2011
I Hope you enjoy your time browsing through imaginified History. I love to hear from you guys. Questions and comments are welcomed!
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Who would have beliieved the TSSD Romans would look this good painted up? Thanks to Joe Hale for doing such a fantastic paint job on them.
I'm getting ready to sell my Barzso Battle of New Orleans Playset. Hopefully I'll get some pictures that do it justice before I have to part with it.
Attack of the Clones
O for another fifty or so British Infantry....
9/30/11
Aren't these Barzso Teepees beautiful?
While looking for my painted Barzso Indian camp figures, I ran accross these 60mm Marx campfire Indians I had painted a number of years ago. Except for the goofiness of a couple of guys lounging around in full headdresses, they look good with the teepees.
He's calling the Buffalo Spirits.
Must have worked.
9/28/11
It's my first day off since OTSN and I have so much I want to do. First up is a small chase scenario.
I really didn't think I would be spending much of my OTSN budget on Indian Wars stuff, but Ed Borris had a bunch of incredibly cool plastic underground figures. Out came the wallet and another six great figures were recruited into my collection.
I've posted my report on my visit to OTSN. Click on the picture to get a little taste of the greatest Toy Soldier Show in the Universe.
Paragon Apaches perched on the Traverse Dioramics mountain pass terrain piece.
9/17/11
Conte. Romans. 'Nuff said.
9/15/11
Conte's Gordon's Highlanders are due anytime now, so, in anticipation, I painted up some of the resin Afghans from the Scotland the Brave playset that came out in 2001. Until the Gordon's arrive on the scene, the 24th Foot will have to stand in.
9/6/11
Coming from Conte...It's going to be a good year for Roman collectors.
Click on the above picture to see all the pictures of this large Civil War set up.
I've made a new page featuring my Ultimate Fort Apache featuring the Barzso Fort Apache configuration of their western fort and lots of my single color conversions. Click on the picture to go to it.
5/11/11
Click on the picture to see more Zulu War picutres.
5/9/11
I've been spending the last few weeks attempting to clean and organize my basement. Among the things I've discovered are a bunch of 1/72 scale models I had someone paint for me way back in the mid 80s...long before there were any cool vehicles in 1/32 scale. I also found a bunch of small scale scenery ....One thing led to another and I was taking pictures instead of cleaning. O well.
This is a shelf display of Conte's "Valhalla Awaits" Series.
These are shots from one of the Shelf displays I made to store my Hobby Bunker buildings until the next time I do a really big WW2 set-up.
This is my "Legend of Jesse James " Playset Shelf Display.
I've put all the metal ACW figures on a table for easy access. It's not a display, but it is, in its' own way.
3/8/1 1
Conte's Union Zouaves
Conte vs. Collector's Showcase
2/18/11
This picture was taken by my friend Mike Estell. The figures are by First Legion. Mike is one of the really great guys in the hobby.
Here's another shot of these great figures in front of beautiful Hudson and Allen backdrop.
12/25/10
I've had family here at the house through much of December and haven't had much time to play. I did find time to put the Britains German Machine Gun team in a new building I recently picked up on eBay.
10/22/10
At OTSN, I picked up Steve Westen's Cattle Drive Playset. I also found repro 60mm Marx wagons for the first time. I've been having lots of fun going back to my roots and working with my Dreamwish Marx Playsets. Stay tuned for my versions of Wagon Train, Gunsmoke and the Legend of Jesse James.
I really like how this coversion worked out.
Barzso's new Fort William Henry!
Click on the picture to see allthe pictures of this great "Western Boom Town" display made by Len and Colleen Hardt of Father and Son Toys.
Here's a shot of Mike Estell's incredible Hudson and Allen custom Diorama layout with a bunch of Iron Brigade figures by Britains, Troiani and Conte...but all sculpted by Ken Osen. Mike lives not too far away from me and It's alot of fun having another collector to play with. (Especially one with such really cool stuff!)
Here is a mixture of Conte and Britains figures inside the Hospital building from Conte's Zulu playsets.
Figures by TSSD and Plastic Underrground. (and a Reamsa guy. too!)
Conte's Amazing Zouaves! Click on the abovepicture for a whole series of ACW pics.
These figures, except for the TSSD Custer figure, are from Plastic Underground.
Beau Cunnyngham of Cunnyngham Collectibles has released his first set of plastic figures...ACW Confederates. Great work, Beau! Want some? Go to http://cunnyngham.com .
As you can see, they blend in size wise with Marx and Conte figures.
I am really thrilled with the versatility of the Diorama Drape. I was very pleased with how this river accessory photographed.
Now that's what I call "Big Game Hunting".
