News, Views Etc . . . Show Report - Plastic Warrior's 32nd Toy Soldier Show; Twickenham, London, 13th May 2017

Oh no! I lost the 'who can get a show report out first' competitive-blogging race for the umpteenth-year running, anyone would think I wasn't playing!

I don't know if anyone told you there was a toy soldier show at the weekend; best in the world, so commiserations if you missed it, but a brief resume of the day needs to start with the weather which threatened to be damp and drizzly, and started as such, but about the time the tables turned-up it had started clearing, and continued to improve to the point where we had the post-show 'autopsy' chin-wag on the lawn, in shirts, with tea and bisk'wuits!

Paul Morehead, the inimitable editor of Plastic Warrior was pleased with the turn-out, and table-space was over-subscribed in the end (so dealers: book early for next year!), while I thought the show stayed busy for longer than some years, with quite a buzz 'till well after lunch. I spoke to several stall-holders who'd all had a good day and I think everyone found something they needed, wanted or liked the look or price of!

As well as the two new 'specials' shown here on Friday evening last, the show was also the launching-point for the usual (or 'annual'!) new release from Peter Cole at Replicants and this year's was a delight; four Comanche warriors. I did take the middle image with Peter and the Westons in the background, but it was not the most flattering shot I've taken of him, so I hope he'll forgive me for cropping out the wider angles!

Wonderfully animated figures, with Peter's natural style to the fore, I particularly like the charging guy, reminiscent of the old Britains Swoppet chap, but while the Britains pose always looked to be dancing, Peter's 'local resident' is clearly bearing down on an illegal migrant from across the pond - with intent!

The archer reaching for a second arrow is nice, the kneeling firer is a very well observed pose while the rather gruesome scalping vignette has the perpetrator standing on a victim who - while wearing a fringed jacket - has few other defining details (and not much hair!) so can be painted up as a cowboy/settler/backwoodsman, or another - rival tribe - Indian. He could even be given US Army (cavalry) blue trousers with a nice yella' stripe down the seam - if only the natives had had a wall . . . a really big wall folks!

Also on sale at the show, and still available from Replicants' retail-agents (Steve Weston's Toy Soldiers) were the last set of figures from 21^st Century. They were described as 'WWII British' in the last Plastic Warrior, but are really British Paratroops, equipped as per post-D-Day, and might like to have their smocks repainted to reflect the Denison scheme.

Their helmets also being wrong for infantry as they are neither the old rimmed 'Tommy' or 'Brodie' (as the Yanks called it) nor having the distinctive shape of the Guards Brigade's MkIII 'Turtles', and as well as having the look of the Para-helmet, they have the chin-strap for it. However a couple of the figures are in other headdress, shirt or jumper, so are a bit more flexible.

However they're very good, highly detailed sculpts which would benefit from further paint whoever they were representing. The Bren-gun's magazine on one of mine needs a hot-water treatment to straighten it, but otherwise lovely figures which may prove hard to get in the future, so grab them now!

Five bags of other plunder were returned to Smallscaleworld Towers and their contents will feature in a future post.

The big difference this year was a lack of European visitors, most of the German faces were there as always, but the French and Belgians were missing, as were all but one of the Portuguese? I don't know if this was a Brexit thing, a currency thing or just a busy weekend for events elsewhere.

I hope it's due to developing support structures for the hobby in other places reducing the necessity to drag one's arse to Blighty - certainly it seems the French hobby has progressed a lot in recent years, and that means someone is digging-out and saving the stuff there, so it can in turn find it's way to evilBay for everyone to have a punt at! It didn't seem to effect attendance, and only time will tell if it's part of a trend or just a one-off?

Finally . . . 

Blimey! It's only less than a blinking year until the next Plastic Warrior magazine's Toy Soldier Show, the best toy soldier show in the world!