Trophy Scale Question (1 Viewer)

[churchmouse1]

I've been puzzled by some of my Trophy Boxer Rebellion soldiers. Did Len's sculpting become stouter as the years progressed? My early U.S. Marines Firing and Austro-Hungarian Sailors at Arms Port (which were sold individually) are shorter and willowier than my later Marine H2H sets and my Austro-Hungarian Sailors Charging. The earlier sets seem to also be in a sculpture style more like Little Legion than the later models. I've seen some Zulu sets offered on eBay with this skinnier, Little Legion-y look, but I haven't seen them up close. And, if the answer to my original question is yes, is the Boxer line older than the Zulu line? Thanks in advance for any help.

Dave

 

[HAWKEYE]

Well david, i started collecting trophy in 1996 which was about the time 95-96 that it looked like trophy got a little more bulkier as you say and to me the faces got more realistic. I have some of the older boxer sets and your right. I personally like the post 1995 style the best

 

[W T Allison II]

I always attributed the difference to a slight turnover of Trophy's sculptors and perhaps a reworking of some of the older molds

 

[Lawrence Lo]

I've been puzzled by some of my Trophy Boxer Rebellion soldiers. Did Len's sculpting become stouter as the years progressed? My early U.S. Marines Firing and Austro-Hungarian Sailors at Arms Port (which were sold individually) are shorter and willowier than my later Marine H2H sets and my Austro-Hungarian Sailors Charging. The earlier sets seem to also be in a sculpture style more like Little Legion than the later models. I've seen some Zulu sets offered on eBay with this skinnier, Little Legion-y look, but I haven't seen them up close. And, if the answer to my original question is yes, is the Boxer line older than the Zulu line? Thanks in advance for any help.

Dave

Dave,
You are correct in your observations. The older Trophy sets are quite different than the later produced sets. Though the pose may be the same, the figures were shorter and not as bulky as the later sets. In fact, when I first ran into those early Trophy sets, I thought the dealer was trying to pull a fast one on me. The bases had no TW marks underneath, but instead had a sticker. On top of the size issues, the officer figure with binoculars had arms that permitted the arms to be raised or lowered, a feature not found in later production. As for which line is older, my oldest catalogue is dated 1995 and both are listed. My own guess would be that the Zulu line would be older, just based on the popularity of that line - I myself however have been able to resist going down that path and limited myself to the Boxers, Egypt, Sudan, Afghanistan, Alamo .....

 

[Lawrence Lo]

I've been puzzled by some of my Trophy Boxer Rebellion soldiers. Did Len's sculpting become stouter as the years progressed? My early U.S. Marines Firing and Austro-Hungarian Sailors at Arms Port (which were sold individually) are shorter and willowier than my later Marine H2H sets and my Austro-Hungarian Sailors Charging. The earlier sets seem to also be in a sculpture style more like Little Legion than the later models. I've seen some Zulu sets offered on eBay with this skinnier, Little Legion-y look, but I haven't seen them up close. And, if the answer to my original question is yes, is the Boxer line older than the Zulu line? Thanks in advance for any help.

Dave

Dave,
Would you be able to post photos of the US Marines Firing as I have only seen the Advancing sets in Blue and Khakhi. Also, what is the set number of the Firing Set? Thanks.

 

[GICOP]

I've been puzzled by some of my Trophy Boxer Rebellion soldiers. Did Len's sculpting become stouter as the years progressed? My early U.S. Marines Firing and Austro-Hungarian Sailors at Arms Port (which were sold individually) are shorter and willowier than my later Marine H2H sets and my Austro-Hungarian Sailors Charging. The earlier sets seem to also be in a sculpture style more like Little Legion than the later models. I've seen some Zulu sets offered on eBay with this skinnier, Little Legion-y look, but I haven't seen them up close. And, if the answer to my original question is yes, is the Boxer line older than the Zulu line? Thanks in advance for any help.

Dave

Dave,
You are correct in your observations. The older Trophy sets are quite different than the later produced sets. Though the pose may be the same, the figures were shorter and not as bulky as the later sets. In fact, when I first ran into those early Trophy sets, I thought the dealer was trying to pull a fast one on me. The bases had no TW marks underneath, but instead had a sticker. On top of the size issues, the officer figure with binoculars had arms that permitted the arms to be raised or lowered, a feature not found in later production. As for which line is older, my oldest catalogue is dated 1995 and both are listed. My own guess would be that the Zulu line would be older, just based on the popularity of that line - I myself however have been able to resist going down that path and limited myself to the Boxers, Egypt, Sudan, Afghanistan, Alamo .....

