Looking Back at the Year 2017 Looking Ahead we had an interesting time in the past year. New items came fast and furious including the last days of the past year. Shows are still viable aspect of the hobby. They are running into major problems. This year saw the closing of the Marx Museum in West Virginia.
Looking Back at the Year 2017 Looking Ahead New Figures
The year 2018 saw a large issue of new figures. Most of the new figures were Russia, Eastern Europe and Singapore. The United States saw only new figures from LOD Enterprises and Paragon. Other U.S. companies did not produced anything new. In the new year LOD and Paragon will have new figures. Paragon is planning to release Sioux Indians. LOD Enterprises will be doing Revolutionary War figures. These figures will be used in conjunction with Barzso Collectibles in a playset. Speculation that is will be based around Yorktown. Lod Enterprises will also be doing Santa and eleves.
One of the biggest concerns for collectors has been the price of figures. Many of the new figures are selling for $7.00 or more each. This is forcing to decide if they are willing to invest in the new figures. 2018 will not see the prices decrease.
Looking Back at the Year 2017 Looking Ahead Shows
In 2017 the shows continued as one of the sources to find items for your collection. Yet the shows are finding that if they do not advertise their attendance is dropping. The days of just of using word of mouth to advertise does not work. Dealers have to have items collectors are looking for. Another problem which is not only in our hobby is our aging population and no replacements. This year will see a continuation of this trend.
Looking Back at the Year 2017 Looking Ahead Final Thoughts
Looking ahead, I am sure we will see a lot more new figures. I wonder if Chintoys will continue with their Civil War figures or move to something else. Stadsstuff will continue as we have continue to be the premier site for information. Facebook is showing some interesting sites that people are sharing their interests. I will do a post on that and Ebay which has been less fun this year. So sit back and I wish you that 2018 is good for you.
I see future of hobby relay more in short run production x those wishing continued.
Mexican commissioned arabs , FFL sets were nice addition too.
LOD is doing a very strong effort and I wish then best.
Hope Barzso renew their sets soon.
EXF will increase prices eventually.
Russian and easter former Soviets territories makers using short run are a great add but very costly and till now most covering easter europe thematic .
Chinese figures production from BB, red cat, hing fat and DGN should be mentioned as part of last years addition I think too.
Best
Paul: You nailed it concerning shows. No one is behind us is one of the reasons. Another reason is History is not taught in schools the way it used to. I read somewhere that only fourteen percent of universities teach History, so the younger generation has no interest in History, which is dangerous. Another major problem is the lack of vendors who actually help show promoters in getting the word out and help in promoting shows, which is a problem not only for toy soldier shows, but for all traditional hobby shows. There are many more factors that we haven’t touched upon and are open for discussion. Happy New Year, Let’s make 2018 a great toy soldier year.
Bill, I have to question the “fact” you offer that “only fourteen percent of universities teach History”.
This sounds like one of many “factoids” that get garbled, then circulated as urban legends, and then get held up by the credulous as an example of “America’s decline”.
I assure you that if you pick any university at random, and then check to see whether they have a History Department which “teaches history”, you will find they all do, probably close to the 100% range.
I suspect what you encountered was someone’s oversimplification, a few years back, of a study which indicated that of approximately 70 “elite” universities, only 20 – 25 required a mandatory course in American History for those who “majored in history”.
Something like this would be quite understandable, for those who actually are “history majors”, since any “history major” can choose from a wide field of varying world emphasis, including such things as “modern European history”, “Nineteenth Century European History”, “Middle Age European History”, “Asian History”, and so on and so on, etc., etc., etc.
Further, although American History classes are not necessarily required of every history major, most history major students end up taking them anyway, since they are abundantly offered in every single imaginable period in American history. Look through a course catalog of any U.S. college or university, under “history courses”, and you will see what I mean.
I myself, as a history major at Brigham Young University 40 years ago, was not “required” to take a single American History course, mainly because I had satisfied that basic requirement through a high school advanced placement American History course, for which I received college credit, before I even set foot on campujs. But I nevertheless voluntarily chose to take numerous other upper division courses in American History, before going on to law school, a favorite destination for many history majors.
