Hello from France

[OldTaff]

Go for it, Gary!

 

[Gary Ashley]

Loved the photo of Under 2 Flags , I first went in the first month it opened back in 1973 ,it was a Aladins Cave of so many to me exotic figures normally not generally seen in local model shops , importing as it did figures from America, when ever visiting the West End I managed to pop in , sadly back in 2008 was working not far away and went during lunch time and it had not seemed to change in all those years , then went back following week and it had closed end of an era to me , and I understand that Tradition as also gone ? Back in the day I always understood on the tourist trail would be Edward Suren in Chelsea , Tradition in Piccadilly, and Under 2 Flags and if I recall the shop in Burlington Arcade which my still be there ?

 

[Tubby-Nuts2]

Gary, sadly not! .. All the shops in London have gone into living memory! .. Including the more generic ones . Model-Zone, Beaties, etc there is nothing left!

Only 'Hannants' remains, up 'Hendon' way. Which is not much good for figures.

'Burlington Arcade' is now a, 'Fashion/Jewellery', centre.

http://www.burlington-arcade.co.uk/store-listing

Mark

 

[Gary Ashley]

Oh well time marches on ,though that store in Burllington Arcade could be a bit stuffy , there is a figure / militria shop in Le Touquet deals in ready made figures and all Napoleonic as well as the militria ,and I have just recalled back in those good old bad old days the series of figures produced by Almark which came in for a fair bit of critical disscuson and some of those were sculptured by Charles Stadden .
One issue thinking about it is I remember people coming in to the shop where I worked saying "oh I did not know you could by these or what was being produced " that point was what even got Charles Stadden in to producing figures after seeing some in a shop behind Victoria Station in the 1950s

 

[garyhiggins]

Re-reading this thread reminded me that in the late 1960's there was even a model soldier shop in the Nth Devon tourist village of Clovelley.
Best wishes, Gary.

 

[Gary Ashley]

Many thanks yes it really was the big thing back then almost like computer game shops now? every village town seemed to have one! ,I recall even in East London where I lived , shops in East Ham ,West Ham , Upton Park , Barking , Bethnal Green , Bow , spoilt for choice , but my choice back in the day was Soldiers round the corner from Imperial War Museum

 

[samson]

Greetings from the states

 

[xbalanque]

Welcome Gary from another just-joined person.