Our Next Show is September 23, 2012
10:00 AM to 3:30 PM
Hyatt Regency Woodfield
1800 East Golf Road
Schaumburg, IL 60173
Don Pielin
106 Cottonwood Drive
Streamwood, IL 60107
(630) 497-1239 phone
dimestores@aol.com
Steve Sommers
(708) 383-6525
Future Show Dates
September 23, 2012
September 22, 2013
September 28, 2014
Chicago Toy Soldier Show 2011
It is never too early to start planning to attend the 2011 Chicago Toy Soldier Show on Sunday September 25. Planning your transportation, booking a room, contacting other collectors and vendors who will also attend all take time; now is the time to begin. You can make a hotel reservation right here on our website by simply going to the Information menu (above) and clicking on Dealer Info; then click on Accommodations. You will be taken to the Hyatt Hotel's website with the special show rate on the form. Fill in when you want to arrive and when you will leave and enter the other information needed into the computer and your Hyatt reservation is made. Click the Show Contract on the menu bar to download a vendor contract for Sunday show tables or room sales. Returning vendors will be sent contracts in early May. Check our 2010 Dealers List to see who many of our 2011 vendors will probably be. We can't wait to welcome everyone back to the Show.
The world's major toy soldier makers often use our show to highlight their newest products at the show. Vendors will be selling current toy figures, military and civilian, in metal and plastic from virtually all the manufacturers. If you are looking for antique metal, composition or plastic figures, you will not be disappointed by the array of these older toys on tables throughout the entire venue. The show provides a wonderful chance to meet face to face with the manufacturers, vendors or collectors you have heard about or corresponded with. You can take time to learn more about the hobby as well as delve deeper into the toys you collect. No matter what your toy soldier question maybe, someone at the show can answer it. Let us know and we can help you find that someone with your answer.
The show welcomes collectors on all levels from the absolute novice to the ones who have been at it for decades. Age makes no difference here and by admitting youngsters 12 and under for free, we try to encourage families to attend. Young collectors are the future of our hobby. The number of women collectors has been increasing every year as well. We encourage the curious visitor to come and see what toy soldier collecting is all about. Who knows? They might just jump in with both feet and walk out of the show with a bag full of figures; to help this along, one vendor, King & Country, supplies free bags every year.
See the detailed description of our 2010 show below; click on the Gallery in the menu for photos from recent shows. Most of all, mark your calendar for Sunday September 25, 2011.
Here are the vital details of our upcoming show:
When: Sunday September 25, 2011
Where: Hyatt Regency Woodfield, 1300 E. Golf Rd., Schaumburg, Illinois
Open: 10:00 am
Admission: $8.00, ages 12 and under free with an adult
Early Admission: $30 entry at 7:00am with the vendors
Shipping: UPS service will be available to ship things home, starting at 2:30pm
Show Report 2010
Now that the dust has settled from our September 2010 Chicago Toy Soldier Show, we would like to thank all of those who attended and made it another great show. Guest rooms at the Hyatt and two other nearby hotels sold out. Our Sunday show's 350 tables were again filled to overflowing with old and new military and civilian toy figures. Despite the economy, Sunday attendance was up and there were more families with children than ever. The new product displays on Manufacturers Row were absolutely awesome. Metal and plastic makers brought out new figure sets and add-ons to supplement their already prodigious lines. Many European dealers in old toy soldiers complemented vendors from every part of North America. It felt like just about everybody left the show happy.
Manufacturer highlights included Figarti's 1/32 scale model of the HMS Victory with a 40- man crew; several ships were sold. King & Country's Gordon Neilson again created several large dioramas showing K&C figures in action; all of them were sold to admiring collectors. Britain's showed their expanded Zulu War and American Civil War lines as well as their popular Bluecoat/Redcoat series. Old Northwest Trading Company presented another set in their well-received Photographers Series and some great accessories in their WWI range. Collector's Showcase's set piece dioramas really "show cased" their new sets. Conte Collectibles returned to our 2010 show with their much-anticipated new lead figure sets. Frontline, Beau Geste, William Hocker, Edmund's, Somerset, Tedtoys and other metal makers again premiered figures at this year's OTSN Show. Obviously the plastic guys were just as busy. Toy Soldiers of San Diego brought out their new Alamo line plus some add-ons for their magnificent Custer set. Ron Barzso's new Fort William Henry is a magnificent 18th century frontier fort. Steve Weston brought over new figures from the UK. Hobby Bunker showed off a new line of buildings and terrain; even Bill Murphy turned out some new items from the Marx molds he owns.
