How many collectors are there? (1 Viewer)

UK_BOD

UK_BOD

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Just wondering how many collectors there are out there. Looking in the Toy soldier Collector magazine, it thinks there are about 2000 serious collectors. However, these will not all be K & C.

Second question, is what defines a collector, a person who buys the odd tank or figure ( K&C) or who spends more than £500 ($850ish) a year?

Is our hobby growing? Or dying? Have we got a younger generation of collector joining the K&C bandwagon.?

I started collecting K&C (Conte) after finding my Britains (Deetail) collection in my parents home and taking it back to my son to play with (okay me actually). Then on impulse going to the Toy soldier show in London in Dec 03 and seeing the K&C UK stand.

I will be interested in your thoughs.

Regards and have a great New Year.

Andy
 
I don't know how many are out there nor how Toy Soldier would determine how many are out there. Perhaps they talked to big dealers about repeat buyers and extrapolated from there.

I also don't know if buying so much makes you a collector. I don't think frequency of buying makes a person any less than one who just buys a few items a year.

As far as new blood, I can't say about non-K & C because I primarily collect K & C but there is definitely new blood in the K & C. What else would explain the paucity of bargains at shows and ebay prices. You have more people wanting to buy these pieces so the prices go up. Therefore, there must be a lot more people in at least the K & C end of the hobby. This all bodes well for K & C and I would think that by overflow and just interest in what else the hobby has to offer, the hobby is alive and kicking.
 
I'm new to the hobby, have been collecting about 1 year, I'm 35yrs old. I became interrested in the hobby because my uncle is a huge Britains collector. I hope this hobby isn't slowing down considering I'm just starting. I was once a military antique collector for approx. 14yrs and there was the same talk about the market slowing down in that field as well (never happened). This hobby has been around for a long time and in my mind I doubt it will die. Although, I find kids of today not interrested in anything but them selves and couldn't give two sht#@ about history or the sacrafices of yesteryear, with the odd exception!!! Who knows I'm a cop and my ideas are jaded anyways. In defence of the younger generation I guess as they become more mature they may become more interrested in history. As for me I have always been interrested in history since grade school. I'm sure many of you are cut from the same cloth.

WELLINGTON
PS....Better buy as many K&C sets before the market crashes and the company folds up......;)
 
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I'll bet there are a lot of us like Wellington who have been collecting for a short time. I've only been collecting for about a year and a half myself. I don't even want to think what I've spent in that time.
 
UK_BOD said:
Is our hobby growing? Or dying? Have we got a younger generation of collector joining the K&C bandwagon.?
Click to expand...
There has been a perception that toy soldier collectors are old retired military guys. I don't think that is the case!

Just look at all the discussion about new babies on this Forum. There seem to be several sleep-deprived chaps out there. I'd be curious to hear how many of you have kids who are under the age of 10 (we have a 7 year old here).

I think the new quality of figures is drawing in many new collectors (both young and old) - especially for K&C

I think internet shops (like Treefrog) have aided this greatly. No longer do people have to travel to find a toy soldier store or find a toy show. They are there to be looked at and drooled over 24/7. This has greatly expanded the hobby - hopefully helping the brick and mortar shops too.

Pete
 
The older guys (for the most part) are still stuck in the "Toy Soldier" past. That part of the hobby IS dying out. The newer matt finish with the better action poses is the up and coming style of Toy Soldiers. The Old Guard actually played with metal toy soldiers when they were children. I don't think that the newer lines get played with all that much. The hobby is in a state of flux between the Old Guard and the young Turks. The attendance at shows is declining. You see the same old faces and they seem to be getting fewer and fewer. This may be a solid trend or, just a blip on the screen. Time will tell. I think the show promoters need to get inventive to try and bring in new faces and develope interest. Just a few thoughts from me.
 
I agree that "collecting" is less about the money spent than the attitude. I'm sure that some "collectors" are actually "investors" who have seen the prices of K&C's items climb and buy them not becuase of what they are but because of their possible future value.

I think a "collector" appreciates the item for what it is, or what it means to them. They appreciate a figure as a beautiful piece of workmanship, or as a connection to a past era, or what ever.
 
