Figuren Magazine

 A few days ago the latest issue of Figuren Magazine landed on the mat:

Articles include:  The Freidberg figure show in October 2021.  75 Years of Faller model buildings.  From Farm encampment to Wagon fort - late medieval diorama project in 4cm.  The unique defence technology of Castle Gaillard - more medieval diorama building 1:25 scale.  Boudicca the Heroine by Cherilea.  Krupp-Protze trucks as toys.  14cm American GI by Lineol from 1930.  Karl May Film Figures.  Chingachgook Western figures made in Ukraine by ElastoWit.  Mongolian Yak rider by Miniforma.  Tipple Topple Zoo.  Composition apes by Nardi of Italy.  William Tell by REAMSA and others.  Childhood Dreams - an Exhibition of knights and castles in Nuremberg

Eurofigurines, Figuren and Zinnlaube

 In the past few weeks these three magazines have arrived through the post, here are some more details:

I was particularly pleased with this issue as it opens with an article on TRIUMF a Belgian manufacturer of composition figures which I'd never heard of but they are the same figures as we had in England made by TAG, which I covered back in February HERE  The really useful thing is that this article includes a catalogue listing of all the figures they produced.

Other articles cover; Regiments of Saint Cyriens, 

Curiosities finds and photos, 

Washingtons Regiment by Elastolin, 

Elastolin water carriers, 

The Emperor and his Old Guard, 

Knights of the middle ages in aluminium by Krolyn of Denmark, 

Fox hunting figure sets, 

Pirates by Starlux and Cyrnos, 

Greek Hoplites by First Legion, 

Toy soldiers made in conjoint tin (part 4), 

Palmer (USA) Astronauts, 

and finally Arctic Explorers.

Opens with a report on the 2019 Nuremburg Toy Trade Fair, which seems to have a lot more of interest to toy soldier collectors and modellers than the London Toy Trade Fair does these days.  

It continues with; Italian Askaris of the Abyssinian War in composition, 

Wooden cut out figures of the German army made in 1930's in Czechoslovakia by Bata, 

Personality figures of the Czech President T G Masaryk, 

The composition figures of Durso (Belgian), 

The Three Musketeers, 

Wundertute (Lucky Bags) Landsknechts from Heinerle, 

Atlantic Longhorn cattle in 1:32, 

Lineol Zoo rarities, 

Timpo catalogues 1968 to 1979, 

Bricklayer made by Lisanto, 

The Siege of La Rochelle diorama, 

Latest Preiser catalogue, 

Timpo Toys Special Issue No. 3

This was previously the newsletter of the collectors group FAS "Freunde Alter Spielfiguren" but it has now become and independent journal, I don't know the reasons for the change of editorial team but wish them well.  Text is in German and English, and it's published roughly once a year, the theme for this issue is the 150th anniversary of the Franco Prussian War, articles include; 

Glasenapp's volunteer hussars at the Battle of Rotha 1762, 

Cinderella in tin and lead, 

Vignettes for the Death of General von Craushaar 1870, 

the search of Jager Tromm - Prussian Jagers in tin and lead, 

Civilian figure sets by Spenkuch, 

Prussian Staff before Paris 1870 by Haselbach/Rieche, 

British observation balloons in the Boer War, 

the Stewart Collection of toy soldiers at the Frazier History Museum in Kentucky

So all in all a lot of very varied articles to get through. 

Subscription details for all these magazines are on their websites so just give them a quick Google rather than have me bore you with the same old information time after time.

Figuren Magazine

To complete the line up of toy soldier publications, Figuren Magazine popped through the letter box last week.  This magazine has been published since 1973 (originally under the name "Der Lineol Soldat) which I guess makes it the longest running publication for toy soldier collectors.  In the early days the coverage was predominantly German composition toy soldiers but over the last ten years or so a younger generation of contributors has broadened the scope.

Above, Sitting Bull graces the cover of the latest edition, the two page spread below give an idea of the layout and format of the magazine, in this case it's a report on the collectors show at Friedburg by Andreas Dittmann.  Other articles look at composition Ethiopian cavalry from the Italo-Abyssinian war of 1936 by seven different manufacturers, 1930's wooden cut-out soldiers, paper cut-out Wild West figures from the 1890's to 1950's and an offering of seasonal Nativity figures.  There are three different articles showing exquisitely made large dioramas, which are a very popular feature of the German collecting scene.  Several other show reports also include 7cm resin figures, made in the style of the old Elastolin plastic production, these high quality figures are a popular new stream of collecting in Germany but don't seem to have taken off anywhere else.

The text is all in German and some of the articles can be quite lengthy so it's a stretch if you don't know the language (although toy soldiers seem to have their own universal vocabulary), 50 pages in full colour.  There are four issues a year and cost with postage is 30/39 Euro depending on where you live.  For more details and to subscribe see their website: Figuren Magazin.

