New Beau Geste Durbar Fan Just Jumping In... (1 Viewer)

[Sreeks]

Hello, all,
I am just a new Beau Geste Durbar Fan who wanted to jump in and say Hi. I have actually been ordering the Britains from Shannon since my six year old was a baby. I always justified the cost by saying they would put him through college one day, although I'd never really let him sell them - and I think it goes without saying that he doesn't play with them.

Anyway, I got all the Britain's I could and accumulated a very nice set. The only dark side to the whole process was when I ordered a viewing stand off of Ebay a few years ago and it smelled like mildew and was broken in several places. It was going to cost a fortune to ship it back to GB so I kept it and eventually, I threw it out. Every other piece we have gotten has been a treasure.

So now we start on the Beau Geste Durbar line for my new one year old. We chose the Sikh Warriors from Jhind #184 to see if we like them and they are really wonderful. They mix nicely with the Britains and the colors are magnificant. As soon as I sell another story or convince my husband to commit to the credit card debt, I'm ordering more.

So, what sets should I order next? I'd like to see what the thought process is on how some of you prioritize your purchases in the Durbar line. I've enjoyed reading your comments.

Take care,
Jae

 

[damian]

You mean like you are a lady toy soldier collector. Wow. Go Girl
Welcome to the club
Regards
Damian Clarke

 

[Wraith]

Hi Jae,

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you've already done some scouting around on the forum. I'm sure the Durbar 'big hitters' will respond to your questions when they got on line. You'll probably end up with a dozen different answers, but hey.


You mention selling another story to raise much needed toy soldier funds? Sounds interesting.

Enjoy,
Simon

 

[Sreeks]

Thanks for the welcome. Nothing mysterious, Simon... I'm just a freelance writer/stay-at-home Mom. I'm not sure about the "lady" part, though, Damian. I had no idea I was in such a rare breed. Are there no other women who collect soldiers? (I guess you figured out that "I'm collecting for the kids" thing is just a front, but they are displayed on shelves in their rooms).

I also have a few Britain's Civil War, Zulu, and American Revolutionary that we were getting on frequent trips to New Orleans, but one day we went to San Antonio and we went to the Alamo. There is a hotel nearby with a soldier shop in the lobby and I got my first glimpse of a Durbar parade. To this day, I still don't know what brand it was, but I was hooked. I found the Britains online and I haven't been able to stop since.

Jae in LA (that's Louisiana)

 

[Wraith]

Thanks for the welcome. Nothing mysterious, Simon... I'm just a freelance writer/stay-at-home Mom. I'm not sure about the "lady" part, though, Damian. I had no idea I was in such a rare breed. Are there no other women who collect soldiers? (I guess you figured out that "I'm collecting for the kids" thing is just a front, but they are displayed on shelves in their rooms).

I also have a few Britain's Civil War, Zulu, and American Revolutionary that we were getting on frequent trips to New Orleans, but one day we went to San Antonio and we went to the Alamo. There is a hotel nearby with a soldier shop in the lobby and I got my first glimpse of a Durbar parade. To this day, I still don't know what brand it was, but I was hooked. I found the Britains online and I haven't been able to stop since.

Jae in LA (that's Louisiana)

Sounds like Kings X (I think). If you check Bill Sager's site, he has a shed load of photos of the displays.

www.toysoldierusa.com

It's under the King and Country section.

By the way, 'the collecting for the kids' thing is a far better excuse than most of us can come up.

Simon

 

[Sreeks]

By the way, 'the collecting for the kids' thing is a far better excuse than most of us can come up.

Simon

Thanks, Simon. So what is your excuse? Why did you start collecting?

Jae

 

[damian]

I thought we were a bit of a boys club. It is great to have some girls in the club too. I am the only male in my house. (One wife and three daughters) Elizabeth is quite lerant of me but the girls are really only into Barbie etc. I too have a collection of the Britains Durbar stuff. It is a great thing to collect as it is so clourful.
Regards
Damian Clarke

 

[Sreeks]

I thought we were a bit of a boys club. It is great to have some girls in the club too. I am the only male in my house. (One wife and three daughters) Elizabeth is quite lerant of me but the girls are really only into Barbie etc. I too have a collection of the Britains Durbar stuff. It is a great thing to collect as it is so clourful.
Regards
Damian Clarke

Well, I played with Barbies when I was a girl, as well, so maybe your girls will be glad to have your soldiers one day. Actually, my one year old son comes running everytime the Barbie commercials come on television. It drives my husband crazy!

Jae

 

[aujj65]

I had no idea I was in such a rare breed. Are there no other women who collect soldiers?
Jae in LA (that's Louisiana)

Hi Jae.

Welcome. My wife collects the Streets of Old Hong Kong range from King & Country, but I don't know of any others on the forum whose wives or girlfriends collect.

