Stadden Sub Forum (1 Viewer)

[Cardigan600]

Yo Troopers, very please to see Chas Stadden has been placed in its own Sub forum in Retired manufactures many thanks Shannon.
When I started collecting Chas Stadden models the thing that got to me the most was the lack of information on Chas models. But I must give a big thank you to Andy Kent Ex Manager of Chas Stadden Studios Twickenham, he has been amazing with his help & Knowledge of Chas models. The hardest thing was getting the Catalogue at first, must give a big thank you to Andy Stadden for his help on that. The Catalogue is in a page format 10 models per page, so of course, every time Chas had made 10 new models a new page came out. So in all it took 18 years to get the full Catalogue of all Chas models, hence they are very hard to obtain. Then with Andy Kent's help I was able to make headway on the Chas Story IE: Forgetting the many hundreds of 54mm he made in the 1950s & 60s with Tradition and many other companies, he started Sculpting his 90mm models working with Buckingham Pewter Twickenham. Chas never owned the factories he was a Director of the Companies he worked with. Also he was rarely at the Factories, he worked from home Sculpting his models. His wife Betty at the start took care of the painting side. The standard of painting came in three stages, first from Twickenham late 1970s-1991 the Standard set was by the artist was hard to better, then from 1991-1995 Staddens relocated to Poole with a firm called Bullers, many of the artist did not make the move to Poole, so the Standard was not as good as Twickenham, you can see the difference when you have hold of the models. Then in 1995 the Poole factory closed down and Chas retired. The moulds were bought by a company called Toye, Kenning & Spencer or TKS, again the standard of painting dropped off from the Twickenham days. TKS closed down in 2009 and as far as I know still own the Stadden moulds. Andy tells me they were really proud of the quality of painting they produced from the Twickenham days. So with Andy's help was able to understand what happened over the years with Chas Stadden models. If any collectors can add any information to this lets hear from you Troopers, one of the most experienced collectors of Chas Stadden models is a member Ben (BL Reed) he has an amazing collection, just waiting for him to show us what he has (what about it Ben). Also some of the ex Stadden artist are members but they never say much which is a shame, there must be many more stories to tell.
Bernard.

 

[jazzeum]

If Ben needs help posting photos, send them to me and I'll be happy to post them, for a fellow trooper

 

[aujj65]

That is good news Bernard, now I will have to keep my eyes open at the London shows for any Stadden figures!

Jeff

 

[wadepat]

Hi Bernard,

Thanks for presenting this very interesting information. The Charles Stadden story fills a void in my knowledge and I am appreciative of receiving it from you.

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

 

[theBaron]

Does that include only the larger statuettes, or everything produced by Stadden, so for example, the 54mm figures, too?

Prost!
Brad

 

[thebritfarmer]

An interesting read Bernard, do you know if Chas is still alive?

 

[Cardigan600]

Does that include only the larger statuettes, or everything produced by Stadden, so for example, the 54mm figures, too?

Prost!
Brad

Yo Brad, only the 90mm plus 8-10 200mm. The only 54mm Chas made for his studios were the Pawn pieces for his Chess sets. He made so many 54mm pre 1970s its a minefield. Chas could sculpt a 54mm from scratch to finish in a day he was that good.
Bernard.

 

[Cardigan600]

An interesting read Bernard, do you know if Chas is still alive?

Yo Scott, sadly Chas passed on in 2002, but look at what the Great man left for us to collect, as well as his famous paintings. God Bless him.
Bernard.

 

[theBaron]

Yo Brad, only the 90mm plus 8-10 200mm. The only 54mm Chas made for his studios were the Pawn pieces for his Chess sets. He made so many 54mm pre 1970s its a minefield. Chas could sculpt a 54mm from scratch to finish in a day he was that good.
Bernard.

That's what I mean--Mr Stadden sculpted a huge number of figures in 54mm, before he did the large-scale figures. I think, respectfully, that to more people, "Stadden" calls up the 54mm figures, than it does the statuettes. To be more precise, the forum isn't really a Stadden forum, but a "Stadden Studios" forum.

