This author personally believes that a significant evolution has occurred in the collecting of toy soldiers. As has been previously and frequently stated in this blog at least two major factors have been driving the collection of toy soldiers/military miniatures for at least several decades. I personally feel that for the serious collector, regardless of their resources or perspective of interest, there has been an evolution from the classic toy soldier to the military miniature, i.e. from vintage Minot and W. Britains Ltd to King & Country, Thomas Gunn and John Jenkins, just as examples. Strongly illustrative of this trend is the decrease of auctions of vintage toy soldiers (W. Britains) in both the United States and Great Britain, and the overall diminished presence and quality of the sets being offered on e-Bay. Further corroborating this fact is the significant overall decrease of prices realized at auction in recent years, again with exceptions. If one views recent photographs at the decreasing number of remaining toy soldier shows (West Coaster and Texas are gone, and in the U.K. the shows are much smaller) the discernible absence of the iconic shiny red W. Britains boxes is consistent. The notable exceptions (there are always exceptions) being William Hocker and Imperial (New Zealand). Hocker more so than Imperial, providing a nostalgic bridge to the past, including the shiny red boxes.
My personal opinion is that the increase in scale, 1:32 (54mm) to 1:30 (~60mm), and the resultant significant increase in detail, quality of figure sculpture and painting (and in most cases historical accuracy), and the predomination of matte over gloss finish, have been the principal results. Obviously as this has occurred, and with the overall world skilled labour market, prices have sharply increased in recent years. I can clearly recall a previous parallel example. In the late 1940's to the mid 50's a box/set (8 infantry or 5 cavalry) of W. Britains Ltd. cost between $1.25 to $2.00 USD, but even then, a single Greenwood & Ball figure was priced from $6.50 to $9.50 USD, at the time at least for me, an exorbitant cost.
The second factor of this evolution being the trend from merely display of mass formations to dioramas, has caused a change in the resultant facets of judgement and appreciation of individual collections. And again Malcom Forbes presentation format at his museum in Tangiers, Morocco and Anne Brown’s collection at the Brown University Library (see; https://library.brown.edu/collections/askb/) being significant exceptions.
The following is a photograph of the late Ed Ruby with a portion of his collection (in the previously classic format), considered by many, including James Opie, to be one of the world's consummate collectors of vintage W. Britains Ltd. toy soldiers. It is followed by two images of a portion of the author's collection. The first being in the older traditional format, and the second in an attempt at a semi-diorama format.
Until recently dioramas were predominately the domain of museums. Once again, the exceptions being individual “objects de art” and/or vignettes. Here artists in the Russian Federation, such as Aeroart of St. Petersburg and Attica Miniatures would appear to currently predominate the field, as seen in the following images. It is extremely difficult to comprehend that these amazing figures are 1:32 (54mm) scale.
Not unlike the media of more classic and conventional art (with the obvious exception of modern abstract art) and photography, the elements of composition, historical accuracy, visual effects, and unique subject matter/backgrounds are significant factors. In this author’s opinion this tends to relegate the figures to merely an element, albeit essential, of the artist’s palette/lens.
All that having been said there is absolutely nothing to be taken, inferred, or intended of a negative or derogatory nature by the discussion of this evolution, it is that, an evolution, which should be both recognized and appreciated. However, there is one disconcerting element in addition to the sharp price increases that is universal, and the decreased collector population at the shows, that being the almost absolute absence of younger aged collectors joining the ranks. Unfortunately this is entirely understandable (given the prices) with the exception being the millennials, where apparently there is a lack of interest for one reason or another.
There is a saying sometimes uttered to categorize collectors , that is "there are the out-patients and there are the committables". For those who might be of the latter category, the following three videos are from the twice yearly London Toy Soldier Show of 2018, and should at least partially appease you cravings. Apologies for the limited redundancy. This is one of the few remaining shows in the world where there still is a significant representation of the classic vintage W. Britains Ltd. toy soldiers (1893-1966), along with the firm's current production line.