Jeff

 

[Wraith]

Thanks, Simon. So what is your excuse? Why did you start collecting?

Jae

Not too dissimilar really. Played with Airfix / Matchbox as a kid, too uncool to have anything to do with them as a teenager (alcohol, girls, testosterone surges etc.), so up they went in my parents attic.
Move on 15 years, kids of my own, got them down for my 6 month old son to play with (yeah, right).
Then mix in renewed interest, a little more income and the internet and I came out spending way more than I ever envisaged possible.

So my excuse, well, it's like a father / son bonding experience. He still gets to play with the old Airfix, while I get the new painted metal stuff.
Perfect. My wife doesn't quite see it like that but.....

Simon

 

[damian]

Barbie is often criticised for giving young girls a distorted body image and fro emphasiszing physical beauty but I feel there is more to her than that. She is extremely hardy and resilient. She can be left in the garden during a thunderstorm she can be dunked in the bath, she can have her hair pulled and chewed but she bounces back each time. I think she is a great role model.
Regards
Damian

 

[Sreeks]

Barbie is often criticised for giving young girls a distorted body image and fro emphasiszing physical beauty but I feel there is more to her than that. She is extremely hardy and resilient. She can be left in the garden during a thunderstorm she can be dunked in the bath, she can have her hair pulled and chewed but she bounces back each time. I think she is a great role model.
Regards
Damian

All excellent points, Damian. You know, I have been through some of those very same things myself! Seriously, though, I hope you didn't just get me kicked off the Toy Soldier Forum by introducing Barbie into the thread.

Jae

 

[Sreeks]

Not too dissimilar really. Played with Airfix / Matchbox as a kid, too uncool to have anything to do with them as a teenager (alcohol, girls, testosterone surges etc.), so up they went in my parents attic.
Move on 15 years, kids of my own, got them down for my 6 month old son to play with (yeah, right).
Then mix in renewed interest, a little more income and the internet and I came out spending way more than I ever envisaged possible.

So my excuse, well, it's like a father / son bonding experience. He still gets to play with the old Airfix, while I get the new painted metal stuff.
Perfect. My wife doesn't quite see it like that but.....

Simon

Ahh, kids today... I'm referring to you, of course, not your son. Believe me, there are much worse things to spend your money on than soldiers (like alcohol, girls, estosterone surges etc.) I think collecting soldiers is a good, healthy thing. Plus, my six year old really likes them. He knows he has to be careful when we pull them down - especially those camels. They tend to topple over pretty easy.

Jae

 

[wadepat]

Hi Jae,

Welcome to the forum! I am one of those collectors who is quite interested in the Delhi Durbar. It is one of the lines I collect and I am fortunate to own some of the Beau Geste figures. My Durbar collection is not huge, but it is growing slowly. Within the next day or two, I hope to post a few pictures of the Durbar portion of my overall collection. Perhaps you would enjoy seeing a few of my figures.

Dave Namiot (DNMamiot) has a wonderful Durbar collection. He has posted numerous pictures of his collection on this forum, so you might do a search for his postings and see the many wonderful pictures he has posted.

Another forum member, Kilted Vampire, has begun to expand his Durbar collection. Kilted Vampire (aka KV, K-V, Vamp) has also placed on the forum some pictures of his Durbar collection. He recently purchased one of William Hocker's wonderful Durbar Elephants, which has resulted in the rest of us Durbar collectors being quite jealous!

You asked about how some of us make choices concerning what Durbar sets to purchase. Let me respond to that question only in terms of how I decide what Beau Geste sets to purchase. For me, there are three considerations:

1) Purchase Price: I try to purchase the most expensive set(s) I can afford at the time I am deciding to make a purchase. Why? First of all, if future value is any consideration, usually the more expensive toy soldier sets also become the more rare and sought after sets. Secondly, I have some strange notion that if I purchase the higher priced sets now, it will make adding the less expensive sets easier at a later date. I know it usually doesn't really work this way due to new introductions into the line, but I like to continue to imagine that my future purchases will be less expensive. In fact, it is almost necessary to imagine that my future purchases will be less expensive!

2) Personal Preference: All the Beau Geste sets are very, very nice. However, I am a bit more attracted to some than to some others. Therefore, what I like the most combined with my budget largely govens my decisions.

3) Availability and Discovery: I never know when I might happen upon a set I do not already own. For example, when I attend the OTSN (Old Toy Soldier Network) show in Chicago last year, I came across a wonderful Beau Geste set, new in the box, that was priced at about 60% of the retail price. I simply could not pass up what I believed to be a bargain. The unexpected availability of this set at a great price was a huge motivator in my decision to purchase it.

I hope I have, at least partially, answered your question regarding how I decide to purchase specific Beau Geste Durbar sets. If you have additional questions, please feel free to ask them.

