Hi all, just curious as to why collectors these days still collect glossy when figures have come a long way and look realistic and very detailed, were glossy
simple and toy like. They had never captivated me not even as a kid preferred regular figures that look real
As somebody who collects both traditional glossy and modern matt toy soldiers, I can see both sides of the issue. For old codgers like me, the glossy soldiers bring back the glossy William Britains Toy Soldiers we had (or in my case, coveted, I couldn't afford them as a kid) as children. For me personally, every day I walked home from school I passed a Hobby Shop called Devlin's Hobbies, which had a big showcase full of glossy Britains Toy Soldiers, and I pressed my nose against the glass and wished I could have some of them. I started collecting them as young attorney, when I stumbled across a shop on 5th Avenue and 16th Street in Manhattan called B.Shackman's Toys & Novelties, which had a similar showcase full of Britains.
Some years later, in the winter of 1993/1994, as I browsed through some toy soldier advertisements, I came across a photograph that caused me to rethink collecting only glossy figures. The photograph was of a set of toy soldiers unlike anything I had seen up to that point: Teddy Roosevelt, mounted in his uniform as Lt. Colonel of the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, with two of his dismounted “Rough Riders” marching behind him. The sculpting of the figures was the first thing that caught my eye: they were properly proportioned and athletic, like living soldiers rather than toys, in comfortable, realistic poses: Teddy slouching in his saddle, and the rough riders marching with their bed rolls slung around them from shoulder to waist. The paint finish also stood out: it was glossy, like traditional toy soldiers, but had the shadowing, dry brushing techniques, and detailed outlining I had only previously seen in prohibitively expensive matt “connoisseur” figures. I had to have it, immediately calling one of the dealers in the advertisement.
A week or so later, after I spent about fifteen minutes handling the figures (toy soldiers are so much more satisfying in person than in a photograph), I started to peruse the King & Country color brochures arriving with them. I was pleasantly surprised to discover this company didn’t just make toy soldiers: it produced wooden tanks, other vehicles, aircraft, even buildings. There were soldiers from World War II, even a set of U.S. Marines from the recent Gulf War, subjects I had never seen approached by the Toy Soldier companies I was familiar with up to this point.
I started purchasing all of the King & Country products I came across, as well as two other more innovative companies I discovered through the first King & Country dealer I patronized, Frontline and Trophy. Soon I had weeded out all but these three companies from my active collecting. Later I fell in love with one of K&C early competitors in the Toy aircraft and armored vehicle market, Heco Tinplate Models, and another small manufacturer of incredible accurate handcast vehicles (in both glossy and matt), CJB Models. On the matt side, I added figures, aircraft and vehicles by John Jenkins Designs, Eagle Designs, First Legion, and connoisseur figures from Aeroart.
I love them all, the glossy ones because of nostalgia and "toyishness," the matt ones because of realism and grittyness. While my overall collection is probably abour 75% matt, I wouldn't give up my glossy Trophy WWI, Heco Tinplate Models or CJB Models for the world.:salute::
As for my explanation the gloss sparkle and double sparkle under light. For me Matte is meh and I prowl this site waiting for Andy to shock me with some new glossy sets!