I don't know for sure how many King & Country collectors there are, but since around 2001 the number had to have grown substantially. Look at the number of dealers there are worldwide now as compared to 7 years ago, and the size of the runs of the average (1,000) and more popular (2,000+ for the latest Wittman Tiger) and the number of collectors there must be to keep these dealers in business and drive up prices in the secondary market to the present unheard of levels, and I would have to think that the number of K&C collectors has to exceed 2,000 to 4,000 now as opposed to the 200-400 when I started in 1993-1994.
 
I have to admit it was K&C's quality that drew me into this hobby, always played with the idea but K&C pushed me over the edge.

PS...I have a 5yr old and a 2 month year old whom I love very much....:)

WELLINGTON
 
Hi
I collect both britains,imperial [gloss] and k and c, and i have come accross a fair few britains collectors via e bay etc,Being a niche hobby ,their are no shops in dealing with the hobby where i am ,and i know other collectors are in the same boat.So if it wasnt for the internet it would be a dead hobby for me,
I,m 34 and have only been collecting for a couple of years tops [i have 2 boys an 8 year old and 4 months old]
 
I have quite a few customers who have been collecting for less than a year and many of my adult customers are buying for their children or nieces and nephews so whenever I hear people moaning and groaning about toy soldiers being a dying hobby I take it with a grain of salt. I only do one show a year (Chicago) so I can't make many judgements about the hobby based on that but there are lots of collectors out there who have never attended shows and don't subscribe to toy soldier magazines. I think the internet has been a great tool for generating interest in the hobby and I think toy soldier collecting is growing stronger as it evolves.
No worries here that it is anything but a vibrant hobby that continues to attract new collectors while keeping the interest of those already involved.

Happy New Year!
Shannon
 
Peter Reuss said:
There has been a perception that toy soldier collectors are old retired military guys. I don't think that is the case!

Just look at all the discussion about new babies on this Forum. There seem to be several sleep-deprived chaps out there. I'd be curious to hear how many of you have kids who are under the age of 10 (we have a 7 year old here).

I think the new quality of figures is drawing in many new collectors (both young and old) - especially for K&C

I think internet shops (like Treefrog) have aided this greatly. No longer do people have to travel to find a toy soldier store or find a toy show. They are there to be looked at and drooled over 24/7. This has greatly expanded the hobby - hopefully helping the brick and mortar shops too.

Pete
Click to expand...


I'm 36 and I've got two girls aged 3 and 1. I've been collecting nearly a year now following a break of 20 odd years.

It was the quality of the K&C Afrika Korps that drew me in. I resisted (because of the cost) for a long while but when it was announced the Desert Demag and DAK fj's were retiring i decided to bite the bullet. I seem to have spent a LOT of money on K&C since then.

I need to slow down on my purchasing but it's very very hard. The collector gene in me is very strong.
 
I'm 35 with a 2 year old daughter. I purchase a WWII Britains set then a K&C set about 5 years ago and was bummed about the size difference. So I shelved them but then 2 years later I ran into K&C again on the internet and started collecting strong after that. I collect all makes of WWII figures.
 
I started collecting K&C about a year and a half ago. I finally caught up on most of the sets I want. At first I wanted all the different WWII sets, but realized that I had to stick to certain themes. I recently purchased some TSSD and Conte plastic soldiers, and must say that they are very nice. I know it was discussed before that K&C should do some plastic soldiers, and after seeing the detail and poses on the above soldiers I think it would be a good idea. I think it would be at a good price point for younger collectors and I know I would buy them as would most K&C coillectors would.
 
I,m 36 and have started collecting again about a little over 2 years now. I say again becuase i loved toy soldiers as a kid and always wanted toy soldiers over any other toys, other kids were into sports and i was into soldiers and history and good war movies would always spark my intrest. The great classics like waterloo, zulu, battle of the buldge,the alamo and many more. Kids today are very different in this video age. I tried to get my wifes son into collecting(hes 11 years old now)and he has alittle bit of interest but not munch. I first got him some plastic figures the cheap bmc bagged figures and he had no interest and then some airfix and call to arms and we painted them and he showed some interest, then i got him some del prado napoleonics and he seems to like them. My daughter 4 years old realy seems to like to play with the plastic horses alot:D and always has her eye on my del prado cavalry collection:eek: I think there would be more interest in the hobbie if there were still some good plastics at a resonable price in stores where kids could see them, maybe some sets something like contes painted plastic cival war sets in a store like wal mart were kids would see them. I also think advertising would help do you guys remember the old sears catalogs with the marx playsets and asking santa to bring you a battlefield set?
 
