Best finds at the Chicago Toy Soldier Show (1 Viewer)

[agmtanks]

I live an hour drive from this show , so I am lucky to attend Room trading on Thursday and friday before the Show starts.

Best thing about room trading is to find old King & Country at bargain prices.

This year I found AF011 Mustang for $125.

This always gives me an excuse to show Andy and tell him about my find , and get a pictue with him !!!

Did anyone else find something they were happy with?

 

[mikemiller1955]

looking good Mr. Moffat...
looking good Mr. Neilson...
or should I say...
looking good Andy & Andy...
sounds like a candy bar...^&grin

 

[wayne556517]

I live an hour drive from this show , so I am lucky to attend Room trading on Thursday and friday before the Show starts.

Best thing about room trading is to find old King & Country at bargain prices.

This year I found AF011 Mustang for $125.

This always gives me an excuse to show Andy and tell him about my find , and get a pictue with him !!!

Did anyone else find something they were happy with?



View attachment 253317

Great finds the old King & Country and the plane is a beauty as well ^&grin bargain price on a classic piece.

 

[agmtanks]

Another find I saw was a collector who found 2 x Honour Bound Panther tanks with Box for $80 each

He was very happy with those.

 

[jazzeum]

Another find I saw was a collector who found 2 x Honour Bound Panther tanks with Box for $80 each

He was very happy with those.

On the one hand that’s a good find. On the other, a worrisome trend.

 

[agmtanks]

Some dealers have no idea what they have , probably paid almost nothing for it, and want to sell them and not take the tanks home.

Many dealers in rooms mark silly prices and bring the same stuff to their rooms year after year.

I only find a few bargains in 3-4 rooms out of 100??? other rooms. Andy

 

[HAWKEYE]

I found numerous napoleonic trophy sets, lancers of berg, carabaniers, mamalukes, british dragoons, dismounted chassuers, imperial garde, french infantry
advancing, and more plus some real nice indian mutiny sets. I hauled in 15 boxes of six and 14 mounted figures which turned out to be my best trophy year in
chicago for quite some time as there are usually your usual sudan or zulu sets but not this yeart. And i bought some nice yankee tedtoy sets too. Luois beat me to the ww one sets

 

[tdubel]

Best Find - 2 full storage tubs of ORIGINAL Somerset Mint IN Box about 50 Boxes of Indian Army Mounted, Camels, Elephants, Afghans and Durbar.

Diorama - Pat G. - My all time favorite one that Andy and Gordon did - the Secret Desert Air Force Base for Afrika Korps - Louis B. made it famous, Pat has since put his own twist on it! I Got the first half this year, next will be the 2nd half. It should hold all of my AK, Brit 8th Army. I just need to get figures made of Indiana and Padre Jones Riding away!! I do have the Andrea Motorcycle kit with those 2 in it, that sounds like it just might work.


More Finds - found the last 2 Marlborough Elephants from the Tiger Hunt set I needed. Now I am only down to a Rewa Carriage set to complete the major Marlborough Pieces.


Beau Geste picked up some more elephants, I am finally near current on those!


Trade Items from a good friend - K&C Royal Horse Artillery in the big box set, always wanted one of those. Nice custom Toy Army/Atkins/Steadfast world war 1 - A7V Hagen Tank, Mother Male and a modified Lorry Truck, Trophy Boer War Big Gun set (Naval Gun) set and a few randoms.


Oddest find of show - Old Aeroart Civil War Garibaldi Guard Figure - really terrific detail.


Also found the new Britains Exclusive Circus Figures from Baraboo Shop.


Final - Metal Shed - 2 WW1 staff cars (brits and americans) and I bought the Hot Dog Truck (Carnival vendor) who couldn't resist that one!


Honestly could have found more, there was a wealth of items at this show and I really didn't hunt that much, it is overwhelming what you can find.

