Hey all! Sorry for the two weeks of quiet; spent it in Italy with the wife! Spent a bit of time in Rome and Florence, and also some time in a few smaller towns and even a bed and breakfast that was the most delightful place I've ever stayed... and I've stayed in some delightful places!
More importantly though... what about the toy soldiers!?
Well, success all around. First up... Rome! Unfortunately I did not remember my camera, but I DID find a wonderful little store just near the Coliseum... Strategia e Tattica... a small place, to be sure, but it had loads of painted historicals, which I honestly appreciate... VERY little Warhammer stuff. 
Then, on to Assisi! I found a small store near a main square the sold some medieval toy soldiers... it was actually a bit funny, as I said to my wife as I turned my head to look around the square "Darn it, I want more toy sol... waittasecond, what's that?" I literally saw it in mid sentence. Anyway, they had some very nice stuff (the above right and left photos) painted by a guy from Perugia. A bit expensive, obviously (wait until I get to the San Gimignano place!) but still GREAT to see. I particularly enjoyed some of the knights they had... very nicely detailed stuff!After that came Florence, where I found ANOTHER store that I don't have a photo for (it is on another camera and the wife put it somewhere...) Strategema. I was very happy to find the place, for while it DID seem a bit heavy on the boardgames and GW stuff, they also had some stuff I bought... namely some War of the Rings movement trays for my vikings and some green stuff. So, overall, a good find!
The last place I found was in San Giminiano! Again, about twenty seconds before I saw them, I turned to my wife and said "Hmmm... I smell toy soldiers!" I then looked around me, and voila! Toy soldiers! Anyway, this place had the most toy soldiers, and the most directly-connected-to-my-collecting habits too... Napoleonics, ACW, as well as Romans and knights and the like. The top picture on this post is from there, and you can make out the different dioramas and such that they had. They even had a BUNCH of stands of 
troops that were ideal for wargaming... except for their price! A single stand of decently painted figures was in the 100 euro range. Insane! Listen, I love toy soldiers as much as the next guy, but come on:)So! Overall, there were toy soldiers in almost every place we stopped, which was great.
Now... there is one more treat... a treat unlike anything I've ever seen. I am saving it for its own blog post, which I'll put up in a day or two... but I will say it is the GREATEST wargames table I have ever seen... EVER... anywhere on earth. And I found it in Italy. But more on that in the next blog post.
After that? A rundown of my summer projects, which will begin getting worked on tonight!
Thanks for coming by!
5 comments:
Cool shops you visited there with lovely figures. Some were single-based, but looks like they go with the display/diorama more. I used to do the same thing before getting into gaming. They seem so lonely without huge amounts of supporting units :)! Dean
What can you tell me about the table you have in your banner up top? Homemade? How did you do it? What are the parts? I'm about to make one for myself.
Hopefully my wife and I will travel to Italy next year, so thanks for scoping out the places for me ahead of time. :-)
Hey guys!
Yeah Dean, in almost every place they were single figures... sold for collection, I think, rather than gaming, but darn it, a toy soldier is a toy soldier!:) I agree with you though:)
Editor, I think there should be an early post about it... hold on, I'll find it...
Here is one...
http://lordashramshouseofwar.blogspot.com/2008/03/finally-table.html
And another...
http://lordashramshouseofwar.blogspot.com/2008/06/updates-wargames-room-and-table.html
If you want some specific info just tell me and I'd be happy to share!:)
Victor, no prob! The place in Assisi is on Corso Mazzini, just off of Piazza del Commune (hope the spelling is right.) They have a bunch of chess sets, also.
The place in San Gim. is on Via San Giovanni, about halfway between the Cistern piazza and the main entrance, on the left if you face the cistern piazza. They also had a bunch of roman helmets and shields in there, which I took a (not great) photo of.
The Florence and Rome places are linked:)
Be SURE to check out the next blog entry too!
Do you recall what the Ikea units were. They're just perfect.
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