pendant ce temps dans la cuisine

These chaps are all metal figures from the Paris show. In the back row we have from left a bloke with a big soup ladle, his oppo who has probably just been outside peeling spuds and a guy in working fatigues wielding a sledgehammer - perhaps for breaking up particularly stale baguettes?  Out front is a nice aluminium rifleman - quite a good match for Armies in Plastic.  

Eurofigurines Show, March 2023

 Last Sunday saw my third visit to this nice toy soldier show. There was a great variety of stuff for sale - a fair bit of it from manufacturers rarely seen here in the UK. 

Here are most of my purchases. A mix of plastic and metal figures from at least five manufacturers. 

Starlux and similar. Including two female soldiers. 

Starlux farmers - always useful in games and very flexible in terms of period. 

More of the delightful hard plastic Mokarex WW1 French   . The ‘Crapouillot’ trench mortar is rarely found intact. 

Aluminium (Quiralu?) pioneer, cooks and officers. 

Aluminium sailors. 

Plastic Warrior Show - it’s back!

 

I’m pleased to report that the PW show will reappear in May at the usual venue. 

Organising team stalwart Brian Carrick tells me that all but one of the traders who’d booked for 2020 have confirmed - the missing one due to a diary clash. 

I will be there with a table groaning under the weight of high quality items - do come and spend, or just say hello. 

My report on the last (2019) show is here: link. 

Shopping from the Paris show

 I mentioned earlier that there had been some retail incidents last weekend - here are some of the highlights. 

I’ll start with my final purchase of the day - a shoe box full of 100+ mostly medieval figures.  Makers are mainly Starlux with a few Clairet, Mokarex and a couple of Elastolin. The (Mokarex) chap above is one of my favourites - clearly a well-balanced individual. 

There are at least three of this fine Starlux pose. 

More aggressive poses. 

On the right, a dismounted knight by Starlux, while the Mokarex figure at left is none other than Ivanhoe. 

As you’d hope from a French maker, the Starlux Gauls are a delight. I wasn’t looking for any but I can’t bear to part with them!  

Of course, where you have Gauls you need some Romans to fight them. The small batch of Starlux was accompanied by the imposing Elastolin eagle bearer. 

The Gauls again. 

More Romans. 

Civilian figures are always handy. This pair from Mokarex - Thiers and Offenbach - have already been nicely painted. The cheapest figures of the day, they owe me only €1 for the two!

I also scored a box of more Mokarex civilian figures - mostly 20th Century celebrities. Here are Maurice Chevalier and Charles Trenet. The box contained many duplicates (triplicates indeed) and will be shared with a couple of friends. 

Victor Hugo and Gambetta (yes I know they’re 19th Century!)

Finally a change from plastic to lead. EDIT 04/04/22. These last chaps are actually French-made aluminium figures by Quiralu.  Which explains why they don’t  ‘sound’ like lead 🤭

This trio of Great War French are in desperate need of a repaint but they’re lovely old figures for a reasonable €5 each. 

So I make that about 160 figures, of which I’ll be keeping around 100 and passing on the rest.  A very successful show!

Paris in the springtime - for real.

 I’m just back from a brief trip abroad - which should have taken place two years ago! Not to be confused with this series. 

A brief drive brought us to the start of the rail journey. 

The information at St. Pancras wasn’t initially clear!

Part of the pleasure for me of being in a different country/city is simply being there. In Paris it seems you’re never far away from a massive column (40+) CRS (riot police) vans. 

On Sunday morning we set off early and the RER B line to Nanterre Prefecture was followed by a walk through Parc Andre Malraux. Currently there’s a display of some interesting historical posters. 

A vote to re-establish the Empire!  Only in France. 

The sunlit park - even at 0945 in the morning.  Soon our (well, my) destination hove into view.  

A toy soldier show!  My second visit to this splendid show. 

Having spent around 90 minutes and rather more Euros we rode back to Paris, dumped the loot at our hotel and set off on a walk to make the best of the excellent weather. 

