2011 New York Toy Soldier Symposium (1 Viewer)

Louis,
Looks like a blast, again sorry to have missed it this year. Jealous down here in Maryland!!!!!!!!

TD
 
Louis

When will we learn the name the special mystery speaker/guest you mentioned would be attending? Might it be Peter Jackson?^&grin

Please send Brad photos to post of your son's elephant collection that we have heard such wonderful things about.

 
Louis mate,
How did you get Doug Luna into a suit. Tell him from me that he looked like an Officer not a jarhead sniper.^&grin^&grin
I hope he didn't increase the cost of the night as I spent four hours at the Bar with him in LA and he knows how to put a beer away.
You blokes look like you are having a ball. Sorry to have missed it.
Cheers Howard
 
Gentlemen, thanks for all the kind comments. Tom, Howard, Hans, Tim, Clive, Andy, Gordon, Kevin, we wish you were here. The "mystery guest" sadly did not materialize. It was good friend and wonderful author Norman Joplin, who very much wanted to join us, but was unable to due to health issues.

Now for the Saturday Afternoon report (the Saturday evening report will follow in a second post). I have 31 photographs of the Satarday festivities, and I think Brad leaves today for a business trip, so anyone who wants to volunteer to post the photos, please let me know.

Saturday afternoon at my house was wonderful. We had great weather, upper 50's and sunny. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my beautiful wife Meredith, who ordered and picked up the food, set it out, and made the buffet in the dining room beautiful.

The first guests to arrive were Al and Sandy of "Alsand Toy Soldiers", a local toy soldier shop here on Long Island. Other than a slight bit of clumsiness by Al (who accidentally removed the barn door from the Hudson & Allen barn - good thing the Osens were arriving to remedy the situation) it was an absolute pleasure to finally meet them. Our good friend Currahee Chris arrived soon after with his lively and understanding wife Jill. What a terrific couple! Chris, making your acquaintance was the high point of the weekend for me. Joy Roy (Ghostrider) soon joined the fun, as did Rich Schuster (NYtoysoldiers), Mark Hoffman, Charlie Zucker, and our guests of honor, Richard Walker (in his case I use the term "honor" loosely -:tongue:) Ken and Erika Osen. Morgan Hoffman and Chuck Karen (Evilchuck) were the last guests to arrive.

While the guests of honor set out their displays on the rear banquette, everyone took a tour of my collection. When everything was set out, we all went downstairs and had a wonderful lunch catered by Deli on the Green, including a 3 foot hero, half Italian and half American, potato and macaroni salads, cole slaw, pickles, a fresh fruit platter, a cookie platter, and crudite. Ken, Erika, Chris and Jill took advantage of the weather, and ate on the wicker furniture on the front porch overlooking the harbor.

We went upstairs, and listened to wonderful presentations by Richard, Ken and Erika, telling their history in the industry (I had no idea that Richard lived in Hong Kong and painted masters for K&C back in the 90's, including the "Les Miserables" set), educating us on the various sculpting and casting processes, illustrating their talk with samples of sculptings made from wax as opposed to epoxy, and various castings, some of which were for soon to be released Britains figures. During the talks, Richard presented the sponsors with Britains golf shirts and figures tailored to our interests, and Ken and Erika presented us each with a one of three custom diorama with a building unique to the diorama on a cobblestone street in Normandy. Ken and Erika were also kind enough to present Chris, a veteran, with a small diorama to thank him for his service. We all then relieved Ken and Erika of the samples of the dioramas and buildings they had brought. I purchased the Stalingrad Factory and promptly peopled it with First Legion Germans and Russians, as well as a walled garden diorama to use in the back corner of my airfield diorama.

Afterwards, Ken, Erika and Richard went off to tour Richard Schuster's magnificent collection, and Chris, Jill and I retired to porch to enjoy some Tyrconnell Single Malt Irish Whiskey as well as the weather. After a while we returned to the living room to spend some time chatting with my wife, then toured the collection again with latecomers Morgan and Chuck. We all then left for Larry's restaurant in the city, but that is the subject of another post . . . :wink2:
 
Saturday evening at Larry Lo's wonderful restaurant Tse Yang was, with the exception of Larry and Richard Walker's attempts at humor, a complete pleasure. I arrived at 7:20 p.m. with Morgan and Chuck, to find Larry, Doug Luna, Mark Hoffman, Alan Goldman, a gentleman whose name I didn't catch, Charlie Zucker and his lovely wife Meep waiting for us. Chris and Jill arrived a few minutes later. Richard, Ken and Erika were the last to arrive, and we were all seated at a large round table, with Larry in the role of King Arthur.

