New Pose sent to Sculptor

Yesterday I sent instructions to the sculptor for a new figure.  Very exciting.  This is a new sculptor, so I'm hoping for the best.  All of our previous figures were done in a traditional manner... this will be done using 3D technology.  I've seen both good and bad 3D sculpts, so I'm withholding judgement until I see the finished product.

The figure will be from an era that I have not done before.

If it is successfully sculpted, and if it is successfully molded, and if it is successfully produced, and if it survives the long trip from China.... that's a lot of ifs.  Assuming all goes well, my plan is to offer individual figures instead of full sets.  We are going to run the minimum order, because I have zero faith that there are really that many collectors out there. 

I'll post more when I know more.

Beau

Testing the Waters

We lost this pose, which is a shame, because I really liked it.

I've had a couple of back-and-forths with our rep in Hong Kong see what the current state of production looks like.  When we left off, we had five Civil War prototypes completed (originally six, but one was permanently lost), and one WWII Marine prototype completed. Really, only a couple of the Civil War prototypes made me happy... the others needed some work done, and would most likely be scrapped.

It's good to re-establish contacts, and who knows, maybe we see if there is any more blood left in this stone. 

past two years...

Back in 2015, I got a new job.  We also had our second child.  Knowing we were getting ready to move, I packed up my collection to ready it for a journey across the state.

Well, we didn't move for another year.  And when we did move, we ended up in a temporary location.  My collection sat idle in cardboard boxes.  I also made the decision to fully part with the remaining inventory of our Confederates.  I sent them in one big delivery to their new home in San Diego.  I did find a couple boxes in storage, so I've been selling them on ebay just to clear some space.

After a year in the temporary place, and a year getting settled into our new place, I finally feel good about tearing open these cardboard boxes, and seeing if I can get back into this hobby.

So I sit here, surrounded by little boxes of plastic toy soldiers that are somehow free of mice and bugs (the collection moved from garages, to storage units, to basements, and back to a garage), and try to remember how I collected all this stuff.  There are figures swimming around in here I don't even remember getting!!

But anyway, we'll see what I  can get up to in the next few days as I can organize it all.  I'll try to take some pictures and feature a few different sets.

Chicago Show 2016

We made the trip up to Chicago for the 2016 Chicago show, and I really enjoyed myself.  Got to see a lot of people I hadn't talked to for awhile, and dig through a few buckets of plastic.  My son, now 6, got to purchase a few loose figures that he picked out all on his own (all Marx, good taste).

For myself, I mostly picked up older, loose Barzso figures that I needed, including several character figures.  Ron was great, helping me figure out what I needed, and what came from which set.

Long John Silver and Alice

Molly Pitcher and Davy Crockett

The whole Barzso haul, 2016 Chicago

I also had a nice conversation with the gentleman from LOD Toy Soldiers, about his Battle of Troy figures.  They are really nice, and I hope he sells a ton of them and continues to put out new figures.

Other highlights included the new Vietnam figures from TSSD, Seeing all of Paragon's cool stuff, and wandering through the Wm. Britain's room, seeing all their cool painted metals.  If I was to make the jump to metal, I would definitely start there.  Ken Osen is a master at sculpting and research.

Back on Ebay

Hey all, it's been awhile since you've heard from me.  I'm still here, doing real life stuff and all.

I recently put some of my Confederates back up on Ebay, so if you want a couple bags, you can pick them up there.  I'm selling (and buying, which is more common) as "r.steal".

I'm going to go basement diving tonight, see what else I can put up for sale.

I attended GenCon this past weekend in Indianapolis, the largest gaming convention in the world.  Picked up several pieces of the Wings of Glory game by the maker Ares.  It's a cool WWI dog-fighting game with awesome pre-painted miniatures.  Whether I'll ever actually play it, I don't know.  But I do like the minis.

Wings of Glory by Ares

Restocked a few Dealers

Hey All!

Just wanted to let you know that I've restocked some dealers with the plastic Confederate Infantry.  So if you are in need, check with Toy Soldiers of San Diego, Classic Toy Soldiers, and Michigan Toy Soldiers.  I'm sure some of the other dealers probably still have some in stock too.

You can still purchase directly from me, but honestly, it will probably take a day or two longer to get your order out to you.

The Indianapolis toy soldier show is coming up on April 12th, and I'm hoping to be able to make it down there for that.  I won't have a booth, but there are usually a few guys there that sell my figures, either the Marx-Man or the War Store, so be sure to check out their stock.

It must be something in the weather, but I've gotten a few random emails asking whether I'll do another set.  The answer is..... I highly doubt it..  Put your faith in TSSD, Austin Miniatures, Paragon, CTS, Barzso, and X-Force.  They are all releasing some super cool plastic these days, so check them out if you haven't already.

WWII Marine Update

M1 Rifle

Hey All, just got the final pictures of the Marine from the sculptor, and it's all finished up.  I had him do a few touch ups on the rifle to get it right.  I should receive the sculpt in the next week or so.  The guys I have doing my metal figures are currently working on a third run of the Union marching figure, along with prepping a couple more poses for molding and production.  Once those are done and in my hands, the Marine will go in for molding and production.

And then all I'll need is for someone to buy them!

Upcoming WWII Marine