Toy Fairs and Trains!

Waifs and Strays......The next train to arrive at platform one is the 3.30 from Malvern!

Last Sunday I ventured out in the Bentley to attend a toy fair at the Three Counties showground in the shadow of the Malvern Hills. A nice venue in a beautiful part of the world and a happy hunting ground for old lead treasure on previous visits.

The show is well attended by traders carrying all of the traditional toys and models that you might expect, trains, diecast cars, etc. This show doesn't seem to attract as many dealers in the post 1980's toys. It does however have a more rural air to it as the number of people selling model tractors testifies! 

I try to attend each one of these shows and normally find a reasonable number of new recruits for the armies and civilian population of Apperley Towers. This time however, I found hollow cast figures elusive, at least at the right price!

There was a dealer there that I haven't noticed previously who had bought along a large selection of Britains figures and military equipment. These all came from a collection he had recently acquired and were almost without exception in sparkling condition. Many looked brand new and I immediately spotted a number of pieces that would be extremely useful. Unfortunately the asking prices, not unfairly, reflected the quality and condition of the pieces. Sadly, this in some ways makes it easier for me to walk away. This isn't because I couldn't stretch my finances to buy a few nice items, but because I generally want them to play, with not just to collect for display. My happiest acquisitions remain the battered pieces that I find in trays for a pound or two, that I can strip and repaint. 

I asked the dealer if I could take a photo or two so that you can see why I was tempted!

So what did I find I hear you ask? Well I came back with just four figures!

A station master and a nice passenger, both by Johillco. The third figure is another (Britains) recruit for my 'Peaky Blinders'. £7 paid in total.

Some other finds ....

The tree was a nice find for £1. I love these to make little scenic vignettes for my cabinet displays. The fourth figure is a Britains jig driver which has previously eluded me. Missing an arm but for £1, I was more than happy. 

The cart was £2 and I find it hard to leave them behind at that sort of price. 

The broken gun was 50p! I see it as a nice little howitzer after a lick of paint. 

If that was it, I would have come home a little disappointed, but there were two more purchases which made it feel a worthwhile trip.

First of all was a Hornby O gauge water tower. It needs a new hose but is otherwise in good condition. This is the last piece of railway equipment that I have been looking to pick up and it has great potential for a spotter or sniper. 

That was another £5 well spent I feel. But my biggest purchase was saved for last. 

I love my little red loco as seen in  the last game I posted. I have however, been desirous of a more substantial loco. As will be evident, I have no expertise or knowledge about steam trains, but I just like the look of the bigger locos. The much larger ones would need Pullman carriages to look right and these would make the train so big, it wouldn't be practical for my tabletop. There was however a compromise in the form of  a number 1 loco. A much more substantial version of my basic red loco. I handed over £20 for this example which has finally scratched the itch so to speak. I think this completes my Hornby tin plate train collection but you never know............

So there we have it. Not my biggest haul, but a nice morning out and a few nice toys for the toy room. To be honest, I have a large backlog of figures awaiting the attention of my brush, so perhaps its just as well I didn't find hundreds of cheap hollow cast recruits!

A lick of paint.......Railway staff

Whilst looking for my earliest tin plate train acquisitions on E-bay, I also cast my eye enviously over the Britains railway staff that were up for sale. I eventually persuaded my banker to release sufficient funds and I bought a group of 6 figures together with some luggage. These figures are certainly pre war and possibly as old as the first war (I believe they were first sold in 1909 and withdrawn in 1941). I adore the patina these figures have and they have taunted me ever since they arrived. To repaint or not....that is the question?

As regular readers will know, this is not the first time this dilemma has occurred and it will certainly not be the last! This group are from from mint condition but they still have 90% of their original paint and with the exception of the  signal figure (5th from the left), are undamaged. I decided to put this set away for a while and ruminate on the situation. In the intervening months I acquired a few more of these figures in poorer condition or as in one case, a modern recast. This has given me the opportunity to 'repaint them' without repainting them if you catch my drift!

At the time of writing I have finished the porter pushing the luggage trolley, the ticket inspector and the station master. My aim was to reproduce the paint work as closely as possible to the first figures. Obviously they will always look shinier because I gloss varnish all of my figures, but I leave it to you to decide which you prefer. 

In this photo, you can see I have repainted all of the luggage that came with the trolley. This was not a difficult decision as the luggage had lost 50% or more of the original paintwork. You can also see the (recast) signalman and a repaired porter who will be painted next. If I can find another porter figure to complete the set I will keep the original set as is and display them where they belong with the train station. The newly painted figures can then take their chances with the rest of the Apperley Towers civilian population on the wargames table!

The consensus of opinion following my last post was that people like my photo heavy posts, so I have taken the liberty of setting up my railway collection for a photo shoot which I hope you will enjoy!

 

The last few photos illustrate the difference between the two loco's. The size, and level of detail is obviously significant and although photos can't illustrate this, the weight difference is considerable. I am however happy to have two trains to play with!

Three cheers for.......'The Hornby Gauge O System'.....The Hornby Companion Series Volume 5

I discovered this somewhat hefty tome whilst running 'Hornby O Gauge' searches on E-Bay. As I have freely admitted I am not a 'train man' and certainly not an expert on Hornby O gauge models. This book looked like an interesting addition to the Apperley Towers library and would help me to navigate this 'new territory', whilst trying to purchase the pieces I thought would add play value to my wargames. It turned out to be a great decision and whilst my copy is a very well read book, it has been an invaluable guide and reference work. Its also got lots of very inspirational photos, showing the full breadth and width of the toys made. Believe me....there were a huge number of items! I picked up this well worn copy for £10 and can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone interested in the subject. 

A few random page shots from the book. It is over 400 pages, with at least the same number of photographs. 

Well that's all for this post. It seems to have turned in to a Hornby train 'special edition' and to those of my readers who are only really interested in military subjects I apologise....but not too vigorously! I know that more than one or two of my regular readers have an interest in this subject and hopefully will have enjoyed reading about my adventures down this particular rabbit hole! 

Tara a bit!