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Toy Soldier Collector Good Soldiers - New Wild West releases

Good Soldiers - New Wild West releases

Review taken from 'Casting Around'

Alan Goodwin followed up an earlier promise by sending me examples of his re-casts of Timpo’s Hopalong Cassidy set. I must declare a bias towards all Timpo’s output from the 1950s but I do think they produced some of the finest toy soldiers ever made and their Wild West figures were no exception. Timpo could also spot a lucrative link with movies and television and the Hopalong Cassidy figures are good examples of that as well. The character of Hopalong Cassidy enjoyed great success in films, comic books, radio and television between the 1930’s and the 1950s but it was merchandise deals which made actor William Boyd a very wealthy man.

Hopalong and his sidekicks, Lucky (the young, trouble-prone one) and California (the older, comic one), are represented by seven figures, three mounted and four on foot. Hopalong (I still don’t know the origin of the name) enjoys the distinction of being represented on foot both with and without his distinctive hat (black, like the rest of his outfit, very unusual for a Wild West hero at the time). I expect these figures may provoke a twinge of nostalgia among readers of a certain age but they also offer some real conversion potential to Wild West fans of all ages. The figure of Lucky in particular is a classic movie cowboy with a strong resemblance to “Duke” Wayne.

The Hopalong Cassidy castings measure 55mm approx and cost £1.75 on foot and £5.00 mounted. Add 10% for P&P. Alan said that he knows he occupies the cheaper end of the toy soldier market but, given the price of some castings today, I think he is just as entitled to boast that he offers good value for money.

Date Published Thu, 05/29/2008 - 12:08
Author: Paul Stocker

Contact
Good Soldiers
246 Broadwater Crescent
Stevenage
Hertfordshire
SG2 8HL

Tel: 01438 354362

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