Some Imperial pics (2 Viewers)

[Drum]

This collection was accumulated by my Mother and late Father. They began in their effort to collect everything that Mr. Cowe made back in 1986 or so. At the time, Imperial Productions has only made about a dozen sets. It did not take too long for them to track down these previously released sets and, thereafter, London Bridge simply sent them one each of every single Imperial piece released. Twenty years later, there they are... waiting to be cataloged.



I believe there to be about 1000 figures all told, not including horses (about 125) or artillery pieces/wagons/storehouses/light posts/palm trees, etc..

The only way any of them will ever be sold is when/if some future generation places monetary gain over ancient family loyalty. But that will only occur long after I am dead.

Oh, and my parents saved every friggin' box as well. There are hundreds of them in all shapes and sizes and every one is stored. Crazy behavior for folks who intend never to sell, but it IS very nice to have the box descriptions to help us figure out the identities of some of the more obscure sets.

I hope all that answered your questions. If anymore occur to you, feel free to ask.

Cheers,
D.

 

[jazzeum]

Drum,

Thanks. Great story. When you say waiting to be catalogued, do you mean, you or your mom don't even have a list. I wonder if your family has the foremost Imperial collection around. Now, that they've started producing again, are you buying?

 

[dkelly]

Drum,

Great news that you have all the boxes. The descriptions in the boxes will be very useful for the catalog.

I don't know if others caught this, but some beautiful Imperial 50 sets (the Bengal lancers) went on Ebay for far less than what they were worth given how rare they were. I was going to jump on them with Mike, but we both got burned because we thought the auction ended later today -- at least that was what the post from Ebay said. We only learned later that the live auction ended before we thought it did. Point of the lesson: When you compete in live auction, I would bid the maximum amount you want the morning of so you don't get burned. If you want to see those retired sets, run a search in Completed Listings with the word "Imperial."

Dan

 

[Drum]

No... we definitely have a list. In fact, I found the list posted in another thread here to be almost perfectly accurate. I wish I had found the list here before I went and made my own!

Anyway, by waiting to be cataloged, I mean, they are waiting to be photographed as individual sets.

D.

 

[dkelly]

Drum,

Just emailed you. I'm at work, but when I get home I will send you the list I prepared of the Imperial sets. I think that is what you referenced in your last post. I worked that up last month and Mike looked it over and gave me a few edits. I will send you the updated version in Word format. I'd be happy to add the Civil War and Town Around sets if that would help you.

Dan

 

[jazzeum]

Drum,

Great news that you have all the boxes. The descriptions in the boxes will be very useful for the catalog.

I don't know if others caught this, but some beautiful Imperial 50 sets (the Bengal lancers) went on Ebay for far less than what they were worth given how rare they were. I was going to jump on them with Mike, but we both got burned because we thought the auction ended later today -- at least that was what the post from Ebay said. We only learned later that the live auction ended before we thought it did. Point of the lesson: When you compete in live auction, I would bid the maximum amount you want the morning of so you don't get burned. If you want to see those retired sets, run a search in Completed Listings with the word "Imperial."

Dan

Dan,

Those live auctions never actually end when they say they do. You really need to go to the Live Auction site and follow it. It's a better gauge than ebay itself.

 

[Louis Badolato]

I had the little boy running with the Union Jack, but I think I gave it to Shannon. Now I will probably buy it again as a gift for my little boy, because my son Alec loves Flags, and runs around with little flags all the time. I have a huge pre-WWII 46-star American Flag that came off a Navy ship (it came with my house, which I bought from a 93 year old retired Navy officer who bought my house in 1946 when he returned from serving in the Pacific theater during WWII) and my son points out the window to the flag pole in the front yard every morning yelling "a flag! a flag!" over and over again until I take him outside and let him "help" me put it up.

This morning I bought the "Boy with Flag" (TA9) for my son and the "Dolls Tea Party" (TA36) for the daughter I am expecting in October (fair is fair after all).

 

[Drum]

Cool sets, Louis. Here's hoping your kids are old enough that they no longer have to taste everything.



As a matter of fact, as my Mom and I were photographing the T&A series, we discovered that we were somehow missing the extra doll from the Tea Party set. Luckily, Ron at London Bridge has already come through with a replacement for us.

The Town and Around sets are some of Cowe's best work, imho and, surprisingly, they are still fairly readily available. Were I an investor instead of a second-generation collector, I would be snapping them all up.

Cheers,
D.

 

[kilted vampire]

This morning I bought the "Boy with Flag" (TA9) for my son and the "Dolls Tea Party" (TA36) for the daughter I am expecting in October (fair is fair after all).

Yes it is a good idea to include the women in the madness. Guys did not let their sisters play with their trains and we see how that turned out. I have made several pieces for the gf to commerate various outings we have gone on like ACW re-encatments and Highland Games.

Where did you find the boy with flag piece? The tea party is cute too. Good show!