Junk box finds at Sandown Park Toy Fair

 The joy of junk boxes is that you never know what you'll find, it might all look like rubbish but you can't help having a rummage anyway, maybe there will be something rare in there?  Sometimes there is but mostly not, it doesn't matter, it's the search that drives us collectors on, the hope of finding something, anything!

It might be something damaged or even something you don't really want, it doesn't matter, because it's cheap, so if you get something wrong or you change your mind there's no great harm done.  I didn't go looking for any of these figures or need any of them, the plastic were about 30p apiece and the leads £1, I bought them because they were there, and so was I.

PLASTIC

Top row: Three figures from the Cherilea Elizabethan series, the two in red are originals from the 1960's and the grey one is a reissue made in the original moulds by Giles Brown of Dorset Toy Soldiers, who sold them as British Battle Set under the name Icarus Toys.   Next a Cherilea Chinese/Korean Officer with pistol from the Korean War set and a REAMSA cowboy falling wounded.

Bottom row: Crescent WW1 Britsh cavalry, Britains Deetail French Foreign Legion cavalry, Timpo Duke of Wellington, Timpo Cossack and two Louis Marx Vikings.  

All are imperfect and destined to be repaired or converted but not necessarily by me.

LEAD

Top row: Street Gas Lamp Cleaner and Inn Keeper by Johillco (John Hill and Co.) the former is quite a rare piece, his narrow base extends pointedly at the front so that it fits into the steps of the ladder which he grips in his hands as it leans against the gas lampost.  Next a female customer which came in both the "Butchers Shop" and "Fish Shop" box sets from Crescent.  The two lads selling newspapers and waving are modern solid white metal figures (unmarked and unknown to me) possibly to go with model train layouts.  The Height Finder is very similar to the one in the Crescent " A.R.P Range Finder Unit" set, with a leg missing I have no qualms about a repair and repaint in grey to go on my Gunboat.

Bottom row: The whimsical Postman being chased by a dog is marked GB telling us it was made by Giles Brown of Dorset Toy Soldiers and is a typical example of Giles' humour.  The 1:43 scale gentleman in bowler hat, waiting for a train to take him on the daily commute into the City, is marked Dinky Toys on the upper side of his base.  The Bishop of Hereford is from the Benbros Robin Hood set and finally the motorbike goes with the Charbens GI rider.

All useful stuff which will find a home somewhere, be restored, repaired, repainted, converted or given away, the important thing is that they've been rescued from obscurity and entered the realm of the collector.

Knights made in France by CBG Mignot

Part of the Sandown Park plunder were these two knights made in France by CBG Mignot.  The paper label on the plinth helpfully tells us that this is Francis 1st, or at least it's his horse, sadly the rider is not Francis but a knight in armour by CBG Mignot who happened to be in the same £1 box along with the foot figure beside him.

  The horse trappings are specific to the horse for Francis 1st, which is a rather nice personality figure in court clothes, so I will probably remount the rider when I find a standard Mignot medieval horse for him.  The figure of Francis 1st was originally issued without the wooden plinth, which was a feature added later when the historical personalities were individually boxed and sold through high end tourist outlets.  I'm tempted to remove the plinth as I don't really care for this sort of thing.

The figures are cast in solid metal, a lead/tin mix, the arms bent into position then weapons and shield soldered on, the heads are cast separately and plug into the body to create some variety. The mounted horse and rider carry no makers mark but the foot figure has "CBG made in France" under the base, which tells us this is late production as earlier examples were unmarked. CBG relates to Cuperly Blondel Gerbeau the three early proprietors of the firm which began producing toy soldiers in 1832, in 1912 Henri Mignot succeeded Gerbeau and added his name to the firm, all four had been  related through marriage.

