2009 New York Toy Soldier Symposium (1 Viewer)

[Louis Badolato]

Well gentleman, its about that time. Sponsors Hans Hedrich, Lawrence Lo, Mark Hoffman and myself would like to invite you to attend this year's Symposium, which will be on the following dates, times and places:

Friday, March 13th, 3:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. - Cocktails and Tour of Mark Hoffman's Collection, Offices of Hoffman Realty, 8th Avenue, NYC

Friday, March 13th, 7:30 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. - Opening Dinner at Tiro A Segno (private club), MacDougal Street, NYC

Saturday, March 14th, 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 P.M. - Luncheon and Tour of Louis Badolato's Unofficial King & Country Museum, Roslyn Harbor, NY

Saturday, March 14th, 7:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. - Dinner at Tse Yang, 51st Street, NYC

Sunday, March 15th, 2:30 P.M. - Farewell Luncheon at The Wolenski Grill, 49th Street, NYC

This years, Andy Neilson of K&C will be one of the guest speakers/exhibitors, as will Ken Osen of Britains. There will be other manufacturers/guests as well.

Those interested in attending, please PM me, indicating which events you wish to attend, as space is limited.

See you in March!

 

[Louis Badolato]

For those who are planning to attend, I can help arrange either a room at the Cornell Club in midtown Manhattan or a room at the Glen Cove Mansion Hotel and Convention Center (about 5 minutes from my house), both of which have worked well for attendees in the past.

Please contact me ASAP so I can arrange for a reservation at the Cornell Club or provide the information about the Glen Cove Mansion Hotel and Convention Center so those planning to stay there can make their own reservation.

 

[Louis Badolato]

Great news, gentlemen! John Jenkins of John Jenkins Designs has confirmed he is attending!

Also, Hans Hedrich, Larry Lo, Kevin Elliott and myself will be making a special announcement at the Symposium . . .

 

[Louis Badolato]

More excellent news: Clive Gande of Grey Goose Collectibles (Figarti's European Distributor) has confirmed he will be attending.

 

[Louis Badolato]

The first days events are over, and despite only getting 5 hours sleep (we didn't get home until 3:00 a.m.) I thought I would give you a little report this morning. The afternoon event at Mark Hoffman's collection got under way around 3:30, although Clive Gande, Tim Tyler, Ken and Erika Osen and myself did not arrive until 4:15, as Tim's plane was a bit late. Mark's always impressive collection had grown exponentially, and John Jenkins was happy to see that all but three sets he had ever produced were on display together. Its a shame Rick Wang couldn't make it this year, but Clive of Greygoose Collectibles, Figarti's European Distributor, was pleased to see the "shock and awe" E-Boat, Leopold Railroad Gun and Complete V2 and V1 series all surrounding Mark's desk. Every one of K&C's recent vehicle releases were also proudly displayed in Mark's offices.

After Mark's wonderful event ended, while Tim and other recent arrivals returned to their hotels to change for the dinner at my club, Clive, Ken and Erika hopped in my jeep, and we took a tour of the NYC sights (as it was Erika's first trip to New York City).

By 6:30 p.m. we had settled into the Rao Library at my club, and were chatting over drinks and anti pasta. When all 16 of us (not including Andy, whose plane had not yet arrived) settled down for dinner, we toasted Ken's birthday, and Charlie Zucker - who has never missed a symposium - toasted the sponsors, Hans, Larry, Mark and myself. Between the pasta and main courses, all attendees who chose to shoot, went downstairs to the range and sniped at targets decorated with the face of Osama Bin Laden. I was pleased to see that our attendees would all have taken him out.

After dinner we retired to the bar in the lobby of the Marriott Hotel, and continued some excellent conversations, including a very educational discussion of the merits and demerits of the Sherman which Gary Binder would have loved. At this time Andy, who had finally checked into his hotel, joined us, and the festivities continued until around 2:00 a.m.

As exhausted as I am, I am looking forward to todays festivities, which will include diorama demonstrations from the Osens, a painting demonstration by John Jenkins, and, as always, Andy's talk. 25+ attendees are expected to join us todays, including our good friend Brad. I will try to report in later.

