Small Scale Stuff

pictures of small scale toys
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Lego / Toys

Review of Lego Creator Expert Sets

Lego Creator Expert kits are generally for 16+.  They usually consist of several thousand pieces and require a level of skill and the ability to follow instructions. Creator Expert sets range from vehicles to modular buildings and houses to landmarks to seasonal sets. Recently, Lego retired the Creator Expert series. However, this appears to be more of a rebranding, with the more challenging sets carrying the “18+” label. For now, Lego does not seem to have a collective name for its new “18+” label. In this post, I will discuss the Creator Expert sets I made. They fall into two...

Vintage House of Faberge Flowers 0

Home Decor

Small Home Décor

Each month or two, I will post reviews and pictures of 3-10 small home décor items. My intention is to divide the home décor category into two parts. In Part 1, I plan to list and review some cute products you can use to decorate your shelves, nooks, and crannies. These small items are purely decorative but add visual interest. There may be some overlap with items discussed under my Lego posts. In Part 2, I will review small home décor items that are also functional. To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, below are pictures of...

House of Miniatures side and candlestick tables 0

Dollhouse

Dollhouse Miniatures: Furniture Kits

Why Furniture Craft Kits? While stationed in England from 1990-1993, I started building my first dollhouse kit, a Victoria-era model.  I lived on a military base in the middle of nowhere (aka East Anglia), so it was not easy to find miniature furniture and accessories for my dollhouse.  After picking up a craft catalog in London, I saw ads for The House of Miniatures (THoM) dollhouse furniture kits.  From 1991-1995,  I ordered many furniture kits from this company.  The furniture was in the Victorian and Federal style, so it worked for my first dollhouse. Later, after I gave my dollhouse...

Lego minifigure Bang rocket guy 0

Lego / Toys

Lego Minifigures

What is a Minifigure? A Lego Minifigure, or “minifig,” is a small posable figure of a person, animal, or being (like an alien). Most minifigs have rotating arms, legs, hands, and feet. They can represent ordinary to famous people. While Lego building sets often include minifigs, you can also buy individual minifigs.  Both children and adults collect Lego Minifigures.  They are customizable by taking parts from different minifigs and mixing and matching the parts with other minifigs.  History of Lego Minifigures Protype In the 1960s and early 1970s, the Lego Group focused on model building – houses, cars, trains.  However,...

Collection of Hummel miniatures 3

Fine Art Miniatures

Olszewski’s Hummel & Disney Figurines

In the 1990s, as I began collecting miniatures, I learned about Robert Olszewski. He was famous for creating tiny replicas of famous pieces. But, living in the U.K., it was difficult for me to see his work. Therefore, I did not buy a lot of his pieces. As result, my Olszewski collection consists of only some Hummel and Disney figurines, and one piece from The American Frontiers Collection. Who is Robert Olszewski? Artist Robert Olszewski became interested in miniature figurines after making a dollhouse for his daughter. After leaving teaching in 1978, Olszewski pursued making miniatures full-time. Eventually, his work...

close up of Flower Bouquet 0

Home Decor / Lego

Lego for Home Décor?

Coming Soon! Legos pretty enough to be home décor? In this post, I plan to review two Lego building series that, once built, are really home décor items. The two series I will discuss are Lego Architecture, (including Skyline) and Lego Botanical Collection. While these sets are somewhat similar to Lego Creator Expert vehicles, there is a difference. Unlike the Creator Expert vehicles, which you can display and/or “play” with, you cannot say the same with Lego Architecture and Lego Botanical sets. These sets are decorative. They are also geared to adults. However, be forewarned, you may have difficulty finding...

miniature typewriter, dollhouse stuff, art object and book 0

About

How My Interest in Miniatures Began

I’m 60 years and my interest in miniatures and small-scale collectibles began over 50 years ago. I was around seven years old and we just moved to a rural area in Canada. Our house was a few miles from town and we only had one television station. The only shopping, restaurants, and movie theater were miles away.  When we were not in school, my four siblings and I had to find ways to entertain ourselves. I did not know it then, but boredom would lead me to my love of small things. My First Miniature Objects I recall it was...