nackatacka
Private 2
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- Jul 30, 2013
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Just wondering if there are. I don't see a lot of younger people like myself that are into the hobby. I am 17 and I collect because I love WW2 history and enjoy recreating it.
Are there teenagers that are into this hobby? (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter nackatacka
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theBaron
Major
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- Mar 27, 2008
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Not too many, NT.
The previous generation of collectors was made up of adults who had played with toy soldiers as kids, and collected them when they were older. There aren't too many guys left, who played with the old classic toy soldiers, because they were no longer produced by the end of the Sixties, not in the number and variety that there had been. There were some makers, in Hong Kong, for example, who still made metal figures sold specifically as toys, through that time.
By that time, military miniatures had evolved from the classic toy soldier, a development that had started in the Thirties, and picked up momentum in the Fifties and Sixties. These were figures that were more detailed, and available as kits or castings, for hobbyists to paint on their own.
By the late Eighties, makers emerged who made finished military or historical miniatures, specifically for collectors, as well as new "old" toy soldiers, in the old classic style, for collectors, not as toys.
So, successive generations of collectors are mostly adults, with the disposable income necessary to buy the typical "collector's toy", as some call them. Many of us have a military background, many also have a background in the scale modeling or figure painting hobbies, but yes, mostly, we're older guys.
Encouraging the next generation is always a hot topic. I always tell people, give your kids plastic army men and send them into the backyard, give them books to read, encourage an interest in history generally, and plant the seeds. They may abandon the toys, as they get older, but they may very well rediscover the subject and take up the hobby, when they get older, again, as many of us have.
Welcome to the hobby and to the forum, too! Prosit!
Brad
The previous generation of collectors was made up of adults who had played with toy soldiers as kids, and collected them when they were older. There aren't too many guys left, who played with the old classic toy soldiers, because they were no longer produced by the end of the Sixties, not in the number and variety that there had been. There were some makers, in Hong Kong, for example, who still made metal figures sold specifically as toys, through that time.
By that time, military miniatures had evolved from the classic toy soldier, a development that had started in the Thirties, and picked up momentum in the Fifties and Sixties. These were figures that were more detailed, and available as kits or castings, for hobbyists to paint on their own.
By the late Eighties, makers emerged who made finished military or historical miniatures, specifically for collectors, as well as new "old" toy soldiers, in the old classic style, for collectors, not as toys.
So, successive generations of collectors are mostly adults, with the disposable income necessary to buy the typical "collector's toy", as some call them. Many of us have a military background, many also have a background in the scale modeling or figure painting hobbies, but yes, mostly, we're older guys.
Encouraging the next generation is always a hot topic. I always tell people, give your kids plastic army men and send them into the backyard, give them books to read, encourage an interest in history generally, and plant the seeds. They may abandon the toys, as they get older, but they may very well rediscover the subject and take up the hobby, when they get older, again, as many of us have.
Welcome to the hobby and to the forum, too! Prosit!
Brad
bradleyl30
Command Sergeant Major
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- Oct 17, 2012
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- 2,575
My nephew is getting into it. He is 11 now. He sees his uncles collection, and the 3 1/72 dioramas I built him and is gung-ho.
He is now working on a Battle of Hastings dio for school!
He is now working on a Battle of Hastings dio for school!
BHogan
Sergeant Major
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- Nov 2, 2010
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- 1,951
nackatacka,
I am 21 and I started collecting around the age of 13-14. Like you I've always been fascinated by history, particularly the Napoleonic Wars. You're right there aren't many young people in the hobby, so it's always nice when you do meet someone your age at a toy soldier show. Some toy soldier shows offer a free figure to children that attend, which will hopefully entice them to start their own collections someday. Welcome to the forum!
Cheers,
Brendan
I am 21 and I started collecting around the age of 13-14. Like you I've always been fascinated by history, particularly the Napoleonic Wars. You're right there aren't many young people in the hobby, so it's always nice when you do meet someone your age at a toy soldier show. Some toy soldier shows offer a free figure to children that attend, which will hopefully entice them to start their own collections someday. Welcome to the forum!
