Collectible Toy Soldiers

Rating:
Summary: Collecting Toy Soldiers
Review: This appears to be a French publication, written in English and aimed at the U.S. market. The author has written 6 books in the "collectibles" series on very diverse themes and here has drawn on the knowledge and collections of some of the best known collectors and dealers in Paris. There is little authoritative information in the text and what there is has mostly been taken from "Petits Soldats" and "CBG" by Christian Blondieau. That said, the format of the book is excellent with clear full colour pictures on every page showing predominantly French manufactures, the majority of which have have not been illustrated elsewhere.

The section on Flats (52 pages) is good concentrating on some of the earlier and lesser known manufacturers rather than the big German names. The section on Lead (152 pages) mostly covers recent CBG Mignot, connosieur collectors models and modern white metal "toy soldiers", all of which are nice to see and may be collectable but were never made to be played with so are not toy soldiers! The chapter on Alluminium (48 pages)is very nice, concentrating on the products of Quiralu, as you would expect. Plastic and Composition figures are lumped in together (68 pages) and there is quite a nice mix here - early Starlux plastics and some of the lesser known French composition manufacturers.

I found it refreshing to see a book which contains virtually nothing on Wm Britains, Heyde, Dimestore and Lineol/Elastolin as these are all more than well covered elsewhere. At the price, it is exceedingly good value for money and given the dearth of knowledge on French toy soldiers, outside of France, I would certainly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Collecting Toy Soldiers
Review: This appears to be a French publication, written in English and aimed at the U.S. market. The author has written 6 books in the "collectibles" series on very diverse themes and here has drawn on the knowledge and collections of some of the best known collectors and dealers in Paris. There is little authoritative information in the text and what there is has mostly been taken from "Petits Soldats" and "CBG" by Christian Blondieau. That said, the format of the book is excellent with clear full colour pictures on every page showing predominantly French manufactures, the majority of which have have not been illustrated elsewhere.

The section on Flats (52 pages) is good concentrating on some of the earlier and lesser known manufacturers rather than the big German names. The section on Lead (152 pages) mostly covers recent CBG Mignot, connosieur collectors models and modern white metal "toy soldiers", all of which are nice to see and may be collectable but were never made to be played with so are not toy soldiers! The chapter on Alluminium (48 pages)is very nice, concentrating on the products of Quiralu, as you would expect. Plastic and Composition figures are lumped in together (68 pages) and there is quite a nice mix here - early Starlux plastics and some of the lesser known French composition manufacturers.

I found it refreshing to see a book which contains virtually nothing on Wm Britains, Heyde, Dimestore and Lineol/Elastolin as these are all more than well covered elsewhere. At the price, it is exceedingly good value for money and given the dearth of knowledge on French toy soldiers, outside of France, I would certainly recommend it.