Bob Walker Open House (1 Viewer)

[ucla1967]

Bob Walker held his 4th Annual Open House this past week end in San Jose, California (just south of San Francisco). Although he was not able to be there due to a family medical emergency, the event was a success, as usual, with more than 40 attendees by noon on Sunday when I had to leave to drive back to Southern California. Bob has a very large collection of about 15,000 figures (plus 5,000 more in Southern California), but one has to see it in the context of how it is displayed in a beautiful Victorian house to really appreciate it. If your toy soldier taste runs in the area of realistic, matte finished figures in World War II dioramas, you may not like Bob's collection, because it is very different from that sort of thing.

I was not sure where to start this thread since his collection really is much more than a series of dioraramas, but this will do. I hope the photos are not too small to see well, because I really had to reduce them down in size to meet the Forum 97.7 kb size limitation.

 

[ucla1967]

The stairs and sun room.

 

[ucla1967]

Napoleonic room, bedroom, and bathroom.

 

[ucla1967]

Scratch built castle and fireplace mantel.

 

[ucla1967]

That's me in the blue shirt showing some Hiriart sets that were still boxed and eating. Also, a closet, a clever bridge idea, and some elephants and chariots.

 

[ucla1967]

Large diorama close-up, a curio shelf, Americana, wooden figures, and upper corner of room.

 

[ucla1967]

British wall, British Napoleonics, gun teams & wagons, various French sets, and displays.

 

[glossman]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for taking the time and effort to post the very nice shots of Mr. Walker's home.

I found the interior decor of his lovely home fascinating, not pure Victorian but with a gentle touch of other periods and cultures.

That said, one has to see in person to fully appreciate the blend he has created.

Cheers, Raymond.

 

[GICOP]

Excellent pictures Mike, thank you for posting them.
I bet a great time was had by all the visitors

Cheers

Martyn

 

[ucla1967]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for taking the time and effort to post the very nice shots of Mr. Walker's home.

I found the interior decor of his lovely home fascinating, not pure Victorian but with a gentle touch of other periods and cultures.

That said, one has to see in person to fully appreciate the blend he has created.

Cheers, Raymond.

Hi Raymond,

The exterior of the house is Victorian, but the decor inside is a mix of many different styles, as you observed and can see from the photos. Please feel free to plan to attend one of these events in the future, if possible. You will not be disappointed. They are held on the first week end of November.

 

[ucla1967]

Excellent pictures Mike, thank you for posting them.
I bet a great time was had by all the visitors

Cheers

Martyn

Thank you, Martyn, I am glad you liked them. I have many more, but it is a chore to work with them on Photoshop to make them fit. I will post more later. BTW, you have an open invitation to attend his open house in the future.

 

[wds0855]

Very beautiful house and collection!

Walt

 

[Spitfrnd]

Fantastic collection; it would have been a treat to see. Pity the photos are so small. You could post them any size you like if you uploaded to a free photobucket account; then pasted the links here.

 

[Louis Badolato]

What a wonderful collection! If I could ever get out to California, I would love to see it in person. Thanks for the photos!

 

[GICOP]

Thank you, Martyn, I am glad you liked them. I have many more, but it is a chore to work with them on Photoshop to make them fit. I will post more later. BTW, you have an open invitation to attend his open house in the future.

Many thanks Mike, please thank Bob also

Cheers

Martyn

 

[debrito]

Close ups photos please...

 

[ucla1967]

Dehli Durbar.

 

[ucla1967]

More Dehli Durbar.

 

[ucla1967]

Assorted photos.

 

[ucla1967]

More.