Prost!
Brad

 

[trooper]

That's what I mean--Mr Stadden sculpted a huge number of figures in 54mm, before he did the large-scale figures. I think, respectfully, that to more people, "Stadden" calls up the 54mm figures, than it does the statuettes. To be more precise, the forum isn't really a Stadden forum, but a "Stadden Studios" forum.

Prost!
Brad

What must be remembered with regard to the 54mm figures is that "Stadden" became a trade name. The first company was Chas Stadden Miniatures with Charlie producing all the figures. This later became Norman Newton Ltd (Incorporating Chas Stadden Miniatures). Later still the various companies under the Norman Newton banner were amalgamated as Tradition. Chas carried on making master figures but other sculptors work was added to the lists as well all under the trade name of Chas Stadden Miniatures. Stadden figures became an accepted title for the range in much the same way as Britains and new figures continue to be added. It is to the credit of Tradition that they continue to try to match the standard of Charlie's work, or at least try to get near it, as his work has been rarely matched and never excelled.

 

[theBaron]

What must be remembered with regard to the 54mm figures is that "Stadden" became a trade name. The first company was Chas Stadden Miniatures with Charlie producing all the figures. This later became Norman Newton Ltd (Incorporating Chas Stadden Miniatures). Later still the various companies under the Norman Newton banner were amalgamated as Tradition. Chas carried on making master figures but other sculptors work was added to the lists as well all under the trade name of Chas Stadden Miniatures. Stadden figures became an accepted title for the range in much the same way as Britains and new figures continue to be added. It is to the credit of Tradition that they continue to try to match the standard of Charlie's work, or at least try to get near it, as his work has been rarely matched and never excelled.

Exactly, and that's my point about precision. If you mention the name "Stadden" to most toy soldier collectors, I think that most of them will picture the 54mm figures fixed to thin tin bases, in customized poses, excluding the figures sculpted by David Scheinmann, or the Squadron range that was acquired by Tradition, and the later toy soldier kit figures, among others. I think the forum should be named to indicate more clearly that it's for the the large scale statuette figures.

Prost!
Brad

 

[jazzeum]

Couldn't the Sub Forum be for both?

 

[Cardigan600]

What must be remembered with regard to the 54mm figures is that "Stadden" became a trade name. The first company was Chas Stadden Miniatures with Charlie producing all the figures. This later became Norman Newton Ltd (Incorporating Chas Stadden Miniatures). Later still the various companies under the Norman Newton banner were amalgamated as Tradition. Chas carried on making master figures but other sculptors work was added to the lists as well all under the trade name of Chas Stadden Miniatures. Stadden figures became an accepted title for the range in much the same way as Britains and new figures continue to be added. It is to the credit of Tradition that they continue to try to match the standard of Charlie's work, or at least try to get near it, as his work has been rarely matched and never excelled.

Yo trooper, thanks for this great input on the early Chas Stadden work. Its good to have people like yourself with such great knowledge.
Brad, trooper has hit the nail right on the head, notice I used the word "minefield" when referring to Chas 54mm figures, as trooper points out it was a trade name and lots of items were added by other people, so you dont really know if it is a Chas Stadden model you are buying. I mean was there a Catalogue that showed the models made by Chas, I have never seen one, to
Give you an EXAMPLE I have the full 90mm Chas Catalogue showing 212 models. When TKS had their site up called "Staddendirect" they had nearly 300 models being sold under the Chas Stadden name IE: one Title was Something Like "Iraq Soldier 2003". I know Chas never made any models after 1995, also Chas passed on in 2002, so how could a model with the date 2003 be made by Chas. Here is another as (photo) Henry V111. Now I know only thanks to Andy Kent that Chas made some specials, Holmes & Watson, SAS & London Bobby etc you can see them in my albums, now when Henry V111 came up for sale, I asked Andy Kent about this, his reply Chas never made that model. So you can see where trooper is coming from.
Brad I dont have a problem with people joining in with Chas 54mm models, if they know for definite they were made made Chas, but every model I show is a genuine sculptured figure by the Great man.
Bernard.