“The suspense is Terrible… I hope it will last.”
- Willie Wonka
- Willie Wonka
The O.G. of Wooden Wars!
Over the last few months or so, I've acquired or discovered some really cool toys, and want to share them with you- which of course is just a fancy way for me to show off.
I’m going to start out with props to these beautiful 19th century wooden soldiers, that sold at auction recently. Here’s the catalogue write up:
I’m going to start out with props to these beautiful 19th century wooden soldiers, that sold at auction recently. Here’s the catalogue write up:
“A set of twelve
early 19th century Folk-Art hand carved and painted wooden soldiers, each
dressed in uniform wearing a black Shako cap with two ...
single
white bands, cream coats, grey trousers with black boots, raised upon circular
bases, each approximately 11cm high, stored in an oval bentwood box, the lid
inscribed in black ink 'Soldiers Robert Lowe bought at Stockport August 29th
1820' (Faults) Provenance - the soldiers were bought at Stockport August 29th
1820 for Robert Lowe afterwards Lord Sherbrooke, lent by Mrs Chaworth-Musters,
Annesley Park, Nottinghamshire. Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount of Sherbrooke was a
pivotal figure who shaped British politics in the late 19th century. He held
office under William Ewart Gladstone as Chancellor of the Exchequer and later
as Home Secretary between 1873 - 1874. “
I think the going price for these fine lads was 6,000 pounds
sterling. And this is why I make my own
Wooden Wars soldiers! They are the
Heirlooms of the future!
Stratego!
At the flea Market of Kublacon (the Khan of Cons) I scored these beautiful complete sets of
circa 1961 wooden Stratego game pieces. I
have a super fondness for this game, not only was it my first introduction to
wargaming, but also the spring board to my first game design. I was in 6th grade and bought a second stratego board (I already had
one set) at a church bazaar for 50 Cents.
I raced home on my Huffy Moon buggy, complete with banana seat, sissy
bar and ape hangers, and cut the board down the middle with a dull hacksaw. Then, at my father’s suggestion and guidance,
I cut one more square deeper using a utility knife and straight edge. Much
better.
Adding the half of the board to my original, and creating a
basic points system (the pieces already had values) I proceeded to build a mega
Stratego. It was quite fun, even when my pals would spend a ton of money on
bombs!
Not sure what I’ll do with the pieces yet. May make Jewelry
out of them, or just add them to my current Stratego set!
Here’s some old school action comercial of Stratego. I still sing this jingle when playing"regular" wargames, much to the chagrin of my opponents.
Sail ho- Tiny Gems with rigging!
My 5th rate English ship- image from J.White's blog |
It should be no great shock that I love ships! All periods, all kinds, if it floats and has
gun ports, or can be used for boarding, or courting some lass, I’m loving
it. This particular Gem of a ship is a
Langton miniatures 1/1200 scale 5th Rate English ship from the Anglo Dutch
wars, built and painted by the extremely Talented Mr. J White
Reading Mr. White’s blog , he commented that this fine
specimen was a mistake order (he usually delves in Napoleonic period ships) so
I reached out to see if she was for sale- and now she’s mine, sitting proudly
on top of my computer monitor for me to gaze at daily.
You can find more of J. White’s awesomeness on his blog
I am always -always -always
in awe of tiny ship builders, and have fond memories when I was very young, of my father’s commercial fishermen mates attempting
to teach me how to make ships in a bottle, and showing me the one’s they did.
There is another reason for this particular purchase. I am
currently working on a secret project or two, ship related, and this fine 5th
rate is an inspiration to that end.
What do you have in your pocketesses?!
Okay- enough of my show and tell- who out there have scored
anything or came across something cool or brilliant!
I think we had the same bike. :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't start war gaming until I was little older and I had a 10 speed though. Which is good, because my gaming friend's house was about 5 miles away.
Brion, sounds like a sweet ride- and how things have changed over the years. We can tell our kids, " I used to ride my bike 5 miles in the snow/rain/ lava just to go roll a 20 sided dice with friends!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Well, it was Tracy, CA so not much lava. It did snow about 2 inches once, but I took the bus to school that day.
DeleteThe biggest problem was riding in 100+ heat. I nearly passed out one day when it was too hot.