As my friend Joe (Lt) quite rightly states “A picture is worth a thousand words”

Here are three figures from my collection showing the development, left to right, from early to late

This is an early figure of an Officer of the HLI with movable arms

I believe the AZW series started before the Boxer Rebellion

Cheers

Martyn

 

[GICOP]

Just spotted these for sale on Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/TWO-RARE-TROPHY...ViewItemQQptZToy_Soldiers?hash=item1c0f932b43

Cheers

Martyn

 

[churchmouse1]

Lawrence,

I don't know if the firing U.S. Marines were ever issued as a set, so I can't give you a number. The collector I got them from said that he'd bought them during the early years of the Boxer line as individual pieces. I'll post some crude pictures in a minute.

Thanks for all your help, gents. This has really helped me wrap my head around Trophy. This size differential has made collecting the Boxer line tough, as a lot of Boxer pieces that show up on eBay are the earlier sets.

Dave

 

[churchmouse1]

Here are the pictures. Sorry about the poor quality, but I took them on my Balckberry.

Dave

 

[churchmouse1]

Oh, and all of the early Trophy I have do have the hallmark stamped or cut in the bottom.

Dave

 

[VIRIATO]

As my friend Joe (Lt) quite rightly states “A picture is worth a thousand words”

Here are three figures from my collection showing the development, left to right, from early to late

This is an early figure of an Officer of the HLI with movable arms

I believe the AZW series started before the Boxer Rebellion

Cheers

Martyn

As they say, virtue rests in the middle.


Paulo

 

[1879fanatic]

As they say, virtue rests in the middle.


Paulo

Paulo,
Appropriate and too true!
But the little bugger on the left is a true gem, as well as the gent on the right!
Mike

 

[W T Allison II]

Hi Dave: I emailed your questions to Len Taylor. The Zulus were made first before the Boxers. At that time, Len's only retail outlet was Jock Couts of "Under Two Flags" who only wanted Britain's size figures marching, etc. without any action figures. He started selling in the U.S. first through Jim Hillisted and later Joe Overstreet. His first figures were small like Britains. Each time he made a master mould, there was shrinkage in the castings. As a result, the master moulds were made larger to offset the shrinkage. This accounts for the size difference in figures over the years. As he said, he didn't always get it right. Also, the Little Legion sculptor/owner started with Trophy I believe.

 

[The Lt.]

Hi Dave: I emailed your questions to Len Taylor. The Zulus were made first before the Boxers. At that time, Len's only retail outlet was Jock Couts of "Under Two Flags" who only wanted Britain's size figures marching, etc. without any action figures. He started selling in the U.S. first through Jim Hillisted and later Joe Overstreet. His first figures were small like Britains. Each time he made a master mould, there was shrinkage in the castings. As a result, the master moulds were made larger to offset the shrinkage. This accounts for the size difference in figures over the years. As he said, he didn't always get it right. Also, the Little Legion sculptor/owner started with Trophy I believe.

Next time you touch base with Len tell him The Lt. aka smugdancer is still waiting to be brought up to date after his gall-bladder got sorted out and be sure to give him my best and it's true Mike Norris of Little Legion did get started with Len. Thanks for all of your input......The Lt.

 

[Lawrence Lo]

Hi Dave: I emailed your questions to Len Taylor. The Zulus were made first before the Boxers. At that time, Len's only retail outlet was Jock Couts of "Under Two Flags" who only wanted Britain's size figures marching, etc. without any action figures. He started selling in the U.S. first through Jim Hillisted and later Joe Overstreet. His first figures were small like Britains. Each time he made a master mould, there was shrinkage in the castings. As a result, the master moulds were made larger to offset the shrinkage. This accounts for the size difference in figures over the years. As he said, he didn't always get it right. Also, the Little Legion sculptor/owner started with Trophy I believe.

Tommy, Would you be able to contact Mr. Taylor and ask if he knows the sets we are missing in the list of the Boxer series that Dave has compiled? Thanks.

 

[W T Allison II]

Lawrence: I will be glad to do so. I asked him to give me production figures for the gunboats including the dhow which I know you are interested in. He says all of his records are on a shelf in his garage and will get someone to assist him. I will keep on him but it may be awhile since he is going in for knee replacement surgery. I posted Dave that the zulus were started before the boxer series.

 

[Lawrence Lo]

Lawrence: I will be glad to do so. I asked him to give me production figures for the gunboats including the dhow which I know you are interested in. He says all of his records are on a shelf in his garage and will get someone to assist him. I will keep on him but it may be awhile since he is going in for knee replacement surgery. I posted Dave that the zulus were started before the boxer series.

Tommy, Many thanks.

 

[churchmouse1]

Thanks, Tommy. If anyone can help us, it'll be Len. I hope he gets a good knee.

Dave