Living in France ,from UK and in to collecting old school metal figures , Hinton Hunt , Lasset , Stadden and Edward Suren 'Willie' 30mm also Hinchliffe ,and a few Series 77 ,all periods .I recall Marcus Hintons shop in London and all the old model solider shops in London in the 1970s and 1980s great days.

Gary. Welcome to this arena !

Crikey, the stuff you have mentioned is going back a bit! ..

I have some 'Hinchliffe' stuff, but I have never heard of Hinton Hunt!! or Edward Suren. Although I am younger.

Please enjoy your stay with us.

Regards,

Mark

Hello Gary and welcome.
Ralph.

Hi Gary, welcome to the Forum.
Your list is a true blast from the past.
The first two figures I ever painted were Hinton Hunt.
Andrew

Many thanks, Marcus Hinton had a shop in Islington London ,back in the day it appeared to me that many figure makers produced the figures that they personally wanted to see ? so lots of American Civil War , and of course ECW along with figures from the Maulbrian period , though many of those figures from the 1960s may seem very crude now I think they have a timeless quality ,the first metal figure I purchased was a Tradition Charles Stadden Great War German officer back in 1970 ,then the WW2 Lasset figures the shops back then I visited where Hintons in Camden Passage, Tradition in Piccadilly, MHC in Lewisham ,and Edward Suren in Chelsea just down from National Army Museum, locally in East London we had a couple of shops that dealt in Model figures ,I am amazed looking back at the first copies of Military Modelling how many shops around,now very few and far between , what amazes me here in Northern France a complete lack of model shops !

Welcome to Planet Figure Gary.

Roger.

Hello Gary, welcome to planetFigure, enjoy yourself looking around, there's lots to see.
Best wishes and Happy New Year, Gary.

Hi, Gary,
I know all those shops you mention!......The East London one I recall in Walthamstow was Bridge Models, run by an irascible little geezer, and he stocked Hinton Hunt figures[we called them "Squint and Grunt"] He was OK once you got to know him, though. I remember the figures as costing 12 shillings and sixpence [62 1/2 pence!],quite a lot at the time. This would be around 1970/71. They were my first figures, too.
You'll have to hop on the train to Paris,mate,...lots of interesting model shops there.

Cheers, Alan

Hello yes have been to some of those in Paris ,the dedicated model solider ones are very high end,with some stunning figures, but here in Nord Pas De Calais it's a bit of a desert , I recall Bridge Models which I believe was there till mid 1980s? the ones I recall are one not far from East Ham station, one off the Romford Road near Wanstead Flats , and those ones specialised in soldiers, general ones were Hermatige in Upton Park but they did do Historex which seemed so exotic back in 1969! .
As a lad I worked in a model shop in Roman Road Bow as a Saturday boy what a dream job , we stocked mainly Airfix and the normal general kits but Tamiya were just producing their armour and very exciting and Airfix had just started the Napoleonic 54mm kits ,we did Lasset and Mini figs ,sadly now all those shops have gone , the Hinton Figures I recall at around 55p for foot figures we sold Lasset I believe for £1.00p , I rember going in to Soldiers in Kennington Rd in 1979 taking in my girl friend and telling her about how sophisticated figures were and her standing at a showcase of figures and her saying and these are? ,and yes a case full of Phoenix Lovelies in various poses and positions! been married 35 years now.

Welcome
ah visiting London in he 70ies ... Under 2 Flags ... Seagull ( and the first Hearnes "Realmodels") .... Dark they were and Golden Eyed ( for he comics) and Harrods ..., where there was always large set of Lasset available....... And Games Workshop a fabulous big shop of 7 ft by 10 ft, with the very first box of D&D ( 3 rules booklet of 24 pages each ) and ....
If you are in Nostalgia, pay me a visit
www.mirofsoft.com

Super site love the Ray Lamb figures I think his mounted Dragoon French Napoleonic office was one of the finest figures ever , Under 2 Flags was always interesting I went in the first week it opened back in the early 1970s and oddly was in there the last week before it closed , what a sad day that was when you consider London was one of the centres of Model soldiers and now I would struggle to think of a shop just dealing in figures , I can also recall around 1975 Hamleys opened a model shop just north of Oxford Street very short lived though .

Welcome Gary. Time to get into the 21st century mate.

Ah I like my retro Pre 1980 world , lots of classic metal figures, model solider shop on every corner , some great model magazines all those Almark uniform books ,classic Ospreys .
Historex seen as very exotic ah well it all seemed very cosy back then?

Cheers Gary

Hi Gary.

You've triggered some memories for me. Via a Military Modelling offer I remember going from Cardiff to the Model Engineering Exhibition in 1979 or so at the grand age of 15 and my mind was blown by the Historex stand and a Max Longhurst presentation. Soon after I visited a Soldiers and the giant model shop in Wimbledon at that time. That was the start if my nomadic life which ended up with me settling in Switzerland.

I suggest you try Figurines as there are many clubs and associations in France and a list of shops.

Anyway welcome on board.

Cheers

Huw

Gosh the old ME exhibition ,first one I went to was around 1972 still just off Baker Street back then in a huge 1900s hall and swimming pool ,I was around 15 at the time and to see all those legends in action so to speak demonstrating skills was amazing and off course the stands with all those goodies for sale ,and the work on display of some of those greats , if I recall around 1978 it moved to Wembley which was different and in some way lost the air of the old location ,the other thing of course back in the 1970s model soldiers/military modelling seemed to be the coming thing so most of the show seemed to be around that aspect which was fantastic, also back in the 1980s there was the Victorian Military Society fair in Holburn in the city of London which had some excellent trade stands ,thanks for the heads up on the French society ,one thing on being here is the amount of magazines the French produce on all things military,on modelling and historical .thanks Gary

Hi

I should have typed Figurines magazine.

My first ME Exhibition was in Wembley. Remember how big it used to be and the press coverage it used to get. Ah sweet memories

Cheers

Huw

All those moments in time are to be treasured, there is no doubt, and look how lucky we are now with the wonderful choice from dedicated sculptors and manufacturers.
All available to us at the touch of a button; one of the reasons for so many shops' demise, in the UK at least.
Let's be thankful for all that we have now, especially here on PF. In my short time on here, I've garnered so much from you guys--given me fresh impetus on my own efforts.

Cheers, Alan

In a way you are very true ,always seem to look back through rose tinted specs , as you say quality of figures now is superb ,many of those old school figures have not stood the test of time they have a timeless quality but in a simple way ,I was looking at some of my old Hintons and err they are very very crude , on the shop side back then how rude could the geek behind the counter be! and I recall the uproar in Military Modelling when the large scale Hinchliffe samurai came out the magazines quote was "This will separate the men from the boys!" it did cause a stir .
And I will say in the short time I have been on how friendly the forum is , and yes the old internet has spelt the death nell for many shops ,as a medal and militria collector I know only full well , but now we can with ease buy quality items from any where in the world , but I will for now spend the afternoon looking through my bound year of Military Modelling 1972 ,all those lovely Series 77 figures!

Under Two Flags