And as a “history major”, I wasn’t required to take a math course either, but that didn’t mean my alma mater didn’t “teach math”. It most assuredly did, and I voluntarily took classes in that subject.
Your idea (“that you read somewhere”) that only 14% of universites “teach history” is simply false.
Again, pick out any U.S. university you wish, private or public, in any state including the District of Columbia, and check to see whether it has a History Department, which “teaches history”. I think you will find they all do.
And don’t get me started on whether they teach “real” history these days. They do. And the teaching of American history is more objective, balanced, and accurate today than it has ever been.
For 2018,I would really like to see a major player produce Conte-like(or Barzo like)
WW1 AEF vs.the Bosch.AIP in 1/32 has been the only player here.Some nice
sculpted figures in 1/35 have been done however.
I do understand the complexities of plastic molds(and $$$)but in tribute to
our 5+ months of brutal combat in 1918,perhaps a TSSD,CTS,Barzo,any Russian
make or ..Conte pulls a Phoenix and dives in here.Perhaps a $5/pc. here if well
sculpted/posed is within the realm of possibility.
I rue the demise of Austin Miniatures..nicely done..ill received. OWN figures
are also missed.
Here’s to a New Year and ??????
This year will be the 100th Anniversary of the US involvement in WW1 so maybe you will get lucky and someone will do something to commemorate the event.
Is it correct that Austin Miniatures has had a “demise”? Does this mean it’s gone out of business? Isn’t producting anything else? Aren’t ever going to see the WWII Japanese figures? Or is Austin Miniatures still in the process of preparing their next release, but it isn’t going to be real soon?
austin minatures are out of business? that’s sad i will forever be waiting for those Japanese poses you see on google when you google them to go along with their marines
im not a ww1 guy but i can convert i used to not be a civil war guy and here i am 7 or so tssd sets later and its my 3rd favorite period to collect just behind dark ages and ww2
I would say that if MARS does their WW2 sets like their Vietnam sets, we will see 2 or 3 more sets of German troops. (Maybe some German Paras.) I am sure we will see some sets of U.S. Troops and maybe some British as well. I would hope that we will get to see the CTS Korean War Winter Marines plus the ROK’s and hopefully Pork Chop Hill type G.I.’s as well as weapons teams for all sides. Would love to see X-Force do their WW2 Japanese and Marines.
BOBBYGMOORE
I saw on another forum that Exforce plan on doing their WW2 pacific campaign sets during 2018. I don’t know how accurate the report is, so we will just have to wait and see what turns up.
you’re getting my hopes up lol i know allot of people are sick of ww2 but to me it is the defining time period for this scale besides Napoleonic which i happen to not collect heavily i want to see some Italian paras and i honestly can’t ever have too many Germans conte and tssd are the best companies for ww2 i have every single one of their sets for ww2 i understand though if someone would do more civil war sets i could wait for a ww2 quite a few years though civil war is in dire need for attention imo i know i previously mentioned ww2 is my favorite time period but honestly its really hard to pick i strictly like my civil war, ww2 and dark age figures equally if there is a set in those 3 time periods i buy them up quickly
one last thing to mention i want to see some cold war figures if anyone knows what esci 1/72 figures are you will perhaps recall they put out a Warsaw pact figure set i would love to see in 1/32 i really would love to see some french indo china paratroops circa 1950’s aswell if they don’t ever get made i would probably find a way to crowdfund a set or make them myself i didn’t mention i liked coldwar/modern figures because its very broad i thought my ww2 would do it justice but i thought i would specify just in case
ESCI did 4 Cold War sets of soft plastic figures copies of the 1/72 in 1/35, (The figures are actually more in 1/32 scale.). They did Soviet Special Forces, Warsaw pact, U.S. Paras, and Nato troops. You can find them on E-bay at times.
BOBBYGMOORE
That would be cool.
BOBBYGMOORE
I agree .ESCI sets are nicer well done sculpture well distrubuted poses sets.
ESCI Nato and Warsaw pacts sets are more 1/35.the ESCI WW 2 Germans and US paras are 1/32.
The Soviets WW2 were made in 1/35 too. MOLDS end in south America. ITALERI owner try hard till now recover then but not news of outcome as far I had red.
One Esci artist worked x ITALERI.