Cheers,
Brendan
nackatacka
Private 2
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My Father showing me all those classic WW2 movies also played a role. He would buy me Forces of Valor to play with... I still have all of them but they are missing quite a few pieces{sm4} I would use them to recreate scenes from the films.
Combat
Brigadier General
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2005
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- 10,106
The cost and fragile nature of the figures makes this primarily a hobby for older guys. That doesn't mean the hobby is doomed but limited to a certain demographic (mostly older white males). As us older guys die off, more older guys will replace us. So I think there will always be a market for toy soldiers. My son plays with the plastic soldiers and tanks. At his age hands on is a lot more fun than putting something on a shelf and looking at it.
Poppo
2nd Lieutenant
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WBritain
Master Sergeant
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- Oct 20, 2005
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- 1,240
From my position I can honestly say that I have a decent number of younger collectors. This is in part because W. Britain has spent a fair amount of energy going to historical events and museums with displays and catalogs.
I do not see the same doom and gloom that I often hear. It is true that the products have changed, but in many ways for the good.
W.Britain still has age tested plastic soldiers, die cast gift market items, archive, classic gloss and highly detailed matte finished collectors figures. Perhaps because of that we get a different read on the industry.
Welcome to the hobby...I think you will enjoy it for a lifetime as many of us have.
All the best,
Ken Osen
General Manager & Creative Director
W.Britain
I do not see the same doom and gloom that I often hear. It is true that the products have changed, but in many ways for the good.
W.Britain still has age tested plastic soldiers, die cast gift market items, archive, classic gloss and highly detailed matte finished collectors figures. Perhaps because of that we get a different read on the industry.
Welcome to the hobby...I think you will enjoy it for a lifetime as many of us have.
All the best,
Ken Osen
General Manager & Creative Director
W.Britain
The Military Workshop
1st Lieutenant
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2005
- Messages
- 4,778
Great to see Hastings of interest to an eleven year old in the USA. Just don't go and ruin it for me by telling me it is because the English King dies in the battle. Hopefully he knows King Harold was the goodie ^&grin
Empire MM
Corporal
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2014
- Messages
- 559
Firstly, welcome to the hobby. It is truly wonderful to see another new face, and a young one too. Tell your friends, use social media, do anything to let people know, that way you may make a difference and bring others to the hobby, good luck. Why not create a blog somewhere and bang photo's on there for people to see?
For a long while now, I have been saying that we, as manufacturers, have a duty of care to our hobby to do all we can to keep it alive and give it longevity by bringing in young people. Just how we achieve this I do not know but, it is something I have a passion for and currently investigating elsewhere with a few different people.
It is great that W Britain still produce the plastic soldiers and of course the glossy, more cost effective items. I personally have a stack of old plastic figures in my collection and two shelves of W Britain Ceremonial figures in dioramas, just because they look so good. I used to attend "non toy soldier"shows for them in the UK whilst I worked for them and many, many children played with and went home with the plastics so, well done to Ken for keeping this going.
I have one customer here in the UK that takes my English Civil War figures and uses them in education. We are hoping to feature something about this in publication form sometime in 2016. Maybe, finding a way into the education system is a way forward, who knows.
Enjoy the forum and the friendships it will bring to you. The people on ere are (mostly {sm4} ) great and it is a lovely community that sometimes we all take for granted. If you ever want to e-mail me about anything, you can by all means. When I set up Empire, I said I wanted to engage with collectors and so far, so good. malcolm@empiremm.co.uk
Have fun!
Malcolm. :salute::
For a long while now, I have been saying that we, as manufacturers, have a duty of care to our hobby to do all we can to keep it alive and give it longevity by bringing in young people. Just how we achieve this I do not know but, it is something I have a passion for and currently investigating elsewhere with a few different people.
It is great that W Britain still produce the plastic soldiers and of course the glossy, more cost effective items. I personally have a stack of old plastic figures in my collection and two shelves of W Britain Ceremonial figures in dioramas, just because they look so good. I used to attend "non toy soldier"shows for them in the UK whilst I worked for them and many, many children played with and went home with the plastics so, well done to Ken for keeping this going.
