Bought on Ebay - need more help identifying what these old guys are (1 Viewer)

[Mikeydoes]

I recently saw a couple of auctions of toy soldiers that looked really old and are made of lead. I was wondering if anyone can point me in a direction of where I can find more out about these?

I saw a nice collection of 12 men and 2 cannons. I was intrigued by them... I was only able to find the cannon, which sold on Ebay for ~$10, which made me think it was okay to spend around $12 on these:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Le...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2648


Also, if you are up for it.. I really thought this guy was interesting/old too, so I splurged since it is different than the ones above and appears to be old as well:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Me...0vKooHmO7aYAwyXaT%2FM%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Thanks in advance for any and all help! I hope this is okay/appropriate for this forum!

 

[thebritfarmer]

I think the bottom single figure is made by Barclay.

 

[Al Fisher]

The two costal artillery pieces were home cast using A.C. (?) Gilbert molds. I still have about a dozen such molds from my childhood including an FT-17.
Bosun Al

 

[johnnybach]

In the light of the last two posts - this might help a bit - jb

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barclay_Manufacturing_Company

 

[theBaron]

In the first auction listing, the figures are all homecast, that is, cast from molds sold for hobbyists to cast their own toy soldiers at home.

The top row of figures were made with molds which can trace their lineage back to Schneider Bros. of Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Their molds were sold here in the US from around the turn of the 19th Century to the 20th, up to the end of WW II. The main sellers were a man named Henry Schiercke, and S. Sachs, who also copied the molds and added others to the catalog. There were other American makers who started out with Schneider molds or molds derived from Schneider molds, such as Junior Caster (Rappaport Bros.).

The second row of figures was cast with molds made by Home Foundry, also a Rappaport Bros. company, with original designs of doughboys in action, among other subjects.

I agree with Bosun Al, the artillery pieces are from AC Gilbert molds. AC Gilbert is best known as the maker of Erector Sets.

I agree with Scott about the other auction's figure. It looks like Barclay's #85 "Two Soldier Crew at Mobile Cannon", but it's badly damaged. The rest of the barrel is missing, and there should be a second figure behind the gunner, spotting with a pair of binoculars. We can see the damage at the top of the gunner's helmet, which was a transition point in the casting, to the second figure. The complete figure is depicted in Richard O'Brien's "Collecting Toy Soldiers", 3rd edition, on page 92.

Hope that helps!

Prost!
Brad

 

[Mikeydoes]

Wow guys. I can't thank you enough for the help! I searched for hours trying to find out more and I'm more interested in them than ever.

Are they worth holding on to?

 

[theBaron]

Wow guys. I can't thank you enough for the help! I searched for hours trying to find out more and I'm more interested in them than ever.

Are they worth holding on to?

Sure thing!

They're not particularly valuable, for re-sale purposes. There aren't may people who collect homecasts, and since the molds are still around, there are a lot of those figures to be found.

The Barclay gun piece is in poor condition, since more than half of the original figure-the second gunner, and the barrel-is gone.

Having said that, these pieces are great to paint up, and to restore, in the case of the gun. If you like to paint, you'll get a lot of satisfaction in painting these pieces.

Hope that helps!

Prosit!
Brad