Private Collection in Saratoga CA (1 Viewer)

[OzDigger]

Thanks Damian for the heads up-but come on afterall this guy has only got 8500 figures more than me

This is one guy I personally could spend weeks talking to. Man that has to be the greatest and largest private ACW collection of figures and artefacts I have ever seen- bar none.

From Chris's great photos the guy appears to be a little pro-Union, pictures of Grant and Chamberlain prominently displayed plus the famous poster of "Our Union Defenders" (I also have that one) but hell I wouldn't hold that against him.

Thanks for posting Chris and next year I am West visiting the Vamp I just gotta head Saratoga way- Was it a one time open day or can the public visit by prior arrangement?

What this post has done guys is given me faith that there are very serious and avid ACW toy soldier collectors out there after all. I was beginning to doubt the reports that I read every month in our TS magazines when dealers are asked "What is your best selling era" reply "Oh! without a doubt ACW" or "The Civil War is and remains our hottest seller" etc. etc. month in month out I read this and normally shout to myself Yeah! Yeah! but where the hell are they????.
Well with this guy that's perfectly true- just a shame for the Reb that he and a few other of those avid collectors are not here on TF. Oh! man what a war we could have.

Reb

I had always assumed the ACW era was the most popular in the US until I noticed the results of several polls on this US dominated forum where the Nappy period constantly comes in at No 2 behind WWII. I guess there are more hidden ACW supporters out there than we think.

 

[MCKENNA77]

He's not all Johnny Reb and Billy Yank this collector. I see a Union Jack and some knights etc in one of the cabinets

Damian

Thats a good catch. The majority of the displayed collection was ACW. He had two large cabinets filled with Grenada Studios(Russian) knights and midevil times dudes. I guess this dude also has a pretty serious French & Indian War collection as well as a British Colonial collection. Those collections were in his "other" homes though.

Take Care

 

[MCKENNA77]

Thanks Damian for the heads up-but come on afterall this guy has only got 8500 figures more than me

This is one guy I personally could spend weeks talking to. Man that has to be the greatest and largest private ACW collection of figures and artefacts I have ever seen- bar none.

From Chris's great photos the guy appears to be a little pro-Union, pictures of Grant and Chamberlain prominently displayed plus the famous poster of "Our Union Defenders" (I also have that one) but hell I wouldn't hold that against him.

Thanks for posting Chris and next year I am West visiting the Vamp I just gotta head Saratoga way- Was it a one time open day or can the public visit by prior arrangement?

What this post has done guys is given me faith that there are very serious and avid ACW toy soldier collectors out there after all. I was beginning to doubt the reports that I read every month in our TS magazines when dealers are asked "What is your best selling era" reply "Oh! without a doubt ACW" or "The Civil War is and remains our hottest seller" etc. etc. month in month out I read this and normally shout to myself Yeah! Yeah! but where the hell are they????.
Well with this guy that's perfectly true- just a shame for the Reb that he and a few other of those avid collectors are not here on TF. Oh! man what a war we could have.

Reb

Reb:

You would love this place dude. This dude grew up in NY so yes he is a bit Union slated. I was able to do the tour via Sierra Toy Soldiers and its a invite only sort of bit. The guy uses this part of his house to give school tours so kids can learn about the ACW. I believe he usually runs it from April to the start of June, we got lucky this year as he let things go a bit longer. This dude knows some pretty serious people including Steve Forbes, a lot of Pentagon big wheels, and a pack of former Joint Chiefs of Staff. A great dude though, very down to earth and extremely knowledgeable in all aspects of ACW including battles, regiments, uniforms, and daily ACW life. It was a great viewing and highly recommended to anyone that gets the oppurtunity.

Take Care

 

[theBaron]

I had always assumed the ACW era was the most popular in the US until I noticed the results of several polls on this US dominated forum where the Nappy period constantly comes in at No 2 behind WWII. I guess there are more hidden ACW supporters out there than we think.

Hi, Digger, from a broader perspective, of history buffs in general, I think the Civil War is still the most popular time period, followed very closely by WWII. They might be equally popular. That's taking into account all aspects of history-as-hobby. WWII's popularity still rests on a strong foundation of recent memory, but so does the Civil War, because many battlefield sites are still to be found, even if they may have been encroached upon by development.

But we can look at reenactments, for example, and how many people participate in them, and how many people go to watch them. For the Civil War, that is a very popular and vibrant field of history as an avocation. And for WWII, there are many reenactors and reenactments, too.

For the Revolutionary War, on the other hand, so many of the sites have since been built over, and in the national psyche, the Founding took its place in our national tale, but it was the starting point. The Civil War was traumatic, with effects to this day (it's still the bloodiest American military conflict).

I'm not sure those preferences are reflected in our hobby as clearly, but they may correlate, roughly.

Just my observation, prosit!
Bradley