The Ed Ruby Collection, May 2012 (1 Viewer)

[ucla1967]

Wow !!

That is a very impressive collection. Great variety and colour. You think you have stopped posting photos and then there are even more.

Thanks for posting.

Brett

Thanks Brett. The variety and color are striking. It was my pleasure to share this with you.

 

[lancer]

Mike, many thanks for posting all the shots of the Ruby collection. It is so wonderfully diverse and colorful, and so well displayed as to defy more superlatives. I am most impressed with the sheer size of the collection and all the artwork. I really love the WW1 French aerodrome, all the different naval vessels and the fantastic fire department apparatus. It's like heaven for we sorts. And I don't want to forget the trains! What a fantastic collection. -- Al

 

[ucla1967]

What a beautiful collection.When did Mr. Ruby start collecting?
Mark

Thanks for your comment Mark, it is a beautiful collection that I never tire of seeing. Sometime after Ed returned to Chicago from the ETO after World War II, he went into the hardware business. His store also carried Britains which he begin accumulating, as he would like to say. In the 1960s, he relocated to southern California and bought five or six new MacDonalds franchises in Orange County (a very smart man on both accounts). On a trip to Tiajuna, Mexico, he went into a toy store and found a bunch of boxed old Britains store stock which he bought at $1.50 a set. After thinking over what had just happened, he soon returned to the store and asked the owner if he had any others. The owner took him to his warehouse where he had hundreds of additional sets in storage. Ed bought the entire lot. Thusly, he was able to acquire many old Britains sets which enabled him to ultimately put together what is generally considered to be the biggest Britains collection in the world.

We all dream of finding that toy store full of cheap, hard to find, toy soldiers. And we probably wish we had been smart enough, or had the money at the time, to get into MacDonalds on the ground floor when it was relatively inexpensive to do so.

 

[ucla1967]

Mike, many thanks for posting all the shots of the Ruby collection. It is so wonderfully diverse and colorful, and so well displayed as to defy more superlatives. I am most impressed with the sheer size of the collection and all the artwork. I really love the WW1 French aerodrome, all the different naval vessels and the fantastic fire department apparatus. It's like heaven for we sorts. And I don't want to forget the trains! What a fantastic collection. -- Al

Your welcome Al, I am glad I was able to share it with you. You are right, the artwork is amazing. One doesn't see the breadth and depth of art that he has collected too often; maybe in a museum. Those French themed Mignot vignettes are charming indeed. The ships are magnificent. The trains, as you mentioned, are beautifully displayed and really pop because of their backdrops. It is indeed a toy soldier collectors heaven.

 

[UKReb]

Mike

What a magnificent collection! Great photographs too that brilliantly capture the beautiful creations of master makers of TS.

Many thanks as they were an absolute joy to view.

Bob

 

[ucla1967]

Mike

What a magnificent collection! Great photographs too that brilliantly capture the beautiful creations of master makers of TS.

Many thanks as they were an absolute joy to view.

Bob

Bob, I am so glad you enjoyed viewing his collection.

 

[ucla1967]

Still more from a couple of years ago.

 

[marco55]

Thank you Mike and Mr.Ruby too for sharing this with us.
Mark

 

[ucla1967]

Thank you Mike and Mr.Ruby too for sharing this with us.
Mark

Mark, you are welcome.

 

[ucla1967]

A few more. I have never seen so many Napoleonic French Imperial Guard Grenadiers in one place. Incredible!

 

[OzDigger]

Hi Mike, I thank you and Mr Ruby for providing such interesting photos {bravo}}

 

[DMNamiot]

Hi Mike,

You certainly are a lucky man to able to view so many amazing collections! Can you tell me if the USS Liberty is a Macklin Boat? I maybe spelling it wrong but with the key that is pictured this boat should wind up and sail around the pond with ease! I am stunned by the depth of this collection and it is also great seeing so many wonderful Britains in the mix especially the Holy Grail!

What a fantastic collection!

Thanks for sharing again

Dave

 

[johnnybach]

Dave - I have been dribbling since seeing that figure too. I note that from the accompanying letter - it was a Britains cast figure - modelled of course by Roy Selwyn Smith - and THAT one was painted by Ping - and is unique. I have been having dark thoughts of buying a re-cast of that beauty - and using the picture as guide - trying to get close to how it looks. It's an absolute stunner! jb

 

[ucla1967]

Hi Mike, I thank you and Mr Ruby for providing such interesting photos {bravo}}

You are welcome Matt.

 

[ucla1967]

Hi Mike,

You certainly are a lucky man to able to view so many amazing collections! Can you tell me if the USS Liberty is a Macklin Boat? I maybe spelling it wrong but with the key that is pictured this boat should wind up and sail around the pond with ease! I am stunned by the depth of this collection and it is also great seeing so many wonderful Britains in the mix especially the Holy Grail!

What a fantastic collection!

Thanks for sharing again

Dave

Hi Dave,

I am sorry but I don't know if it is a Macklin or not. As I have said before, the depth and breadth of his collection is stunning. I do consider myself to be a lucky man in that I have been able to make friends with so many toy soldier collectors who have shared their collections with me and, now through the Forum, with so many others who would not have been able to see them otherwise. However, I must admit that I consider myself to be the most lucky man above all else because I have an adorable, smart, four-year-old granddaughter named Chloe who I have been taking care of for at least two days a week since she was six months old. I wouldn't trade her for all the toy soldiers in the world.

 

[Al Fisher]

Glad to see you have your priorities right! See you at the Old Toy Soldier Home this coming Saturday!

Bosun Al

 

[ucla1967]

Glad to see you have your priorities right! See you at the Old Toy Soldier Home this coming Saturday!

Bosun Al

I couldn't be more sure that they are correct. However, I do believe that she is responsible for some of those gray hairs visable in the second photo, but she is worth every single one of them.

Sorry, but I am going to miss the OTSH BBQ and Open House this year. We are trying to finish up the remodeling of our house and also getting ready for an 18 day trip to Eastern Europe next month.

 

[theBaron]

Wow, Mike! Thanks for taking the photos and posting them. It's a great look at Ed's legendary collection, after having only read about it. He should incorporate it as a toy soldier museum.

Prost!
Brad

 

[lancer]

Beautiful grandaughter, Mike. I have one who is 8 y.o. and is the apple of granddaddy's eye.^&grin -- Al

 

[ucla1967]

Wow, Mike! Thanks for taking the photos and posting them. It's a great look at Ed's legendary collection, after having only read about it. He should incorporate it as a toy soldier museum.

Prost!
Brad

Hi Brad,

I am glad you enjoyed seeing Ed's collection even if it is vicariously---it is one-of-a-kind, to be sure. If they would let me move into the guest bedroom (the one with the Mignot sets and trains), I would volunteer to be the docent at the museum. Seriously though, I worry about his collection's future; none of his children are toy soldier collectors. I suspect it will be sold off.

BTW, I don't know if you saw my other thread under Dioramas or not, but Bob Walker has many Imperial German toy soldiers, head gear, and prints/paintings that I know you would enjoy seeing. Go to "Bob Walker Collection, Part Deux."

Happy birthday, again. I was stationed at Bad Aibling, Germany with the 320th U.S. Army Security Agency Battalion as a 22-year-old when you were born. Yikes, I guess that makes me old enough to be your father!

Best regards,