Many ESCI HO sets did end in ITALERI after change hands over many time.
There more to talk about…
Best
i just feel like we don’t get enough soviets in this hobby we see so many Germans but some how manage to skimp on Russians i don’t know about you baby boomber types but for me being a millennial the cold war was still my number one go to battle as a kid Rambo and Arnold Schwarzenegger played a huge impact on how my battle were fought also i have never saw any army men with the ak47 are you kidding me? its literally THE BAD GUY GUN every single person knows this i cannot forgive for such a misfire it baffles me on the highest level how nobody ever managed to actually pull off a soviet army guy set you would of thought tim mee or marx or virtually anyone would of cashed in on this like yes airfix did do one set and so have mars but im not a fan of either for one reason or another i want a good commie set its already bad enough finding enemy for my vietnam era tim mees
Airfix did several sets of Modern Infantry (NATO period) also most of the UK manufacturers made post WW2 Cold War infantry in the style of Britains khaki infantry, they are very cheap and easy to find. Warsaw pact infantry were made in Poland and are becoming increasingly available although very sought after. JIM of France made figures for the French involvement in Vietnam but these are harder to find. It’s all out there you just have to keep looking, that’s the fun of it.
You might find this blog intereting:
http://megablitzandmore.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Little%20Cold%20Wars
Some of the Airfix modern troops were strangely under scaled, more like 1/35. Did anyone else notice that?
to TDbarnecut yes i agree that’s why i said what i said i did buy the Russians and they were undersized i literally bought them for my tim mee gi’s and they were smaller then i expected im wanting tssd or lod or paragon anybody to do a soviet warsaw pact russian in winter clothes look i think it would be great
Yes same in the World War II German paratroops set and gurkas ; it looks like airfix never have a consistency scales
Remember the Alamo, no matter how many Alamo guys they make, we can always use more. As long as I’m at it, I think more cavalry and plains Indians can be done too.
Alamo imo fits very close to wild west and civil war so its acceptable ik barszo did a set of Mexican american war infantry and they look beautiful painted i just cannot pay money for brittle figures without kind of cringing at 20 bucks a bag i want to know they will not break i felt them at the Chicago show and overall thought they were beautiful i just can’t bring myself to buy a bag cause of how particular i am in the right plastic unfortunately conte did a good set i love barszos time periods though i saw the aztecs and decided eventually i will buy a bag just kind of hoping lod buys more sets and casts them in hdpe that right there would get me involved i agree with your Calvary comment i don’t think we have ever seen a 1/32 strictly confederate Calvary set and i have nobody to fight my tssd union calvary and im no expert but to me the tssd calv is jsut too union looking for me to want to buy them in grey im hoping for a quantrills raiders set from a big name like lod i saw lods working on revolutionary figures and im not a big fan but could always find a new subject and don’t really mind i just have a preference or else if not that then maybe some texan calvary i find the texas calv to have some serious style about them i love the texan star and think it looks great
Some of the early Barszo adverts stated “Throw ’em against a wall” and the claim was that they were more or less unbreakable. So the resin being used was not supposed to be brittle….
Can some of you guys comment on your experiences with brittleness in Barszo figures you’ve owned?
Thanks
I can, having purchased every playset Ron Barzso has released. The only breakage issue Ron ever had was with the very first edition of the first playset he issued — Rogers Rangers/Northwest Passage, back in approx. 1990(?) He quickly changed his resin formula for the second run of that set, and has had no breakage problem since, either with his resin figures or his soft plastic figures.
In my experience and of does I had met or known they resin Barzso figures of any year production(As i own most sets) does brake ,specially weapons and fine parts easy if dropped or pack with not careful.Twice at shows i had sen bags with then broke inside .When i bough sets and storage in not room temperatures for few years the body part does get small line crystallizing cracks in it in many figures ,specially when exposed to long winter periods in storage areas with out insulation.
on shipping easy they get broken in many times ,either coming to me or when i had ship out not matter what protection unless you wrap then individual .The same damage effect that happen to the Publius russian made figures happen to then.Now about sets where it happen are all indians,rangers,some pirates,aztecs made by them and in the weapons such muskets,axe,swords,spears else ,some even in hands.Several others collectors had mention same exat issues in blogs and over email direct to me as well.
