Hello, and welcome to the personal website of James Opie.

If you have toy soldiers, and have questions about them, want to know what they are worth, or how to sell them, I am glad to help. Please feel free to email me at jamesopie@yahoo.co.uk or alternatively phone me on +44 (0)20 7794 7447, evenings or weekends. You can leave a message if necessary.

I am Toy Soldier consultant to Bonhams, the auctioneers. For 2008, there are two Toy Soldier sales remaining,  a special prestige sale on Wednesday 29 October at the Knightsbridge salerooms, London, England (opposite Harrods) and the regular toy sale on Tuesday 16 December at Knowle, near Birmingham. All sales will be catalogued and photographed for the internet by myself. We are currently entering up all sorts of soldiers for these next two sales of the year, the top items for October, and everything else for December. Deadlines for entries: October - Monday 4th August, December, Monday 20th October.

The lifetime Britains collection of William C McDade will be auctioned by Bonhams in their Knightsbridge salerooms, London, England, on Tuesday 31st March 2009. Just to view this magnificent collection will be a story and an education in itself. Watch this space for more details in due course.

For catalogues, ring +44 (0) 1666 502 200.

Middlesex Yeomanry, first version, in my opinion some of the prettiest toy soldiers ever made. Britains first made them in 1898, and they are worth about £100 each.   

I have been a toy soldier collector from a very young age, and have tried out many different facets of collecting and related hobbies. The expertise I have acquired has enabled me to write about toy soldiers and catalogue them for auction, which I have now been doing for twenty-five years. 

If you would like to meet me in person, or buy one of my books, I will be at the next Toy Soldier Experience Show Saturday 6 December 2008 at the Royal National Hotel off Russell Square in London. I hope to see you there.

Details of the Toy Soldier Experience are on the website of King and Country, and Toy Soldier Collector magazine who are the sponsors. These new shows, of which there are three in 2008 are splendid, with lots of extra activities and over a hundred tables, and to all those people I meet on those occasions, hello again.

My E-mail address is jamesopie@yahoo.co.uk

I can also be contacted (particularly with large picture files) through l.gotch@bonhams.com who can take in items for me to catalogue for sale at their Knightsbridge or Knowle salerooms.

For a flavour of the sort of things sold in past auctions, look at the pages for previous sales.

Go to Bonhams website for full details and results from the last sales on 15th November 2006, and 12 June 2007, and once on the site, click on Results.

I am intent on the latest figure to come under scrutiny

The website is divided into three parts, all of which I hope will prove useful to you.

Firstly, about the auctions which I am preparing or have recently completed. These pages will tell you what is for sale at Bonhams, and give you an idea of prices and values, both as a buyer and as a seller of toy soldiers.

Secondly, I hope I can answer queries you may have - about toy soldiers or similar items in your own possession, or about collecting, buying or selling.

Finally, I include some of my own experiences and collecting over the highly enjoyable years I have spent in this field, plus information about the books I have written.