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Auction Report

February 2012
Alex Riches reviews some of the highlights from the Bonhams toy soldier auction which took place on November 15, 2011
There was something of interest for most collectors in this sale: Britains, Mignot, Heyde, Elastolin, Courtenay were just a few of the makes available to those with deep enough pockets. Heyde commanding most of the highest prices, for example a Heyde ‘Nansen’ Polar Expedition saw the hammer go down at £4,000 and set of Napoleonic era Prussian Infantry, by the same maker which included thirty pieces with mounted officer, flag bearer and drummers, went for £3,600, personally I think this was the best thing in the sale but way out of my league especially as there was an additional 35% to add to the hammer price in fees. A boxed set of six British cycle troops, also by Heyde, made £1,300 and six 70mm knights with articulated arms and visors made £1,100.

The Britains part of the catalogue was pretty moderate with a couple of exceptions, a boxed Sports Model Open Two-seater Motor Car at £1,400 beat its top estimate, as did the Royal Horse Artillery in full dress at the halt, making £2,000. However you could have picked up a large display set of Gordon Highlanders, the box with an Art Deco label for £360.

Lucotte are going through a quiet phase just now with most lots selling on or just under their lower estimates, Mignot have been out of favour for a some time now and the modern production sets selling below their current retail price, but a group of ships from an earlier set representing the Russo-Japanese sea battle off Port Arthur was an exception, making £3,200. A collector of civilian figures might have been pleased to pick up a boxed T&B Coster series Greengrocery Cart complete for £110 or the three boxed elephant rides two by T&B one pre-war and the other post-war, as well as a plastic version by F.G. Taylor for £130, even with the 25% premium a reasonable buy for a collector.

Britains Garden seems to have gone past its high point selling at or below estimate. Early pre-WWI Britains are still a strong market, but later sets like the Austro-Hungarian Infantry, a boxed set making just £260, these used to make a lot more and a late fifties mint boxed set of Uruguayan ‘Artigas’ Lancers failed to make its reserve of £50 though there are only four figures in this particular set. One unusual, and I think a very rare, item by one of the lesser known German makers, Josef Bischoff, the two ‘penny toy’ type vehicles included in this set made this a very attractive item and the hammer price of £1,300 reflected that. Among the Elastolin/Hauser tin plate vehicles a clockwork six wheeled lorry made £1,100 and a beautiful model of a black Mercedes by Tipp & Co was a mid estimate £650 but the Elastolin and Lineol horse drawn vehicles were struggling, many failing to make their bottom estimate.

A set of Britains figures converted by a prominent BMSS member, the late Freddy Green, with the figures beautifully painted to represent German Infantry and Cavalry of about 1900 with regimental flags and guidons went for only £150, to me! Being a member of the same society they were of particular interest and I was pleased to get them for this surprisingly low amount. Collectors are very selective these days but even with a 25% buyers premium they are still willing to pay high prices for quality and rarity, and auctions do have a certain entertainment value.

Please note all prices quoted are before the premium.

Illustrations
Heyde 70mm Napoleonic period Prussian Infantry set (above)
CBG Mignot, The Russo-Japanese War at Sea set
The Tipp & Co Black Mercedes
Britains set 1398, Sports Model open two-seater miniature motor car
The Hausser tinplate clockwork large six-wheel lorry
Heyde 70mm scale Knights in armour which raised a good price on the day

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Winter treat

February 2012
Noticeboard
The latest news from the global toy soldier hobby

Around 100 staunch model soldier enthusiasts descended on the Victory Services Club at London’s Marble Arch on December 3, 2011, to celebrate the seventh annual W. Britain Collectors’ Club event.

Visitors were greeted by a smart reception area and bright seasonal decorations, before taking the winding staircase down into the Carisbrooke Hall, where a range of classic toy soldier dioramas was waiting, along with a small group of military re-enactors who were just itching to impart some small gems of historical knowledge.

And impart them they did. I’ve attended a number of Britains events and the re-enactors, with their genuine weapons and kit and seemingly encyclopaedic knowledge of the unit they represent, are always surrounded by fascinated groups of club members.