I know that many people who occasionally look in at this blog have also been active participants on the Collectors and Wargamers forums provided by Yahoo Groups.  For reasons which I don't entirely understand, Yahoo has decided to effectively close down the Groups and delete all existing content.  In fairness I think the Groups have been in decline in recent years since the emergence of  blogging, which seems to have become prominent on the web, but it is still a great loss of information and opportunity to comment.  I guess the same thing could happen to Blogger one day, all the information that people have contributed over the years just lost at the swipe of an executive decision somewhere far away, and that's why we need to support magazines like this and all the others that provide a permanent record of our hobby.  Makes you think doesn't it?

Figuren Magazin

The latest issue of Figuren Magazin hit the mat this weekend, it's the final issue for 2015 and I guess it got caught up with the Christmas post, nonetheless it's a very nice start to the new year.

Contents include:

Report on the 2015 International Toy Soldier Show at Bad Nauheim (I keep promising myself I'll try to get over to this show again each year)

The Berlin Humboldthain Flak Bunker - modelled in 1:24 scale

Review of CTS new plastic North Koreans

Composition Czech flag bearers made in the 1930's by a firm called Oexle (which are new to me)

Richard the Lionheart - character figures by Starlux from the French ORTF TV series

Three comic book heroes from Spain - Prinz Eisenherz etc.

"Every Sunday the Colts smoked" - a look at the Wild West figures spawned by all those cowboy series on TV in the 1960's

The Western Train made by Hausser (Elastolin) - it's origins (the prototype)

The Arabs by Timpo - more plastic colour variations

Reports on the Toy Soldier Shows in Herne, Neustadt, Altenburg, Wohlen and Hamburg

"Toy Soldiers in the Great War" an exhibition at the Museum Porte de Halle in Brussels - there's a PDF version of the booklet accompanying the exhibition which may be of some interest HERE

Book Review - Encyclopedia of the German Tinplate Toy Industry

A sample page of the Bad Nauheim show report, lots of pics and not much text, that's just how I like to see reviews.

Printed in German throughout, but easy to follow with lots of images.  A few too many show reports in this issue for my liking but hey, it's just as well to get them out of the way in one go.  In recent years there have been a lot of small firms setting up in Germany making 7cm figures in the style of the old composition but  made in resin and they only seem to show their wares at the German shows.   

A subscription of 4 issues costs 33 Euro to Europe or 39 Euro to Rest of World. More details here: Figuren Magazin

Latest Plastic Warrior and Figuren Magazines out now

The postman recently brought me the latest issues of Plastic Warrior and figuren magazines.

Plastic Warror issue number 147 has articles on: Marx Guardsmen, Cherilea Diddy Men, Expeditionary Force - a new manufacturer of 40mm dark ages plastic figures for wargaming, Cherilea Commandos, Canadian Timpo boxes, Elastolin copies, Herald ballet dancers, Readers letters and adverts, New product review, Horses and horsepower, Test shots, Stad's Stuff and poplar Plastics update.

There's a lot in there and it's all in colour now, also you can now subscribe thrugh Paypal.  The Plastic Warrior show will be on 5th May, more details in my next post.

Figuren Magazin issue number 1/2012 has articles on: Military inflatable boats, Elastolin tinplate machine gun, Marklin artilery and limber, Kampfpanzerwagen V111 Maus, Lisanto - King Michael of Rumania, Franz Seitz and Helmut Ruckert - sculptors for Froha and Leyla, Roskopf Historic Miniature Models, Exploding tinplate panzerauto (armoured car), Zinc cast vehicles, Searching for early native American toys, Emil Pfeiffer's succesor: Tipple Topple, Unknown papiermache zoo animals, True and false Lineol rabbits, Medieval dioramas with Elastolin figures, Review of DSG Romans and Vikings, Barzo pirate figure, Book reviews: Durso book 1 and 2, Marklin Military Toys 1895 - 1939.

The text is in German but nothing that Google translate can't handle and it's worth subscribing just for the pictures.

Latest Plastic Warrior and Figuren Magazines now out

In the last few days the postman has brought me the latest issues of Plastic Warrior and Figuren Magazines. 

Plastic Warrior number 146 has articles on: The Crescent story, Very early plastic warriors, Where did the toy soldier go?, Book Review, Britains stuff, Wild Young Dirky, UFOs, Auction Review, Cherilea Commandos and Minor Makers - BMS

Figuren Magazin Nr. 4 2011, has articles on: Erich Leistner - Master diorama maker, Bad Nauheim 2011 figure show, A hundred years of Hausser, Pfeiffers 11cm military figures, Gulaschkanone by Metall-Spielwaren Weimar, German made Indian canoes, "Winnetou" boardgame, Modelling book review, Nativity figures and 32nd Herne figure show.

Both magazines are available by subscription direct from the publishers and in my opinion are indispensable if you are a serious collector of old toy soldiers.