bespoke orders!… Boy! was the find of my late collecting times!…

Curiously enough I have mentioned to Andrew many times the fact that he is doing the Toy Soldiers I (wrongly) asumed andthought Briatins did make when I was a child… and I could not get (no market in Spain, no Internet, no Mail Order, no nothing, this is pure anachronism I am rambling about!). It is funny!… THEY DID NOT EXIST!… can you remember or wish for something that did not exist?… so my NOSTALGIA was fake! LOL

Nonplussed nowadays with my modest collection of them.

Andrew went to the Chicago Toy Soldier Fair last year and will probably repeat the experience… the fact that some boxes of Toy Soldiers (USA Infantry) went from the UK to the USA and back again to the UK because not all of them sold (A thing that eludes me completely!)… made me have the “need” to get them of course (now they are in Andorra… a couple of boxes… and waiting for some reinforcements any day now!). Will add pics of them hereby.

My much travelled toy soldiers! USA Infantry late XIXth

My SIMKIN TIMES collection… more than half are REPLICA… some Dorset Soldiers and “modern” W.BRITAINS Centennial Sets

My Khaki Collectio 99% REPLICA… with some odd bespoke Dorset Soldiers, Paul Watson’s Own and W.Britains Cavalry sets.

ENJOY!

The 1939 film “The Four Feathers” inspired a set of casts to be painted by me (provided by DORSET SOLDIERS) Edited June 2026

I did them, even completed later on with some details… and completely forgot to make an special Post for them! (some pics are there in another Post)

Memory says I did not… but maybe I posted some pics of them elsewhere in this blog/vlog whatever… in fact I have found them quick enough!… but they deserve a single one for them.

Curiously in the 1939 film (the best one IMHO) the unit that parades in the streets of London is not the Royal North Surrey (remember?… more troops for Kitchener! says the newspapers…) it looks like a Guards Unit… but I decided to do my display for the Royal North Surrey and that is final!

Sorry if you have already seen them in Facebook… I am sure I published them there… LOL