In person ;at show NJ Stengels Jr admit that he has some damage as well when ordered x resale or transporting in way much more than any other set pack in bags made of regular plastic.
I will not mention the mold issue in figures coming with legs too skinny deformed or faces not finish plus bubble holes effect .The sculpt and poses are awesome.The material resin and molds issues were never fixed in any resin production.
My thoughts.
best
I’ve been a collector of Barzso’s figures and sets since I first heard of them; sadly, I missed the first few sets LOM and BNO because I didn’t know about them. However, I’ve managed to scrape up most of his figure sets and for several years his latest playset was my big Christmas present, starting with the Cherubusco set. I think the pic of my wife and I opening up his Dan’l Boone at Christmas may still be on his site.
I only state this to establish my scope of experience with the figures remembering that we each are sharing our own valid experiences and let the reader judge. I started out knowing and being warned that resin figures tend to be more fragile than the plastics we were used to. Knowing that I tried to take good care of them.
The only real problems I’ve ever encountered with Barzso’s figures to my recollection have been when I’ve bought used figures through ebay or some other source – usually with smaller pieces such as the tomahawk on a Roger’s Ranger figure. I did notice the running figure in the BNO militia was kind of fragile on his supporting leg – hence, I guess the plastic prop. I do not recommend removing it, no matter how awkward it appears.
Overall, my Barzso resin figures have held up rather well and I, personally have encountered no big malformations in molding that I’ve heard others speak of – however, from my own limited experience with resin and polymers I know that is possible.
Now in comparison with other plastics? No, they are not as durable as some of my sixty (60? !!!) year-old Marx and MPC plastic figures; but they have held up better than some of the figures made in stiffer plastic – allegedly more paintable and bendable – that came broken out of the bag.
Speaking of which – how many of us “boomers” had at least a couple of one-armed Marx Germans whose weapons-bearing appendage broke off? I saw a lot of them and still have a few in the box. Great casualties.
Or the Confederate officer waving his empty fist in the air (try not to notice the sword hilt in his hand); or the Confederate flagbearer without a flag? MPC machinegunners without bipods?
I guess it’s a always been a crap shoot. I may have mentioned already how about thirty years ago I bought several boxes of ESCI 1/72 Zulu figures, went through all the trouble of painting them, just to have them break apart within a few years. Totally ended me with collecting that war.
Input from fellow collectors – sadly. some who’ve been burned – can be of invaluable help in keeping the rest of us from being burned by poor quality materials.
My Barzso figures have held up pretty well; Erwin reports bad experiences I personally think it’s a chance worth taking at the price (compared with other options) – but I really recommend if you do go with Barzso looking for potential problem areas such as tiny tomahawk handles, weak ankle or arm joints, etc.
Well, this is great for Mr. Barnecut, who, when asking for info, gets two contradictory reports — one that says the figures are all fine, with no breakage issues, and the other that says the opposite.
My own experience is the resin figures are quite sturdy, with no broken tips.
I guess you’re just going to have to wait for a third report, from someone else. Or just go ahead, risk twenty plus dollars, and buy a random bag.
At the Chicago Show, Ron is always a big participating dealer, and his stuff usually sells like hotcakes.
I will only add that I personally like his soft plastic injection molded figures (like his Robin Hood and American Revolution playsets) much better than his resin production. I know he’s sticking with injection molded for his upcoming Yorktown Playset.
And incidently, Ron’s partner this year (Ken Ciak of LOD) confirms without hesitation that Yorktown is indeed the theme for the upcoming joint project — with a nice big redoubt as the centerpiece.
You have to be careful with Barzso resin figures, especially the weapons. Some of the weapons are very thin, like for instance the Marine clubbing with pistol of the Tripoli Marines. I had them sitting in a bag in my closet and although the pistol was intact when I put it in the bag, when I looked at them years later some deterioration must have taken place as they were no longer attached. They wete stored in the Barzso bags inside a plastic bag and not touched for years, I didn’t move the bag. Magua and Davey Crockett are very hard to find intact. Never try to straighten a weapon outside of using the hot water treatment. I don’t know if I would charecterize them as brittle, but rather fragile. I mean even the weapon has broken off, I make a pin hole in them and attached a new weapon with no problem, with brittle figures like some Marx 54mm pioneers and some Civil War they shatter when I insert a pin.