In the meantime, welcome to the forum. You will find many fine toy soldier friends here. I know I have.

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

 

[Sreeks]

Thanks, Pat. I think your theory about buying the most expensive first is pretty sound. When I was still purchasing the Britain's Durbar line I saved the elephants for last and waited too late. I ended up having to purchase them on Ebay. I long for the days when I could get them for less than $200 from Treefrog. I ended up with two and paid way too much.

Now I'm just going to have to decide which Beau Geste elephant to get first.
I love the devil dancers, as well, and I suppose you can't get them without their accompanying musician monks. And you have to have the Gertrude Bell set... It just never ends, does it?

I guess my thought process was, when starting a display, are there must haves that look great until you start rounding things out. It doesn't really matter since I'll probably be mixing the BG with the Britain's until I have more.

Thanks and take care,

Jae

 

[DMNamiot]

Hi Jae,

Very good to welcome a new person to the Durbar fold! Pats advice is really sound especially for Beau Geste which nearly never shows up on Ebay. I have a nearly complete line of Britains Durbar and a very significant chunk of the Marlborough run along with some others and I recently found 3 sets of Beau Geste and they are on their way here.

I will now invite you to pop over to the Durbar Thread on either the Britains line or the General Toy Soldier Thread so we can chat over there after you have seen all of the pictures posted there. Pat just posted some nice shots of his Beau Geste sets and they are worth a look especially if you are interested in the Devil Dancers and Musicians and if you are interested in Gertrude Bell I can post a link to her historic site that Ana from Beau Geste was kind enough to give me there are some really fabulous photos there.

Anyway, welcome to the forum.

All the best

Dave

 

[wadepat]

Thanks, Pat. I think your theory about buying the most expensive first is pretty sound. When I was still purchasing the Britain's Durbar line I saved the elephants for last and waited too late. I ended up having to purchase them on Ebay. I long for the days when I could get them for less than $200 from Treefrog. I ended up with two and paid way too much.

Now I'm just going to have to decide which Beau Geste elephant to get first.
I love the devil dancers, as well, and I suppose you can't get them without their accompanying musician monks. And you have to have the Gertrude Bell set... It just never ends, does it?

I guess my thought process was, when starting a display, are there must haves that look great until you start rounding things out. It doesn't really matter since I'll probably be mixing the BG with the Britain's until I have more.

Thanks and take care,

Jae

Hi Jae,

The Musician Monks and the Devil Dancers are two separate sets. If you can only afford one of them, then take your pick! You will love the set you acquire! Both sets are beautiful!

Have you looked at the prices of the BG Elephants? The prices might be a guide for you. Again, I have chosen to go for the most expensive ones first, but doing so certainly slows my capacity to add to the line. If you will look on the "General Toy Soldier Discussion" section, you will find a picture of my BG Kashmir elephant. You will also see the Musician Monks and the Devil Dancers.

Now, I have a question for you. Are you ever able to attend the OTSN show in Chicago? You will see all the Beau Geste sets there, but, if you go, carry some money with you. You will want to purchase as much as your budget will allow!

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

P.S. No, it never ends!

 

[Sreeks]

Hi Jae,

Are you ever able to attend the OTSN show in Chicago?

Hi, Pat,
No, but I have seen everyone talk about it (and your most recent impressive haul from there!) Is it an annual show or more often? It's funny you should ask because my husband went to Chicago for a business trip and loved it. After I saw your posting about it, I told him we needed to go there for a vacation.

Thanks for all the great info. I'm on my way to look at your pics now.

Thanks again,

Jae

 

[Sreeks]

Hi Jae,

Very good to welcome a new person to the Durbar fold! Pats advice is really sound especially for Beau Geste which nearly never shows up on Ebay. I have a nearly complete line of Britains Durbar and a very significant chunk of the Marlborough run along with some others and I recently found 3 sets of Beau Geste and they are on their way here.

Thanks, Dave. I have never seen any "live" Marlboroughs. They seem like they would add some humor to my mix - there are some great pieces - but some of the faces are hard to see in the pictures I've seen. What do you think of their Durbar line?

Jae

 

[wadepat]

Hi, Pat,
No, but I have seen everyone talk about it (and your most recent impressive haul from there!) Is it an annual show or more often? It's funny you should ask because my husband went to Chicago for a business trip and loved it. After I saw your posting about it, I told him we needed to go there for a vacation.

Thanks for all the great info. I'm on my way to look at your pics now.

Thanks again,

Jae

Jae,

The OTSN show is an annual show held in September at Shaumburg, Illinois. It is the largest toy soldier show in the country. I will send you a Private Message with a bit more information. If you think you might attend this year, you will want to make hotel reservations very soon. No later than tomorrow, I will send you some additional information.

Warmest personal regards,

Pat