Show Times Three Lots of Fun, Late April I start having several shows both toy-related and not. I had one weekend already with three shows to attend and I could only do two. Still what I did so far was a lot of fun.
Show Times Three Lots of Fun Chiller
Chiller is held twice a year. It is an autograph show where various movie and television stars show up. There you can buy their autographs and take a selfie ( a photo of you with the star.) The main attraction of this show was William Shatner. He was charging $130.00 for his autograph and $130.00 for a selfie. If you got both the price was $250.00. The line for Shatner was around the build.
I take Sherri along as she enjoys seeing the stars. We usually go for minor stars as the line is shorter. This time I want to get Bruce McGill who was in Animal House and has played some cops over the years.
Sherri wanted to get a photo and autograph from Dylan McDermott. We got in line behind several women. A man got in front of us and said he was with a party of women. The man turned and apologized for butting in front. I was not upset. The man next said he would pay for our autograph which I replied was fine and I would pay for the selfie. We get up to the table, the man gives me a hundred-dollar bill and says enjoy. I thank him. Sherri enjoyed getting Dylan’s photo as he had his dog Otis with him.
After doing more star gazing we headed home. You can see more photos of the stars on Chiller’s website.
Delaware Toy Show
On the same weekend as Chiller was the Delaware Toy Show. It is a show that I enjoy doing for its surprises. I got early rights once the doors I stopped at my friend Gerry to say hello. As I was talking to him I glanced at the tables and spotted Comansi Western Buildings. I immediately went over and bought the buildings. After leaving Gerry, I started my hunt.
After getting the buildings I started my hunt. The show had a plethora of toys to choose from but I stayed focus on figures. From my friend Tom Black, I picked up an Ideal tank and some figures. From Kerry whom I had seen the previous week at Gettysburg, I enhanced my Marx inventory. A woman whom I had bought from at the last show I picked up some Lido Civil War. In one bag was a Lido camel. My last purchase was a bag that had MPC knights and Dimension for Children fantasy figures.
I would like to thank my friend Mark McDermott for use of his photos. He has many photos of the show on Facebook.
Lehigh Valley Comic Con
My local comic convention went big time with holding a show at my local fairgrounds. The show got a very good response from both vendors and people. I got to meet again an old friend Mark Ammerman who is on the left. We had not seen each other in 30-plus years. Mark and I had been part of a comics club at college. It was great to see him. I saw someone debating on buying a Sergeant Fury and his Howling Commandos No. 1 slabbed. The book was graded at 1.8 and was being offered at $800.00. I hope they set up there again.
I still remember the Saturday afternoon after the matinee waiting at the Bus Depot for the ride home and buying the No.1 Sgt Fury and yes it went in Mom’s Big Cleanout!
Awesome!!!!
SGT Fury was my favorite comic growing up. I had SGT Fury 1 and most issues. Even got a letter published once. I lost all my comics and baseball cards when I went in the Army. Dad was home on leave and decided to clean out my closet for space. Mom never let him live it down.
Just glad I gave my toy soldier collection to my younger brothers for safekeeping..
I was a lttle late to the SGT Fury comic, but I remember my big brother had several.
Paul– thanks for posting the pics from the shows. I will likely never get to attend any, so it is fun to see pictures that show what they look like.
If you get a moment, please post some pics of the Comansi western buildings you recently purchased.
One of my favorite reasons for visiting this site is the info/photos of European figures that you and Erwin have so much knowledge about.
Glad you are on the mend! Howdy from Texas and Yee-Haw! Gary-D
Comansi Western Buildings.
Hi Gary
You are not the first to say they enjoy my reports on the shows. The shows for me are important for me first for what I can find and second to see friends. I will try to get a photo of the Comansi buildings
This is a little off topic… But a few years ago, there were several postings about how “maybe” some vintage, out of copyright figures could be scanned and modified and 3D printed. The Marx German molds have disappeared into the vortex, so they would be a good start. I know many collectors talk about the skimpy uniforms/ guns/accoutrements. So the figs could be modified and pre-printed .
Also on the list should be the Marx Heritage ACW figs—they are a little bit slim compared to their previous brethren.
I’m talkin’ ’bout the stretcher team… And all the other soldiers who are brilliantly sculpted, but just a tad too slim.
Too paraphrase Erwin, “Just my ramblings..”
Stads stuff is still da best!
I think about this also. Geptech is doing lost Marx character figures in 54mm. But there seems no movement to bring back lost sets/molds of the past. I would like to see the Marx 6 inch series scanned and available to buy in all scales. Much like Spiera Miniatures offers there 3D figures in all major scales. Maybe only Baby Boomers are interested in this and we lack the technical know how to do it😄?
Not sure what you might mean by too slim. In actual Civil War photographs from 1861-1865 you can see that the soldiers were indeed slim. Compare to photos of modern day Civil War re-enactors and you see the average over-weight American of our time. The Marx sculpts are probably more accurate in that respect than some of the more recent brands which seem to be based more on re-enactors than the original soldiers.
Agreed. When I see those re-enacts I cringe. To me, it made the use of them in the Gettysburg movie at some parts comical. The old age overweight regiment marching through the town.
Not against re-enactors. It’s a great hobby and very educational. No matter what shape or age you are, if you enjoy it, do it!
My only observation was as a group they tend to be 50+ and like most of us males that age, we could lose a few. Using solely this group in a film does not represent the common soldier of 80-400 plus years ago in general age and weight though.