Thanks all for the input, I think the Ciak /Barzso collaboration is a great development. Ron’s imaginative and talented creations moving forward in soft plastic is certainly worth looking forward to.
My wishlist would include some reasonably priced early medieval figures, like the A Call to Arms 1/32 Norman infantry that came out a few years ago. I’d also like to see some of the made in China stuff that seems more prevalent overseas more readily available in US stores. Here’s also hoping for more tub sets like the Lanard Corps Elite and Blue Box buckets, with my fingers especially crossed for the Blue Box fantasy warrior set that was never released.
that’s exactly what i mean’t also what ever happened to affordability in this hobby? im only willing to pay 30 dollars at this point or else i would recommend publius the only set i got i’m super pleased with is their Saxon set everything else is way too overpriced i love the plastic but at 10 dollars a figure i start to reexamine my gullibility and self value and also i got history with publius i have received broken figures and that ruined my trust or else i would honestly nod them off i only offer good advice and not to beat anyone down i just personally can’t endorse that price its a self worth question not a ad hominem attack i say 3o dollars and 2 of each pose is the minimal i’m willing to go but that’s cause i was and still am somewhat devoted to tssd even though their later sets are not nearly as good as their first i admit it they have their hiccups but the price is right and you get a great sculpt the worst set i ever received from tssd was that second Calvary set they did with the plug in arms i hated how thin the barrels were other then that that’s thier worst sin and slightly forgivable because of how good their first sets were its worries me sometimes cause i hear the guy who runs tssd is sick and i really want him to continue making sets i hope he is able to keep doing what he loves for a few years more cause i really need him to make a African corps set cause his ww2 and civil war is top dog its a pipe dream but also i bet he would make a wicked normans/saxons/viking anything set
also one last thing just for fun but has anyone for even a moment considered the fiction of Robert E. Howard if i ever was to pay money to have a set made it would absolutely have to be Conan the barbarian im a HUGE fan of sword and sorcery even more 1/32 scale mythical sets would be highly anticipated by me if nobody ever makes a sci fi set i’m going to do dune as well cause dune is also something i enjoy also hp Lovecraft has a story about a cult of fish people and at one point the us military busts down their door and mows them down in ww1 attire i would buy the heck out of that
Technolog of Russia make ranges of Conan style figures and lots of other Sci Fi types, you can get them easily and cheaply on ebay.
too bad the barbarians set is only made in hard plastic from what I’ve collected
Some of the older sets are being run in soft plastic now. Search “Tehnolog soft” on ebay. I forget the name of the seller and I can’t get to eBay at work, but I have bought Tehnolog Conan type barbarians in soft plastic recently.
Henry, you should check out the Fantasy Toy Soldier blog as well if you like Sword & Sorcery. They have a lot of pictures of really nice fantasy sets there.
yeah i often look at that blog i like cheap figures those skellies the did a run of at Walgreen was fantastic too bad i missed them anyways i’ll find em for a dollar 2 in the summer at a yard sale i bet
i love the empathize of cheap on that guys blog cause those are my favorite too i miss the days of affordable army men fresh out the bag
For 2018 I would like to see TSSD and the owner of Timmee partner and make a plastic 1/32 Vietnam Huey, 1/32 M48A3 Tank or PBR. Or at least one of them. It would compliment each of their lines and would save costs in production.
I also agree with more Cold War. Maybe someone can upscale to 56mm the 1/35 Airfix modern Russians, Brits and West Germans. Likewise the Esci NATO and Warsaw Pact. Also if someone could reproduce the original 8 poses of the Britain’s Modern Paratroops.
Would also like to see Indo-China French Paratroops as well as Algerian War French. Perhaps the owner of Plastic Platoon would have an interest in the Bien Dien Phu era French Para’s?
I also like the Dark Ages and would like to see Picts, Irish, Franks, and Prince Vaiient.Scots of the early 1700’s could serve 3 uses – Culloden, Rob Roy, and FIW.
For Civil War Union Naval gunners and landing party.