Lots of toy soldiers at the Plastic Warrior Show 2025

 Two weeks after the event and I am just recovering from the toy soldier overload that is the annual Plastic Warrior Show, I still haven't unpacked the bags and boxes of plunder I acquired but no doubt they'll surface here sooner or later.  In the meantime here are a few gratuitous pictures of plastic toy soldiers to remind those those who were there on the day and to drool over for those who were not. 

Typical of the rummage boxes to be found at the show.

A nice little box with Timpo West Point Cadets, Cavendish C18th Grenadiers, a Kentoys Dan Dare figure, Cherilea Maid Marian, and Nardi Bersaglieri, all in good unbroken condition with original paint.

An assortment of Starlux Sailors and Napoleonics.

Mostly Lone Star figures in this pic with a few Timpo GI's and Bundeswehr in the background. 

Too many early English makers to mention here but includes Speedwell WW2, Sacul bandsmen, and Johilco knights.

More to rummage through!

Mostly modern makers, nicely painted and displayed in a more orderly fashion!

It wasn't all plastic though, this is a Sherman tank hand carved in wood circa 1943/44 by Italian Prisoners of War.  The body is carved from at least two varieties of wood with gun barrels and wheel hubs made from brass rod and rivets, the surprise feature is that the turret and top plate lift off to reveal it's true purpose which is a cigarette box!

The very first Plastic Warrior show was held on 1st June 1985 but it was a very different event from the swapmeet it has become today, it was announced as an Open Day to promote a wider interest in collecting, modelling and wargaming with 54mm plastic toy soldiers.  At that time PW was just a newsletter and had been in existence for less than a year, we called ourselves members because we had become a close knit group of friends but it wasn't actually a club and never has been, it just felt like one.  At the Open Day we only had four people through the door because everyone else involved with the group was already inside displaying their collections and other such activities.

Forty years on and the newsletter has become a magazine while the Open Day has become a Swapmeet which aims to promote and support it.  We are often asked why we don't hold the show more often or let it grow larger?  We have considered both options but the answer is that PW is a hobby for us not a business, holding the show annually keeps it special, like Christmas, while keeping it small maintains our original vision of it being a social event rather than a commercial one.

It wouldn't be the Plastic Warrior show without an element of chaos each year, as befits an unashamedly amateur operation, compounded by the fact that we are now 40 years older with all the infirmities that accompany great age.  With that in mind we would like to thank all the dealers who pitched in to help set up the tables on the morning and especially those stout hearted chaps who helped us to pack them away at the end, without such support the show would not be viable.

Fleamarket finds from the weekend.

 It always seems to be feast or famine at the local car boot sale but last weekend I managed a reasonable haul:

This lot set me back £20, which I thought was very fair, there's nothing rare or special but it's quite a nice mix and they will add to several of my existing projects.

A few more Conte Normans are always welcome, my existing ones have been painted up as they came so I can afford to use some of these ones for conversions.  They are made from a firm rubber which leaves the weapons prone to bending, after straightening by hot water treatment I give the bendy parts a coat of wood glue (which is an industrial strength PVA used by carpenters) to keep them from reverting to their previous shape.

The four Timpo Vikings all need repair so I will have no qualms about basing them for wargaming, the two AWI have been added to a display shelf and I have suitable mounts for all the others.  The Marx reissue of Paul Revere in white is very versatile for conversion to many periods.

REAMSA remoulds from the Willian Tell set, I think the figure of Landburgher Gessler is particularly well sculpted, he looks just like the character played by Willoughby Goddard in the 1950's "Adventures of William Tell" TV series.

The more collectable items: a Franciscan monk and Mousquetaire du Roi made by Starlux, the grenadier drummer made by Cavendish is rarely found in white plastic so is probably an early example. The Cherilea Numidian, Lone Star African Native and Crescent Sheriff of Nottingham on the bottom row are all destined to be converted.

More of the new display

I've been wondering which figures to display on the extra shelves I added to my IKEA display cabinet, this is what I've come up with so far:

Some Polish Lancers, the officer in the centre made in France by JIM, the troopers around him made in Poland by PZG (the Polish Association of the Deaf), beautiful figures destined to remain in the cabinet and not risk the rigours of the wargame table.

The Corsican Ogre himself, made by Cyrnos, the Mamelouk standard bearer made by JIM as are the Carabinier and Hussars behind them. 

The Duke of Marlborough, mounted by Cherilea and on foot made by Tradition, the Grenadiers in the background are repainted Cavendish figures.

A hotchpotch of American Revolution figures, many converted from old Britains swoppets and Helmet kits parts by Denis Donovan and Gareth Lloyd, who have established an enviable reputation for such work.

