Dickbuttons
Sergeant
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Thanks for sharing photos of your collection with us.
Dick
Dick
Visiting Yesteryear (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter wadepat
- Start date
Gentle Friends,
My journey through yesteryear is slowly coming to an end. All of the figures/sets I have shown you are those that occupy an honored space in my curio cabinets. I have more of these great figures from yesteryear, but I have them safely stored away. Perhaps someday I will continue my journey by bringing those additional figures out of storage.
I have saved what I consider to be the most special of my yesteryear figures and sets for the end of my journey. While I prize all my vintage figures, these last three sets are the ones I prize most highly. They are very, very special to me. I shall present to you these three sets during the next couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy them.
The first of the last three sets was produced by Minikin. Minikin was one of the Post War Japanese toy soldier companies and, in my opinion, Minikin was the best of the bunch. Among many things, they produced a number of figures including 16th century knights, Samurai figures, American Revolution figures, Highlanders, French Colonial figures, Biblical figures, and "barnyard" figures.
Found below are pictures of the largest and most unusual set produced by Minikin, set #H-31, Historic Hannibal's Elephant Invasion. This set has recently been described by Gideon as "remarkably rare." I hope you enjoy viewing it. It is very, very special to me.
Warmest personal regards,
Pat
My journey through yesteryear is slowly coming to an end. All of the figures/sets I have shown you are those that occupy an honored space in my curio cabinets. I have more of these great figures from yesteryear, but I have them safely stored away. Perhaps someday I will continue my journey by bringing those additional figures out of storage.
I have saved what I consider to be the most special of my yesteryear figures and sets for the end of my journey. While I prize all my vintage figures, these last three sets are the ones I prize most highly. They are very, very special to me. I shall present to you these three sets during the next couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy them.
The first of the last three sets was produced by Minikin. Minikin was one of the Post War Japanese toy soldier companies and, in my opinion, Minikin was the best of the bunch. Among many things, they produced a number of figures including 16th century knights, Samurai figures, American Revolution figures, Highlanders, French Colonial figures, Biblical figures, and "barnyard" figures.
Found below are pictures of the largest and most unusual set produced by Minikin, set #H-31, Historic Hannibal's Elephant Invasion. This set has recently been described by Gideon as "remarkably rare." I hope you enjoy viewing it. It is very, very special to me.
Warmest personal regards,
Pat
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Dickbuttons
Sergeant
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2005
- Messages
- 728
Thank you for all of your photos. They have been a real pleasure to see. I am sorry that it's coming to an end. Who knows, maybe you'' take the others out of storeage sooner then you think.
Warmest regards,
Dick
Warmest regards,
Dick
Gentle Friends,
The second of my most prized vintage figures is interesting to me in many ways. First of all, the figures are made of aluminum and are quite light in weight when compared to today's modern figures. The figures were manufactured by Frenchal and, according to Richard O'Brien in his book, Collecting Foreign Made Toy Soldiers, "They appeared on the market in the mid-1930s and reached their highest popularity at the end of the 1940s, then gave way to plastic."
Secondly, while Frenchal figures are a very popular collectors' items in France, they are seldom seen in the USA. If fact, I have never seen Frenchel figures listed on eBay and many dealers have never heard of them.
Thirdly,...well, you will have to wait until I post my last set of pictures of this set to learn the third interesting feature of these figures. So, for now, may I present my 19 figure set of the Frenchal Bullfighters!
I hope you enjoy seeing them!
Warmest personal regards,
Pat
The second of my most prized vintage figures is interesting to me in many ways. First of all, the figures are made of aluminum and are quite light in weight when compared to today's modern figures. The figures were manufactured by Frenchal and, according to Richard O'Brien in his book, Collecting Foreign Made Toy Soldiers, "They appeared on the market in the mid-1930s and reached their highest popularity at the end of the 1940s, then gave way to plastic."
Secondly, while Frenchal figures are a very popular collectors' items in France, they are seldom seen in the USA. If fact, I have never seen Frenchel figures listed on eBay and many dealers have never heard of them.
Thirdly,...well, you will have to wait until I post my last set of pictures of this set to learn the third interesting feature of these figures. So, for now, may I present my 19 figure set of the Frenchal Bullfighters!
I hope you enjoy seeing them!
Warmest personal regards,
Pat
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Gentle Friends,
These figures are colorful, arn't they? I greatly enjoy viewing them.
Now we come to the third interesting feature of these figures. Remember, I told you I would share this information when I reached the last set of pictures of these figures? Let me set the stage by once again quoting from Richard O'Brien's book:
"As a rule, none [of these figures]are marked in such a way as to be easily identifiable. Many exported ones had paper stickers under the bases, which fell off long ago."
A UK collector friend of mine has collected these figures for many years and, according to him, he has only seen a single figure with the identifying sticker in place. I am fortunate that this identifying sticker is still in place on all of the figures of this set. You will see the sticker on the underside of the bases in the pictures below.
Again, I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of my vintage figures. As I said earlier, these are very special to me.
Warmest personal regards,
Pat
These figures are colorful, arn't they? I greatly enjoy viewing them.
