Connoisseur Figures (1 Viewer)

[theweinz]

Thanks combat, looks great!
JW

 

[Igor]

If that means his work is no longer available to us, that's a loss.
.

"who pays the piper calls the greater"

 

[Combat]

New Himmler. I'm guessing these are new figures with similar poses to the ones sculpted by Vityaz. Compare it to the Himmler figure I posted above wearing spectacles.

 

[Igor]

The difference is determined by the value of work
All painters and sculptors work for money
free art remains only to those who do for themselves

 

[PJDeluhery]

Art for art's sake; money for God's sake......10cc.

Always been true; still true today.

 

[Lawrence Lo]

I am in need of your gentlemen's collective expertise in deciphering these markings. These are all from figures made in Russia and trying to determine the studio/manufacturer they came from. The first is the St. Petersburg collection, which I believe are brought in by AeroArt. The second I believe is also from St. Petersburg, but don't know the maker. Some have clear markings such as HM, Lead Army and Vision Miniatures, but don't know if they are from St. Petersburg or Moscow, or one of the studios used by AeroArt? The black one says St. George's Cross and the last says West on it, but I don't know if this is the manufacturer? Any help in educating a novice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. All the best, Lawrence

 

[joesgis]

Hi Lawrence, I can help a little, though there are others here that have much more info on these types of figures. The 1st one is definitely an Aeroart piece. The fourth one is from the Arsenyev collection. I have one Arsenyev figure, and it is perhaps my finest. Next is the St. George's Cross one....you used to be able to buy these from Michigan Toy Soldier Co. They sold finished figures and raw castings made by St. George's Cross, but I'm not sure if they still do. The Lead Army one is next....I believe all of Lead Army's products are painted "kits" from various manufacturers w/ no specific, licensed sculpts made exclusively for them (unlike Kolobob, Arsenyev, Aeroart, etc..). The Lead Army bases are often not initialed on the bottom by the artist who painted the piece either, just like the base in the picture. The guy that sells the line is based in NY or NJ. The base of the very last one appears to be from Pennant Miniatures, a now defunct outfit, and one the earlier Russian connoisseur figure producers. I'm not certain it's a Pennant figure, but I used to have a Pennant Union officer, and the base looked much like the one pictured. I hope this helps!

Happy New Year!
Joe

 

[Lawrence Lo]

Hi Lawrence, I can help a little, though there are others here that have much more info on these types of figures. The 1st one is definitely an Aeroart piece. The fourth one is from the Arsenyev collection. I have one Arsenyev figure, and it is perhaps my finest. Next is the St. George's Cross one....you used to be able to buy these from Michigan Toy Soldier Co. They sold finished figures and raw castings made by St. George's Cross, but I'm not sure if they still do. The Lead Army one is next....I believe all of Lead Army's products are painted "kits" from various manufacturers w/ no specific, licensed sculpts made exclusively for them (unlike Kolobob, Arsenyev, Aeroart, etc..). The Lead Army bases are often not initialed on the bottom by the artist who painted the piece either, just like the base in the picture. The guy that sells the line is based in NY or NJ. The base of the very last one appears to be from Pennant Miniatures, a now defunct outfit, and one the earlier Russian connoisseur figure producers. I'm not certain it's a Pennant figure, but I used to have a Pennant Union officer, and the base looked much like the one pictured. I hope this helps!

Happy New Year!
Joe

Joe,
Thanks for the info - it is a great start in figuring out the figures I have. Did Arsenyev paint figures for Aeroart? Also, did the Pennant figures have a mark that says "West"? Thanks again for the help. All the best for the New Year to you as well!!