There's a lot of buzz about the upcoming TSSD Custer's Last Stand playset. It will be interesting to see all the parts. Custer's Last Stand has always been one of my favorite playset scenarios. Do you like the ground cover in this shot? Get ready for more info on a fantastic new product for the playset lover...The Diorama Drape! It will take your play to a whole new level of Cool!
I'm going to be selling a Marx Battle of the Little Big Horn set on eBay...unless someone viewing it here wants to make an acceptable offer first! Click on the picture to see the details of the set.
Here we go...Josey Wales vs the Long Riders.
I picked up the second series of the Black Hawk Jesse James series at OTSN. I finally took the time to rebuild my Western town to give them a stage to act on. One of the great things about this series is that the figures go so well with existing Western Figures, like this Deetail bandit.
Conte's Spartans in metallic Silver and Bronze are now shipping. Check out http://conteco.com .
This set up features the new Hobby Bunker Stone Bridge, the TSSD Farmhouse, the Britains Woodshed, Conte figures and a bunch of other good stuff.
What a luxury!
One last picture before I put the Barzso Boonsborough buildings away.
December 23, 2008
It's almost Christmas and that makes me want to get the guys out and play. My problem is I'm not quite motivated enough to put away the Boonesborough set up or the Western Town or the WW2 city scene (or the desert scene for Wagon Train or the Jungle scene). So I just put different figures in old sets. It is nice to play with old friends.
Speaking of old friends...This Marx figure is one of my all time favorites.
11/04/08
Finally! FOV has released the vehicle we've needed for years...the deuce and a half truck.
10/16/08
One of the truly amazing individuals in this hobby of ours is Larry Patterson of P and P Products. It's almost like if you can conceive it, he can create it. One of my ambitions is to create my own, one of a kind Outlaw Josey Wales playset. I shared that I would sure love to get a cart like that used by the Commancheros in the movie. He said, "I think I could make that...." Lo and behold,,,look what he created. You can almost picture Josey riding down on those poor misguided souls.
Those aren't Comanches...This is not in the script!.
Click on the box to see the pictures of this great Barzso Playset.
Click on the picture to see a great series of photos featuring buildings by Hobby Bunker, the Conte BOSS figures, and all sorts of other great World War Two stuff. It's an amazing time to be collecting WW2!
This picture show some of the stuff I bought at OTSN. This is the Black Hawk Frank James figure in front of the new TSSD farm house and some Britains scenics.
Here are the Collector's Showcase Zouaves.
I took my Conte Spartans down to the Lakeshore and had some fun. You need to get your hands on these guys. Arms move up and down. Heads turn. Heads and arms are interchangable...
Here I used a bunch of Reamsa figures as stand in for Persians.
The Phalanx.
Does anyone know anything about these figures? They're about 70mm and by a company called GSC. I understand they made quite a wide range of western figures. I'd sure love to see what other poses they made.
The Timpo wagon paints up nice. So do the Deetail Mexicans.
I've been having some fun making some of my pictures look like vintage shots. Click on above picture for more.
I've been wanting to get the Conte Battering Ram into action...and today was the day to get it done.
I have always wanted some great 54mm "Long Rider" figures. Black Hawk Toy Soldiers has delivered. Fantastic sculpting, great poses and the perfect size. The painting is awfully nice as well.
I've been painting again. A few years ago my eyes started fading on me a little and I just didn't want to strain them. But the release of the Jesse James figures and my finally getting the signage done on the B and T buildings inspired me to pick up the brush again. I am absolutely amazed at how really cool most of the Britains Deetail poses are when painted up a little more realistically. Here's shot of most of the cast. Now my decision is whether to paint up my super-cool P and P Dodge City figures or leave them single colored. I wish I could have them both ways.
Conte Spartans
I have long admired the work of figure converter, Gary Dutko. Above is a dynamic, standing, firing 'Thimblerig" pose from the John Wayne Alamo movie. Pretty cool, huh? The "Collector's Cards" below memorialize Gary's contribution to the hobby. You can often find his stuff on eBay,
I've always loved the Marx Wagon Train set. There's just something about the colors of the pieces that stirs something inside. (If you're not an addict, you won't understand). Recently a nice partial set was listed on eBay. Boy did I want that set! However, I don't see myself spending the big bucks on vintage sets much anymore. So I got out parts of my Ultimate Wagon Train and had some fun.
Old Seth Adams looks a little worried...
Stay tuned...
B and T's Western Town Building.
I recently had some fun playing with the Conte Rangers and Indians series.
Click on the picture below to see the whole series.
