Toy Soldier Trends (1 Viewer)

Warrior said:
I remember going to the Valley Forge show about 10 years ago and seeing all the glossy Imperial, Tradition, Britains, etc on all the tables. The one table I was attracted to was the K & C one (back then, Andy used to go to the VF Show) with the Matte finished figures.

I remember commenting to the dealer I was with on the way home about how terrific I thought the matte finished figures looked and why don't more companies do matte finished figures and his response ws somethig to the effect of "Those will never catch on, collectors want glossy figures like the ones they had as kids", which is what Oz pointed out.

Boy was he wrong........................
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George

That was a great story.

When did you make the transition to Toy Soldier dealer?

Ron
 
Growing up in the 1940s and 1950s, I had mainly Marx plastic figures that I received at Christmas from the Sears Catalog. I really never cared for the Dimestore metal figures available at our Woolsworth---they seemed rather inelegant and chunky to me, so I only had a handfull which were all destroyed in backyard battles. The only metal set of 54-mm glossy figures I ever owned was a set of Gordon Highlanders. So, while I may not be typical, I do not collect glossy figures because that is what I had as a kid and I am trying to recreate the nostalgia from my past. I collect them because I LIKE them!
 
This is a very interesting thread and I appreciate reading all the posts.

My feeling on this subject is that the Toy Soldier hobby will evolve and change based on a multitude of variables driven by demographics, economics, affordability and availabilty of what is produced. We may see a return to plastics as the main sales driver depending on the affordability factor. In the coming years, as the boomers look to hobbies to occupy their golden years, glossies could make a comeback to some degree as they reminisce of the past. My interest in this hobby began when I was about 6 years old when I was introduced to Britains swoppet knights and Rev War figures for Christmas. I still have these originals in my collection that I will treasure forever and no new acquisition to my collection since, has ever replaced these...

I am one, that likes to mix and match figures from different manufacturers in my dioramas as long as there is consistency in style, scale and accuracy to a degree that it works. I appreciate a level of diversity in my collection which is why I chose to collect glossy, matte and painted plastic figures. I agree, that some eras look better in matte then in gloss and that matte pretty much works for all eras but, can anyone out there honestly, not appreciate a cabinet shelf containing a Waterloo or Zulu War scene in gloss?

Respectfully...

Steve
 
I think the line was, he likes it hey Mikey. This is a good topic, from what I've read, your all right. We all collect for our own specific reasons. Mike:)
 
The hey Mikey thing started in the 70's I was a kid then, and I heard it all the time on TV and from neighborhood kids:rolleyes:


Also , and more impotantly I am fortunate to have a shop to go to. It is a haven as well as a commercial establishment. It helps that the owners are wonderful people. I go there a lot. I like to get my hands on the figures. It is a lot easier to part with money when my hand is on them. The shop has about 80 to 90 % of my money.
 
At the risk of provoking some Incomming rounds I must agree with Mike. The early K and C glossies of which I have a small collection were not as good as the contemporary offerings from Trophy. Trophy was the giant of the era. The matt world belongs to K and C. Andy saw a niche and opened it up. Whne I frist got imto Trophy there were virtually no WWII figures out there. K and C had just started with WS and then Arnhem. Trophy went as far as WWI but no further. K and C moved forwrad in leaps and bounds as I have said elsewhere.
That is what makes it such a great hobby though the fact that we have all these great companies putting out such great product.

Regards
Damian
 
Have you all heard the story about how Andy started in WW II?

It goes something like this, as told by Andy. He had been dabbling in figures for awhile* and taking figures to Chicago, where he apparently got some nice responses but it wasn't his main activity. At around this time, Laura McAllister, his then wife and still business partner, told him to get serious about what he was doing or do something else.

Anyway, Andy, probably around 1993 or 1994 (I don't know which year), is in Chicago with his table and he sees people crowding all around the Frontline table so he mosies over there to see what was going on and see that his former associates have the Charge of the Light Brigade and just that and it's a huge hit. It was like a lightbulb went off in Andy's head.

