The sweet joy of a first love (1 Viewer)

[NZGary]

Toy soldier collecting for me started with those first adolescent like steps into an exciting world that would be a backdrop to my life for nearly 20 years. Like those first awkward ‘fumblings’ of trying something new and exciting, I knew little at the time and to be honest I was a somewhat star struck and naive.

It was as cold as a dog’s nose that late January Saturday morning strolling on Plymouth’s main street nestled far to the south west of England’s green and pleasant land in 2002. The jumping off point for those Pilgrim Fathers was also the starting point for a hobby that would, to a certain extent, shape my life from that fateful day onwards.

I spied in the window of a model shop exquisite toy soldiers from the relatively newly released Waterloo and American Civil War ranges from that household name in toy soldiers, William Britain’s. I had the week before picked up issue one of a Napoleonic part work by DelPrado and was keen as mustard to start a small collection to go into a small cabinet in the corner of the dining room. It was then coincidence that ‘diamonds in the rough’ appeared to me as I was drawn to the shop window like a siren calling me onto the sharp rocks of ruin to view these splendid items.

 

[NZGary]

I ventured inside and was transfixed as the shop assistant got out and unboxed several sets for me to admire. My first wife, who had accompanied me on this artic stroll, was less enthusiastic as the price of these little treasures became apparent. But I had spare cash on the hip from a good job and so three sets of American Civil War figures including an ‘Art of War’ set were purchased.

Of course I knew about WB and, as a boy, played with Herald and Deetail figures and always associated this most historic of companies with the world toy soldiers. The sense of having history in your hands from such a prestigious name drew me in and I returned to that shop many times over the next few months. The Waterloo range North Gate Diorama and American War of Independence releases as well as more ACW were all snapped up, much to my wife’s horror as the cabinet soon filled up!

 

[NZGary]

Those new releases kept coming.

 

[NZGary]

As I learnt more about the hobby of toy soldier collecting I contacted some dude in Woking, Surrey who seemed to have a far larger range of WB sets. Back issues of those early ‘Art of War’ series of ‘clearing the way’ and ‘Lone Star’, both now hard to come by, together with early releases of ‘Leaders in Blue & Grey’ were all mail ordered. I ventured a little further back and picked up gloss finished 1990’s offerings from the Crimean War, Indian Army, Boer War and a large “Rorke’s Drift’ diorama. And still the new releases of AWC, Naps and AWI kept coming. I drew the line at WW2 releases only picking up a few items. They didn’t somehow have the colour and vibrancy I was looking for.

 

[NZGary]

I started ordering from the Guards Toy Soldier shop in London and the MKL mail order service. In the mid naughties they used to send me the catalogues but I also joined the William Britain’s Collectors Club at this time and started to pick up the limited club figures and avidly read ‘The Standard’ club magazine. As the catalogues (and supplements) came through I would order around 75% of the new items, waiting months for them to be released and come into stock. I remember at the time getting the ‘red eye’ train at 5.30AM to get to Paddington Station by 8.45AM and doing a series of meetings in the capital before getting a black cab back to the station stopping on the way at the Guards Toy Soldier Shop. I would have phoned ahead and my order would be backed up ready to go. Me and my fellow passengers would while away the four-hour trip marvelling at the new acquisitions.

 

[NZGary]

Around this time the iconic matte Anglo/Zulu war series was introduced and I snapped it all up including the great Rorke’s drift scenic items and those great storehouse and hospital buildings. I seemed to have an endless supply of mealie bags are I recreated he complete structure on a table in my attic diorama room. The cabinet had long since gone.

 

[NZGary]

Shock and ore items became the norm with AWC and Zulu War gun teams together with a corker of a British early WW1 six horse gun and limber. The centre piece of the ‘Early Moves’ series. These were great British, French and German figures. I loved the gloss Indian Mutiny series but it never really got going with only a small number of releases. A matte Agincourt range was to have the same fate although I did purchase many English archer sets. The ‘Morning of Waterloo’ was also a short-lived release as the figures lacked detail and quality.

 

[NZGary]

More of the releases at this time.

 

[NZGary]

An updated Waterloo Hougamount series burst into life together with Western Front trench sets as a lot of later war WW1 Figures got produced. I kept collecting and really got into the Redcoats, Bluecoats and French Indian War gloss ranges. I attended the collector’s club event in around December 2005 in London and picked up the now rare first edition Redcoat event figure.

