tdubel
Major
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2007
- Messages
- 6,664
I will try to add some pics to this some time tomorrow, but I wanted to give the tdubel show review. All my opinions of course, but none the less here it goes.
First and foremost, special thanks to my babysitters for the weekend in no particular order: Larry, Hans, Louis, Steven C., Clive and Brian. I was able to be where I was supposed to be thanks to these "old vets" Special thanks to Rick Wang and Figarti for their hospitality as well as Andy, Gordon, Helen, Laura (and Jamie) and Peter from K&C. Kudos to Treefrog gang, Shannon , Peter and Mandi, always a lot of fun and the Frog Grog is great!!!!!!!! I wish it would ship.....
Most comical dealers with their New England Sense of humor goes to George from Minuteman and Matt from Hobby Bunker, they have nearly the same dry sense of humor, going in their rooms, you were guaranteed to come out with your jaw hurting.
It was also nice putting a name/face together with Andrew from Sierra!
Terry - thanks for the Tank/Artillery lesson, everytime you spoke, I learned something!
It also was a lot of fun seeing/meeting all the other Froggers! And yes, I can confirm Michael (Kilted Vampire) is the tallest toy soldier collector I have ever met!!!!!!! Seriously, great people make for a great time.
Ok, on to the review:
1. Figarti - Homeruns including the Stuka, LCT, Sherman Dozer and the Bofors Gun! And I am sure there are more goodies planned! The LCT has to be seen in person to be appreciated, it is fantastic and very very well done. The realism is unbelievable on these vehicles and guns! Works of Art and a good guy behind the scenes!
2. K&C - Das Boot, geez, when I saw the first banner as I walked in the room, I flipped, the shot of the commander and the sub, VERY COOL! Also, the Normandy diorama was stunning (the best Dio I have ever seen, incredible), great work Gordon! The Airfield Hut is a winner as is the Hurricane. Finally, the Navy launch that was previewed Sunday will be a winner and I think you will find many uses for it. Again, a great group of enthusiasts are behind K&C, Andy and Gordon have fun doing what they love and it comes through in their work, they truly are very lucky to have a business that they really love to do!
3. Britains - The Storehouse.................awesome. Their Zulu Dio was fantastic, really a wonderful set up. The Durbar looks good......."You can never have enough Elephants............... Civil War is always superb, Ken Osen has a lot of goodies left I am sure! Great catching up with Richard and Ken, they looked like they were having a great time!
4. Find of the show - Myself - an old Hiriart Tiger Hunt set complete with Elephant, a Reeves ARW Artillery set in the box (one of the last I need to have the whole line of figures!), an old Britains Napoleonic French Guard set. Finally, I assisted one of my favorite Englishman's Trophy and Camel addiction by finding the Trophy Elephant Troop Carrier, Oxen Naval Gun (Stunning!), and finally an Elephant Indian Battery, along with about 12 camels from Somerset. I believe his final count on Camels was in the 20's , remember, "You can never have enough Camels".
5. Other Manufacturers -
the new Durbar from Beau Geste is as always, stunning works of art. Additionally, their new feathers line has an awesome Hippo river set!!!
John Jenkins stuff always looks good, even if I don't collect all the lines, it looks good!
Old Northwest WW1 diorama looked great! ALso, their new Civil War Images line is very nice.
I think I covered it, I will try to insert a photo line up tomorrow, although, not sure it is necessary as there are great photos already up, but I will put in some!
Apologies in advance to anyone I missed. As you can see, all toy soldier collectors/dealers/manufacturers are nuts in their own way, you have to be nuts to be in this hobby!
Great time, I highly recommend this show to anyone who chases after these little "mounds of lead".
Tom
First and foremost, special thanks to my babysitters for the weekend in no particular order: Larry, Hans, Louis, Steven C., Clive and Brian. I was able to be where I was supposed to be thanks to these "old vets" Special thanks to Rick Wang and Figarti for their hospitality as well as Andy, Gordon, Helen, Laura (and Jamie) and Peter from K&C. Kudos to Treefrog gang, Shannon , Peter and Mandi, always a lot of fun and the Frog Grog is great!!!!!!!! I wish it would ship.....
Most comical dealers with their New England Sense of humor goes to George from Minuteman and Matt from Hobby Bunker, they have nearly the same dry sense of humor, going in their rooms, you were guaranteed to come out with your jaw hurting.
It was also nice putting a name/face together with Andrew from Sierra!
Terry - thanks for the Tank/Artillery lesson, everytime you spoke, I learned something!
It also was a lot of fun seeing/meeting all the other Froggers! And yes, I can confirm Michael (Kilted Vampire) is the tallest toy soldier collector I have ever met!!!!!!! Seriously, great people make for a great time.
Ok, on to the review:
1. Figarti - Homeruns including the Stuka, LCT, Sherman Dozer and the Bofors Gun! And I am sure there are more goodies planned! The LCT has to be seen in person to be appreciated, it is fantastic and very very well done. The realism is unbelievable on these vehicles and guns! Works of Art and a good guy behind the scenes!
2. K&C - Das Boot, geez, when I saw the first banner as I walked in the room, I flipped, the shot of the commander and the sub, VERY COOL! Also, the Normandy diorama was stunning (the best Dio I have ever seen, incredible), great work Gordon! The Airfield Hut is a winner as is the Hurricane. Finally, the Navy launch that was previewed Sunday will be a winner and I think you will find many uses for it. Again, a great group of enthusiasts are behind K&C, Andy and Gordon have fun doing what they love and it comes through in their work, they truly are very lucky to have a business that they really love to do!
3. Britains - The Storehouse.................awesome. Their Zulu Dio was fantastic, really a wonderful set up. The Durbar looks good......."You can never have enough Elephants............... Civil War is always superb, Ken Osen has a lot of goodies left I am sure! Great catching up with Richard and Ken, they looked like they were having a great time!
4. Find of the show - Myself - an old Hiriart Tiger Hunt set complete with Elephant, a Reeves ARW Artillery set in the box (one of the last I need to have the whole line of figures!), an old Britains Napoleonic French Guard set. Finally, I assisted one of my favorite Englishman's Trophy and Camel addiction by finding the Trophy Elephant Troop Carrier, Oxen Naval Gun (Stunning!), and finally an Elephant Indian Battery, along with about 12 camels from Somerset. I believe his final count on Camels was in the 20's , remember, "You can never have enough Camels".
5. Other Manufacturers -
the new Durbar from Beau Geste is as always, stunning works of art. Additionally, their new feathers line has an awesome Hippo river set!!!
John Jenkins stuff always looks good, even if I don't collect all the lines, it looks good!
Old Northwest WW1 diorama looked great! ALso, their new Civil War Images line is very nice.
I think I covered it, I will try to insert a photo line up tomorrow, although, not sure it is necessary as there are great photos already up, but I will put in some!
Apologies in advance to anyone I missed. As you can see, all toy soldier collectors/dealers/manufacturers are nuts in their own way, you have to be nuts to be in this hobby!
Great time, I highly recommend this show to anyone who chases after these little "mounds of lead".
Tom
