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[4thhussar]

Hi All,
I joined up to be able to talk to other Trophy collectors. My Dad collected Trophy miniatures for a long time until I was born and then he stopped. He then rediscovered Trophy a few years back and we both started collecting, though our collections have slowed down lately now that I am off at school and the figures are getting harder to find. I wanted to be able to share some of our collections with everyone and see what is out there. I hope to add some photo albums soon (as soon as I can find the USB cord). My skills at photographing toy soldiers are pretty poor, and I would love some pointers!
Also, I thought I should ask (and please forgive my ignorance), but could anyone tell me where the best place to get Trophy is? Are there better places than ebay?
Cheers,
Sam

 

[jazzeum]

Sam,

Welcome. There are many Trophy experts here who will be glad to help you, much better than I could.

Regards,

 

[thebritfarmer]

Welcome Sam ! Looking forward to seeing your collection

 

[glossman]

Hi All,
I joined up to be able to talk to other Trophy collectors. My Dad collected Trophy miniatures for a long time until I was born and then he stopped. He then rediscovered Trophy a few years back and we both started collecting, though our collections have slowed down lately now that I am off at school and the figures are getting harder to find. I wanted to be able to share some of our collections with everyone and see what is out there. I hope to add some photo albums soon (as soon as I can find the USB cord). My skills at photographing toy soldiers are pretty poor, and I would love some pointers!
Also, I thought I should ask (and please forgive my ignorance), but could anyone tell me where the best place to get Trophy is? Are there better places than ebay?
Cheers,
Sam

Hi Sam,

A very warm welcome to the forum.

We have a great bunch of dedicated Trophy collectors here.

If I knew the answer to your question, I would be a very happy man.

Best Wishes, Raymond.

*****************

 

[boerboy]

Hello Sam,
Welcome to the Forum.
Yes, there are much better places then eBay to get Trophys but finding them requires a lot of legwork and talking with people

In regards to taking pictures:
I use a white background (or sometimes use a box lid as a background), take pictures using a flash in macro mode, then use Adobe Photoshop Elements to adjust contrast and sharpness. I cut them to 800 pixels wide at max and then save pictures as a jpg file using "for Web" option.

Other Forum members use different techniques using dioramas or "landscape" backdrops which deliver amazing pictures!

Al

 

[glossman]

Hi All,
I joined up to be able to talk to other Trophy collectors. My Dad collected Trophy miniatures for a long time until I was born and then he stopped. He then rediscovered Trophy a few years back and we both started collecting, though our collections have slowed down lately now that I am off at school and the figures are getting harder to find. I wanted to be able to share some of our collections with everyone and see what is out there. I hope to add some photo albums soon (as soon as I can find the USB cord). My skills at photographing toy soldiers are pretty poor, and I would love some pointers!
Also, I thought I should ask (and please forgive my ignorance), but could anyone tell me where the best place to get Trophy is? Are there better places than ebay?
Cheers,
Sam

Sam,

When I was new to the forum, Randy (Polar Bear) sent me his excellent thread on Photography.

http://www.treefrogtreasures.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11023

I hope this photo tutorial will help.

Raymond.

 

[theweinz]

Sam,
Welcome aboard! I joined not too long ago and have enjoyed this forum tremendously. A great bunch of people who have enabled me to enjoy the hobby even more. Look forward to your photos.
JW

 

[damian]

Welcome aboard.
I agree with Boerboy you have to do legwork.
E bay is not the place for a bargain at the moment.

 

[4th Hussar]

Hi Sam,
There seems to be 2 of us but you can never have too many Hussars.

 

[GICOP]

Hi Sam

Welcome to the Forum.

You have joined at exactly the right time as Len Taylor, who started Trophy Miniatures Wales Ltd, has recently joined and has been very helpful in answering some questions regarding very early production figures and some of the very last ones off the production line in Wales.

My main passion with Trophy was the AZW but I have, in the last 18 months, digressed into collecting INDIAN MUTINY, EGYPT and THE SUDAN, RAJ, AFGHAN/NWF, 2nd BOER WAR and CIVILIAN sets

I would love to see pictures of the sets you and your Dad have, what eras do you collect?

Cheers

Martyn

 

[Lawrence Lo]

Sam,

Welcome to the Forum. Looking forward to seeing you and your father's Trophy collection and reading your comments. I hope you will find this group of Trophy collectors as friendly and knowledgeable as I have. All the best, Lawrence

 

[The Lt.]