Once we arrived, I informed everyone that Chuck Harris, whom we had attempted to call during the afternoon session, had called back while we were about to leave my house for Larry's, and he sent his best to everyone, and told me that our call had lifted his spirits. We toasted Chuck (whom we will call from Mark's this afternoon so he can be a part of the Symposium, even though his failing health once again prevented his attending). We then toasted and thanked Larry for the wonderful meal we were about to enjoy.

The first course consisted of various appetizers, including spare ribs, dumplings, spring rolls and fried wontons. Next there was a chinese soup made with beef and cilantro. Then there was a seafood course, with shrimps, crab claws and fish, followed by Peking Duck (Chris was in heaven, as were we all), then marinated filet mignon that melted in your mouth. Finally there was fruit and coffee for dessert. Larry sent us home with incredible Cigars (mine was a Padron Anniversario - my favorite, which almost made up for his attempts at humor all evening).

It was, as usual, a terrific experience.
 
In the hopes that Brad hasn't already left for his business trip, I e-mailed him 30 photos of the Saturday Sympsoium festivities, with a polite request that he post them on this thread. If he has already left, somebody with the ability to post photos please send me your e-mail, and I will forward the photos to you.:redface2:
 
The whole weekend sounds as if it has been a magnificent experience with wonderful people, food, entertainment (not the least of which would be the shooting range), and toy soldiers. Congratulations on what I am sure has been a great time that will leave grand memories. Most sorry to have missed this symposium. -- Al
 
Always a great event and extremely informative for collectors.
Louis hosted our dinner at Tiro a Segno on Friday night with exellent Italian food, plenty of wine and a chance to shoot off a few rounds in their lower level range.
Saturday afternoon at Louis's home was wonderfull with good food, company and his amazing collection. I have visited his home and collection several times but can never get enough of his K&C dioramas and hundreds of vehicles and planes. If you are a toy soldier and vehicle collector you have to see his collection. And of course his Figarti "shock and awe" pieces will blow you away!
Richard Walker along with Ken and Erica Olsen were very forthcoming with information about the industry and their products. I purchased my first Britains Napoleonic pieces (French and British cavalry) and they are fantastic figures. As a point of information they go well in scale with K&C. I also purchased the farm house and court from Ken and Erica which looks great with either my WWII or Napoleonic sets.
Sorry I missed dinner at Larry's restaurant but I am fortunate enough to have eaten there several times for business and pleasure.
Again thanks to Louis and his wife for their hospitality.
 
Here are photos :smile2:
 

Attachments

  • Symp 4.jpg
    Symp 4.jpg
    115.9 KB · Views: 274
  • Symp 5.jpg
    Symp 5.jpg
    117.1 KB · Views: 260
  • Symp 2.jpg
    Symp 2.jpg
    117.3 KB · Views: 257
  • Symp 3.jpg
    Symp 3.jpg
    100.6 KB · Views: 257
  • Symp 1.jpg
    Symp 1.jpg
    91.4 KB · Views: 256
More photos. Some more a bit later.
 

Attachments

  • Symp 8.jpg
    Symp 8.jpg
    134.8 KB · Views: 254
  • Symp 6.jpg
    Symp 6.jpg
    99.8 KB · Views: 251
  • Symp 10.jpg
    Symp 10.jpg
    90 KB · Views: 253
  • Symp 7.jpg
    Symp 7.jpg
    124.1 KB · Views: 256
  • Symp 9.jpg
    Symp 9.jpg
    101.2 KB · Views: 252
More photos.
 

