SPECIAL THANKS. I would like to thank Paul Watson for his sponsorship of several lead figure collections on this blog. Having decided to clear his spare/surplus figures, he generously forwarded them on with no other requirement than they deserved to be restored. I would also like to mention George S. Mills, who kindly furnished a quantity of plastic figures which greatly enhanced several collections.

Monday, 24 April 2023

EXETER TOY FAIR and new acquisitions

A member of my family (Chris) kindly drove me to the Exeter Toy Fair on Saturday, he then went on to view the Jaguar car showroom! My purpose was to sell/swap some plastic AWI figures, and a spare multi-coloured Timpo train. (I only need two working trains, one is a nice looking red and black livery set, the other is my armoured conversion, painted green.) 

Here are my recent acquisitions, most of which came from Adrian Little of Mercator Trading. Nice bloke, was happy to support his business. Since my swaps were donations from friends (Paul and George), only right to pass some of this on to others.

First up. A number of lead railway, police, and civilian figures costing £2-£3 each.

Four Royal Artillery Mountain Battery figures, just £1 each, and nicely painted!


.Some odd plastic figures, 50p each. These will be drafted or converted. 

Some more plastic figures for drafting. Others are going to be converted into Schleswig volunteers.

Have been looking for some mounted Guards officers for a conversion project, £5.

Should have taken a few more photos, but I only had an hour and a half, and I wanted to inspect my new toys at home, lol. Adrian is in the first photo.

I arrived at 10.15am, and nearly everyone queuing was aged fifty or over, but by midday it had almost balanced out. The entrance fee was only £3, which is very fair. And I went home slightly in credit...... I need to top up my paints!
MGB
ps. Acquired a French toy soldier marching, made by JIM of France. New to me, very similar to Starlux in its style.

8 comments:

  1. Looks a good haul of toy soldiers and an interesting show .

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    1. Hi Tony, it was a very nice day out, friendly crowd, knew several of the traders, cleared some spare items into things I need for my collection. Have already converted and painted seven figures from the day, so my new project has commenced.
      Michael

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  2. It will be interesting to see what you can make of all those varied plastic figures, I find the Jean Hoefler prancing horses very useful, they're a bit "My Little Pony" but if you trim down the mane and tail they look okay, easy to find and they're cheap as chips!

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    1. Hello Brian. the horse is so bold, had to have it, 50p. Well, I'm raising a small collection to 'loosely' represent Danish and Schleswig soldiers for the 1848-52 period. Nothing large, and using cheap conversions, mainly plastic. Just a few small units on interesting terrain. Thats the plan.
      Michael

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  3. It looks like a wonderful day Michael! You found a lot of useful and unique figures for your collection. I can't wait to see what you do with the Mexican in sombrero! The Hoefler horse is great, I've always admired that pose.

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    1. Cheers Brad. I'm determined to find a suitable officer to ride that Hoefler horse. About half the figures are to be drafted so as to complete my usual 12 figure battalions. The other half are to form part of my Schleswig army. Nothing major, the 1848-52 collection will number about 100 figures, and mainly those that are somewhat large by 54mm standards.
      Michael

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  4. Really pleased you were abled to put the donations to good use Mike.

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    1. Thanks George, will stick to my 28mm collections for 18th century wars. Yes, the swaps have proved very useful.
      Michael

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