• Toy Soldiers and Model Figures painted or castings

Toy soldier and Model figures to collect or to paint your self

Tradtition of London Ltd.

For over 60 years, the name Tradition of London has been synonymous with everything to do with toy soldiers. Even today the little shop in the heart of London's exclusive Mayfair district, a stone's throw from the luxury hotels of Piccadilly and Park Lane, is still a magnet for collectors from around the world.

One man who has witnessed the changes, the shop was not always in Mayfair, the ups and downs, the changes of direction from manufacturer of toy soldiers and supplier of militaria, and fine prints to supplier and retailer of relatively inexpensive toy soldiers, exquisitely painted collectors pieces, and books is manager Steve Hare.

Steve has worked for the firm for over 30 years and he is a veritable mine of information, if he doesn't know about a given figure, print or old book, no matter the manufacturer or publisher, nobody does. Even before joining the firm, Steve was a collector of militaria, mostly Napoleonic, and today he has a fine, but diminishing collection as he judiciously parts with a piece now and then as he nears retirement.

Steve has overseen the shop and its contents, first under the original owner, the incomparable, but sadly deceased Roy Belmont-Maitland, and since 1988, under the new Swedish owners, Anders and Gunnar Lindström. Originally going under the name of Norman-Newton Ltd, in the 1960s Belmont-Maitland began publishing a new, for its day but still being copied today it was that groundbreaking, magazine under the title Tradition.

This was so successful that eventually it was decided to change the name of the business and the toy soldier range to Tradition as well. Over the years a veritable honours list of well-known names in the miniature figure sculpting and painting world has, at one time or another worked for Tradition, including the likes of Charles Stadden, his son Andrew Stadden, Edward Suren, Alan Caton, Marcus Hinton, David Grieve, Ian McKenzie, and many others.

Even yours truly spent some time painting toy soldiers for Tradition! However, two master makers stand out, first Charles Stadden and later David Scheinmann. It was David who introduced the toy soldier range that became the bedrock of the company’s success since the 1980’s. David recently retired but his figures soldier on and his legacy can be seen on the crowded shelves of the shop in Mayfair.

Over the years, the business has expanded and contracted. At one time there were two shops in Mayfair, one selling militaria and prints managed by David Johnson, the world-renowned expert and author on Napoleonic cavalry, and the other being the miniature figure outlet managed by Steve Hare. However, by the mid-80s the militaria business had become just about dried up says Steve Hare, In the sixties, militaria could be picked up relatively cheaply but as time went on it became increasingly difficult to find, especially at the prices we were prepared to pay so that we could make a profit while also allowing us to sell it on at prices our customers could afford. On top of that, large collections did not come on to the market that often and it was usually the case of having to wait until the owner died. Roy, as always, was astute enough to quit while he was ahead and concentrate on the growing miniature figure market.

Toy soldiers and model figures to collect painted or to paint yourself

The now famous ‘Toy Style' range was added in the 80's sculpted and produced by David Scheinman who had previously worked on the Tradition Magazine producing both artwork and editorial. These figures were initially made in a style to resemble old style toy soldiers in mar-ching positions. Later, as tastes changed, the range developed to features sets which were more action based and this series is now quite extensive with many new master being produced by Andrew Stadden after David left Tradition a few years ago. - See more at: http://traditionoflondonshop.com/pages.php?page=About_Tradition_of_London#sthash.CTKtMfzF.dpuf