Buyers battle it out for new toy soldier sets worth hundreds of euro

Currently, they’re having a moment in the auction rooms, but not in the way you might imagine.

“The vast majority of people think that the older a model soldier is, the more valuable it will be,” says Richard Beale of Warwick and Warwick, an English auction house that runs specialist model soldiers and toy auctions several times a year.

“But the most desirable things are modern models. People knock each other’s heads off trying to buy them.”

These miniatures are made for collectors rather than children.

“They’re made to a much more detailed standard than toys because they don’t have to be child-safe.”

Some of the most popular are those made by King & Country, a Hong-Kong company launched in the 1980s by two expatriate Scots, one of whom had played with model soldiers as a child.

The company specialises in hand-painted metal models (1:30 scale) of soldiers and civilians, which come in themed collections.

“They’re very cleverly marketed with limited editions,” Beale says. “There’s always a twist.”

Collections of King & Country models in Warwick and Warwick’s Toys, Postcards and Cigarette Cards Sale on May 15 include figures from The Real West range (Lot 175: Est £600/€708).

There’s a lot of local colour, graphic violence and carefully constructed narrative in the range, with Lt Gen George Armstrong Custer and such excellently titled tableaux as ‘Cut Throat Duel’ and ‘Massacre’, which depicts a Cheyenne ‘Dog Soldier’ about to end a dismounted trooper’s life. The trooper appears to be pleading for mercy to no avail.

A set of English Civil War figures (Lot 178: est. £500/€590), also from King & Country, includes a Parliamentary Gunners set, a Pikeman set, a Commonwealth Flag Bearer, and a surgeon with his patient.

This last one shows a nervous-looking doctor trying to operate on an anguished patient tied to a chair.

A Crusaders & Saracens figures range (Lot 179: est. £450/€530) from the same maker contains a Saracen defending himself with sword and shield, a set of four fighting Saracen and ‘Hospitaller Casualty’, a realistic depiction of a stricken man.

All of these are sold in their original packaging.

“They’re beautiful things,” Beale says. “Works of art, really. Collectors are typically gentlemen of a certain age whose children have left home. They’ve money in their pocket and the time to indulge their love of model soldiers.”

Unlike many collectors of antique model soldiers who create elaborate battle scenes, they don’t play with their toys. Most keep their acquisitions in their boxes, although some carefully remove the packaging to display the models in a cabinet.

“They always keep the boxes!” Crucially, they’re kept away from children. “When model soldiers get played with, they always end up in some kind of disrepair.”

New model soldiers from King & Country are individually priced, but expect to pay around €50 for a single soldier and €130 for a mounted figure (prices taken from the manufacturers’ website).

“They’re not cheap to buy new,” says Beale. “They come in limited editions, the packaging is very protective and it all costs money.”

A new ‘Surgeon and Patient’, for example, currently costs €65, but it won’t be around for long. The model has been retired.

Once the supply of new models dries up, the only option for collectors wanting to fill a gap in their collection is the second market.

‘Massacre’ was retired in 2020 and is now sold out, although some retailers are advertising it for around €100.

Because new prices are high, there’s as yet no sign of people buying as an investment or selling their collections for more than they spent.

But for someone who inherits a collection of modern model soldiers, the news is good.

Don’t dismiss them just because they’re modern and made for the collectibles market. Have them valued by a specialist.

Old toy soldiers are also of interest to collectors, but injured warriors are worth less than those in good condition.

According to Warwick and Warwick’s collector’s guide: “Even plastic cowboy and Indian figures, made by Britain in the early 1970s, can achieve £20 or more each at auction.

“This is a relatively cheap way to get into the hobby and, with prices continuing to rise steadily, could be a shrewd investment.”

See warwickandwarwick.com.