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Photograph by Jacquelyn Ramseyer
Mickey Patterson, owner of Mickey's House of Soldiers, has a personal collection of 250,000 toy soldiers. Patterson, who prefers to go by just 'Mickey,' owns soldiers that were formerly parts of Hitler's and Churchill's personal collections.
Soldier's Story
Sunnyvale shop sells thousands of historical military miniature soldiers
By Amy Jenkins
Walking by Mickey's House of Soldiers, a model and hobby shop, it's hard not to notice the hundreds of toy soldiers and boxes of model cars that line the store's front windows. But it is just the miniature soldiers that are the passion of the store's owner Mickey Patterson. He's trying to get rid of the rest of the boxed toys and models, he says.
Patterson, who prefers to be called just 'Mickey,' says he has the world's largest collection of historical military miniatures and has challenged anyone to prove him wrong. With 250,000 miniatures, he boasts a collection even larger than that of the millionaire and magazine owner Malcolm Forbes, who had just 93,000, Mickey says.
The passion began when he was making mud castles in his backyard at 6 years old. One day his fingers struck an object, and after he dug it up, he discovered it was a toy soldier. He washed it off, admired it and has been collecting them ever since, for 65 years to be exact.
"I loved them so much I was given soldiers for Christmas, my birthday and when I got a good report card," he says. "I kept being a good boy so I could keep getting more. It was such a thrill to go pick out a box of soldiers."
The price of toy soldiers has gone up tremendously since the days he received them as gifts. When Mickey was a child a box cost 93 cents; now one box costs approximately $150.
Mickey opened the store, located at 601 Capella Way, Sunnyvale, in 1969. Before this store he had a shop in San Francisco for five years, where he says he displayed thousands of soldiers on a wall.
"For me it was beautiful to see them there," he says. "But people were very fascinated to see so many."
Mickey says collectors come from all over the world to visit his store because it's advertised in a military book for collectors. He says he also gets local shoppers and some browsers, some of whom become collectors after talking to him.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
A group of soldiers line up under the magnifying glass of Mickey Patterson, owner of Mickey's House of Soldiers. Patterson, who owns a personal collection of 250,000 toy soldiers, was introduced to his passion at the age of 6, when he found a Colestream Guard soldier while building mud castles in his backyard.
Mickey says he not only sells the miniatures in his store, but he also displays them at his own museum and makes some himself. There are 30,000 at the store, and the rest are on display at his museum, also located in Sunnyvale. There he keeps them mobile so he can rearrange them into different scenes of war reenactment on various tables. He says only select collectors are invited to see his collection at the museum. Among the lucky few are Forbes and actor Jonathan Winters.
Mickey says he was excited and shocked the first time Winters came into his store. He says they were in the same division in the Marines during World War II but they never met (Mickey was stationed in the Pacific from 1942 to 1947). Mickey says he just knew Winters from his movies.
Some of Mickey's collection comes from Forbes' collection in England and New York and dates back to the 1800s. Mickey manufactures others himself. He says he began making miniatures for fun when he was 8 years old and now makes sure all the details--such as uniform color--are exact. He says he does his research in a variety of collector's picture books. So far he has made more than 5,000 miniatures using white metal, pewter, tin, alloy and his own solution.
To do his work, Mickey sits behind the counter at a workshop with tiny soldiers illuminated by a light with paint brushes and paints all over the table. A set of Japanese Imperial Army soldiers came unpainted and he painted them. He says he loves to paint and manufacture the figures for customers.
"There is a miniature representative of every war you can think of," he says. "And if there isn't one, I can make one up."
The miniatures stand 2 1/2 inches in height. In each regiment there are 50 soldiers, including the honor guard, captain, lieutenant, sergeant and corporal. Mickey also has a rare miniature of soldiers raising the flag at Iwa Jima, which he got from Spain. He says he also has models of the funerals of former President John F. Kennedy and Princess Diana.
Collecting has literally paid off over the years. Mickey says he bought an artillery set when he was 13 or 14 years old for $15.98 and today it is worth $5,000.
But Mickey says he doesn't feel any different than a collector that has one soldier. He says his greatest love is collecting soldiers. He is just thankful to have collected this many over the years, and he never gets tired of looking at them. He says he also loves to talk with his customers, get to know them on a first name basis, and answer all the questions they have.
Mickey's House of Soldiers is located at 601 Capella Way, Sunnyvale. It is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. For more information, call 408.739.1073.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