The canal basin to the NE of the Place de la Bataille-de-Stalingrad - a pleasant walk and a nice light lunch. 

Then on the Metro to near the Pont d’Austerlirz and a stroll along the north bank of the Seine. 

On Monday - when I forgot to take photos - we walked from out hotel (near Grands Boulevards) to the Marais. Then Metro to the Champs Elysees. We walked as far as the Arc de Triomphe and half a mile or so beyond it on the Bvd Grand Armee. Then back as far as the presidential palace and the Metro back to our hotel. 

Tuesday saw our return to the UK. I’ll do a post on my show purchases soon. 

Show report - The Midlands Toy Soldier Show 2021

 

I’m not long back from this show - my first in two years!  Because of 1. COVID, 2. A change of venue, and 3. Fuel shortages caused by idiotic panic-buying, I had expected a quieter day than the old Birmingham show. And indeed it was. I’ve no idea what the door numbers were (or indeed used to be) but I know that at least a couple of expected traders didn’t show. 

Anyway, on to the good news. I had trouble free journeys in both directions - it’s about 70 miles and took 1hr 20 each way. Parking was easy - plenty of it just across the street and free. The lack of crowds made it easier to browse and allowed more opportunities to chat to traders - notably Patrick, Steve and Fred. 

So a nice morning out at a show which I hope survives and is better attended next year. 

The rather striking venue. 

A decent sized hall which could easily have accommodated a few more traders. 

‘Enough!’ I hear you cry. ‘What did you buy?’  Among other things some painted metal figures.  This rather charming box of French owes me less than £20!  

£2 secured this Irregular Miniatures Spanish Civil War militiaman. 

I couldn’t resist these khaki-clad Australian lancers.

I had a long chat with Patrick from the British Toy Soldier Co. Among his stock were some figures from deleted sets including these lovely Great War Scottish infantry for £5 each. 

Midlands Toy Soldier Show

If you're at a loose end this Sunday (26th September) you might do worse than visit the Midlands Toy Soldier Show.  Previously the Birmingham show, this has now moved to a new venue in Stoke.  For me the travel time will be similar but without the joy of driving through central Birmingham.

Because of Covid cancellations, this will be my first show since Birmingham in 2019 so I am very much looking forward to it!  If you will be there please let me know in a comment.

After many great years at Edgbaston, the show relocates in 2021 to an even better venue in an incredibly accessible location.  The King's Hall in Stoke-on-Trent offers the perfect setting for the show.  A stunning building with great facilities, parking & transport links.

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Address:

King's Hall, Kingsway, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, ST4 1JH

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By Road;​

• 3.5 miles from M6 J15

• 10 mile from M6 J16

• Large car park directly opposite the venue (currently free parking on Sundays)

 

By Rail:

• 700m walk from a Stoke-On-Trent station

• London Euston from 1hr 33mins direct

• Birmingham Int. from 58mins direct

• Manchester Picadilly from 53mins direct

More on the show website LINK

Here are just a few of the delights I picked up at previous shows

Birmingham Toy Soldier Show 2019

 On Sunday I again visited the Birmingham show and had an enjoyable day out, this time accompanied by Graham E.  As well as picking up some random toys at attractive prices I met up with several friends - so hello again to Mike, Anthony, Graham A, John and Mike C. As a bonus, we had a very smooth journey in both directions.
Well done again to the show organisers, traders and punters.
Above - the green figures are Black Cat Napoleonic Russians - very rare and beautiful figures. Do I need more Russians?  Er.....  I also found three Barzso 18thC Highlanders.

Approximately three feet of stakes makes me think it might be time to revisit Agincourt. The (1/32) figure is there for scale.

I’d chucked the rest in a box before remembering to take photos. Three Timpo wagons - all a bit tatty, a pair of broken Timpo guns and a quartet of ancient/medieval twangy things. And a still bagged Timpo Gatling. Oh, and a tent.  It may be tat but at least it’s cheap tat!