Assorted Ancients now on display.

 Following on from the previous post, here are closeups of the second new shelf.  The shelves are inside a pine wardrobe built into a chimney alcove, long since unfit for purpose but I'm averse to ripping out period features so it now houses toy soldiers and the original doors provide some protection from the dust.

In the background are a group of  Neanderthals made in France by Starlux.  

In front of them are hoplites made in Greece by PAL and later versions made by Athena (Aohna), the easiest way to tell them apart is the earlier PAL figures have a flat square base with no markings underneath while the Athena ones have a sculptured base marked Aohna underneath, the PAL versions also have metal pins attaching their arms.  

In the left foreground are Greeks/Romans made in Italy by Tibidabo (green bases) and to their right are two made in France by Clairet (tan bases)

In the centre, various Roman signifiers by Atlantic, REAMSA, Marx and Elastolin, in front of them are three large rubber figures made in Italy by Xiloplasto.

The large colourful figure in the sentre is one of the Louis Marx Ancient Chinese Warriors.  The large blue Romans beside him are reissues made in Spain by Oliver. 

The two Samurai at rear left were made in Poland by PZG (the Polish Association of the Deaf), in front of them are Ancient Egyptians made in Spain by Jecsan, with more Samurai to the forefront, these ones made in Italy by Res Plastics for Kinder eggs.

A better view of the Res Plastics Samurai, I started picking these up with the intention of creating a wargames army with them but the fiddly parts and loose weapons made them impractical for this, so they are now consigned to the shelf and my Samurai armies are now made up from Technolog, Furuta, gashapon and various kit figures.

In the centre the unpainted Roman and Tribune in red cloak were sculpted by Peter Evans and cast in Resin by Peter Cole (before he set up his company Replicants to make figures in plastic), the idea was that they would make additional poses to go with the Louis Marx Ben Hur playset which had just been reissued from the original moulds by a company in Mexico.  

To their right are two coffee premiums made in Belgium by Cafe Storme.

The four Carolingians marching in the foreground are 45mm solid lead figures made in Germany by Heyde.

The large mounted Roman on the left was originally made France in hollowcast lead by JSF (Jouets Standard Francais), this is a plastic version made form the original mould.  On th right next to him is another mounted Roman, made in Hong Kong it is a copy of a Crescent foot figure on a copy of a Herald horse.

This is the set of four made by Res Plastics for Kinder eggs, they are often described as being Samurai but I am advised (by someone to knows vastly more than I do about ancient armour) that they are in fact Ancient Chinese (they still look like Samurai to me, what do you think?)

Die Zinnlaube - German toy soldier magazine

The last month has seen quite a flurry of activity in the world of toy soldier magazines, it kicked off with Plastic Warrior, which came through at the start of December, see the blog links bar to the right for details.  Followed on Christmas eve by Die Zinnlaube, this German magazine is only issued roughly once a year and isn't widely known so I like to give it a bit of a plug.  The toys covered tend to be early, predominantly German made, flats, solid lead and composition figures, so it aims very much at the top end (read expensive) of the collectors market.  Still it's nice to see lots of unusual toy soldiers that rarely get an airing elsewhere.

The front and back covers (above and below) show carved wooden figures by the French firm Giroux, I do like the "rocking horse" pose of the mounted Cossack.  

Articles include: Editorial, Obituary - Roland Umhey, Italian Composition Figures, Giroux Soldiers, Advertising figures from the George Spenkuch foundry, Diorama with Heyde figures celebrating the 250th anniversary of the explorer Alexander von Humboldt, the "Saxon artillery kettledrum carriage" made by Heyde, the French conquest of Algeria made by J E du Bois of Hanover, Paris World Exhibition set by Krause, figures from the collection of Peter Hofmann, interview with Danish collector Mogens Hvid, Austrian General Staff of 1859 in flats, homecasting moulds made made in France by Scad, figure identification page and Heyde 75mm personality figures, 

The text is now just in German and English (French has been dropped) which covers 90% of the readership, and anyway it's worth getting just for the pictures.  Cost is 20 Euro (including post to UK) by Paypal and as it only comes out once a year I feel it is worth giving yourself a treat at Christmas.  It's a high quality publication, runs to 96 pages in full colour and it's available from Freunde alter Spielfiguren

Three new books on Toy Soldiers.

We have an old saying in London, "you wait ages for a bus then three come along together" and this used to be the case until the introduction of GPS Vehicle Management Systems and Bus Lanes but the saying has been retained as a euphemism for a period of scarcity followed by plenty.  Thus it has been recently with regard to books on toy soldiers, nothing for ages and then three land in my lap together.

The title translates as "Small Handbook for the Identification of German Lead Toy Soldiers" it appears to be self published by Dr. Hanns Roth as there is no publishers name or ISBN number quoted, Dr Roth has included his email address (which I won't post on the Internet but will happily pass to collectors who email me) so you could contact him direct to buy the book, my copy cost £30.  Soft cover, it has 99 pages and is illustrated in full colour throughout. 

The problem with German 40/45mm semi flat and fully round figures is that they never carry the makers name on the base and the sculpting style varies very little from one company to another.  This book does exactly what it says on the cover, it points out the subtle differences that distinguish between the the figures of Haffner, Heyde, Heinrich, Norris, Spenkuch, Krause and various other smaller manufacturers.  The text is in German but there is little of it so it's easy enough to follow with the help of Google translate and it is overflowing with illustrations, which makes it my kind of book and a long overdue addition to the wealth of toy soldier knowledge.

Die Zinnlaube, translates as The Tin Arbour (summerhouse?) and is more of an almanac than a book, it is set out in the form of individual articles on various types of old toy soldiers and I understand that it is to become an annual publication.   Produced by the German society "Friends of Old Toy Soldiers" it is edited by Dr. Ignacio Czeguhn, again there is no ISBN number and contact details available from me on request, my copy cost £20.  Soft cover, it has 85 pages and is illustrated in full colour throughout.

Articles include, figures of "Der Alte Fritz", The Huns, two smaller manufacturers of Flats - Seidel and Zufall, Anni Schweizer nativity figures 1926,  Theodor Salomon - manufacturer of 30mm solids in the 1930's, Charles Dickens' charachter figures, Abd el Kader and the Spanish Moroccan War, Interview with Dr. Hans-Henning Roer, Collectors favorite figures, book review and a photo roundup of the club Freunde Alter Spielfiguren.  Main text is in German but each article also has a precis in English and French, as you can see it's quite a good quality publication.

Tinasotilas, Tin Soldiers.  Written by Yrjo (George) Larmola, published by Gummurus Publishing Ltd. ISBN number 978-951-796-529-3, my copy cost £20

Covers the history of toy soldiers, playing with them, uniforms and then the author takes us through a potted history of the world (from a European viewpoint) illustrated by the figures from his own collection.  A novel approach but nothing new or interesting from a toy soldier perspective most of the figures illustrated are Schneider homecasts or modern white metal models, and there is no mention of SIRO the only Finnish toy figure manufacturer I know of.  The text is in Finnish so this book is only really worth getting if you speak Finn, collect books about toy soldiers or are a complete toy soldier nut.  I plead guilt on two of these charges.