Friday, March 18, 2005. A LITTLE HISTORY OF THE HOBBY. When we speak of the forms of collecting, what we are talking about is answering the question - Just what is it that we will be collecting? The condition of figures is not a complex problem as it is with many other collectibles like coins and comic books. There are only 5 generally accepted terms for figure condition. All three terms mean the same thing. This is a figure that is just like new.

Military Matters - Age of Gunpowder. Tuesday, March 22, 2005. The Operation of a 24 lb. Naval Cannon on the Gun Deck of a British Ship-of-the-Line During the American Revolution. There can be no doubt that the scene of a gun deck in action was a vision of hell sixteen cannons in a row all thundering and recoiling with great billows of smoke filling the gun deck. In the murk and stench one could hardly see at all and due to the great thunder of the cannon, the noise would be almost unbearable.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005. How did they ever get anyone for the first row in a phalanx? In a conversation with my brother-in-law one day he asked me the question How did they ever get anyone for the first row in a phalanx? His assumption was that it was a battle of attrition defeating one row at a time until the formation broke. Military history, being a hobby of mine, I decided to do some research to answer the question.