I was on Boing Boing and found this posting of someone who did plastic soldiers in silver! Yes the metal silver, this person is trying to sell them for $2400.00.
Here is the link
http://www.goodart.com/2011/11/ages-80-and-younger/
One note, the person talks about Marx but the figures that were used to make the silver figures are Processed Plastic.
Let us assume the figures contain 2 ounces of silver which is selling for $32 per ounce.
The intrinsic value of each figure is $64. He is selling them for $235 each which includes his time to sculpt (the heads are skulls) and cast and finish. The set of 12 is $2,400 or approximately 3 times the intrinsic value of the metal. Pricey yes but not quite as bad as it first sounds.Then again to your original question – WHY anyone would even want these is still beyond me.
Mark raises a good reason not to spend $1600 for a Johnny Ringo figure that probably cost two cents to make back then!!!!!!!
Off subject;
The downing of this Drone spy aircraft in Iran;
This blunder on the part of our Mil-Intel people – maybe just one person – is
so idiotic,
so goofy,
so irresponsible,
so ridiculous,
that I am forced to ask;
Do I have a long-lost brother?
Don
Your comment is off target. We nott take any more comments on it.
Stad,
Those figures are way too expensive, even if they are silver. I ran across some of the older Tim-Mee type 60mm GI’s at an antique shop several years ago. They had been molded out of brass and were very good copies. The guy wanted $10 each, since I don’t usually collect metal figures and don’t paint them, I passed on them. I also have some metal copies of the Marx civil war guys I received as a gift. They were OK copies of 54mm and 60mm figures and painted. I suppose the maker used original plastic figures to make the molds and then cast them in metal.
By the way, I enjoy reading your comment time and quite often learn something new about our hobby.Thank you for your good work.
Larry T.
Hi Larry
I have never been a fan of metal copies of plastic figures. One exception is collector out of Tucson Arizonia who does metal copies of Marx. One thing he did was to change the pose so the 54mm Custer figure was now firing. I can not remember his name, which I am sure a collector will come up with. He does not own a television or computer.
Thank you for the kind words, I do Comment Time to give people a different perspective on the hobby.
Paul Bryan and Val Davis. I enjoy their figures because I could never afford a set of Gunsmoke or Wagon Train figures. I simply paint their casting a cream color and no one can tell the difference from the originals until they pick them up………..Bill
Bill
Yes Bryan a good guy I would reccomend to anyone.
Larry Patterson of P & P products makes resin copies of many of the Marx character figures such as Johnny Ringo, Custer, Flint Mc cullough and the Gunsmoke figures.
Here’s Larry’s web site.
http://pandpmilitaryminiatures.com/
I feel his prices for the Marx character figures are a little high
Larry is a great guy to deal with. I own a couple of dozen of his western town figures and I have spoken to him on the phone several times. His normal western town figures cost around 7 bucks each, so I cannot understand why he charges so much for a character figure. It takes the same amount of casting resin to make a regular figure as it does to make a character figure, so why the higher price? And it’s not just a few bucks, either.
I think that he would sell a heck of a lot more figures if he kept the character figures in line with the rest of his prices. I know that I would buy more. Till then, I’ll make do with the 6 dollar metal castings, which paint up quite well. Seems a shame.
(tongue-in-cheek) $50 for a P&P Ringo copy is only 3% the cost of a $1600 original whereas $7 is a whopping 70% of a $10 common Marx figure and 140% of a $5 Marx figure. Is ANY of this stuff worth what we pay????
Also meant to say Larry is a truly great guy. Never had the pleasure of actually meeting him inperson, but I consider him a friend through e-mails and phone calls. He’s made some great custom figures for me over the years.
Seriousily $50.00 for a copy is too high. As to item is being worth what we pay that is in the eye of the beholder. I do not buy anything for myself with the idea what it will be worth in the future. When I buy it I for enjoyment. I am not worry about future value.
I agree with you, Stad. $50 for a resin copy is pretty high.
I must admit I bought a $50.00 Johnny Ringo, just one of those things I had to have because I’ll never get a real one. I’ve gone through thousands of junk boxes and looked at numerous lots and I’ve never even had a hint of one. The stories of finding them in 50 cent boxes and bags of junk abound, but I’m not that lucky.
Maybe some day they’ll hit that vein of Johnny Ringo’s at the dump and someone will flood the market driving the price to a reasonable level, but I sincerely doubt it. If they did find a vein they’d sell them off slowly to get full price.
Larry did a Calvera figure for a buddy of mine, he looks good, infact he did two one riding and one on foot.
Larry can make some really nice custom figures. He made me a bunch of construction workers to my description that are amazing!!!!
Ed
Each person has to decide what they are going to pay for an item. For me personally I stay in at $25.00. I have gone above that restriction. You are happy with the figure then great as I can feel you are getting enjoyment which is why we collect.
Well, Merry Christmas to everyone and I hope Santa puts lots of good toy soldiers in your stockings tonight. If I had sculpting talents I guess I could carve those lumps of coal into something useful.