The two new figures will join a small existing collection of CBG Mignot medieval figures: centre above is a personality figure of Louis XI (Louis the Prudent), the horse carries no mark under the base and the residue of glue suggests he may have been mounted on a plinth like the one for Francis 1st.  He is flanked by two knights who are essentially the same figure with arms bent into different positions and separate heads plugged in.  Both horses are simply marked "Made in France".

More examples of how CGB Mignot used the same body pose with different plug in heads and weapons soldered on, the two bowmen are the same, as are the swordsman and spearman advancing, the knight standing with pike is the same as the new knight with lance and shield in the first pic.  All of these foot figures carry no makers mark.  Dating CGB Mignot figures is very difficult as they produced the same poses in the same manner over an extended period, the only differentiation being changes in the hue of colours used to paint them, therefore it's a skill only achieved after many years experience of handling them. 

Knights by Marcel Vergeylen and Fusilier Miniatures

 Hot on the heals of the London Toy Soldier Show came the Sandown Park Toy Fair, it's much more of a General toy collectors show but there are always figures to be found and I can never resist rummaging around in the junk boxes, I came away with forty pieces for an outlay of £30, here are some of them:

The two knights on the outside above with dark green bases were made in France by Marcel Vergeylen (1948-2015) and have the name of the character portrayed written under their base, the one on the left is Sir John Lydevusers and on the right is Englebert de Harze.  The Childhood Knights website tells us that Vergeylen was a keen painter of heraldry and figure converter who went on to create his own range, and amongst his work are several examples based on Roy Selwyn-Smith's "Knights of Agincourt".

The knight in the centre is unfinished and is engraved "F MIN" under the base for Fusilier Miniatures, one of the brands offered by Mark and Paul Turner who are well known dealers and manufacturers of figures on the toy soldier circuit, their other ranges are Tommy Atkins (started by their father John) and Hussar Military Miniatures.

They'll need a bit of work to finish them off so it's a good job I picked up those spare shields and weapons packs from White Tower  Miniatures the previous week

Medieval Wargamer Video

During the recent exceptionally hot weather I have been spending an inordinate amount of time basking in the cooler climes of social media, where I came across the Medieval Wargamer YouTube Channel and thought I might share it with you dear reader:

I don't know who runs the channel but it showcases all aspects of Medieval wargaming with lots of spectacular videos, the one above features still pics of 1,000 miniatures resplendent in their heraldry and is accompanied by a narration from Bernard Cornwell's novel Harlequin.  A word of warning it runs for 26 minutes which may cause a bit of sensory overload but you can always take a break and come back to it.

Here is the official introduction to this video:

"This cinematic showcase features scenes from my large Hundred Years’ War collection, assembled and deployed for visual and atmospheric purposes rather than representing one specific historical battle. The goal was to capture the feeling, scale, and character of medieval warfare through a series of still images and cinematic moments.

Featured throughout are warriors, banners, and formations inspired by the Hundred Years’ War period, accompanied by audiobook narration from Harlequin by Bernard Cornwell, including passages describing the combat and atmosphere surrounding the Battle of Crécy.

Sit back and enjoy this visual journey into the world of medieval warfare.

A big thank you to Steven Comunale for editing this videos cover photo and creating such a beautiful battle ground image."

Landsknecht by Rose Models

 A final post on finds from the London show, a couple of modern white metal collectors figures rescued from a junk box:

On the left a Landsknecht by Rose Models, a matchlock in one hand and length of match in the other hand.  A great figure but not a very useful pose, I've been looking out for one of these a while, the plan being to make a silicon mould of the head and copy it for use in conversions.  We'll see.

On the right is a Jacobite Highland officer which looks a lot like an illustration from the Osprey book, so it could be made by New Hope Design but I need to check.  Both are nice crisp castings, I plan to mount them on MDF bases and add them to existing projects.

The modern phenomenon that is predictive text never ceases circumvent and undermine me, on typing matchlock I find I have been translated as MacBook and my attempt at correction insists I mean MacBollock.  Heaven preserve us!