Welcome to the Land of The Trophy Collectors Sam.....The Lt.

 

[HAWKEYE]

Welcome sam, what trophy series do you collect?

 

[4thhussar]

Wow,
Thank you all for the warm welcome. Thank you too for the pointers on taking pictures. 4th Hussar, I see that I stole your name, but you're right, you can't have too many Hussars or too many Churchills.
A couple of you asked what periods my Dad and I collect. Well my father collected Sudan and Northwest Frontier in the old days. He has some old Afghan war pieces (some of which I unfortunately chipped as a child). He has an elephant siege gun, and the mule screw gun battery, and some old charging Gordon highlanders whose thin legs are starting give way. I always admired (and some times played with) his toy soldiers. He always said they were made by some guy in his basement in Wales and that they probably weren't making them anymore. He got most of his collection form toy soldier shows. Then about 9 years ago we discovered Trophy was still around via a shop in Gettysburg PA. I immediately started collecting Anglo Zulu War. Most of our stuff came from Battalion Miniatures in Maryland and then Trophy of Texas. We would also try to make it out to a couple of toy soldier shows. After doing Zulu for a while I moved on to Egypt and the Sudan. We also worked on Crimean and Napoleonic. I would say Zulu, Egypt and Napoleonic were our favorite ranges. We have a scattering of Great War, and Revolutionary war. I always wished Trophy would get back into the Afghan war, but it never seemed to happen. My father and I also regret never picking up some Boxer Rebellion sets, though Trophy slowed down production and stopped at about the right time, when I went off to University. My Dad and I aren't the most active collectors anymore, but we still keep out eyes out for Trophy.
Thanks again,
Sam

 

[glossman]

Wow,
Thank you all for the warm welcome. Thank you too for the pointers on taking pictures. 4th Hussar, I see that I stole your name, but you're right, you can't have too many Hussars or too many Churchills.
A couple of you asked what periods my Dad and I collect. Well my father collected Sudan and Northwest Frontier in the old days. He has some old Afghan war pieces (some of which I unfortunately chipped as a child). He has an elephant siege gun, and the mule screw gun battery, and some old charging Gordon highlanders whose thin legs are starting give way. I always admired (and some times played with) his toy soldiers. He always said they were made by some guy in his basement in Wales and that they probably weren't making them anymore. He got most of his collection form toy soldier shows. Then about 9 years ago we discovered Trophy was still around via a shop in Gettysburg PA. I immediately started collecting Anglo Zulu War. Most of our stuff came from Battalion Miniatures in Maryland and then Trophy of Texas. We would also try to make it out to a couple of toy soldier shows. After doing Zulu for a while I moved on to Egypt and the Sudan. We also worked on Crimean and Napoleonic. I would say Zulu, Egypt and Napoleonic were our favorite ranges. We have a scattering of Great War, and Revolutionary war. I always wished Trophy would get back into the Afghan war, but it never seemed to happen. My father and I also regret never picking up some Boxer Rebellion sets, though Trophy slowed down production and stopped at about the right time, when I went off to University. My Dad and I aren't the most active collectors anymore, but we still keep out eyes out for Trophy.
Thanks again,
Sam

Sam,

I think you have a great collection of Trophy ranges.

The "some guy in his basement in Wales" is the Master of Trophy himself.

He is a member of this forum as Martyn (GICOP) has posted.

Thanks, Raymond.

 

[4thhussar]

Ok, I just made some new photo albums and added a bunch of pictures. Some of the pictures turned out alright and some are pretty poor, but at least this will give you an idea of some of the sets my dad and I have put together. In the near future I'd like to go back and re-photograph a bunch of the figures using the techniques you guys pointed out, but these will do for now. Forgive me for the layers of dust on some of the figures. Of course I dusted them AFTER I took the pictures! Take a look and tell me what you think.
Thanks,
Sam

 

[Lawrence Lo]

Ok, I just made some new photo albums and added a bunch of pictures. Some of the pictures turned out alright and some are pretty poor, but at least this will give you an idea of some of the sets my dad and I have put together. In the near future I'd like to go back and re-photograph a bunch of the figures using the techniques you guys pointed out, but these will do for now. Forgive me for the layers of dust on some of the figures. Of course I dusted them AFTER I took the pictures! Take a look and tell me what you think.
Thanks,
Sam