 

[NZGary]

Some of the later WW1 releases

 

[NZGary]

And more from those glossy figures and a great Henry V study.

 

[NZGary]

Then came the ‘War along the Nile’ range and that superb gunboat. It was released not long after I arrived in New Zealand. I remember the thrill and a sense of homesickness as the huge parcel arrived well packed and full of this thing of beauty. Katie in the UK collector club kept me going with club figure for another couple of years until a lack of new releases started to impact and I dropped out of the club.

 

[NZGary]

Short lived Indian Mutiny series as I continued to add to the Nile and Zulu ranges.

 

[NZGary]

I continued picking up the odd releases including the first 12 releases from the Saxon/Viking ‘Wrath of the Northmen’ range but my interest started to wane with WB as so much else was being regularly produced by other manufactures. And the new releases started to dry up of course. If I was to view my collection in its entirety it would contain a huge amount of modern WB stuff and I am glad I took this collecting journey with them. But maybe our time to part has finally come.

 

[NZGary]

Recently I have been attracted to the nostalgic side of toy soldier collecting and have gone for WM Hocker of California fame purchasing old style soldiers that would be similar to WB offerings from a bygone era. And what of the future? Well that’s up to WB to see if more regular future releases can tempt me back into the fold and rekindle this relationship. To be honest it wouldn't take much but the quality and diverse nature of new offerings would be needed to suck me back in.

Gary

 

[Louis Badolato]

Gary,

Your wonderfully illustrated journey made me wax nostalgic. I lack the photographic talent to make my own, similar, experiences come to life as you did, but I stumbled onto the hobby in a very similar way . . .

If your took yourself about a decade or so earlier, and across the pond from Great Britain to New York, you could see me having a similar epiphany. I had grown up in the 70's in a small town in the suburbs of New York, and walking to school each day I passed a fantastic hobby shop called "Devlin's Hobbies." In addition to the plastic models and Britains Swoppet plastic figures I could afford, they had a cabinet filled with Traditional Glossy William Britains metal toy soldiers, which, at around $25 a set, were way beyond by means at the time. Fast forward to the week before Valentines Day, 1992, and I, a young attorney who had just started dating my first wife, passed the window of a store of 5th Avenue at the corner of 15th Street or 16th Street in Manhattan called "B. Schackman Toys and Novelties" - their bronze plaque on the wall of the building is still there, although they closed in the 1990's and were replaced by a woman's clothing store called Anthropology. In the window were a series of very nice Valentine's Day Cards, so I went in to pick one up, when, in a big cabinet, I saw the same wonderful

Traditional Glossy William Britains metal toy soldiers, which, as an unmarried young attorney, at $65 a set I could now afford. I left with a boxed set of 15th Ludhiana Sikhs, the first of around 100 set of glossy Britains figures which started by Toy Soldier obsession. I would make any excuse to get myself into that neighborhood and steal into B. Schackman's to carry out another set of these Britains toy soldiers. Eventually I stumbled across the two other Toy Soldier Shops active in NYC at the time, Burlington Antique Toys on 6th Avenue a block from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Classic Toys, on Sullivan Street, in Greenwich Village, where I discovered Imperial Toy Soldiers of New Zealand, Trophy of Wales, Heco Tinplate Models, and my next great obsession, King & Country Toy Soldiers. Like you, I strayed from Britains, let my membership in the Collectors Club lapse, and spent the last two decades feeding my toy soldier addiction. I still have that set fo 15th Ludhiana Sikhs, and most of the other Britains sets I bought, boxed up in storage. Your posts have inspired me to pull them out and take a stroll down memory lane. Thank you!:salute::​

 

[mestell]

I really enjoyed reading your experience as you traveled down that familiar path we here on the forum call toy soldier collecting. Your story made my morning coffee that much more enjoyable.
Mike

 

[REVWARBUFF]

Gary,

I also appreciate your story and the way you go about telling it. I think to some degree we can all identify our entrance into this hobby with your experience.

I recall having all those early WB AWI sets that you pictured. I sold them all over the years so I could buy the newer AWI sets WB made. But along with most of all the other WB sets, the AWI figures sadly came to a production halt too.

Thanks for sharing this and all the other similar posts you made here on the forum. It's a pure pleasure to read.

Mark