 

[theweinz]

Lawrence,
Arsenyev did use to paint figures for Aeroart. However, Thor did not own all the rights to all the Arsenyev pieces he sold. Basically, for a time (early 2000s)he would sell what he could get from Arsenyev studio. The pieces sold very well, needless to say demand exceeded supply! Many were sold in very limited quantity. When I look at my collection of miniatures, Arsenyev has produced my finest pieces without any doubt. If I could see photos of the actual miniatures, I may be able to find more info in some of my reference works. Early Arsenyev pieces had a blue painted bottom w/ a knights head on it. PM me if you want about this topic. I have a passion for Arsenyev and would like to help you. I may be able to identify some of the others as well. Hope you and your family have a great New Year's day! Take care my friend
JW

 

[Lawrence Lo]

Lawrence,
Arsenyev did use to paint figures for Aeroart. However, Thor did not own all the rights to all the Arsenyev pieces he sold. Basically, for a time (early 2000s)he would sell what he could get from Arsenyev studio. The pieces sold very well, needless to say demand exceeded supply! Many were sold in very limited quantity. When I look at my collection of miniatures, Arsenyev has produced my finest pieces without any doubt. If I could see photos of the actual miniatures, I may be able to find more info in some of my reference works. Early Arsenyev pieces had a blue painted bottom w/ a knights head on it. PM me if you want about this topic. I have a passion for Arsenyev and would like to help you. I may be able to identify some of the others as well. Hope you and your family have a great New Year's day! Take care my friend
JW

JW,
A Happy New Year to you and your family as well!! Thank you for the reply about Arsenyev. I did some more research and found out a bit more about Arsenyev and I have four of their figures (106, 119, 120 and GL2). I happened to buy a collection which was primarily King & Country and the Russian figures were a small part of the collection. I always admired them, but never took the plunge as my area of interest was WW2 and the cost also held me back. They are superb figures and I am enjoying them immensely - especially the mounted figures and the Roman Chariot. I have posted photos in my album. I have a question with regard to Arsenyev figures sold by AeroArt - would the figures be sold with the markings of the St. Petersburg Collection or would they have Arsenyev's own markings? By the way, I figured out the other mark as that of Grenada Studios. Thanks again for all your help. It is much appreciated. Happy Hunting and hope to meet you in the near future - if you are ever in New York, give me a holler. All the best, Lawrence

 

[theweinz]

Lawrence,
The figures you picked up are incredible, way to go! I am glad you "took the plunge." I have always liked both the exquisite military miniatures and the charm of the toy soldiers, my collection is a blend of both. Your question is a good one. As far as I know, Aeroart puts their markings on pieces they own the rights to, in other words pieces they paid Arsenyev studio to produce exclusively for them. HM or Historical miniature (Russ Salberg) did the same thing for a while. One of the problems was that some of these "exclusive figures" would show up in the European market and there were some hard feelings (understandably).

I recently purchased a piece from the XX series that Arsenyev did for Aeroart. I was unsure if Aeroart owned the rights to this series, but they must. I had not seen one from this series for quite some time. It is an Arsenyev casting (by Polskij) but I do not think it is a vintage Arsenyev paint job, although it is nice (in my album see Bernard Montgomery standing with coffee). This piece has the Aeroart markings on the base. The vintage Arsenyev marking on the base was the blue knight head (see photo below). Then they went to the star type logo in the upper left of the base, like you have. Hope this helps. Take care.
JW

 

[VIRIATO]

I have just taken a look at your connoisseur albums and indeed they are stunning, great figures and great photos in both albums. I also do enjoy both the toy soldier and the military miniature sides of the hobby. But nowadays when I look at or consider connoisseur figures I tend to go for First Legion figures, I am not sure you can call them connoisseur but they surely are connoisseur inspired and Aeroart from what I hear is planning to compete with them on this particular turf in association with Figarti.
Any thoughts on First Legion, Aeroart and connoisseur figures?

Paulo

 

[Lawrence Lo]

Lawrence,
The figures you picked up are incredible, way to go! I am glad you "took the plunge." I have always liked both the exquisite military miniatures and the charm of the toy soldiers, my collection is a blend of both. Your question is a good one. As far as I know, Aeroart puts their markings on pieces they own the rights to, in other words pieces they paid Arsenyev studio to produce exclusively for them. HM or Historical miniature (Russ Salberg) did the same thing for a while. One of the problems was that some of these "exclusive figures" would show up in the European market and there were some hard feelings (understandably).