Vintage figures were abundant. All the main stateside dealers were there: Haradin, Saine, Mitchell (his famous junk box was there, Warren couldn't make it), Wallis, Morlan, Bubba, Mattimore, Miller, Eccles, Jones (Bob, Mike, Dan, etc.), Gries, O'Donnell, Bailey, the "dynamic duo" of Rolak and Josey, and on and on. From the UK came Rob Wilson, Adrian Little, Phil Lane, Doug Treadwell and Norman Joplin (although he is really a Wisconsinite now). Our German vendors included Thomas Finck, Gisbert Freber and Marcus Grein. Francois Beaumont and Nicholas Aulnette brought soldiers from France for the public to buy. Mogens Hvid returned this year after a few years' absence and brought toys from Europe, including his native Denmark. In addition to the vendors, we had visitors from Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Russia, Canada, South America, Australia, France, Germany and the UK. OTSN is an international show to say the least.
Retailers from all over the country set up shop at the show. From the East came Hobby Bunker, Minuteman Toy Soldiers, Marksman, Warstore Collectibles, Jim Hillestad's Toy Soldier Museum, and Toy Soldier Shop of Washington D.C. The West was represented by Sierra Toy Soldiers, Old Toy Soldier Home and Brunton's Barracks. Middle of the country shops included Le Petit Soldat, Treefrog Treasures, Michigan Toy Soldiers and The Toy Soldier Shoppe near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For those of you who were looking for finely painted Russian figures, AeroArt, with its most extensive St. Petersburg Collection, and Medallion Miniatures' magnificent bannered figures were perhaps the best known. Also at the show were Lead Army, TSA Warenhandels, Inc. and Carthage Miniatures each displaying their particular range of exquisitely painted miniatures. These Russian painted miniatures sure take the term "toy soldiers" to another level.
Once again the morning entrance line snaked across the hotel lobby, down the halls and out the door. As the crowd entered the Show at 10:00am Sunday, they were again handed a cloth show shopping bag courtesy of King & Country. This year the bag contained a gift from us: a full color, 15 month Toy Soldier Calendar listing dozens of upcoming American and European toy soldier shows; this one-time-only OTSN calendar was sponsored by many of the hobby's most enthusiastic makers and retailers. Thanks again for their support. Additionally, the first 75 paid attendees also received a Frontline figure, courtesy of the manufacturer. And Britain's as usual provided us with free plastic figures for our younger visitors. We wanted to make sure that even before guests entered our 30th show that they were having a good time!
Want to read more about the Show? Old Toy Soldier, Toy Soldier and Model Figure, and Playset Magazine all print detailed show reviews each from their particular slant on the hobby. Playset's detailed review in their November/December 2010 issue is entitled "CHI-TOWN's FINEST: Chicago's Old Toy Soldier Show Reigns as World's Preeminent Show".
We should be blushing, but instead we have already started to plan for next year; how about you? The date is September 25, 2011; the place is the same: Hyatt Regency Woodfield in Schaumburg, Illinois. Make you hotel reservation now. Vendor contracts will be mailed in May and are due back in early July. See you in Chicago, 2011!
It is never too early to start planning to attend the 2011 Chicago Toy Soldier Show on Sunday September 25. Planning your transportation, booking a room, contacting other collectors and vendors who will also attend all take time; now is the time to begin. You can make a hotel reservation right here on our website by simply going to the Information menu (above) and clicking on Dealer Info; then click on Accommodations. You will be taken to the Hyatt Hotel's website with the special show rate on the form. Fill in when you want to arrive and when you will leave and enter the other information needed into the computer and your Hyatt reservation is made. Click the Show Contract on the menu bar to download a vendor contract for Sunday show tables or room sales. Returning vendors will be sent contracts in early May. Check our 2010 Dealers List to see who many of our 2011 vendors will probably be. We can't wait to welcome everyone back to the Show.
The world's major toy soldier makers often use our show to highlight their newest products at the show. Vendors will be selling current toy figures, military and civilian, in metal and plastic from virtually all the manufacturers. If you are looking for antique metal, composition or plastic figures, you will not be disappointed by the array of these older toys on tables throughout the entire venue. The show provides a wonderful chance to meet face to face with the manufacturers, vendors or collectors you have heard about or corresponded with. You can take time to learn more about the hobby as well as delve deeper into the toys you collect. No matter what your toy soldier question maybe, someone at the show can answer it. Let us know and we can help you find that someone with your answer.
The show welcomes collectors on all levels from the absolute novice to the ones who have been at it for decades. Age makes no difference here and by admitting youngsters 12 and under for free, we try to encourage families to attend. Young collectors are the future of our hobby. The number of women collectors has been increasing every year as well. We encourage the curious visitor to come and see what toy soldier collecting is all about. Who knows? They might just jump in with both feet and walk out of the show with a bag full of figures; to help this along, one vendor, King & Country, supplies free bags every year.
See the detailed description of our 2010 show below; click on the Gallery in the menu for photos from recent shows. Most of all, mark your calendar for Sunday September 25, 2011.