 

[jazzeum]

Although I made a couple of small finds (some AeroArt Civil War), overall I thought the Show was poor.

The number of dealers and even manufacturers continues to shrink and what I saw was a lot of same old, same old. The crowds did not seem very good on Thursday or Friday but I thought Saturday would be a good day because in all the Shows I’ve attended (2005-17, with a couple of misses), Saturday was always busy and the halls crowded. Unfortunately, Saturday was not good either, which really surprised me. Thinking it was just me, I talked to a couple of other long time collectors and we all had similar feelings. Others may disagree but that is the way I see it.

Considering the cost of going to the Show, this will probably be my last Show, at least for awhile. If the upcoming Hackensack Show should prove to be the last one, well that will be the last of shows for me, except for MFCA. It’s a sign of the times.

 

[tdubel]

Although I made a couple of small finds (some AeroArt Civil War), overall I thought the Show was poor.

The number of dealers and even manufacturers continues to shrink and what I saw was a lot of same old, same old. The crowds did not seem very good on Thursday or Friday but I thought Saturday would be a good day because in all the Shows I’ve attended (2005-17, with a couple of misses), Saturday was always busy and the halls crowded. Unfortunately, Saturday was not good either, which really surprised me. Thinking it was just me, I talked to a couple of other long time collectors and we all had similar feelings. Others may disagree but that is the way I see it.

Considering the cost of going to the Show, this will probably be my last Show, at least for awhile. If the upcoming Hackensack Show should prove to be the last one, well that will be the last of shows for me, except for MFCA. It’s a sign of the times.

It is true I believe less traffic and a lot of the rooms are the same. That said I compared sales with several dealers and there were quite a bit of new highs and Sunday had quite a bit of traffic. I noticed that variety definitely sold well. There was certainly no lack of spending even if the crowds were less. Hackensack will be interesting to see how it is for sure.
Tom

 

[agmtanks]

I found numerous napoleonic trophy sets, lancers of berg, carabaniers, mamalukes, british dragoons, dismounted chassuers, imperial garde, french infantry
advancing, and more plus some real nice indian mutiny sets. I hauled in 15 boxes of six and 14 mounted figures which turned out to be my best trophy year in
chicago for quite some time as there are usually your usual sudan or zulu sets but not this yeart. And i bought some nice yankee tedtoy sets too. Luois beat me to the ww one sets

Hawkeye,
I am glad you found some sets you were happy with this year. I am very surprised no other collectors besides Brad and Tom have added to this thread.
I thought lots of Treefrog members went to the Chicago show this year???

 

[Currahee Chris]

Congratulations fellas on some great finds!!! Glad to hear things went well for everyone. Shame to hear the reports of the lower attendance. Hopefully that will correct itself. I do hope to make it out there someday. Probably another 5 years away.

 

[Warrior]

Congratulations fellas on some great finds!!! Glad to hear things went well for everyone. Shame to hear the reports of the lower attendance. Hopefully that will correct itself. I do hope to make it out there someday. Probably another 5 years away.

The best "find" for me at the show was the night myself, Julie and TD found the "quiet zone" at the hotel; you can sit here on these comfy couches, but BE QUIET!!……………………...just hysterical, guess you had to be there, TD's photo of me and Julie is a keeper...………………..oh and the 47 beers I found at the bar Thursday and Friday night...……………...

 

[Sahara]

Found these in Chicago. I'm typically not a plastics guy but when I saw these I had to have them. They fit in nicely with my 1/30 scale stuff and the young man who painted them up did a fantastic job.

 

[wayne556517]

Found these in Chicago. I'm typically not a plastics guy but when I saw these I had to have them. They fit in nicely with my 1/30 scale stuff and the young man who painted them up did a fantastic job.

Yes they are good great find.