Sam,

What a wonderful collection! If you ever tire of the Elephant Gun Team, I know of a place where it can stay for a few years! When you get a chance, would you be able to photograph the Indian Army figures with a brown base that you had in your Northwest Frontier album as I believe they belong in the Sudan/Egypt campaign. Do you happen to know which regiment they are? Thanks again for sharing the family collection - it certainly is a collection you should be proud to show off - even with the dust effect I have been known to collect dust as well Looking forward to seeing more photos in the future. All the best, Lawrence

 

[4thhussar]

Sam,

What a wonderful collection! If you ever tire of the Elephant Gun Team, I know of a place where it can stay for a few years! When you get a chance, would you be able to photograph the Indian Army figures with a brown base that you had in your Northwest Frontier album as I believe they belong in the Sudan/Egypt campaign. Do you happen to know which regiment they are? Thanks again for sharing the family collection - it certainly is a collection you should be proud to show off - even with the dust effect I have been known to collect dust as well Looking forward to seeing more photos in the future. All the best, Lawrence

Thanks Lawrence,
The Indians with brown bases and light blue turbans are the 45th Rattray Sikhs. I put another picture of them up in the album. I know they were in the 2nd Afghan War, but they might have been in the Sudan as well. The chaps in red with yellow turbans are Ludhiana Sikhs. They were in the 2nd Afghan war and the Sudan in 1885. One of the kneeling Ludhianas in the back row is an interesting piece (wasn't able to get a good close up of him) because he has a Lee Metford instead of the standard Trophy Martini Henry that the rest of them are modeled with. My dad also says that the Camel Corps flag bearer in the Sudan diorama was a figure he custom ordered. I don't know if he is the only one of his kind or if Len made more. As for the Elephant gun, I can ask my dad if he would be willing to sell it, but I think that is one I'd like to inherit We get pretty attached to our soldiers. I know a lot of people buy and sell, but we only got into the buying part of the hobby (which made it rather expensive )
Cheers,
Sam

 

[theweinz]

Sam,
Great Trophy collection! I think the special order was the naval rating flag bearer, I do not think that was in the catalog. I especially love your NWF stuff! Wow, you do not see it that often. Looks like it may have been snowing there! Just kidding, use a soft brush or lens duster to clear away the dust. We all fight this problem, but if you let it settle in for a number of years it could hurt the classic trophy finish. Really enjoyed the photos Sam, thank you.
JW

Thanks Lawrence,
The Indians with brown bases and light blue turbans are the 45th Rattray Sikhs. I put another picture of them up in the album. I know they were in the 2nd Afghan War, but they might have been in the Sudan as well. The chaps in red with yellow turbans are Ludhiana Sikhs. They were in the 2nd Afghan war and the Sudan in 1885. One of the kneeling Ludhianas in the back row is an interesting piece (wasn't able to get a good close up of him) because he has a Lee Metford instead of the standard Trophy Martini Henry that the rest of them are modeled with. My dad also says that the Camel Corps flag bearer in the Sudan diorama was a figure he custom ordered. I don't know if he is the only one of his kind or if Len made more. As for the Elephant gun, I can ask my dad if he would be willing to sell it, but I think that is one I'd like to inherit We get pretty attached to our soldiers. I know a lot of people buy and sell, but we only got into the buying part of the hobby (which made it rather expensive )
Cheers,
Sam

 

[4thhussar]

Sam,
Great Trophy collection! I think the special order was the naval rating flag bearer, I do not think that was in the catalog. I especially love your NWF stuff! Wow, you do not see it that often. Looks like it may have been snowing there! Just kidding, use a soft brush or lens duster to clear away the dust. We all fight this problem, but if you let it settle in for a number of years it could hurt the classic trophy finish. Really enjoyed the photos Sam, thank you.
JW

The naval rating with flag is a dragon crest piece that I got at a toy soldier show, and I think he is a standard figure. The camel corps flag bearer I was referring to is the dismounted officer in the diorama with all of the fuzzy wuzzies, the old looking one.
I really like the old NWF stuff as well. Those are my dads which he got sometime before I was born. The guys on the top shelf catch a lot of dust, I try to remember to dust them when I am home from school on the holidays. Unfortunately I took pictures of them with the cobwebs still hanging on them Some of my dad's older figures have had some discoloring do to dust and age, so you are right, it is an important thing to look out for.
Cheers,
Sam