As the nights draw in and another year comes to a close, I realised that with this issue I am now coming up to the end of my 5th year as Editor of this magazine.
It has been a great honour and pleasure to follow in the footsteps of Norman Joplin and previous editors who worked so hard to make the magazine such a good and informative read.
Of course, great thanks are due to all those who have contributed, especially those who have contributed articles, but also in other ways.
To those who have yet to “put pen to paper”, let me encourage you to put these long winter evenings to good use and send us your thoughts.
We include in this issue the first of two Quizzes designed by Joe Wallis to test your knowledge of Britains. The answers to all the questions can be found on page 40-41. No peeking!
It has been a busy summer and autumn, with shows in Paris, London, Kulmbach and Chicago. These events confirm that the hobby continues to thrive and to throw up new surprises.
The Kulmbach event is back on a new biennial cycle, and as good as ever. Book the dates in your diary for August 2026. The Paris event is twice a year, in March and October, and according to our reporter Harry Kemp, this latest show was one of the best ever.
Our latest issue contains some fascinating material, including a great piece by Russ Bednarek on paper
soldiers (inspired by our cover picture on the Spring 2024 issue).
Gisbert Freber, offers his thoughts on a figure that has puzzled him for many years, which he now believes represents one of the Bavarian Kings from the late 19th, early 20th century.
As chance would have it, what appears to be a model of one of the same Regents appeared at the Chicagoland show alongside another personality yet to be identified.
Regular contributor, Norman Joplin has found some interesting titbits to share with our readers from the Richard O’Brien archive owned by OTS.
Yours truly chips in with a piece on sporting figures. This was inspired by an article on toy figures celebrating the Paris Olympics which took place earlier this year. What at first seemed a modest tasks in fact turns out to be a rather enormous collecting challenge. Are you willing to take it on?
Finally, John Franklin rounds things off with another of his articles on Britains, this time focussing on their depiction of the Middlesex regiments.