He said to himself "I have to have a theme and do something like that" but "what do I like?" As Andy recounts it, he likes World War II but World War II is a big area so he gives it some thought and decides he's going to do Arnhem in matte and focus on that range for next year's show. The next year he goes to Chicago with his Arnhem range, it's a huge hit and the rest is history.

Andy and Louis, please correct me if I've gotten anything wrong but I think that's the essence.

________
*Andy got his start in making his own figures when (being based in Hong Kong) he ordered figures from the traditional toy soldier companies over in the United Kingdom and it took forever for those figures to get over to him in the east. Apparently, he was complaining about the lack of customer service and how long it took for the figures to get to him when his wife said "why don't you make your own?"
 
damian said:
At the risk of provoking some Incomming rounds I must agree with Mike. The early K and C glossies of which I have a small collection were not as good as the contemporary offerings from Trophy. Trophy was the giant of the era. The matt world belongs to K and C. Andy saw a niche and opened it up. Whne I frist got imto Trophy there were virtually no WWII figures out there. K and C had just started with WS and then Arnhem. Trophy went as far as WWI but no further. K and C moved forwrad in leaps and bounds as I have said elsewhere.
That is what makes it such a great hobby though the fact that we have all these great companies putting out such great product.

Regards
Damian
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Thanks Damian. Now there is a man who is a keen observer of his environment and who knows his toy soldier history. King & Country actually had a "pre-WWII" line as such in 1991. It was the first version of the LAH which is now in its' third iteration. I have 40 of the first LAH series and I am sure about the date since it is stamped on the bottom of the bases.
 
Based on the brochures I have, the LAH may have come out in 1992. However, since I don't have access to 1991 brochures (nor does Louis I believe), 1991 may be correct. If anybody does, we'd like to get a copy for the book.

Please see this link for the 1992 Brochure . The first issues were LAH 01 though 07.
 
Brad,

I just double checked my LAH figures. The are marked with the registered "R" in a circle next to "K & C," then are dated "1991." Do you think it is possible that Andy would have marked them 1991 , but not released them until 1992?
 
ucla1967 said:
Brad,

I just double checked my LAH figures. The are marked with the registered "R" in a circle next to "K & C," then are dated "1991." Do you think it is possible that Andy would have marked them 1991 , but not released them until 1992?
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Mike,

Who knows, although since you've been collecting more than most of us, I would tend to side with you. However, I don't think it's out of the realm of possiblity as it was a very small company then and I don't think things were done on that organized a basis.

You don't have any of the old brochures, do you?
 
jazzeum said:
Mike,

Who knows, although since you've been collecting more than most of us, I would tend to side with you. However, I don't think it's out of the realm of possiblity as it was a very small company then and I don't think things were done on that organized a basis.

You don't have any of the old brochures, do you?
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Sorry, I don't have any old brochures. The well-know K & C collector from France came into my room at the 2005 West Coaster and bought all my glossy, early K & C sets (e.g., Highland Brigade, Royal Marines, Seaforths, African Rifles, etc.). I had an original tri-fold Highland Brigade brochure which I gave him.
 
ucla1967 said:
Sorry, I don't have any old brochures. The well-know K & C collector from France came into my room at the 2005 West Coaster and bought all my glossy, early K & C sets (e.g., Highland Brigade, Royal Marines, Seaforths, African Rifles, etc.). I had an original tri-fold Highland Brigade brochure which I gave him.
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Oh, well, never hurts to ask. I assume you mean Fred or Thierry.
 
When I was doing market research for the Treefrog commercial I asked an older collector who had just purchased some 60mm matte from me what he thought of glossies and if they reminded him affectionately of his toy soldiers as a boy.
He said as a kid he could never afford metal soldiers so he had no affinity whatsoever toward glossy figures and had been attracted back into the hobby by the matte figures his son collected. I thought this was quite interesting.
 
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