Ancient Gauls made by CBG Mignot

 A recent ebay extravagance, they're not the sort of thing I collect really, and they all have some damage but then again they are nice early toy soldiers made by the classic French manufacturer CBG Mignot (Cuperly, Blondel and Gerbeau).  I don't know what I'm going to do with them but for 99p my trigger finger was itching uncontrollably, and it would be unforgiveable not to give a good home to these strays.

Ancient Gauls made by CGB Mignot

Solid metal and 54mm tall, the first two may have held spears, which would be easy enough to repair with a spot of solder although, of course, I'm never likely to find original Mignot parts.  The first figure shows the sword, cast separately and soldered to the body.  The middle one is posed to give a clear view of the shield, which is made of thin pressed tin, this design was used for the Ancient as well as Middle Eastern ranges where they came brightly painted, as opposed to being left in the flat metal as here.

Toy Soldiers of the Great War

An early birthday present to myself (because I'm worth it), "Les Petits Soldats de la Grande Guerre" has been out for while but I've only just come across it, the cover announces that it includes 800 toys of WW1 so I had to have it.

Published in 2013 by Editions Glenat, A4 format, it has 256 pages illustrated in full colour throughout, ISBN 978-2-7234-0700-2.  Written in French only but light on text so not too challenging for anyone with with a smattering of the language and a grounding in the Great War.  The pic below gives an example of the layout and quality of the illustrations.  The cover price is 39 Euro, which I would say offers very good value for a book of this size and quality, I got my copy on ebay France, new and still in the cellophane wrapping for 19 Euro plus 9 Euro P&P from seller "Book77".  Bargain!

There are 12 chapters looking at different aspects of the war, into which the toys are conveniently slotted.  The cover gives little away and I half expected the book to include every type of toy from diecast vehicles to dolls and teddy bears, but fear not, apart from a chapter containing tinplate tanks and ships the rest is all toy soldiers.  

You can expect to see the perennial favourites from Britains, CGB Mignot, and Elastolin  but they don't dominate, it's packed with figures of every genre: paper, flats and semi flats, conjoint tin, wood, hollowcast and solid lead, composition and even a little plastic and modern white metal (but not much).  The more I flick through it the more I enjoy it, I reckon you will too.