See the cabinets in Andorra la Vella: Three kinds of British Armies (Khaki-White FSH-SIMKIN times); Two (but complementary) kinds of French Armies (Basically North of Africa / Colonial and more Continental/Regular one). They are my “best enemies” always.
Some exotic units are also there Second US Cavalry (She Wore a Yellow Ribbon) and lots of Bengal Lancers.
Still waiting some reinforcements but nearly there. Probably this year I will top the needs… never the capricious sudden whims (I know).
Enjoy
The British Collection: REPLICA – BRITAINS (old/new) – Tradition of London – Steadfast/R.P Models – DUCAL – and some Dorset Soldiers too!Mainly the French Collection with on the top US Cavalry, Bengal Lancers, Scot’s Greys and 21st Lancers at Omdurman. Mainly Dorset Soldiers – REPLICA – BRITAINS (New) – and a bit of Tradition of London.Moving by boxes
As a matter of fact, it was obvious enough… once the table and painting area has been moved and put together. The cabinets in Andorra la Vella now stock all the Toy Soldiers with wargaming potential (quite Old School). Will add more pics tomorrow.
Now Pal holds the marching figures and ceremonial units.
See pics.
Enjoy
Emplacement in the libraryAs you can see mementos of cars I owned (or not) and modeling experiences with my sons, also “historical toys of my life”With door openThe old set up (that you have seen many times)The way to move them without casualties.
I did not bought all of the sets or individual figures, only some, and I am glad I stopped because they are quite brittle (not a problem if you do not mess with them… but I do). I had a set of Central India Lancers with very bad stability -the horses had a tendency to tumble sideways- not all the 3 legs “touched” the ground at the same time… and I tried to fix them as I do with other commercial Toy Soldiers… OMG!… how easily broken (I stopped after 4 disasters!) -now trying to solder or weld them professionally- In fact I am interested in seeing if they can be mend at all.
As a thoroughly obsessed collector I even placed an order with London Bridge spare parts to see (if the ironworks repairing process does not work) if I can try another tack myself. A tangent on collecting and painting not much explored yet!
Will keep you posted. In fact see below!
New legs inserted in placeDetailQuite tricky if you ask meMended joints with Plasticine (or Milliput)I bought three replacements just in case… lolSlowly getting thereJust to get the right shade and there you are…
Curiously (as bought in ebay.co.uk) some of the sets more than a quarter of a century old are very well preserved, on the contrary some were not. The true nature of ebay sellers is not revealed until packages delivered, some are true optimists about items descriptions… but the majority of them are OK.
Look at the pictures and you will understand.
Hope you enjoy the info.
Disaster!… really imposible to bend the leg at all… the painting of the Toy Soldier was quite good mind!I stopped after 4 “breaks” in a couple of minutes… Now sent to an ironworks place to see what happens…Two sets of Hodson’s Horse in very good condition… had to paint some little “chipping” but very few and small areas. I painted the guidons dark blue under the red top to be more historical. The level of finition of the original Toy Soldiers I did find very good!Did some works on the “sash” ends… lancers just plain dark red.Another view. I am considering now (maybe tomorrow) to complete the sash on the right side of the rider (overpainted blue originally)… see what I’ll do… not decided yet.On the left the original paint, on the right once modified.Another view.Next unit to be checked and repaired: Skinner’s Horse (Yes both units are now with lances upright), the yellow coats were badly chipped off and it was difficult to match the original colour (in the end mixing yellow and orange Vallejo paints did the trick. Not as beautiful as Hodson’s Horse (IMHO) and have prevented me buying more sets. Work in progress.The 8 sets of the 21st lancers were a complete success!… horse stability is fantastic… and repainting the horses was easy and fair. Still waiting for three figures to come to me from a profesional manufacturer (Dorset Soldiers – aka Antony Spencer)… he will supply Colonel Martin, Lieutenant Churchill and a non historical standard-bearer because I fancied one! Will add pics when they are all gloss varnished.You can read more about them in the Post 21st Lancers at Omdurman in this same web page.
After a shuffle of space in my ex-office… all begins to fall in place.
Cabinet has been reorganized, and now the British are on the right of the picture and the French on the left (seems apropiate somehow…)
The Armies (both) would be completed this year 2025 I guess… and then all hell will break loose… Not exactly Imagine-nations, but certainly imagination will run free (NO ENTENTE CORDIALE AT ALL I FEAR), I only collect what I like so it does not matter to me to pitch them against each other from time to time. I do not collect Russians or Prussians or other more exotic Armies… I stick to what I know best and that’s that.