Attachments

  • Symp 15.jpg
    Symp 15.jpg
    105.2 KB · Views: 258
  • Symp 12.jpg
    Symp 12.jpg
    118.1 KB · Views: 251
  • Symp 13.jpg
    Symp 13.jpg
    85.6 KB · Views: 243
  • Symp 11.jpg
    Symp 11.jpg
    81.6 KB · Views: 255
  • Symp 14.jpg
    Symp 14.jpg
    91.6 KB · Views: 246
More photos of the action :)
 

Attachments

  • Symp 20.jpg
    Symp 20.jpg
    86.6 KB · Views: 272
  • Symp 17.jpg
    Symp 17.jpg
    62 KB · Views: 256
  • Symp 18.jpg
    Symp 18.jpg
    89.1 KB · Views: 258
  • Symp 16.jpg
    Symp 16.jpg
    84.2 KB · Views: 250
  • Symp 19.jpg
    Symp 19.jpg
    77.5 KB · Views: 268
Last sets of photos.
 

Attachments

  • Symp 23.jpg
    Symp 23.jpg
    95 KB · Views: 228
  • Symp 21.jpg
    Symp 21.jpg
    79.8 KB · Views: 242
  • Symp 25.jpg
    Symp 25.jpg
    88.9 KB · Views: 241
  • Symp 24.jpg
    Symp 24.jpg
    60.7 KB · Views: 236
  • Symp 22.jpg
    Symp 22.jpg
    84.8 KB · Views: 243
Last set of photos.

Louis, if you have photos from today, I may be able to do it sometime tomorrow from Zurich (no promises, though :))
 

Attachments

  • Symp 28.jpg
    Symp 28.jpg
    93.4 KB · Views: 249
  • Symp 26.jpg
    Symp 26.jpg
    107.3 KB · Views: 261
  • Symp 30.jpg
    Symp 30.jpg
    96.9 KB · Views: 254
  • Symp 27.jpg
    Symp 27.jpg
    101.9 KB · Views: 262
  • Symp 29.jpg
    Symp 29.jpg
    72.8 KB · Views: 249
.....Our good friend Currahee Chris arrived soon after with his lively and understanding wife Jill. What a terrific couple! Chris, making your acquaintance was the high point of the weekend for me.

Ken and Erika were also kind enough to present Chris, a veteran, with a small diorama to thank him for his service.

...and Chris, Jill and I retired to porch to enjoy some Tyrconnell Single Malt Irish Whiskey as well as the weather.

Thank you for the very very kind gesture Louis. The guy saw me eyeing up his Heco tinplate tri planes and picked one up and put it in my hand. You are an absolute gentleman to the core and it was my immense honor to be your guest at your home. Meredith and your family are wonderful. There will be some special "Currahee" themed gifts coming you and Lawrence's way in the future :)

Ken and Erika also were extremely kind, as was Richard who caught me in the parking lot and handed me a beautiful WB polo shirt. Big thanks to these folks for coming all this way to talk to us in person. Ken is a natural story teller (or BS artist- haven't figured it out yet ^&grin). He is an amazing artisan and the hobby is so much better for these three people being in it. It was fun to watch poor Erica carry all these wonderful H&A items upstairs to start Saturday and then sell nearly everything they had. My Jill ordered me to get the H&A Normandy farmhouse which I happily obliged.

Louis has a pretty sizeable collection of toy soldiers, which I will be posting momentarily. It really has to be seen to be appreciated.

Also, Jill didn't have any scotch :)
 
Various sets in the "Museum"

crew shot of the Figarti LST
DSC05231.jpg


Figarti Abrams prototype
DSC05232.jpg


Rare KC vehicle
DSC05233.jpg


Neat little vignette
DSC05235.jpg


Same vignette
DSC05236.jpg
 
This was part of a tabletop Crusaders diorama that we don't see a lot of on here. It was AWESOME!! I really REALLY enjoyed this setup!!

Terribly sorry for some of the craptacular picture quality fellas.

DSC05238.jpg


Close up shot of that amazing AK Airfield dio...........
DSC05240.jpg


DSC05244.jpg

notice the tiny little mesh screen covering the door. There were all sorts of little nooks in this display which made it really really fun to look at!!
DSC05242.jpg


I believe Louis told me these were rare prototypes (And current release) of the LRDG vehicles.....
DSC05243.jpg
 
More of the AK airfield.....

DSC05244.jpg


Crusaders dio
DSC05245.jpg


a real treat for me- mid 1990's releases of KC ROMANS!! and auxiliaries.....

DSC05247.jpg


the gauls.......

DSC05249.jpg
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top