Recap

First off, I mentioned in a post below that I read on the Conte site that they had actually received the plastic Spartans. whoops. I didn't really read that. My excitement got the better of me. It said they were expecting the shipment, not that they had actually gotten it. my bad. I called, but didn't realize they were only open Mon-Fri.

My Wal-Mart still had the same stuff, 3 packs of 21st Century figures, the Russian mini playsets, and some Airplanes. Didn't seem like much of it has sold.

My wife and I have started the TV show "Lost", starting with Season 1. I think it's rockin', and it has a nice toy soldier scene in it.

It's a slow day around here today, and I'm going to be painting some figures and try finishing up the Hobby Bunker building I bought in Chicago. It's going to be a awesome when it's done, and then I'll need another one to go along with it.

Wally World restock

My Wal-Mart restocked their 21st Century stuff. They had a ton of 1/32 vehicles, a bunch of the little boxed playsets with Russian Infantry figures, and a whole bunch of the three figure packs containing Germans and Americans. Still no Italians though. I'm going back today, and crossing my fingers that they have some more in stock.

Anybody have any word on when the Conte Spartans are going to be "for sale". I might give em' a call today, see how close they are to being able to ship.

Rock on.

Conte Sale, plus new stuff

Praise be the toy soldier gods. According to the Conteco site, they have received shipment of the Plastic Spartans, plus all their older plastic sets are going on sale in a "buy one get one free" deal. PLUS, 25% off of their playsets. No, no, no, I ain't a paid salesman or anything, but that's a heck of a good deal, Conte plastic sets for $10. Can't beat it with a stick.

And did I mention... NEW PLASTIC SPARTANS ARRIVING!!!! dude...DUDE...really... I'm gonna get me some.

Oh, and a big thanks to whoever posted my site on the hatwiki. Rock on ya'll.

New Persians

I was surfing through Ebay, and saw the latest from The Plastic Underground. There are a couple of sets of Persians available to bid on. Both sets look awesome. It doesn't look like they are available from his website yet, so it looks like if you want them, you're going to have to battle it out on Ebay.

Need a Ride?

Over at Ebay, there is a auction going on for 31 Timmee trucks. These are always popular and usually get high bids. But 31 of them? Wow. That was a major collection of Timmee stuff. I don't have one myself. I'm holding out till I find one in a garage sale or the like. I just can't bring myself to battle it out on Ebay and pay usually over $10 for one. But the winner of this auction is going to have a fun time setting all those trucks up.

Waterloo 1815 Japanese

I'm guessing that we won't be getting new 1/32 Japanese from Waterloo. I'm making this assumption on the fact that the Waterloo 1/72 and 1/32 Prussians are coming out at around the same time. Waterloo is listing the Japanese as coming sometime this month, but no mention of a matching 1/32 set. bummer. Meh, we got the TSSD Japanese set awhile back. And a heck of a set it was. Slap it together with your new 21st Century Japanese, along with all your vintage Marx, Airfix, and MPC, add in those slightly oversized BMC, and you've got yourself a formidable island defense.

No sign of 21st Century

I've been keeping an eye out for any of the new 21st Century infantry sets at my local Wally World. So far, nothing. And when I say nothing, I mean zilch. All the Wal-Marts around me don't seem to be stocking 21st Century at all. They used to carry all the 1/6 figures and weapons sets, the 1/16 figures, and lots of the 1/32 sets including infantry, armor, and aircraft. I walked in the other day, and found a lone package of 1/6 weapons. Bleck. I hope this isn't the beginning of a trend. I could always count on Wally World to get me some toy soldiers at discounted retail price. Hopefully it's just a case of them not being fully restocked after the Christmas rush. hopefully....

It's been awhile since I've really dug into my collection and set up any displays. Christmas really takes over around here, and then the New Year hits, and now finally, life can go back to it's normal hectic routine. It also didn't help that I got Call of Duty 4 for Christmas. It's one heck of a game, and I've spent a fair amount of time proving my inadequacy at multi-player shoot em' ups. Here's a free tip for those that might one day venture into an online game. DON'T SHOOT YOUR OWN TEAMMATE!!! They don't seem to appreciate it.

My email... it's still working I assume. I'm simply not opening it. I will someday. I just don't have time to pour through it every day, and the amount of email that comes in is crazy. Most of it is junk. Maybe I just need a new address, but that seems like a daunting task in it's own right. I'll try one day, but not today, and chances are, not tomorrow.

Imex Web Site Down

The website for Imex is all messed up. I'm not going to post a link, because who knows what sort of weird stuff it might link to, but suffice it so say, Imex's website got hacked. Looks like it was done by a Turkish hacker group of some sort. That's a bummer. Maybe when they go in to fix it, they'll see that they need to update their 1/32 section!!