 

[Julie]

The best "find" for me at the show was the night myself, Julie and TD found the "quiet zone" at the hotel; you can sit here on these comfy couches, but BE QUIET!!……………………...just hysterical, guess you had to be there, TD's photo of me and Julie is a keeper...………………..oh and the 47 beers I found at the bar Thursday and Friday night...……………...

I remember when those signs went up a few years ago....maybe a class in whispering should be offered?

 

[Warrior]

I remember when those signs went up a few years ago....maybe a class in whispering should be offered?

Or sign language...………..we tried the whispering, all I did was make you and TD laugh, which defeats the whole purpose of a "quiet" zone...…………….:wink2:

 

[King & Country]

Although I made a couple of small finds (some AeroArt Civil War), overall I thought the Show was poor.

The number of dealers and even manufacturers continues to shrink and what I saw was a lot of same old, same old. The crowds did not seem very good on Thursday or Friday but I thought Saturday would be a good day because in all the Shows I’ve attended (2005-17, with a couple of misses), Saturday was always busy and the halls crowded. Unfortunately, Saturday was not good either, which really surprised me. Thinking it was just me, I talked to a couple of other long time collectors and we all had similar feelings. Others may disagree but that is the way I see it.

Considering the cost of going to the Show, this will probably be my last Show, at least for awhile. If the upcoming Hackensack Show should prove to be the last one, well that will be the last of shows for me, except for MFCA. It’s a sign of the times.

While I appreciate Brad’s point of view, ‘Chicago’ is still a ‘must’ for me...I get to meet and talk with collectors and dealers from all over America and around the world PLUS get to spend time with a group of long-time friends who I only get to see once a year!

Then there’s the toy soldiers themselves...Every variety and price point imaginable and always something to discover among the hidden treasures...

At the same time I get to see what the rest of our niche hobby is producing which is always useful and illuminating and finally...I get the opportunity to travel and recharge my own batteries.

Being the eternal optimist the ‘glass is never half empty...always half full’.
All the best and here’s to next year...the 40th. ‘Chicago’!
Andy.

PS Congrats also to Roger & jan Garfield...They have worked their ***** off to bring us a great show and do their very best to promote it. The least we can do is support it.

 

[jazzeum]

While I appreciate Brad’s point of view, ‘Chicago’ is still a ‘must’ for me...I get to meet and talk with collectors and dealers from all over America and around the world PLUS get to spend time with a group of long-time friends who I only get to see once a year!

Then there’s the toy soldiers themselves...Every variety and price point imaginable and always something to discover among the hidden treasures...

At the same time I get to see what the rest of our niche hobby is producing which is always useful and illuminating and finally...I get the opportunity to travel and recharge my own batteries.

Being the eternal optimist the ‘glass is never half empty...always half full’.
All the best and here’s to next year...the 40th. ‘Chicago’!
Andy.

PS Congrats also to Roger & jan Garfield...They have worked their ***** off to bring us a great show and do their very best to promote it. The least we can do is support it.

Andy,

While I appreciate it's a must for you as a manufacturer and it’s great to see you and others like Tim, who I only see once a year, it’s ceased to become a must for me as far as the soldiers themselves go. It’s more economical for me to use the Internet or go to whatever shows remain in the East Coast. With the declining attendance and sellers, I suspect that others have come to that decision as well.

You have seen the Show when it is small and big and I suspect we will see that cycle of growth and retraction again.

Brad

 

[gk5717]

I have been to Chicago for the past 28 years, have not missed a show. But what has happened is I have shortened my stay. One year I arrived on Wednesday and stayed thru the show on Sunday. My usual routine was to arrive about noon on Thursday and leave Sunday morning and not attend the show itself. Two reasons. I am out of money and after 3 days I pretty much have seen everything. Now I arrive at noon Thursday and leave early Saturday morning, not even going to the Hyatt on Saturday. So in a way yes the room tradeing etc is not like it used to be but the actual experiance is still great. I also have the luxury I can drive there which means I can stay at a cheaper hotel and find cheaper places to eat.