Currently got the painter in and so will be glad when that finishes hopefully today. On Saturday I caught the bus to Edinburgh and went for a wander. Firstly the Botanics-
The premises above used to be “The Toy Tub” a toy shop and model shop combined. This is where I got my first metal figures around fifty years ago. It was run by Mr Alexander. An easy walk from the centre of Edinburgh it became a place I frequented on and off for years. Open trays were brought out and you could handle the figures before you bought. Great shop, happy memories.
Here is a link to an interesting article on history of model yachts generally-
Sunday saw me at a school service, coffee with a friend and then meeting my eldest and her partner for lunch. They were keen to pick up my hand powered mower for their garden and I also gave them some of Jan’s gardening books for inspiration.
I have been the Rugby Challenge Cup on tv over the weekend and also the first of this week’s Chelsea coverage. The medieval football rules have been printed ( thanks again Andy) read and hopefully will be put to use soon. I have looked out “One Hour Wargames “ and have been inspired by videos like these-
Ah the Toy Tub!
ReplyDeleteLiving about 60 miles from Edinburgh I occasionally visited as our coach firm ran excursions in the summer.
I remember visiting and buying some Minifigs 15mm strips and seeing Ral Partha Goblins and Lizardmen in the cabinets. I was sorely tempted by a box of Atlantic Indian Army due to the lurid box art (that bore no resemblance to the contents).
There was a second hand record shop nearby IIRC which competed for my teenage holiday earnings!
Neil
You bring back memories for me. The second hand record shop l recall was up near grey friars Bobby in a strange indoor market like building.
DeleteAlan Tradgardland
A long, long time since I've been to Edinburgh, glad to see that it remains a lovely place. I can recommend One Hour Wargames for the scenarios and the rules are easy to pickup if not quite to my taste. There's some adaptions about, eg for Napoleonics which Mike Lewis used for a game at the Woking meet in 2022 and made for an excellent game. The WWI game in the video struck me as a bit odd as I could see very little chance of the British achieving their objective even with some of the Germans off table rather than packing the frontline. But then I like my games to have sufficient space in which to manoevure rather than the situation I see so often of troops packed edge to edge with no option but to go forward and which are little more than dice rolling contests.
ReplyDeleteYou must return, it is well worth a visit.
DeleteTry some of the other videos too. There are also rules amendments etc which are interesting.
Alan Tradgardland
Like Neil, I remember the Toy Tub although I possibly only ever visited once, as I lived about 100 miles and 2-3 hours trip by road from Edinburgh. It was great place, exactly as you describe - I remember being in awe of the boxes and boxes of different figures available, even though I probably only had the money to buy half a dozen!
ReplyDeleteI felt the same re boxes and boxes but initially with a very limited budget. It was a great way to sell figures but the shop could get mightily crowded at time..
DeleteAlan Tradgardland
Sounds like a lovely weekend.
ReplyDeleteAh, the days of going through trays of toy soldiers in a real shop.
It was.
ReplyDeleteIndeed!
Alan Tradgardland