Wm Hocker | Dispatches

The Metal Toy Soldiers of

Wm. Hocker, Proprietor

Wm Hocker Wish List

Tom Cirone - 9Sep11 3:30PM

Minful of the admonition that the special order is anathema, as a dedicated collector and admirer of Bill's work, I post not as a request but perhaps to plant the seed of an idea or inspiration and to solicit same from fellow collectors. I am a longtime fan of command sets and I am particularly fond of Bill's personality figures. A Winfield Scott or Zachary Taylor would be a welcome addition to the Mexican War series. Or a British Colonial command set akin to Britain Set 201 General Staff. I am also fond of camp or bivoac series and an Our Army at Home series for the US Army of the 19th Centry. I'm sure others have thoughts to add . . .

Additions and Comments
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1. Randy Bond - 11Sep11 11:21AM

Tom

I am 100% behind all your suggestions. US Army at Ease would be great too. You can never have enough camps scenes in my book.

Randy

2. Alexander Jordan - 12Sep11 5:32AM

Tom, I too am 100% agreement with your suggestion. Someday, I would very much like to order from Mr. Hocker two American Civil War "Commander Sets", one Union & one Confederate, featuring Generals "Stonewall" Jackson, Longsteet, Hood, A.P. Hill & ? and for the Union Generals Sherman, Sherridan, Meade, McClellan & ?
Old-Britains-style "Picture Packs" for some of Mr. Hocker's single figures would be great too!

One can dream...
-Alexander

3. - 13Sep11 3:11PM

Gentlemen,

I shall take your suggestions under advisement. Please keep them coming.

4. M. J. Clitheroe - 20Oct11 2:18AM

Must agree, although my area is British Empire the suggestions do seem a good idea.

Emailed Bill about a year ago and suggested he might expand his American Army series to cover the Boxer Uprising of 1900. Many of the American and British units would be suitable and some minor changes to headwear and uniform paint job could cover the other Great Powers.

I've not seen many 'toy solider' style figures for this in metal so thought it could be a wonderful expansion or a new range.

In the meantime a big thumbs up for what you currently have available their wonderful.
(I may only have the maxim gun set so far but it's like being a kid again everytime I look at it and the set fits in very nicely with my William Britains and Dorset figures)

5. - 20Oct11 3:04PM

Some wishes will be fulfilled in the next year.

6. Randy Bond - 21Oct11 12:48PM

How about Lawrence of Arabia & the Arab Revolt? Lots of colorful uniforms shown in the Osprey book on the subject. It is an important part of British Imperial history and makes a good addition to the "Types of Empire" series.

Here are Gertrude Bell and Lawrence in Mesopotamia

Figure of Gertrude by Hocker collector William Grant. Lawrence of Arabia by Wilson Edward

"Gertrude Bell was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy-making due to her extensive travels in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia. Along with T. E. Lawrence, Bell helped establish the Hashemite dynasties in what is today Jordan as well as in Iraq. She played a major role in establishing and helping administer the modern state of Iraq, utilizing her unique perspective from her travels and relations with tribal leaders throughout the Middle East. During her lifetime she was highly esteemed and trusted by British officials and given an immense amount of power for a woman at the time. She has also been described as "one of the few representatives of His Majesty's Government remembered by the Arabs with anything resembling affection"

7. Randy Bond - 21Oct11 1:56PM

Another subject I would like to see done would be Croquet which took Britain and America by storm in the 1860s and continued in popularity throughout the century.

A set something like this would be very welcome!
Love the boaters and striped jackets of the era shown here.

8. M. J. Clitheroe - 23Dec11 2:30AM

Having recently gone through my film collection I watched 'Last of the Mohicans' And thought to myself that would look rather impressive.

I've picked up a few William Britains French Indian War Figures and Also a set of Roger's Rangers by Tradition but wouldn't Bill just do something wonderful if he had go.

At least it would be an idea to put to one side for consideration.

9. Tom Cirone - 15Apr14 1:30PM

To resurrect an old topic, while I am happy about the transition to the 20th century, I would love to see interpretations of the Legion of the United States; the San Patricos; and Prisoners of War and provost guard (Am Civ perhaps).

Since 1983