Now we come to the third interesting feature of these figures. Remember, I told you I would share this information when I reached the last set of pictures of these figures? Let me set the stage by once again quoting from Richard O'Brien's book:
"As a rule, none [of these figures]are marked in such a way as to be easily identifiable. Many exported ones had paper stickers under the bases, which fell off long ago."
A UK collector friend of mine has collected these figures for many years and, according to him, he has only seen a single figure with the identifying sticker in place. I am fortunate that this identifying sticker is still in place on all of the figures of this set. You will see the sticker on the underside of the bases in the pictures below.
Again, I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of my vintage figures. As I said earlier, these are very special to me.
Warmest personal regards,
Pat
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kilted vampire
Lieutenant Colonel
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2006
- Messages
- 7,900
Pat you have the most varied and wonderful old soldiers! Thank you for sharing them with us
jazzeum
Four Star General
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- Apr 23, 2005
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- 38,379
Pat,
I love those bullfighters and picadores. Reminds me of when I used to live in Spain and we would go to the bullfights. A fascinating spectacle. Not for everybody of course. I always wanted to run with the bulls in Pamplona, even now with less than a great back and with my age.
I love those bullfighters and picadores. Reminds me of when I used to live in Spain and we would go to the bullfights. A fascinating spectacle. Not for everybody of course. I always wanted to run with the bulls in Pamplona, even now with less than a great back and with my age.
thebritfarmer
Moderator
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- Jan 29, 2008
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- 10,444
Hello Pat,
Once again another beautiful and varied set. While not everyone's cup of tea they certainly are mine. I prefer these type of collectibles as apposed to the soldier with a gun.
Do you know if there is a connection between frenchal and a company called wendal ? They do share a likeness in their style (and name). They also seem to have a similar resemblance to Starlux also.
Many thanks again
Scott
Once again another beautiful and varied set. While not everyone's cup of tea they certainly are mine. I prefer these type of collectibles as apposed to the soldier with a gun.
Do you know if there is a connection between frenchal and a company called wendal ? They do share a likeness in their style (and name). They also seem to have a similar resemblance to Starlux also.
Many thanks again
Scott
Louis Badolato
Lieutenant General
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- Apr 25, 2005
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- 17,230
Brad,
One would think that at your age, you would have the wisdom to realize that running with the bulls is never a good idea!
Leadmen
2nd Lieutenant
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2005
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- 3,884
Dick: Here are some of my Timpo's with the marching figure. John
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Dickbuttons
Sergeant
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2005
- Messages
- 728
Thanks allot. I haven't seen photos of these figures in a long time. Unfortunately, I traded my Timpo figures back in 1982 for some Britains figures. I am not sure which is worth more, but clearly the Timpos are allot harer to find.
Thanks again for posting the photos -- I appreciate a little nostalgia.
Dick
Thanks again for posting the photos -- I appreciate a little nostalgia.
Dick
Leadmen
2nd Lieutenant
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Glad you liked the picture. I have a few Timpo's but they are harder to find. The MP figure is a plastic one. I did not know they did metal Timpo in plastic also. That is the only one I got like it. The metal MP is the hardest figure to find.
My buddy just got one last year from Warren Mitchell and it took him about 15 years to collect all of the Timpo GI's. Leadmen
My buddy just got one last year from Warren Mitchell and it took him about 15 years to collect all of the Timpo GI's. Leadmen
Dickbuttons
Sergeant
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- Aug 22, 2005
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I can't recall -- did the Timpos come tied in boxes like Britains or were they loose figures? I remember the figures, but have no recall whatsoever of the boxes or packaging they came in.
Dick
Leadmen
2nd Lieutenant
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2005
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Dick: I talked with my friend Bob who has an old Timpo catalog. The figures were sold both ways. Some figures like medical set, mortar set, or motorcycle were sold in separate boxes. Bob also said large sets were also sold containing all the figures. They also packaged individual figures in England and sent them to US distributors. Regards: John
Russell
Sergeant
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- May 15, 2007
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Pat, Like all the others I want to say thank you. I just went through this thread this evening and really enjoyed seeing all the photos you posted. I recognize some of the figures as those I played with as a child; a few Indians, some cowboys, and those running Blackwatch. I'm amazed that you could have been so organized as a child to keep them all.
I never saw where my toy soldiers came from. My father worked downtown in a newspaper and must have bought sets there for me. They just appeared under the Christmas tree from good old Santa, or nicely wrapped on my birthday. In the summer I was often at a lakeside cottage with my aunt and uncle. I spent my days in the sand building forts and losing soldier after soldier to the sandy beach. Deserters I guess. Years later my uncle told me they were still finding cowboys and Indians in the sand.
It's really been fun seeing them again. Great figures. Enjoy the new house.
I never saw where my toy soldiers came from. My father worked downtown in a newspaper and must have bought sets there for me. They just appeared under the Christmas tree from good old Santa, or nicely wrapped on my birthday. In the summer I was often at a lakeside cottage with my aunt and uncle. I spent my days in the sand building forts and losing soldier after soldier to the sandy beach. Deserters I guess. Years later my uncle told me they were still finding cowboys and Indians in the sand.
It's really been fun seeing them again. Great figures. Enjoy the new house.