Plastic Warrior Show

On Saturday May 5, Laurie and I headed to the Plastic Warrior Show. The show had moved this year from their normal spot because that spot was having remodeling done. They had found another place in Richmond, The Winning Post which had a large meeting room right next to the pub.  We could used the underground to Richmond and then the train to Whitton. We got off the train and headed to show getting slightly lost. (I got name of the pub mixed up in my mind  with a pub near the hotel.) We backtracked and found the right place and walked in. Right away we were greeted by old friends we had not seen in several years.  I put my suitcase with my good friend Peter Bergner.  It is an in joke that I bring a suitcase along to PW show to carry all the goodies I get. We also  said hello to more of very good friends from Germany, Marcus Kraus and Andreas Dittmann before grabbing pouch and starting our search. We stopped at another  Germany dealer’s table Frank and pick out some items including a Dom Tarzan. We continued down the row and I picked up some Marx figures including a Space Patrol Female in steel blue. At the end of the row was two dealers from Belgium. Their prices were high, but I bought two lead Timpo Quentin Durward figures in the box. Timpo had license the movie which starred Robert Taylor and made a series of metal figures.

We  went to the next row and came upon John and Eunice Begg, John had a plastic Timpo Hopalong Cassidy figure. As mention in a separate posting I had been aware of this figure, but had never seen it at a show.  We negotiated a price and I added it to my collection. We continued down the row and found items from the two brothers from York and  some space figures from Adrian Little.  We headed to the front where I was able to buy some 5 pound bags of figures.  I like buying junk bags as it is  challenge for me.  As we were working the tables, Laurie looked to the front and had the surprise of the show, our long lost friend Michael Smith was at the door. Michael had left UK to go the country of Mauritius where his wife(now ex-wife) and two children were living. After the divorce, he return to the Uk for various reasons.

We walked over to Michael and talked for a few minutes before going back to finish up the tables. I found some more Marx figures including  two pirates in peach. We continued down the row and I thought I had found one of the items on my want list Atlantic western figures. The figures were painted, but I still could use them. I asked the dealer the price for the figures and was told ten pounds a figure($17.00)! I passed on them and the rest of the dealer’s stand.  We finished  our survey of the room and headed to the pub..

In the pub,  we talked to Michael Smith and then ran into Michael Hyde.  I had two Thomas toy figures for Michael Hyde, which he paid me and he also owe us drinks from previous transaction which he took care of.  Another very good friend Brian Carrick  came into the pub and gave a surprise of the week, another  Speedwell armor car on fire! This had been my major want for 40 years until I finally found it in Valley Forge 12 years ago. Brian said when I first came over in 1988 and mention about the speedwell armor car, they thought I was daffy. I related my story and  then Brian hands me the Speedwell car as a gift! Brian shocked the group by pulling out another Speedwell armor car, this one was damaged., which he kept for himself.

While we were in the pub Ron Barzso, Dick Woods and Jim Clouse shown up. they had stopped at the show before heading to Rome.  I do not know if they bought anything. After talking to Ron about some matters, Laurie and I headed back to the show.

Back in the show, I continued to find items for  resale. I got some Café Storme knights and Britains Farm items. Our very good friend Peter Evans finally showed up. He had to work as replacement got ill. We did the one area of the show we had missed in our first run.  In this section we bought the new Replicants figures, and the latest Collectors guide Book on Herald Civilian models 1953 to 1961. the book covers the non-military figures and  I will be doing a separate posting on it in the near future.  Across from Replicants was Ivanhoe Miniatures where I got several of their resin figures. They come with two different heads and they will be a posting also soon. One problem with this area was it was too dark and if Plastic Warrior comes back to this location, they will have to more light.

One other book I wanted to pick up was book on Jim and Cyrnos plastic by Alain Thomas. Jim and Cyrnos  are two French companies that I have gotten pieces from in the past and have been curious what they make.  The book is well done and is loaded with color pictures through out.  I will be doing a review on this book as well. We did some more buying and saw that the show was winding down. So we made some final purchases and headed back to the pub.

One nice thing besides seeing old friends is making new friends. We met Bretton Hoffmann and his wife Debbie.  They are from Australia and Breton was having the time of his life finding figures he only dreamed about. Breton was enjoying himself  immensely and when we introduced ourselves Brenton replied I read your blog.

We packed up our goodies into the suitcase and headed back to the pub. We shared a few drinks before going back to our hotel. On our ride back we talked to Michael Ellis and found out his daughter is an actress in the states. His daughter almost got the lead in Nashville until higher ups pushed for someone else.  After leaving Michael Ellis at Richmond, we got to the underground back to our hotel.