 

[Louis Badolato]

Well, Clive Gande, my last guest, is on his way to the airport, so the Symposium is over. As always, I had a blast, and it was over too soon.

I want to thank all of the attendees, but especially Andy Neilson, Ken and Erika Osen, John Jenkins and Clive Gande. While I had met and spent some time with Ken and Erika at last years OTSN, this was the first time I ever had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with them, and they were great! A nicer, more talented and more knowledgeable couple would be hard to imagine. They told many wonderful anecdotes about the hobby, gave some excellent suggestions for improvements to the text and content of the upcoming volumes of the book, and designed and built incredible dioramas they presented to Hans, Larry, Mark and myself.

John Jenkins demonstrated his techniques (and skill) in painting, and was, as always, great company. He generously presented me with the diorama he built for the launch of his wonderful Jacobite series.

Andy gave a great talk on the state of the hobby, and answered a battery of questions about his plans for upcoming releases. Andy presented me and the other sponsors with masters of his upcoming Churchill Staff Car (and also presented me with one of the masters of his soon to be released Gordon Highlander officer).

Clive Gande, Figarti's European distributor, gave a talk on the background of his wonderful limited edition "Cambrai" M3 Grant tank from the battle of El Alamein (and gave me number 5 from the release of only 30 magnificent tanks).

I did not take any photos during the festivities, but I will take some shots of the many gifts and new editions to my collection from this weekend, and post some tomorrow.

26 people attended the amazing dinner at Larry Lo's restaurant Tse Yang, and, over all, a total of 29 different people attended one or more of the events. It was amazing to spend a weekend with all of the attendees, and I am already looking forward to next year!

 

[Tony Neville]

glad you had a good time Louis.

Shame i coul dnot make it but grounded by the docs for even longer than i was expecting!

maybe see you in 2010

All the best

Tony

 

[Louis Badolato]

glad you had a good time Louis.

Shame i coul dnot make it but grounded by the docs for even longer than i was expecting!

maybe see you in 2010

All the best

Tony

This was the first Symposium without Neville representation! You and your wonderful family were sorely missed. I need you to get well and come next year, because I will be launching my campaign to get my wife to agree to a family trip to London for the December show!

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Ericka and I want to thank everyone for the great time we had at the 2009 NY Symposium. A special thanks to Louis for driving us 'country folk' around the big city.
It was fun to spend time with Clive, John and Andy in a non-show setting to chat and share stories, and great to put some more faces on fellow forum members.
I also want to congratulate Louis and all of the folks that worked so hard on getting the new K&C book to press. I know that Andy was proud to see these first editions!
We are looking forward to next year!
All the Best!
Ken & Ericka Osen

 

[Ghostrider]

Hi folks, a newby onboard, and apparently finally able to post. After a 50 year hiatus from the toy soldier world, I reentered last year. This past weekend I attended the incredible NY symposium and wanted to thank everyone there for the warm welcome I received. I left there completely JAZZED.

Louis, thank you and your wife for your hospitality. And I was completely overwhelmed by your collection, it's something to be extrememly proud of.

Andy, Ken, Rick, Clive and I know I'm leaving someone out, it was a pleasure meeting and talking to the people who bring this fine hobby to life. I's very rare to be that up and close to the individuals who create and manufacture the things that the average person consumes or collects; and with great ease and humor. My hat(from my balded head) is really off to you. Keep those beautiful pieces coming, because you've found another enthusiastic buyer here.

Tim Tyler, my go to suppler and now friend, what a treat to finally meet the person who was most responsible for hooking me into this world. I greatly appreciate the advice, suggestions, and especially the introductions to people I could find retired pieces I was missing.

Jazzeum, Hans, Ron, Chuck, Tom, Rich, Alan, and I know I'm leaving someone out - the aging process is beginning its assault on my memory - to all you guys - great meeting you and sharing this world of little metal men. Especially NAPOLEONIC LITTLE MEN - right Ron!!!!!!

To everyone on the forum, which I've been reading for 2 months, the diaramas are outstanding. It's the first thing I look at each morning. Hopefully soon I'll have someting to share.

Regards, Joe Roy

 

[Leadmen]

Welcome Joe. I am glad you enjoy this collecting world. I found a great group of guys on this forum. Leadmen