Christmas is only a few days away. I hope everyone has sent their "reenforcement" list to Santa. My Santa always does pretty good for me. And hey, I'm excited about these new 21st Century Chinese Infatnry figures! Something a bit different and unique. It's nice to see them stepping away from the main WWII powers and doing something that's never been done before. I never did get their Italians. They never showed up at my local Wally World. I think I got all the other new Infantry Sets they have released though. My personal preference here, but I enjoy their sculpts and poses a touch more than the Forces of Valor Infantry. But I'm sure there are those that would disagree but it's all cool.

I've had a couple emails asking about pictures from my library display. I FORGOT TO TAKE ANY!! sorry. It wasn't that good anyway. My displays tend to focus on the figures rather than the terrain. I'm not good with all that stuff; making trees and grass and rocks and what not. I would love to do it, but right now I just don't have the space to create and keep something like that. I envy the guys who do, because they are able to make some really nice display pieces.

I have to go to a Christmas party now. Take Care ya'll

I had to look up "imbued" in the Dictionary

I didn't come back from OTSN with much money. But to defend myself, why would I travel 4 hours to simply window shop? So, because I came back with a trunk full of plastic, there ain't too many toy soldier item's on my list to Santa this year. I was keeping my fingers crossed that the Conte Spartans would be ready, but alas, it wasn't meant to be I guess. Have you seen the pictures on their site? I think the colors look good. The silver and bronze are absolutely rockin'. I still haven't wrapped my mind around the whole "poseable figure" idea yet. In fact, let's talk about that...

I'm all for change. Change is a good thing. I love change in most regards. If it ain't broke, it's a good time to see if we can make it better. Just like my computer... it's running really well right now, so let's take it apart and see if we can make it run even faster!!!

I don't know. They are what they are. I mean, there are action figures, and there are toy soldiers. When does a toy soldier become an action figure? Can they be one and the same? If someone would have told me they were making poseable spartan figures, and not mentioned the name Conte, I would have assumed they were going to be action figures, much like my beloved Star Wars and G.I. Joe figures from the 80's. But squash em' down to 1/32 scale, and all of a sudden, poseable or not, they become "toy soldiers". Why do we make a difference between them? Are they played with any differently? Do action figures, with poseable limbs and detachable weapons, dissuade imaginative prowess? Do we as hobbyists consider the "Snake Eyes" action figure with the patented Karate-Chop-Action cheaper, and beneath our realistic "scale miniatures"?

Please understand, I'm not trying to decide whether it is a good thing or a bad thing that Mr. Conte has "changed the game" on us. I've already decided, and have in fact decided that it is a spectacular thing!!! Any fresh air to the hobby is appreciated. But I'm still trying to decide whether for me, myself, poseable arms and limbs stray from my preset notions of the concept of "toy soldiers", which I have already imbued with my own particular perceptions.

But you know I'm gonna buy a ton of em' :)

The Discerning Eye

During the month of November, I had a Toy Soldier display set up at the library I work at. It consisted of four smaller scenes, and one large scene. The smaller scenes included the Alamo, Tripoli, Civil War, and Conquistadors. The larger scene was a winter WWII battle.

Of course, it was a hit with the children. It was set up right at the entrance to the Children's department, so everyday, kids would see it, and run straight to it to gawk. It was very rewarding for me to see them so interested in it. But what really interested me were the adults. And from what I saw, the results were about half and half.

One half, let's call them the good half, showed interest in the figures. They asked good questions about them, and they knew that these weren't figures that you could buy in the grocery store toy aisle. They recognized that these were sculptures, collectibles, an item beyond a simple toy categorization. I appreciated that.

The other half, let's call this the bad half, showed no interest whatsoever. They usually ended up pulling their kids away from the display after a few seconds, and said something like "you have some just like them at home". Now, I could be mistaken, but I doubt the kid has any Conte, Butternut & Blue, or TSSD figures at home.

But the difference was more than just being interested or not. The people that stopped to look also had a spark about them... as if all of a sudden, they were transported back to when they were kids, a time when imagination was still permitted and encouraged. Many of them got that goofy smile on their face, just like they probably did on Christmas morning when they were eight years old. The world, so nicely laid out in miniature, just waiting for idle hands to start playing with it.

Needless to say, that spark was not there on the people who didn't appreciate the display. I think that we, the few, who love this hobby, have somehow managed to retain that spark, that excitement that comes along with imagination, where we can transport our mind to a different place and setting at the drop of a hat. And when we see our tiny soldiers lined up, we get that goofy smile, and we are eight again.