East Coast Toy Soldier Show 2018 this has been one of our major shows. This year was bitter sweet. Bill Lango the promoter had passed away earlier in the year. We wondered how the show would be?
East Coast Toy Soldier Show 2018 Getting to the Show
Laurie and I got up finding a nice day to drive. The ride was no problem and we arrived an a hour after the opening. Once in we headed toward Gerry Watts’ tables. After leaving my coat and Laurie with Gerry, I started to roam. The show was a third smaller with one row gone. There were a few empty tables.
Starting my search I found that the items were either too expensive or not something I could resell. An example of this is a lot of Warriors of World first series. This a great lot for a beginner collector. For me the lot would be a slow seller.
I ran into an old friend Paul Amody and his wife. Paul had been out of the business fourteen years when he got back in. He and his wife sell metal figures.
Not finding anything I went to take pictures.
East Coast Toy Soldier Show 2018 People
First stop was with John Stengel JR. I wanted to find out the status of his Action casting figures. John said he is getting his German paratroopers done right now. He will not release anything until he has everything ready. John is planning on releasing the figures in spring of 2019. He also has the marching Confederates done.
Next I ran into Mike Pendergast another blogger at warhorseminiatures.com. We shared our thoughts on the show.
This is Dick Jackson’s table. He had a wide range of figures. I did find some items from him.
I found Dick at the next table. I have gotten many good items from him.
Mike Curry is a collector from my area. He had been looking at a Marx D.E.W. playset. Mike and I talked about collecting. He had back away for the movement with collecting.
East Coast Toy Soldier Show 2018 Francis Turner
Frances Turner was there with a plethora of Marx items. Frances had three of the rare special Marx Louis Marx figures. A person was asking France on his experience with American Pickers. He said he and his family had a great time. People who talk about his appearance, comment his statement no one touches my Big Loo . He had shirts made with a picture of Big Loo.
East Coast Toy Soldier Show 2018 Rick Eber
Rick Eber with Alan Ford
It is always an enjoyment to look over Rick’s tables. Here we have the various Marx western items including the mine.
On the shelf above the Marx western items, Rick had some Reamsa Napoleonice reissues.
Marx IGY pieces plus more Marx western
Marx dead horses and gold Alamo cannons. Rick said the gold cannons were put into the Marx Civil War playsets in lieu of the cap pistol.
Marx covered wagons in various colors. I amazed how high they sell for. Also in the picture are Andygard Civil War.
Marx Untouchables Playset
Anyone need the German vechiles from the Marx playset? Rick has them.
East Coast Toy Soldier Show 2018Final Thoughts and Photos
This woman had along her little friend Little Buddy. The dog is 4 months old.
One of Gerry Watts’ tables, the bags had figures or accessories.
Laurie is off to the side with Chris Lamont happy to see us.
Gerry with his box of tissues that he used to wrap various metal figures he had for sale. I had to go out to the car and get all grocery bags he had as Gerry ran out of them.
Overall there were buys to be had. One dealer was selling large bags of BMC figures and accessories for $25.00. For me it was a poor show as I go mostly as a dealer to find items for resale.
One final thing a dealer had the Barzso Conquistadors and Aztecs playset. He wanted $1200.00 for it. The dealer stated that he had seen some of the figures alone go for a hundred dollars on Ebay,
After a few hours we headed home.
Good report. Good photos.
It was nice to see Mike Prendergast getting a weekend off from his New York City Transit Authority job, and to see John Stengel Jr. John started dating a vegetarian a few years back. They were both into physical fitness and John’s photo shows it.
Nice seeing a cute little puppy being safely carried around by his loving owner.
Unfortunate that dealer participation was down. How about collector attendance? Did Stengel or Murphy or anyone else make any comments about continuing the show after the departure of Bill Lango?
The crowd attendance seem down as well. Some dealers were doing well while others were not. There was various comments from the family might continue to this was it. I did not press Matt or John
The table of Gerry Watts, with all those packages of plastic, is one of the things that makes these toy soldier shows an exciting adventure.
Gerry also has small bags of figures and loose. It is fun to go through his stuff. I have gotten planty great items for resale and the collection.
Hi Don, I was on the road at 6:20am and got back home at 4:30am. I worked 16 hours on Friday. The overtime paid for the trip and the items I purchased. I took off Monday and Tuesday to get some rest. Off to the rat race tomorrow.
The show attendance and down fall in my opinion is a long coming in this show ,not to be with unfortunately Bill Lango passing .Every year shows are less and every year less people coming to it .Curiosity more than else bring few youngers one year ,those will barely come back next .Parents are too busy most time and plastic unpainted figures are not attraction x kids or teens .Mid generation like me are very few as well as strong involved in raising family still and working out of time.
my thought.
best
The Chicago and Indiana shows both saw a nice rise in attendace.
I heard and I cannot confirm this or the context of this statement, but what I heard was that this years Chicago show had the highest paid attendance yet.
I can say from being there and observing that the attendance was without a doubt up from last year. We were busy from the start to almost the finish, I didn’t even get much of a chance to walk around.
I think before we start ringing the death bells, that we should check the facts. That is my opinion and thoughts.
Hi Paul, nice review. I lost internet service on Sunday and am still waiting for the service to come back. Hopeful I’ll be able to post an article tomorrow or later this week about the show. Like you said it was bittersweet. I found a few things that I wasn’t looking for. Prices were up like you said. I found a bag of BMC Indians for $20. It also had some Marx figures and mainly the Battle of Little Big Horn set. Thanks for the figure you gave me.
Glad you found things. You will be getting a few more items from me for the swoppet figures. If you had Verizon I heard they lost the internet. Yes the show was bittersweet.
Thanks again Paul. Yes I have Verizon. I heard I might have to wait until Friday. I have something up this weekend about the show.
Thanks for the Photos Paul !
I’m sure many readers of this site get email notifications whenever Mike Predergast of Warhorse Miniatures posts a new interview or report.
For those who don’t, Warhorse Miniatures has just posted Mike’s own report, full of photos and interesting observations, on his experience at the East Coast Toy Soldier Show. If I knew how to post a link to it, I would — unfortunately, I don’t. But it’s definitely worthwhile to look up if you haven’t yet seen it.
I should add that just as Paul Stadinger posts a good photo of Mike Predergast, Mike returns the favor and posts a good photo of Paul.
I think it’s been about 20 years since I last spoke to Paul in person (at the Chicago Show, two or three years in a row. But when I saw the photo Mike posted, I immediately recognized Paul, and it seemed like just yesterday when I was speaking to him.
We thought taking the pictures of each other would be a good idea. I have not change much ( I need to lose weight) except my hair is gray and less of it. Some of the people I saw at the show in NJ have aged bad.