I agree. I remember thinking about the average age of a soldier during the Civil War – not to mention the “leanness” of the Johnnies.
But on the upside, those guys worked cheap and their uniforms were authentic and they knew what they were doing on the battlefield. I guess it’s a tradeoff.
What is sad is there aren’t more youngsters interested enough in history to fill the ranks of us “boomers” as we fade into the sunset.
I do remember one good thing coming of using re-enactors during the movie “Glory.”
The producers/director had a problem finding black (or African American) re-enactors to fill in as extras for the movie. I read an article somewhere that out of the production of the movie, several of the extras in the film formed a black ACW re-enactment group; now it’s more common.
Haha! Yes, but could see how you might think I was talking about the Marx Heritage figures’ BMI. What are meant was a f you put them side-by-side with the earlier ACW soldiers, the appear ever-so-slightly smaller. They my actually be true 54mm ( I don’t own any calipers. It would violate my probation rules…), and the other figures may be larger
scale ( I’m not talking about the W.O.W.).
So if you put the Marx Confederate marching soldier next to any standing figure in the Heritage set, you can see his feet are larger, legs are longer. Shoulder are higher and broader, and the head is larger.
I do a lot of converting of my recasts, so it is very noticable when re-combining body parts.
Also– I totally agree with you guys about the re-enactors. It was glaring in the Gettysburg ” movie as well as many of the documentaries made in the 1990’s that can now be streamed.
So back to the original post– maybe any “old” figures could be scanned and modified to appear more authentic. Let’s throw in the ACW MPC ringhands while we’re at it. These guys had the right look, but had giant hands and very odd uniforms. Maybe they could be scanned and modified with weapons, hats, canteens that actually fit…?
With the advances in AI, it could theoretically be possible to run the ” Gettysburg ” movie through the software to make the re-enactors look younger, leaner/meaner, and more gaunt…?
Just brainstorming…
PS: I’m glad some folks are still posting. I’m a late-comer to the site.
I get what you’re saying, Gary. The later “Centennial” figures Marx issued don’t look to be even the same scale as the original figures that came with their Civil War sets. They are beautifully sculpted – actually better sculpts than the originals – they just are so much smaller. I’ve envisioned the kneeling officer with binoculars if he stood up and he’d be about waist high to a standing figure (he’s still one of my sentimental favorites).
I don’t mind the lack of equipment so much on these guys because troops usually “grounded” their gear before moving to engagement, when they had the chance. The guys fighting with full packs look great, but really aren’t that realistic. I can handle that.
It appears to me (and I’m sure Paul knows for sure) Marx changed sculptors between the first series of guys (1950s) and the 1960s when the “centennials” and Germans (and other international figures) came out. Those figures are noticeably smaller, thinner than their 1950s offerings.
I agree, the slimmer builds ARE more realistic – at least for the Confederates. I like the lean look on some of the original Marx Confederates as opposed to the better fed look of most of the Union figures. Of course, there’s always the running “Texan” and rebel marching figure. Like Gary, I’d like them all to match.
I love them all, if for nothing but sentimental purposes, but I’ve often wished someone could pantograph and perhaps do some 3-d modifications to make them fit the recent productions such as Conte or TSSD.
I’d love to see Conte re-issue some of his earlier stuff now that he’s coming out with new product. We can hope.
I also am glad this forum/blog is still active. So many of my favorite places have all but died; I don’t know whether it’s just a lack of news or the aging of our hobby. I do know we’ve lost a lot of good folks the past years, I’m not getting younger. But I wonder at so many folks I’ve made friends with online over the years we don’t hear from.
I am grateful to Paul for keeping this site active. Always fun to check in and see what you’re up to and get the latest news.
Hi Wayne–
Thanks for gently and diplomatically corrrecting me–“Centennial” figures, of course… not sure why I wanted to call them “Heritage Figures”…
Like you (and countless other kiddoes), I loved these guys!
In 1968, my younger brother and I managed to scrape together $1.76 in change– a LOT of moolah for a kid back then! We approached a neighbor kid who was older (sports ‘n’girls by that time), and offered our “untold riches” to him for what was left of his ‘Giant Battle of the Blue & Gray’– the set that included the Testor paints. He agreed to the offer (cue the music!).
I was unaware of what the original set consisted of. So it wasn’t until the 1990’s when I discovered PFPC and the terrific work of Tom Terry that the set had a tin litho mansion . However, I was very happy with my “Civil War Guys”.
Many a battle on the floor and in the sandbox later, I still have all the figures and accessories.
So now, I guess it is 10,000-Planet-of-the Apes years later in the future and I’m still talking about them… ?!?
The Centiennial sculpts were done by a different sculptor for sure…smaller, tighter, thinner to save plastic costs. But such great concepts!
In the 90’s, recasts became available for the Centennial figs. So I ordered many for my conversion obsession.
Sooo…after all this nostalgia, what I’m sayin’ is that the slightly smaller (slim, if-you-will) figs suffer from less detail on the rifles/bayonets/ cannon ramrods (they tend to curl)… binicular guy is brilliantly sculpted, but if he could somehow manage to stand upright, he may not be able to see over the Marx redoubt (no-doubt!)…
Anyow, all this is to say, “Thanks to Paul (and Laurie) for the dedication to a forum for a goofy, fun, educational, nostaligic hobby. After all, there is always golf and boating…
–with an affectionate nod to Erwin Sells: “Just my ramblings”.