I have one customer here in the UK that takes my English Civil War figures and uses them in education. We are hoping to feature something about this in publication form sometime in 2016. Maybe, finding a way into the education system is a way forward, who knows.
Enjoy the forum and the friendships it will bring to you. The people on ere are (mostly {sm4} ) great and it is a lovely community that sometimes we all take for granted. If you ever want to e-mail me about anything, you can by all means. When I set up Empire, I said I wanted to engage with collectors and so far, so good. malcolm@empiremm.co.uk
Have fun!
Malcolm. :salute::
theBaron
Major
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Nobody said they weren't available. I'm talking about the traditional toy soldier, which are metal. It's only more recently that collectors have considered the green army men as part of the toy soldier hobby, and that's primarily as those who played with plastic soldiers, especially Marx' figures, got old enough to start recapturing their childhood through collecting. In 1968, when I was playing in a sandbox with a bag of green army men, no one said, "Look at his toy soldiers".
Prost!
Brad
theBaron
Major
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- Mar 27, 2008
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- 10,308
We appreciate that Britain's has donated figures at our show, for us to give out to kids who attend. That's another way to encourage the younger collectors.
I'll repeat, though--if you want to encourage the next generation, don't give them First Legion, don't give them Russian connoisseur figures, give them plastic figures from the dollar store, and let them beat the hell out of them. When 21st Century Toys was still operating, I urged collectors to buy those and give them to their kids, because they were also a reasonably-priced item for a kid to destroy through play. Memories of playing with those toys will stick with them, and help spark their interest when they are adults.
Prost!
Brad
nackatacka
Private 2
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- Jul 30, 2013
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I am active on social media as well as a friend I met online who does the same. We have Instagram pages dedicated to pictures of our stuff. Here they are
https://instagram.com/modelsww2/ That's me
https://instagram.com/fovmodels Here's the other guy. He takes amazing pictures along with stories. Check them out
Empire MM
Corporal
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2014
- Messages
- 559
Hey NT,
Great stuff! I am so pleased you are being active on the forum, really pleased. I know others will be too.
Well, guess what? Thanks to you and your enthusiasm, I have just posted my first ever bog for Empire! It is basic but, from little acorns and all that.... http://ww1inminiature.blogspot.co.uk/
Let me know what you think and please, e-mail or PM me with any suggestions and of course, please share this among you family and friends {sm4}
Have fun!
Malcolm. :salute::
Hi,
It's great to have youngsters join our hobby. The way forward is encouragement from dad's, uncle's ,grandfather's etc. Depressingly, the Education system (I'm talking UK) is not the best place to give this as for some reason the teaching of real history in UK schools seems to have been outlawed by the usual faceless educational Tzars. As history is so linked to our hobby, pupils are not given a complete grounding in it, It usually revolves around "social" studies.
I'm on my "high horse" because recently I've had visits from nephews,neices, and friends who look at my large Napoleonic collection (displayed) and though some say "wow" no one can identify any of the combatants , time period , and in some cases the different nationality's even though British and French colours and flags are plain to be seen. I was so astounded that I have now taken it upon myself to educate anyone who will listen about Wellington, Napoleon, Blucher, and anyone else I can think of! I would like to think that this is an isolated case but I sadly suspect not.
However, I have been slightly encouraged by some of the content of this thread.
Regards,
Johnboy.
It's great to have youngsters join our hobby. The way forward is encouragement from dad's, uncle's ,grandfather's etc. Depressingly, the Education system (I'm talking UK) is not the best place to give this as for some reason the teaching of real history in UK schools seems to have been outlawed by the usual faceless educational Tzars. As history is so linked to our hobby, pupils are not given a complete grounding in it, It usually revolves around "social" studies.
I'm on my "high horse" because recently I've had visits from nephews,neices, and friends who look at my large Napoleonic collection (displayed) and though some say "wow" no one can identify any of the combatants , time period , and in some cases the different nationality's even though British and French colours and flags are plain to be seen. I was so astounded that I have now taken it upon myself to educate anyone who will listen about Wellington, Napoleon, Blucher, and anyone else I can think of! I would like to think that this is an isolated case but I sadly suspect not.
However, I have been slightly encouraged by some of the content of this thread.
Regards,
Johnboy.