How many in USA, EU, others ? (1 Viewer)

[PanzerAce1944]

I do not have any real good data either, but for what it is worth I know that Toy Soldier & Model Figure magazine has at least a 20,000+ cirulation. Of course many collectors do not get this somewhat expensive magazine although you can now get the Internet version at a relatively low price. If one could get data on the output of sets by K&C, W. Britain and others it may help give you some idea on how many active collectors there are. I would guess there may be anywhere from a 100,000 to 1,000,000 more or less active toy soldier colletcors in the world.

"Iron Brigade"

Definately a tough equation to nail down, based upon many factors which are currently unknown ^&confuse I guess there are enough of us though !

 

[Larry Allen]

It would be fascinating to see how many collectors / country and also to see what country collected what figures.

I started a thread a good while ago on “Why do we collect the sets that we do”? It would be quite interesting to see the number of US Civil War collectors in Europe; the number of Zulu wars in Singapore or the number of AWI sets in Australia?



You would have to be a very committed collector to cope with the absence of both a local store or collecting community. Though a forum permits contact with a much broader range of people, it must be a lonely road collecting AWI in Perth or Zulus in South America.

Yep' Jack, I agree, but still there are a lot of guys who do just that.

It does get a bit (TS collecting) lonely way up in Maine. No other collectors around for 100 miles or so, at least that have made their presence known. We do seem to be a secretive bunch. ^&cool

I have often wondered why there are no TS clubs where you get together once a month and just talk collecting, at least in my area. Sorta' like a modelers club or the war gamers do. --- Larry

 

[4th Hussar]

It does get a bit (TS collecting) lonely way up in Maine. No other collectors around for 100 miles or so, at least that have made their presence known. We do seem to be a secretive bunch. ^&cool

I have often wondered why there are no TS clubs where you get together once a month and just talk collecting, at least in my area. Sorta' like a modelers club or the war gamers do. --- Larry

Not too many out here in the shrub steppes either. If I tell folks what I collect they assume I have a Marx Alamo set on my bedroom floor like I did 60 years ago

 

[Jack]

Yep' Jack, I agree, but still there are a lot of guys who do just that.

It does get a bit (TS collecting) lonely way up in Maine. No other collectors around for 100 miles or so, at least that have made their presence known. We do seem to be a secretive bunch. ^&cool

I have often wondered why there are no TS clubs where you get together once a month and just talk collecting, at least in my area. Sorta' like a modelers club or the war gamers do. --- Larry

It might be because the word 'club' is a bridge too far in terms of us embracing the inner child. Five or six of us gather each week at our toy soldier shop and talk collecting, treefrog, dioramas, some politics (we lean to the right I think), and at times mock each others collecting choices and dress sense. We have had a few meals together and will get a table at the K&C dinner in July. It is good fun, but if someone suggested calling it a club, it would appear odd. So what we have rather than a club is an ad hoc, eclectic group of like minded individuals who meet regularly to pursue shared interests...see...nothing like a club at all!

 

[Northgate Woods]

Yep' Jack, I agree, but still there are a lot of guys who do just that.

It does get a bit (TS collecting) lonely way up in Maine. No other collectors around for 100 miles or so, at least that have made their presence known. We do seem to be a secretive bunch. ^&cool

I have often wondered why there are no TS clubs where you get together once a month and just talk collecting, at least in my area. Sorta' like a modelers club or the war gamers do. --- Larry

Larry mate,
I know how you feel cobber. I am, at least to the best of my knowledge the only Forum member/collector in the State of Victoria. My dealer is two States away and I only get to catch up with and chew the fat with other Aussie collectors once a year when Andy visits Brisbane each year.
Some of my best memories have been my trips to the West Coaster and Chicago shows. And of course Louis' NY Symposium has been a highlight in my collecting career.
I think that you may have to move Downunder mate. You seem to enjoy the Aussie way of life^&grin or so a little birdie with a Crown tells me.
Cheers Howard:smile2:

 

[lenswerks]

The most puzzling about this question is where would one go to obtain this information ^&confuse Nearly impossible to get an accurate count . If one were to guess
how many U.S. collectors there are,what tool would be used to gauge numbers ? This forum could be used as a number for members, but again the info would be very
scattered.

For the US you could combined the customer databases of the top 10 dealers for one list of unique active buyers and you would have a pretty good idea.

 

[Fitzgibbon]

It might be because the word 'club' is a bridge too far in terms of us embracing the inner child. Five or six of us gather each week at our toy soldier shop and talk collecting, treefrog, dioramas, some politics (we lean to the right I think), and at times mock each others collecting choices and dress sense. We have had a few meals together and will get a table at the K&C dinner in July. It is good fun, but if someone suggested calling it a club, it would appear odd. So what we have rather than a club is an ad hoc, eclectic group of like minded individuals who meet regularly to pursue shared interests...see...nothing like a club at all!

Yeah Jack, 'club' is a weapon that is rarely well used...I like eclectic though ^&cool; the eclectic collectors has a certain ring to it...but the right leaning politics is simply reflective of the dearth of any semblance of the left, despite the more-and-more tenuous reign of Labor. See you at ten for PITS (Politics in the shop).
Howard, you simply have to come back to Queensland and get a life...{sm4}

 

[waynepoo]

Yeah Jack, 'club' is a weapon that is rarely well used...I like eclectic though ^&cool; the eclectic collectors has a certain ring to it...but the right leaning politics is simply reflective of the dearth of any semblance of the left, despite the more-and-more tenuous reign of Labor. See you at ten for PITS (Politics in the shop).
Howard, you simply have to come back to Queensland and get a life...{sm4}

Hey, I am there every time and like a voice in the wilderness my socialist utterances are drowned in the whirl of all the non HSU credit cards being flashed about. {sm4}{sm4}{sm4}
Wayne.