It was unusual to see a representative of ‘the enemy’ – a WWI German infantryman – but like many other visitors, I got to feel the heft and balance of a genuine Great War-vintage Mauser 98 rifle, which I was fascinated to learn could be sighted up to 2000 metres!

Limited edition figures were auctioned and exciting new sets from the War Along the Nile series – including the mouth-watering, fully armed and crewed British Nile River Gunboat – were viewed with great relish.

Drinks and canapés were shared generously throughout the evening and Managing Director Richard Walker made a short customary speech, hinting at future projects and thanking collectors for their enduring loyalty to W. Britain.

The evening closed with a fascinating mini-lecture by leading military historian, Ian Knight, on the true causes of the disastrous British loss at Isandlwana during the Zulu war of 1879.

News item by George Phillips

Picture: A German WWI re-enactor chats with a Club members at the Britains event

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Taking off ...

WWI Fokker D.V11s
Noticeboard
The latest news from the global toy soldier hobby

You wait all your life for a WWI Fokker D.V11 ... and then four come along at once! In addition to the recently-released D.V11 by John Jenkins Designs (featured later in New Releases), King & Country intend to follow their recent Albratos fighters with the three Fokker D.V11’s pictured here.

The aircraft depict the personal mounts of (from left to right) August Raben of Jasta18 (with white raven insignia), Harald Auffarth of Jasta 29 and Josef Jacobs of Jasta 7 whose all-black machine bore the insignia of Boreas, the 'God of the North Wind' in Greek mythology.

As with the K&C Albatros fighters featured last issue, these are also likely to be limited to 150 of each worldwide, will retail at around £200 and will be in the UK early next year. Given the speed that the Albatros sold out you better pre-order now if you want a Fokker in your hanger ...

News item by Rob Hendrie

Contact:
King & Country
Room 2301
No. Lockhart Road
Wanchai
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2861 3450
www.kingandcountry.com

King & Country UK
Unit 17 Enterprise City
Meadowfield Avenue
Green Lane Industrial Estate
Spennymoor
Co. Durham
DL16 6JF

Tel: 01388 818882
www.kingandcountry.co.uk

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Fontegris Kit

News item taken from 'Noticeboard'

Spanish based kit producer Fontegris Miniatures recently released this rather unusual kit based on Ancient Egypt. Not our usual fare I know, but as a couple of makers do produce Egyptian themed ranges I thought this 54mm resin kit might fit in within those types of display. Priced at 26€ and with only a limited production run of 100 kits I’m sure this set will sell out pretty quickly.

Date Published Sun, 05/22/2011 - 10:40
Author: Andy Whittaker

Contact
Fontegris Miniatures
C/Independencia Nº3-4º
33212 Gijón
Asturias
Spain

www.fontegris.com

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Sky high

News item taken from 'Noticeboard'

Flying in during the coming weeks will be this Nieuport 17 WWI biplane from John Jenkins Designs. The third aircraft in the company’s ‘Knights of the Skies’ range, this was the aircraft of William Avery Bishop, VC. The ‘kid who couldn’t miss’ from Owen Sound, Ontario, Billy Bishop was credited with 72 aerial victories in WWI. Our resident WWI aviation anorak Rob Hendrie takes the first two releases in the series for a test flight later in issue 38.

Date Published Sun, 01/30/2011 - 11:21
Author: Andy Whittaker

Contact
John Jenkins Designs
Unit 6H, Tower 1
King Ley Industrial Building
33-35 Yip Kan Street
Wong Chuck Hang
Hong Kong

Tel/fax: +852 2553 9313
www.johnjenkinsdesigns.com

TM Terrain
12 York Road
Loughborough
Leicestershire
LE11 3DA

Tel: 01509 828002
www.tmterrain.co.uk

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John Jenkins drives forward

News item taken from 'Noticeboard'

Hong Kong based manufacturer John Jenkins has been well known for making detailed matt style figures for a number of years, but it appears he’s no longer content with just making figures and has began producing vehicles. The first two pieces John has produced were kindly sent to us by TM Terrain, John’s UK agent. Shown here is a Condor Legion PzKpfw 1A (£100), from the company’s new Spanish Civil War range, and a Sopwith Camel B7270 (£130) from the interesting ‘Knights of the Skies’ series.