I recently purchased a piece from the XX series that Arsenyev did for Aeroart. I was unsure if Aeroart owned the rights to this series, but they must. I had not seen one from this series for quite some time. It is an Arsenyev casting (by Polskij) but I do not think it is a vintage Arsenyev paint job, although it is nice (in my album see Bernard Montgomery standing with coffee). This piece has the Aeroart markings on the base. The vintage Arsenyev marking on the base was the blue knight head (see photo below). Then they went to the star type logo in the upper left of the base, like you have. Hope this helps. Take care.
JW

JW,
Thanks for the kind words and the info you provided is a great help. I think I will have to pick-up the AeroArt books to further educate myself. Like you, I like the various styles and enjoy them all - which of course is a symptom of a serious addiction So much for my New Year's Resolution

 

[Lawrence Lo]

I have just taken a look at your connoisseur albums and indeed they are stunning, great figures and great photos in both albums. I also do enjoy both the toy soldier and the military miniature sides of the hobby. But nowadays when I look at or consider connoisseur figures I tend to go for First Legion figures, I am not sure you can call them connoisseur but they surely are connoisseur inspired and Aeroart from what I hear is planning to compete with them on this particular turf in association with Figarti.
Any thoughts on First Legion, Aeroart and connoisseur figures?

Paulo

Paulo,
Thank you for the kind words. I have only recently started with the Russian makers and am still learning, so I am a complete novice. I cannot comment with regard to First Legion as I have never purchased any. With Figarti, I do like their vehicles, but their figures are not their strongest suit, but they are clearly working on improving them. In the end, I always felt that collecting is subjective and that each collector will be drawn to what he or she likes - one man's treasure is another man's garbage. Unfortunately for me, I don't find much garbage when it comes to toy soldiers/miniatures All the best, Lawrence

 

[theweinz]

Lawrence,
Do not worry about that New Year's resolution, its been well over 12 hours now! Best indulge what you enjoy! I guess I am an addict too, but it keeps my sanity
JW

 

[theweinz]

Paulo,

I have seen very little of First Legion, but I think "connoisseur inspired' is a great descriptive. I just saw a First Legion Highlander Officer the other day when i was actually visiting Treefrog Treasures in Eyota MN! I thought the face was done better than the uniform (based on that one example mind you). What do you think? I am very interested to see what Aeroart and Figarti come up with. As Lawrence has pointed out, they could use some help with the figures to go with those beautiful vehicles. The stuff that Aeroart puts out now seems to fall into the 7-8 out of 10 category, if you are selective you can find some beauties. It seems the days of the Arsenyev PB series are long gone

JW

 

[fmethorst]

Trying out a new lens on my camera, Nikon AF-S MICRO 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR.

Nevskaya Miniatura SA06

Russian Vityaz PB716.

 

[VIRIATO]

Trying out a new lens on my camera, Nikon AF-S MICRO 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR.

Nevskaya Miniatura SA06

Russian Vityaz PB716.

Looks like the lens is pretty OK! Stunning figure and photos. Thanks!

Paulo

 

[VIRIATO]

Paulo,

I have seen very little of First Legion, but I think "connoisseur inspired' is a great descriptive. I just saw a First Legion Highlander Officer the other day when i was actually visiting Treefrog Treasures in Eyota MN! I thought the face was done better than the uniform (based on that one example mind you). What do you think? I am very interested to see what Aeroart and Figarti come up with. As Lawrence has pointed out, they could use some help with the figures to go with those beautiful vehicles. The stuff that Aeroart puts out now seems to fall into the 7-8 out of 10 category, if you are selective you can find some beauties. It seems the days of the Arsenyev PB series are long gone

JW

I haven't seen the Highlanders first hand, but from what I've seen and have I'd say you are spot on, faces frequently better than uniforms, there will always be a difference, even if small, between FL and the best Connoisseur figures when it comes to painting I guess. But FL's value point is very competitive with the connoisseur figures I'd say.
Paulo

 

[theweinz]

Frank,
Beautiful stuff, details are incredible.
JW

Trying out a new lens on my camera, Nikon AF-S MICRO 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR.

Nevskaya Miniatura SA06

Russian Vityaz PB716.