I'm 35 years old and have two kids, (girl-6 yrs old, boy 4 yrs old). I've been collecting K&C for about a couple of years now. As others here, the quality was what addicted me. I found myself to be a true collector, sticking to the true meaning of "collecting". I can't find in myself to part with any of my K&C figures. My kids refer to them as daddy's toys and as of yet have shown no real interest.
 
Hi,
I'm 40 years old and started collecting about 1 year ago, after finding some of my old Britains Deetail when looking for stuff for my son, who is 4 years old. K&C was a brand I found through the Internet and I've never seen it being sold anywhere here in Portugal. Britains, Corgi, Fov, Schuco, Minichamps, Lineol and some «old school» metal toy soldiers can be found in hobby shops in my country, but for some of them it is actually cheaper to get them through the Internet. The modelling community is much bigger than the ready made collectors in my country, I guess. I certainly would not be collecting if not for the net.
I have to admit that I am not always very comfortable explaining my interest in this hobby to some people, although my wife has a keen eye for toy soldier quality ( she still jokes a little though ). My young son likes watching my toy soldiers ( watching, not touching, mostly at least ), so who knows, maybe he'll be a collector in the future...
 
Funny you should say that I too am embarrased telling people what I collect....odd....:eek:

WELLINGTON
 
I am closet collector, Turned 50 this year though I still feel like I'm 12. my wife is fine with it, especially when i sell a set for some rediculous price but my freinds simply would not understand my passion. Started collecting about 9 yrs. ago, kinda started without even knowing it. in those days K&C was into the early WWII figs. and being freshly divorced and left with a 12 and a 10 yr. old, cash was tight, found e-bay and never paid close to retail for my figures, built the start of a good collection, but all hit and miss as far as periods. Those odds and ends have financed my purchases this year and last. I really started to get serious about 3 yrs. ago and sold off all my other brands and concetrated only on K&C, it was the best decision I could have made. when i was trying to decided weather to go K&C only I remember a saying" always buy the best, then you'll never be disappointed" I couldn't be happier. Just from the skyrocketing prices I know there is more coming into the hobby, my opinion is the prices for old gloss will platue and at some point we will see the same rise again with the early flat finish sets. I think the 2000 figure is probably pretty acurate for hard core collectors who have to have it all, but I am sure there is many times that number who collect all brands or just casual numbers of K&C.
 
Mr Man said:
The older guys (for the most part) are still stuck in the "Toy Soldier" past. That part of the hobby IS dying out. The newer matt finish with the better action poses is the up and coming style of Toy Soldiers. The Old Guard actually played with metal toy soldiers when they were children. I don't think that the newer lines get played with all that much. The hobby is in a state of flux between the Old Guard and the young Turks. The attendance at shows is declining. You see the same old faces and they seem to be getting fewer and fewer. This may be a solid trend or, just a blip on the screen. Time will tell. I think the show promoters need to get inventive to try and bring in new faces and develope interest. Just a few thoughts from me.
Click to expand...

You are right on Mr. Man.

I’ve been collecting for only 9 months and now several $$$$’s later (I had a great year financially), it’s been a blast. I went to my first show in Chicago and I had a great time, especially doing the room trading and talking to other collectors and distributors.

However, there wasn’t anything sadder than seeing old collectors stuck in their room, without any foot traffic and alone with their glossy finished toy soldiers. I also saw groups of similar collectors talking up the doom and gloom of the industry among themselves and to anyone who would listen.

I would have never embraced this hobby again 9 months ago if my only choices were the glossy old toy soldiers in marching poses only. I don’t think I’m alone; thank heavens for the Force of Valor (FOV), painted TSSD (Thank you Nick) and even Britains because they gave me the appreciation for today’s collectibles to evolve to a full time collector of King and Country and some Old Northwest Country and some Conte Collectibles. The path I took to King and Country is a repeatable one that others will take from the middle age guy getting into it again, to the married guy in his 20’s/ 30’s (with kids) to the kid buying 20th Century, FOV and TSSD. As there discretionary income raises so will there tastes, and King and Country and the rest will be there waiting for them.

This is just an opinion from a new collector. See you all at the West Coaster, March 5, 2006
http://www.oldtoysoldierhome.com/thewestcoaster/westcoaster.htm
 
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