Enjoy.
New ubication of the small cabinet.Detail.French Foreign legion Units (and French Artillery).The rest of the French Army (still expecting reinforcements).British Army (SIMKIN TIMES). It lacks the Naval Brigade.The British Cavalry.British Kakhi Army (Colonial NWF/SUDAN etc)
Maybe in 2025 you will see “FASHODA GONE WRONG” an Old Toy Soldiers & Old Wargame entertainment (SOLO). 54MM AGW affair using British and French Colonials (NO entente cordiale… LOL)… in fact I am pretty sure that this one would be my next wargame (Old School).
You see I do not like to “kill” natives or indigenous people in my wargames… I do not collect them as “cannon fodder” (Not even in 6mm mind!)… One thing is collecting miniatures (read Toy Soldiers) and the other is not being aware of the more grim aspects of colonialism (as if Persian, Greeks and Romans… to name a few were not “colonialist” or “conquerors”)… BUT here is not the place for discussing seriously the inhuman race.
Get a sight of the troops that would be involved on the pics below. All the affair would be precipitated by the French Commander in place… General Armand d´Hubry et Nemesis desire to win the Legion d’Honneur…
Finally finished Army (The armoured car is a secret weapon proptotype only used in the NWF)… same as the Indian Army Units (Guides&Gurkhas)… Bengal Lancers not going to FASHODA either. This pic shows the full Kakhi British Army in its proper cabinet next to the wargames table).French Troops (99% by Dorset Soldiers and a REPLICA General!)More French XIXth Corps d’Afrique.British and Allies (meaning Indian Raj Troops) by REPLICA and Dorset Soldiers.The British “proper” minis…
Of course, after that incident and its consequences either Calais or Dover would be involved in a messy action… follow that here website for more!
Britains Little Army (soon to be reinforced) is awaiting the second battle as a consequence…Much more recent picture!
On the border line between Military Modeling (Scale Models) and Toy Soldiers (of the best quality), IMHO over the line and much more models than “toys” sure enough.
He did those works (artworks) in the fifties… with very limited materials at hand, to say nothing about paints and brushes.
A pioneer and a master of so many that he has become “the reference”.
Today he would have been a hundred years old and his heir Tony (see other posts about his work) posted those pics in Facebook.
They do not need comment or words from me… I just framed and polished a bit the pics.
Published in the web of the ITSC (The International Toy Soldier Club) this is an awesome set done by Andrew Stevenson for a customer (a lucky customer I will add full of positive envy!).
It reproduces one mythical set of Old Britains with figures ad hoc (many of them Britains never did I must clarify!).
Never have seen something so awesome in years of collecting.
Enjoy!
Naval Gun on wheels… for landing party.Royal Marines Light Infantry… and Bluejackets pulling limber…Second level of the box!Command and Signals.Great landing party!Medical station.Firing line.The massive box and the superior tray… Awesome!
Not complaining at all because the order from 2023 arrived on 2025!… quality compensates in spades.
The “cottage” industry of Toy Soldiers has that… limited production… long queueing… but SATISFACTION!
The Toy Soldiers Britains never did… not in its heyday (classic times)… not in his centenary sets either… bespoke orders… simply fantastic output.
You can also buy from him… see replica metal model soldiers in google or email “HQ@replicametalsoldiers.co.uk” HQ@Replicametalsoldiers.co.uk and just wait to be satisfied… it helps if you are not in your seventies like me!
Enjoy.
Line Infantry Charging!Rifles firing.Royal Fuziliers…“THE” General… of REPLICA’s fame!And something completely different… an armoured car (Rolls&Royce) if you please… a model a bit late for my period… but I guess the fact that is a secret prototype can adapt well to my needs!
You will have in this quite complete list the books I own (or have owned or going to get very soon!)… and those complementary on the subject. Sadly no “flats” or zinnfigurine oriented because I am not a fan of them… they appear on some of the books… but not my passion at all. Sorry about that.
I wish I had had a list like that many years ago!… would have saved time and trouble. BTW my comments are only my opinions (but frankly a bit tired of amazon publishing comments criteria… I have stopped trying to fairly review there… lol) but after more than 70 years I can be quite frank about it.
Get them all if you can, they are very informative (even if some do overlap with others)… maybe one day I will do a list of wargame books classics too! (Not that I do not use some of my 54mm gloss toy soldiers to wargame the Old School Way… but no marbles or rods involved… do not want to spoil the paint on them you know… just dice and fun).
