Month: September 2024

Croydon Expeditionary Force # 2 Hostile or Friendly Natives and Colourful Irregular Troops

26soldiersoftin4 Comments

You don’t see many colourful ‘Cowboys and Indians’ in toy shops these days.

A joyous shade of pink shirt on this battered lead cowboy!

Here are some of my repaired vintage toy soldier ones and native troops on exhibition amongst the 14,000 hobby and craft objects at Come As You Really Are at Grants of Croydon (London) until 20 October 2024.

How they arrived and began to be repaired … the bottom two rows of native warriors now restored to gaming life and off on show.

Crossposted from my fully colour illustrated ‘tuppence coloured’ Man of TIN Blog Two post here:

https://manoftinblogtwo.wordpress.com/2024/09/22/croydon-expeditionary-force-2-hostile-or-friendly-natives-and-colourful-irregular-troops/

I have also collected a few of my ‘repairing broken figures’ posts on this blog page here:

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/broken-britains-repairing-old-toy-soldiers/

(Cross) Posted by Mark Man of TIN on 22 September 2024

CEF Croydon Expeditionary Force #1

26soldiersoftinLeave a comment

A glimpse of some of the 200 restored, repaired or repainted vintage lead hollowcast toy soldiers who were posted, no doubt to deal with reports of rebellious natives.

If you can’t make it to the exhibition in its final month in Croydon, before parts go off on a UK tour.

On my crosposted blog, I have included rough photos that I sent in to the selection panel for Come As You Really Are, the exhibition of hobbies, crafts and pastimes curated by Hetain Patel and Artangel London.

See more at my Man of TIN Blog Two:

https://manoftinblogtwo.wordpress.com/2024/09/15/croydon-expeditionary-force-cef-1/

Parazuellian female pipes and drums (rebuilt from damaged Royal Marine bandsmen)
Thyer Brigadia local militia (rebuilt from Britain’s redcoat infantry)

Blog posted by Mark Man of TIN, 15 September 2024.

The Cupboards are Empty(ing)

26soldiersoftinLeave a comment

Whilst 200 troops are on parade or deployment in Croydon, I have also been emptying out cupboards ready for a permanent display space for my hoarded figures.

Blog post crossposted from Man Of TIN Blog Two:

https://manoftinblogtwo.wordpress.com/2024/09/08/the-cupboards-are-emptying/