This shot may look simple, but it was a long time in the making. The inspiration comes from a life size diorama in a museum in Madison, Wisconsin. The Conte Iron Brigade figures have been waiting for a while, but I wanted some good corn and some realistic split rail fence. Thanks go to Michigan Toy Soldier company for helping me out with the corn. And special thanks also goes out to Gary Livingston (Shiloh) who is the master of split rail fence.
I've been experimenting with flame effects today...
As Conte's "Zulu: Horns of the Buffalo" series arrives, there will be alot more pics like this.
I had some time today and just decided to have fun. You all seemed to enjoy my "Ultimate Blue and Gray" playset. Here is my "Ultimate Custer's Last Stand" playset. There are some pretty cool conversions in this set.
One of my favorite purchases at OTSN was a great Hobby Bunker building to which Charles Moore had added an interior and debris and busted up furniture...Here's a shot of feturing Conte's "House Cleaning, Airborne Style"
The new Conte Roman Ship is an absolutely amazing piece. Here I put it into a story with an Egyptian boat I picked up at a tourist gift shop on Macinaw Island of all places. I added a Russian Caesar figure I had picked up on eBay to fill out the scene.
My report on OTSN will be coming soon. As a teaser, here is a picture of the giant Robin Hood diorama Ron Barzso had displayed in the lobby of the Hotel. A true Playset Dream come true.
Are you ready for a hot time at "The Hot Gates"? Hosted by Leonidas and the 300.
The first "guests" arrive...and are welcomed!
Several years ago I set out to create a series of color matched 'Dreamwish' Playsets...Post-Marx playsets filled with figures from a whole bunch of different manufacturers mixed with tons of conversions. I cut and pinned and glued and painted and I was almost ready to start photographing these 'Series Infinity" sets when I got the Conte Webmaster gig. The Conte site has kept me so busy that I haven't been able to play with my creations...until now. First up will be my Ultimate Blue and the Gray Playset. Click on the photo to go to the new page. I dare you to try to identify the various makers and to try to figure out the components of the conversions.
8/30/07 - My current project...painted Civil War.
I'm glad the pictures don't capture the smell...Click on the picture to enter the Field of Battle.
Conte's Raiding Vikings are coming soon!
The Spartans have been in place for a while. Now...Enter the Persians!
I picked up a pretty nice Marx Giant Blue and Gray at the local Antique Mall. (Yeah...I'm amazed, too.) So I had to set it up and play with it 'playsetaddict style'. Click on the picture to see the whole set of pictures.
Tiger I tank and Armor Column. This is on a shelf in my basement. Click on the picture to see the whole shelf.
Click on the Picture to see the whole series of pictures featuring Mike O'Donnell's incredible farmhouse.
Click on the above picture to see one of my all time favorite series of pictures....my tribute to "The Horse Soldiers"
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The Marx guys sure go nice with the FOV and 21st Century vehicles, don't they?
I've been in a scenery making mode lately. I both love and hate it when this creative obsession kicks in. I spend way too much money and way too much time trying to make the sets I think I 'need' to play with all the toys. The focus of this latest bit of mania has been the making of hedgerows. These first pictures are of a little skirmish I put together using my creations with some Conte paratroopers and SS figures...along with a 21st Century King Tiger that I took the torch to.
I remember reading about a German tank that was knocked out in Normandy that had the tank commander still in the hatch...but burned to a skeletal mess. I tried to recreate that.
I also did a little play with my WW2 city before I started taking it down. Here some of the Conte Boss figures run into a patrol of Germans on the outskirts of town.
A little congestion. Buildings are by Conte, Hobby Bunker and B and T Products. The rubble piles are my creations. The vehicles are Forces of Valor and 21st Century. The figures are some painted Marx plastic Germans, some Conte figures and some 21st Century figures. If you want to see a whole page featuring German armor moving through a battle damaged city, go to http://conteco.com/bloggermanarmor.htm
Conte...Civil War...That's the ticket.
These are all figures I wish Marx had made...but I had to make them myself. They are part of my "Stuart's Raid" Dreamwish Playset.
I picked up these Elastolin figures at OTSN a couple of years ago.
In my opinion, biased as it well may be, the Sons of the South Series by Conte takes painted metal figures to a new level. I love the earthier tones of color. And as for depicting action and interaction, they have no rivals. I like the BOSS series of American GIs for their inherent drama and heroism...but the they don't interact well with enemy forces. The SOS really do. They get right up close and personal.
The SOS guys also are loaded with personality. Doesn't this officer just make you want to dream up a back story for him?
This is an old picture I had forgotten about. MM MMM MMM. I might have to try to recreate this with the Sons of the South thrown in.
Here's another old photo I had forgotten about.