Toy Soldier Auction at Sheffield Auction Gallery

Time for a post on proper toy soldiers!  Last week a large collection of toy soldiers went up for sale at the Sheffield Auction Gallery, I didn't get along to it myself but I hear from those who did that the bidding was brisk.  Surprise of the show must be the prices achieved for boxes of Airfix figures: 17 assorted boxes of 1/32 made £220 against Estimate (E) £30/50 while 17 assorted boxes of HO/OO made £320 (E) £60/100, That's about £13 a box for 54mm, which seems reasonable and about £19 a box for 20mm, which doesn't, or am I out of touch?

Anyway here are pics of some of the more interesting lots, or at least the ones that I thought were.  As always, click the picture to enlarge, click again it's even bigger, all photos courtesy of Sheffield Auction Gallery:

One of the earlier lots typical of those being offered this one went for £35 (E) £30/50, many similar lots were (E) £20/30 and sold in the range of £30/40.  I'm showcasing this particular lot because it has some interesting Continental figures and I noticed several Malleable Mouldings in there. Most of the other mixed lots of this size were less interesting and generally sold above estimate.

This Marx Big Top Circus made in Swansea reached £28 (E) £20/30, the box is tatty but the tinplate tent was there without any figures.  How much would this have sold for in the USA? No doubt someone will tell us, there isn't the same interest in Marx tinplate in the UK and several other lots went for prices that our American colleagues haven't seen in decades.

This shot has a good view of the Marx Movable Indian with all his accessories, issued about 1967, I remember seeing them in the shops and they have remained a firm favourite ever since. Sold £22 (E) £20/30.

The Barzo Davy Crockett Playset, of recent manufacture in the style of the old Marx playsets it is now out of production and eagerly sought after in the USA. Sold £40 (E) £20/40

An original Marx Cape Canaveral playset, I'm not really interested in anything non military but included this because we didn't get these playsets over here in Europe during the 1950s and 60s so a lot of people won't be familiar with them and this is quite a good example. Sold £70 (E) £50/80

A selection of 17 Carmen figures, solid lead, made in the 1930s/50s by W Y Carman (President of the British Model Soldier Society) for adult collectors, these are a bit knocked about but I love 'em.  Sold £180 (E) £30/50.

A good selection of rareish plastics: an original box of Cavendish "British Regiments 1751" made for the tourist trade along with Henry VIII and his numerous wives, an unpainted SEGOM figure from France, Monarch Highlanders, several pieces from the Charbens Francis Drake set, 2 from the Gemodels Humpty Dumpty set and various Cherilea/Crescent oddments. Overall a great lot. Sold £120 (E) £60/80

A complete set of the Benbros hollowcast Robin Hood set, nothing special about it but it's a good pic of a very nice set.  I have them in plastic....what's that you say...but Benbros never made them in plastic! True they didn't but Giles Brown of Dorset Soldiers acquired the original moulds and cast a few sets when he was experimenting with plastics. Sold £110 (E) £25/40 (I did say it was a nice set!)

A nice pic of the box art for the Cherilea Medieval Castle, notice the strange squared off triangle shape of the Keep, I could never figure out why they did that? Also the Cherilea Toys logo, the late version after the company had been taken over by Sharna Ware and the gawky Hong Kong knockoffs of Timpo swoppet knights. The castle was made to go with their 65mm knights so why didn't they use them in the picture? Sold £28 (E) £20/40

There's nothing special about the Kleeware castle, it turns up all the time and was reissued by Timpo at one point but again it's a nice pic of the original box art. Sold £25 (E) £25/40

Britains hollowcast Territorial Army, these five unremarkable figures sold for £440 (E) £20/40 so they must have something going for them!

Two figures of Charles II by Courtney, again they aren't really toy soldiers, having been made for the adult collectors market, but they do have a certain vintage and you don't see them very often so it's nice to be able to showcase such a good shot. Sold £80 (E) £20/40

More Courtney's, this time 2 x Elizabeth I together with Henry VIII and three of those unfortunate spouses, Sir Francis Drake resplendent in white, someone bowing that I can't make out and one other by Vertunni. Sold £160 (E) £80/100

Finally a group of 5 figures based on the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II by Graham Farish, the sixth figure on the extreme right (which has been misdescribed in the catalogue) is Marie de la Queillerie made by SAE (Swedish African Engineers) and was given given away free with petrol in South Africa

There was lots of other good stuff, not least of which was a Lone Star Dick Turpin which sold for a respectable £75 (E) £20/40 and you can view more of them here Sheffield Auction Gallery I don't know how long they keep these results up for so take a look soon if you're interested.  Having worked in the auction industry I can tell you that on average a general art sale will expect to get a sell through rate of about 50%, specialist sales like this tend to get a much better hit rate, looking through the results I could only find three lots that didn't sell out of 320 in the toy soldier section, that's over 99%.  A stonking good result and food for thought for all those Jonah's out there who delight in telling us that the hobby is dying.