Both models are superb and a great start to this manufacturers foray into vehicle production and I’m certainly looking forward to covering more new vehicles before too long.

Date Published Tue, 11/23/2010 - 21:22
Author: Andy Whittaker

Contact
John Jenkins Designs
Unit 6H, Tower 1
King Ley Industrial Building
33-35 Yip Kan Street
Wong Chuck Hang
Hong Kong

Tel/fax: 852 2553 9313
www.johnjenkinsdesigns.com

In the UK:
TM Terrain
70 Lynden Avenue,
Long Eaton,
Notts,
NG10 1AB

Tel: 0115 9722 620
www.tmterrain.co.uk

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54mm Miniature Flags

News item taken from 'Noticeboard'

When you want a flag for your collection, often you have to resort to making your own, as makers do not always include them in their sets. Fine for some, but for the collector or gamer who feels their skills are not up to the task it poses a problem. No longer as Richard Lowles new business Battle Flag may have just what you are looking for.

The idea behind Battle Flag is to offer high quality historically correct artwork combined with the standards found in the fine art industry. Richard trained as a fine artist in his early twenties and has ever since combined his hobby with his art, and so this was a logical step. Starting with flags for smaller wargames scales, he has now branched out into 1:32.

The flags come on A4 sheets with multiple images, and are printed using archival quality inks and papers. Each sheet is designed to be as aesthetically pleasing as possible and I can certainly understand why some of his customers use them as framed prints in their wargaming and hobby rooms!

Date Published Sat, 09/18/2010 - 10:41
Author: Mike Blake

Contact
Battle Flag
20 Mallard Avenue
Barnby Dun
Doncaster
DN3 1LH

www.battle-flag.com

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New Sarum Website

News item taken from 'Noticeboard'

By the time you are reading this the newly revamped Sarum Soldiers website (www.sarumsoldiers.net) will be up and running. After nearly a year in development, involving a lot of photography of all the current sets, the site is live and features a complete catalogue of everything Sarum offers backed up by fully secure ordering facilities. No matter where you live in the world you should now be able to easily view and order anything from this world famous company.

Date Published Sun, 06/06/2010 - 08:32
Author: Andy Whittaker

Contact
Sarum Soldiers
2a Upper Tooting Park
London
SW17 7SW
United Kingdom

Tel: +44(0) 208 767 1525
www.sarumsoldiers.net

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Paragon Scenics and Miniatures

News item taken from 'Noticeboard'

This new American company have announced a line of 54mm 1:32 scale figures of US Cavalry and Apaches. They claim to have ‘captured the conflict between the gallant men of the US Cavalry who patrolled the rugged Southwest during the 1870s and the brave Apache warriors defending their tribal lands. Combining elements of realism with the romance of Hollywood films like Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande and more’ and the photos of the prototypes do look very promising.

The two initial sets, US Cavalry Set #1 and Apaches Set #1, will be shown in a preview at the 21st Annual West Coaster Toy Soldier & Miniature Figure Show on Sunday, February 28 (details oldtoysoldierhome.com). Their Official Debut will be at the 4th Annual Texas Toy Soldier Show, May 29 and 30 (details www.sdsoldiers.com).

Date Published Mon, 04/05/2010 - 17:09
Author: Mike Blake

Contact
www.paragon-scenics.com

Sad passing

News item taken from 'Noticeboard'

It is with much sadness that I must announce the sad passing of Daniel Donzino, one of the driving forces behind Beau Geste Toy Soldiers of Argentina. Daniel sadly passed away from a heart attack just before Christmas, he leaves behind his wife Ana who will continue with Beau Geste and all the other toy soldier projects the couple worked on together.
As a small dedication to Daniel in New Releases Part 2 of issue 32 we cover various new figures from both Beau Geste and Honour Bound, Daniel’s key projects, as well as a new range created by Daniel’s niece Laura Cuello.