Here are the vital details of our upcoming show:
When: Sunday September 25, 2011
Where: Hyatt Regency Woodfield, 1300 E. Golf Rd., Schaumburg, Illinois
Open: 10:00 am
Admission: $8.00, ages 12 and under free with an adult
Early Admission: $30 entry at 7:00am with the vendors
Shipping: UPS service will be available to ship things home, starting at 2:30pm
Show Report 2010
Now that the dust has settled from our September 2010 Chicago Toy Soldier Show, we would like to thank all of those who attended and made it another great show. Guest rooms at the Hyatt and two other nearby hotels sold out. Our Sunday show's 350 tables were again filled to overflowing with old and new military and civilian toy figures. Despite the economy, Sunday attendance was up and there were more families with children than ever. The new product displays on Manufacturers Row were absolutely awesome. Metal and plastic makers brought out new figure sets and add-ons to supplement their already prodigious lines. Many European dealers in old toy soldiers complemented vendors from every part of North America. It felt like just about everybody left the show happy.
Manufacturer highlights included Figarti's 1/32 scale model of the HMS Victory with a 40- man crew; several ships were sold. King & Country's Gordon Neilson again created several large dioramas showing K&C figures in action; all of them were sold to admiring collectors. Britain's showed their expanded Zulu War and American Civil War lines as well as their popular Bluecoat/Redcoat series. Old Northwest Trading Company presented another set in their well-received Photographers Series and some great accessories in their WWI range. Collector's Showcase's set piece dioramas really "show cased" their new sets. Conte Collectibles returned to our 2010 show with their much-anticipated new lead figure sets. Frontline, Beau Geste, William Hocker, Edmund's, Somerset, Tedtoys and other metal makers again premiered figures at this year's OTSN Show. Obviously the plastic guys were just as busy. Toy Soldiers of San Diego brought out their new Alamo line plus some add-ons for their magnificent Custer set. Ron Barzso's new Fort William Henry is a magnificent 18th century frontier fort. Steve Weston brought over new figures from the UK. Hobby Bunker showed off a new line of buildings and terrain; even Bill Murphy turned out some new items from the Marx molds he owns.
Vintage figures were abundant. All the main stateside dealers were there: Haradin, Saine, Mitchell (his famous junk box was there, Warren couldn't make it), Wallis, Morlan, Bubba, Mattimore, Miller, Eccles, Jones (Bob, Mike, Dan, etc.), Gries, O'Donnell, Bailey, the "dynamic duo" of Rolak and Josey, and on and on. From the UK came Rob Wilson, Adrian Little, Phil Lane, Doug Treadwell and Norman Joplin (although he is really a Wisconsinite now). Our German vendors included Thomas Finck, Gisbert Freber and Marcus Grein. Francois Beaumont and Nicholas Aulnette brought soldiers from France for the public to buy. Mogens Hvid returned this year after a few years' absence and brought toys from Europe, including his native Denmark. In addition to the vendors, we had visitors from Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Russia, Canada, South America, Australia, France, Germany and the UK. OTSN is an international show to say the least.
Retailers from all over the country set up shop at the show. From the East came Hobby Bunker, Minuteman Toy Soldiers, Marksman, Warstore Collectibles, Jim Hillestad's Toy Soldier Museum, and Toy Soldier Shop of Washington D.C. The West was represented by Sierra Toy Soldiers, Old Toy Soldier Home and Brunton's Barracks. Middle of the country shops included Le Petit Soldat, Treefrog Treasures, Michigan Toy Soldiers and The Toy Soldier Shoppe near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For those of you who were looking for finely painted Russian figures, AeroArt, with its most extensive St. Petersburg Collection, and Medallion Miniatures' magnificent bannered figures were perhaps the best known. Also at the show were Lead Army, TSA Warenhandels, Inc. and Carthage Miniatures each displaying their particular range of exquisitely painted miniatures. These Russian painted miniatures sure take the term "toy soldiers" to another level.
Once again the morning entrance line snaked across the hotel lobby, down the halls and out the door. As the crowd entered the Show at 10:00am Sunday, they were again handed a cloth show shopping bag courtesy of King & Country. This year the bag contained a gift from us: a full color, 15 month Toy Soldier Calendar listing dozens of upcoming American and European toy soldier shows; this one-time-only OTSN calendar was sponsored by many of the hobby's most enthusiastic makers and retailers. Thanks again for their support. Additionally, the first 75 paid attendees also received a Frontline figure, courtesy of the manufacturer. And Britain's as usual provided us with free plastic figures for our younger visitors. We wanted to make sure that even before guests entered our 30th show that they were having a good time!
Want to read more about the Show? Old Toy Soldier, Toy Soldier and Model Figure, and Playset Magazine all print detailed show reviews each from their particular slant on the hobby. Playset's detailed review in their November/December 2010 issue is entitled "CHI-TOWN's FINEST: Chicago's Old Toy Soldier Show Reigns as World's Preeminent Show".
We should be blushing, but instead we have already started to plan for next year; how about you? The date is September 25, 2011; the place is the same: Hyatt Regency Woodfield in Schaumburg, Illinois. Make you hotel reservation now. Vendor contracts will be mailed in May and are due back in early July. See you in Chicago, 2011!
