Toy Castles and Knights - A Guide to Toy Castles and Knights from Around the World. Written by Joseph W. Svec III, published by Infinity Publishing, ISBN 978 0 7414 7323 3. A4 softcover, 104 pages illustrated in full colour throughout. I bought my copy through ebay where it costs US$ 26.95 (GBP £17.00) plus postage.
This is a very big subject to tackle in just over 100 pages and this book is an enjoyable romp through what appears to be the authors own collection rather than a purely academic history. Over 100 Castles from ten different countries are featured ranging from the traditional King Arthur/Camelot/Robin Hood types to Sword & Sorcery/Lord of the Rings up to the 90mm Schleich and Papo types. There is also a nice chapter on the Spanish made Exin castle building sets, which are like Lego but for making medieval and wild west buildings.
The majority of castles included are of the plastic clip together or vacuformed types and it's good to see these documented as many are already no longer available, there are also some tin litho and wooden examples. The book is packed full of colour pictures showing the castles, often under state of siege by their attendant figures, and the box art they came in. My only criticism would be that some of the pictures are a little dark, so overall a fun book at a reasonable price and lets face it how many of us would have the room to store 100 castles?
I would have liked to see more of the earlier wooden makes of castle but that leaves room for a Book 2, until then you can see more on the history of Toy Forts and Castles at the toyforts website
Sounds an interesting book.Too tempting website also...
ReplyDeleteI wish I hadn't given away my 40mm Elastolin castle of my childhood.I was down sizing circa 1987 and something had to give.
Alas castles do take up a lot of room, I've had to pass on one or two myself over the years.
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