Hope you enjoy this list.
Thi one is the book you need as a great generalist book about collecting toy soldiers (even if Britains centred the ideas and concepts are superb) Imprescindible even on paperback (actually I have the paperback edition myself). A MUST HAVE!Fairly useful as a general intro (mainly 54mm). It stops when NEW toy soldiers begun to be on the market (it deals mainly with Old Toy Soldiers)… HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.Probably his second best book. I bought first as a kindle book and afterwards ordered a real book.Simply lavish! A must have on the second Britains era. (Second Century)Probably the best book on Britains Toy Soldiers by James Opie. Imprescindible (and I do not collect Old Britains). Simply fantastic!It dissapoints at first read… but slowly grows upon you… an international reference. I nearly throw it away and now I am a fan!Now outdated but a classic nevertheless… he saw it coming! One of my personal favoutites as a DUCAL collector.The description of a Collection (quite fantastic if you want an opinion). Excellent pics even if a bit dark. VERY GOOD!Interesting book… from a British point of view.He tries very hard but fails a bit short… better stick to his BRITAINS books!… no idea at all about Playmobils or Legos outpout, but interesting nevertheless.Impressive and completionist but too many items are not Toy Soldiers I am afraid. (I bought at Hamleys and later sold my copy)Less known book… get it too! I do not own a copy myself yet… (on the way!)On the limt (a very thin line) between Toy Soldier and MODEL (Military Modeling). A MUST HAVE!A better view of it.Probably one of the oldest on the list… but clever and advanced for its time. Recommended.Very short… but much to the point, recommended too. It come as a nice surprise.
It is what says on the cover, a guide on prices of Britains, if you collect them a must have! Sadly nothing of interest in it for me…
Lavish French Book about C.B.G. Mignot production. Had a copy for some time but sold it because I could not afford them (the toy soldiers I mean) as really vintage Old Britains… I am not into very expensive “Antiquarian things or items”Do not have this one… will try to get a copy someday.Another Norman Joplin book… do not own this one so I do not know how good it is.Not bad at all. But probably less isteresting and much a special subject.This one I owned but sold because did not find it a “Keeper”… maybe wrong mind! BIG FORMAT.A must read… just because it is GREAT!… very well written with tons of humour… it produced an allucination on my brain so to write a book about my toy soldiers myself…Put it on the list but I do not own a single one… and personally not interested (Same with Dime-Store Toy Soldiers)For those interested it contains the pics of the toy soldiers I had when a child! (LOL), mainly cautxuc toy soldiers… later plastic… It involved hours of sheer pleasure.The cover of the second edition of my book (in Spanish I fear)… later I went to create a Facebook group and this present webpage.And last but not least the second edition in English (FREE to DOWNLOAD in here top right corner!). I was fool enough to write it influenced by the autoedit promo in Amazon… and the opus ACHTUNG SCHWEINEDHUND! (see above).A view of one of my cabinets just to prove I am actually a collector!… this summer a vast reorganization would see deep changes on 7 shelves…
Box 1Box 2Box 3The two sets of Victorian (SIMKIN TIMES) CavalryThee Highland BrigadeForefront 6th Dragoon Guards (Carbineers) and 16th lancers in the rear rank. Pic “in process” by Andrew Stevenson.
Finally here! (meaning ANDORRA)
They are part of a larger order… but Cavalry always have an extra appeal to me.
In 2023 (by the last months) I placed an order with Andrew Stevenson (REPLICA METAL MODEL SOLDIERS)… this is part of it.
Intended to be a part of a little British Army to play AGW (Yes you’ve guessed right I will of course mess with the original rules!)
Never thought the vast amounts of patience needed nowadays to collect “la creme de la creme” (si j’ose dire)… days, weeks, months, more than a year sometimes… but well worth the wait.
The problem (main) is not the wait itself… it is my age LOL)… time is now an issue…
You can not “hurry up” Andrew… he is IMHO an “artist”… multiple interests…. multiple ranges…. multiple novelties…. multiple objectives… he also collects!…. whatever… Probably the best if you are affected by BRITAIN’s nostalgia… I have never indulged in collecting “antiques” if you think pre-WWII (or WWI for that matter) Toy Soldiers…. do not have the time… neither the money (or budget)… neither the interest (pure or purist). On the contrary I do collect NOW the Centennial sets by Britain! (You need all sorts you know…).
The use of REPLICA models in wargames is a bit of an heressy as I considere them “collector’s items” on their own right!. But boy do they bring “class” to your tabletop…
