Wednesday 3 July 2019

Instant Imagi-Nations and Next Steps



One of the two books that started the whole 'imagi-nations' concept for me.

Now that my holiday is out of the way it is time to turn my attention back to the not insignificant matter of the disposal of the collection of Eric Knowles. I had a long chat with Bill about the next phase and as a result I am happy to report that next week I shall be taking delivery of Eric’s 20mm WW2 unpainted collection which consists largely of Foundry infantry and assorted manufacturers supplying the vehicles and equipment (all in metal as well). Once again Eric had organised forces for a number of combatants, theatres and periods within WW2 so I am fully expecting to see some unusual forces present. Once I have this lot I reckon it will take me until the end of the month to sort them out into nationalities and then round two of the great disposal can get under way.

A further part of our discussion concerns the large quantity of Minifigs remaining. Initially there was a lot of Seven Years War figures but roughly half of these have been passed on – in some cases even painted – leaving a veritable smorgasbord of infantry, cavalry and gunners. My feeling is that these are firmly in ideal ‘imagi-nation’ territory and so taken as a whole would make an excellent project for someone. The plan then, is for me to draw up a list of what there is and then to price the collection on a unit basis as well as for the entire collection – which will of course be a whole lot cheaper.

I will also be undertaking a similar exercise with the even more diverse collection of Marlburian figures which includes such additional types as Turks and Poles. Sadly there is not enough of any one nation to field anything much larger than a Portable Wargame sized force but what the collection lacks in focus it more than adequately makes up in terms of variety! Again I will price up the units individually and then work out a price for the whole lot.

For both periods the figures available could form the basis of a really good imagi-nation style set up and so I hope that someone will see the potential of the collections and just ‘go for it’.

Sadly it will not be me….

There are also a large number of units from assorted manufacturers including Essex, Dixon, 
Hinchliffe, Garrison and some unknowns and all for the 18th century. The plan with these is to merely number each unit box, take a picture of the figures and upload them en masse on to eBay on a Buy it Now basis and sit back and wait. I will advise when this is taking place and please feel free to take a look as you never know what you might find.

4 comments:

Mike Lewis said...

David - can I register an interest in the 20mm WW2 if there is some early War?

David Crook said...

Hi Mike,

Consider it done old chap! I know for a fact that Eric had raised some 1940 Belgians and these exist in painted form for sure. I will have a better idea once I have collected everything and had a good sort out.

I will be posting on the blog when I have done this - probably towards the end of the month.

All the best,

DC

Archduke Piccolo said...

There are times, not often, but whenever I see something like this, I almost regret living at the end of the World in New Zealand. Otherwise, I might have been very interested in picking up some of stuff you have mentioned (especially the Marlburian - I have some ideas in that direction). I do hope they find a good home.
Cheers,
Ion

David Crook said...

Hello Archduke,

Aside from the need to add some guns the entire collection would be a great way to start something 'imagi-nation' based. It is something I would love to do but I simply do not have the time to take a swing at it.

I know that postal rates to NZ are pretty high so any savings would be wiped out by this (although I have an Auckland based relative visiting later this year - lugging several KGs of metal around may not suit her!).

I would be keen to make sure it goes to a good home (as would Bill, Eric's son) so someone will get themselves a bargain!

All the best,

DC