Sunday 20 May 2012

New book - The One Inch Army II by Vic Ridik

As I looked around the hall at the PW Show my eye settled on a young couple struggling to get through the doors with two of the biggest suitcases on wheels I have ever seen.  They could have been refugees, just off the boat carrying all their worldly possessions, but they weren't, they were Victor Rudik with his sister Patte Rosebank from Canada and the suitcases contained copies of his new book. 

I recall meeting Vic about ten years ago when he came to the PW Show with his first book, my impression of him was a young man who positively boiled over with enthusiasm for HO scale figures, he's put on a bit of weight since then but little else has changed.  His book has put on a bit of weight too, it's 600% bigger than the first volume.

The One Inch Army II - The definitive guide to small scale plastic soldiers and accessories.
ISBN 978-0-9730517-1-1  Author Victor Rudik, published by 2206209 Ontario Incorporated.

To say there is a lot of information in this book is a bit of an understatement, it weighs in at two kilogrammes and with 850 pages there is an awful lot in there. Set out in similar format to Richard O'Brien's books it lists manufacturers alphabetically, gives a brief company history where known and then lists the figures they made. There are numerous black and white pictures on nearly every page and a colour section in the middle.  Small scale figures are very much the domain of the wargamer, many of whom I suspect are also becoming collectors, consciously or otherwise.  After all collecting, converting and wargaming are the Holy Trinity of the toy soldier experience irrespective of the size you prefer.

Let me state for the record that I do not collect small scale plastic figures (of course I have some, but I don't seek them out) so what possessed me to shell out £35 for this book? Well in part it was the sales pitch from Patte who appealed to the miser in me by pointing out that if I wanted to buy it later the shipping cost from Canada would be an extra £32, you can't argue with logic like that!  The main reason is that there's so much information here you simply have to have it, it's a great book to just dip into then you just keep looking at more and more and more.....................

12 comments:

  1. Thanks for the info. I have his first book and it was timely then, with lots of history and background of the HO sets available when it was published. With the huge increase of HO figures and companies over the last ten years, I'm sure this will even more extensive and up to date.
    I look forward to getting the new one soon.
    Joe Joria

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  2. Hey Brian thanks for posting this> Maybe I can convince our local Library to purchase this gem.
    Jeff

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  3. Great review
    -PJR

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  4. Joe Joria, I'm sure you won't be disapointed. the first book was good but the new one has the Wow factor.

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  5. Chasseur, an excellent idea Jeff, it's certainly one for the reference section.

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  6. PJR, you are, of course, very welcome.

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  7. Hi Brian,
    Thanks for mention of my book! It was a massive job to research and write it and I am glad it has Wow factor!

    Only one slight correction...that's my sister Patte Rosebank. She came to help me with my books (she does have a great sales pitch) and to spend lots of her money in London...which she did magnificently. There's no Mrs. Rudik, other than our Mom.

    Thanks!

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  8. Oh, and if someone needs to get in touch with me, I am available at theoneincharmy@hotmail.com

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  9. Hi Vic, glad to put the record straight, I'm only sorry I didn't get more time to talk to you at the show but it always gets a bit manic on the day. Hope you enjoyed your trip to London, we are all very grateful for Patte's contribution to our economy.

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  10. We now have a website, where people can buy the book directly from us, and pay with PayPal.

    It's http://members.tripod.com/p_rosebank/theoneincharmy

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  11. We now have a proper domain, all to ourselves!

    It's http://www.oneincharmy.com.

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    1. That's great news Patte, it's always nice to hear from you ;-)

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