Hello Everyone (1 Viewer)

[Digger]

WOW!! And I thought coin collecting was addicting!

Hello everyone. I am brand new to collecting miniature soldiers. I always marveled at the displays of civil war miniatures at collectibles shops but just never bought that 1st set. I just kept telling myself that I had to resist yet another hobby. Well, that all fell through when I walked into a shop and there they were again, and this time they were marked 60% off! My mother and wife asked if I wanted a few for Christmas....let me see......YES. I also managed to pick up a set or 2 for myself (just couldn't pass up the sale). That was last month and I now have bought 12 sets of Britains, 1 set from Forward March and have 8 more sets coming plus the 4 Xmas gift sets. Off to a good start! I think I will try to stay with the Civil War period for now but those WWII sets sure look nice too.

 

[gk5717]

If you have your eye on WW2, forget about it, you will buy your first set and you will fall into the abyss of collecting.
Welcome to always being broke!
Gary

 

[sceic2]

And you think drugs are an expensive habit!!!! Just wait until you come under the King & Country spell.

There is always room for just one more. And, just as soon as you think you have caught up on the new releases for a while, you know so you can buy food and pay the mortgage, the maddness begins again. New releases, they are the collectors euphoria. Michael

 

[jazzeum]

Oh boy, you're about to descend into K & C madness, where this forum and ebay become your constant friends, where you wake up at 2 am to see if anybody has posted a rare item, with a buy it now at a low price and where you want to commit andy-kari (a form of K & C hari-kari) when you've missed the item.

One of the first sites you may want to check out is www.toysoldiersusa.com

This will be your most indispensible site for seeing what King and Country has. This will be eventually supplemented by the book that Louis Badolato, a member here, and his colleagues are writing about K & C. Lastly, you should know that Andy Neilsen, the owner of K & C, frequently contributes here and answers questions that collectors pose.

Welcome to the madness as we descend into the maelstrom together.

 

[Digger]

What did I get myself into? I have been checking all the sites I can find and it appears that K&C pretty much lacks much inventory on the Civil War. So far it looks like Britains, Conti and Forward March are the miniatures I will be focusing on since they have large quantities of ACW "stuff". Maybe when & if I do start a WWII collection I will check out K&C, I like what I see in that series. That's what I like about the 54mm miniatures. There are so many manufactures that all put out such quality pieces thet can be inter-mixed.

 

[jazzeum]

On the Civil War series, I'm no expert there but I think Forward March and Conte are nice. Don't know if Andy ever plans to get back into this line.

 

[Alexdakar]

If he does its not going to match your ACW stuff because of the size difference.

 

[Fubar]

Digger, Howdy from ORYGUN.
I think you are fine sticking with Conte, Britians, Forward march. You can find some retired Britians sets all the time at a decent price.They had new sets being shown at OTSN show, Old Northwest Trading company has a Union gun and crew coming down the pike, as well as many more new sets of infantry.I noticed the ONWTC Rebs they had in the works looked just like the plastics I had converted and was told basically they are, a little better done, also cast in metal and factory painted.Good stuf on the way.
Also, If you ever decide you want to paint troops yourself as "fillers " for your displays , there a scads of excellent 54mm white metal kits.
K/C will not match in size, too bad .


On to Richmond!!!

 

[Louis Badolato]

Dear Digger,

Welcome to the asylum. As far as U.S. Civil War goes, while Andy (King & Country's owner, at the forum we are all on a first name basis) did some nice glossy Civil War stuff in the early 1990's, and a matt Antietam Series in 1998-2000, for Civil War, in my humble opinion, the very best stuff out there is from Frontline (another Hong Kong based company). They do all the unsual Union (Iron Brigade) and Confedate (1st Virginia) infantry, cavarly and artillery, as well as Zoaves (5th New York and Louisiana Tiger Zoaves), limbered guns, caissons, even a field smithy, personality figures, and action scenes with men climbing split rail fences, look out posts, tents and command tables, etc. These figures are exceptionally well sculpted and painted in matt, almost (but not quite) on a par with the quality exhibited by King & Country's WWII products. There really is nothing of similar quality for the Civil War out there. Check out there website at www.frontline-figures.com.

Again, Welcome,

Louis Badolato

 

[CannonFodder1971]

Welcome Digger,

If ACW is your primary area of interest then you might want to consider painting white metal kits such as Shenandoah or Pegaso: you can build large military formations even if they mightn't look like the prettiest things in the world. Shannon stocks Shenandoah, a good series to start with. If you get bitten then try this link for everything ACW, from Andrea to Verlinden kits:

http://www.milminwh.com/acw_54-mm_scale_figures_index.htm

If you feel like holing yourself below the waterline on quality ACW rather than quantity then you should really consider some of the Russian made figures. There are an excellent range of Arsynev figures from the Russian Vityaz collective on the theme of Roberdeau Wheat's Tigers, but they're extremely expensive and make everything else look crude. You can see some pictures on AeroArt's St. Petersburg Collection but they've sold out:

http://www.aeroartinc.com/tier2.asp?selection=023

 

[Louis Badolato]

I stand corrected: Canonfodder is right in asserting that the Russian figures are the best. On the other hand, are they really toy soldiers, or are they more Historical Miniatures? For the price of one foot figure from the Russians, you can have a set of 5 or 6 toy soldiers, and for one mounted St. petersburg figure, you can create an entire scene with traditional toy soldiers.

 

[Digger]

Yes, I saw those Russian pieces and they truly are very impressive. So far I have received some new (new to me anyway) sets since my first post from Conte, Britains and Forward March. Side-by-side I feel that the Forward March figures I have received are far more detailed than the other two.

 

[Fubar]

I let Frontline get by me, Must agree, Frontline troops are painted top notch.They are a bit more slender , bases rather small but are very nice. I have several hundred of their Napoleonic infantry and perhaps 80 Cavalry and 6 artillery sets from their Napoleonic line.They are the cream of my Napoleonic collection insanity.

Have none of the ACW line.I always passed them up in favor of Conte. Everyone has their own opinians and what works for them.
Lets hope we shall see some fine new releases from ONWTC, Frontline, Britians and Conte in the new year.
Maybe another surprise release from makers yet unknown??? HMMM???
FUBAR