Biggest miniature collection in the world (?)

[Daeothar]

I just stumbled upon this video, detailing one man's massive (16k+) miniature collection, most of it painted by commissioned artists.

Now, I'm sure there are people here on the LAF who have larger collections (looking at you, historical lot  ), but his collection might just be the nicest painted one. And apparently he's moving everything over to a dedicated museum, for the public to be able to see it.

It's a jawdropping collection at any rate...

https://youtu.be/VFutPHOV6cI?si=AjRgNOtZ7FLOKSsS

[Dolnikan]

They certainly are better painted than mine! And painted! Which also is quite an achievement.

[Mikai]

Does someone know how to deactivate the auto synchro in other languages? The robot voices sound so weired. Not sure why some youtubers have that activated at their channels, it ruins the whole video. Have also seen it only at the Wargaming videos up to now.

[FifteensAway]

Meaning no disrespect, but largest collection in the world?  Thorough nonsense, not even close - though certainly nicely painted.  Well, maybe existing. 

But largest collection I ever heard of - and all painted - was in the range of 100,000 figures plus, though 'quality' of paint job open to question but decent at the least.  Yes, One Hundred Thousand - and yes Plus.  And pretty much all historical.  Alas, that collection was being sold off at last word, the owner just getting too old to keep it going.  And locally, some years back, there was a gentleman who had over 10,000 just Napoleonic figures all painted to the highest standard.  That, of course, doesn't compete with 16,000 unless he kept going which was his intention at the time he was heard of on the local news and by now he could easily have doubled his collection.

I'd guess there are several other larger collections out there.  Maybe this guys collection is one of the nicest and largest and better painted non-historical collections however.

[HerbertTarkel]

That’s a fantastic collection! 

[Jemima Fawr]

Meaning no disrespect, but largest collection in the world?  Thorough nonsense, not even close - though certainly nicely painted.  Well, maybe existing. 

But largest collection I ever heard of - and all painted - was in the range of 100,000 figures plus, though 'quality' of paint job open to question but decent at the least.  Yes, One Hundred Thousand - and yes Plus.  And pretty much all historical.  Alas, that collection was being sold off at last word, the owner just getting too old to keep it going.  And locally, some years back, there was a gentleman who had over 10,000 just Napoleonic figures all painted to the highest standard.  That, of course, doesn't compete with 16,000 unless he kept going which was his intention at the time he was heard of on the local news and by now he could easily have doubled his collection.

I'd guess there are several other larger collections out there.  Maybe this guys collection is one of the nicest and largest and better painted non-historical collections however.

Was that John Tuckey?  His collection must have easily topped 100,000.  It filled his house!

I've got 9,000+ Napoleonics.  It used to be 10,000+, but I ditched all the old Heritage and Minifigs that never saw the light of day after the early 1990s.  I also know at least two people who must have more Napoleonics than me and I used to know someone with a collection of 15,000+ (now broken up and sold).  My SYW collection is catching up fast; just passed through 6,000 of those.

[rct75001]

I also saw that video - well almost saw it.  I would have loved more light on many of the cases as they showed them to actually see the miniatures. 

I have no idea who would win in a 'largest' competition - but if you haven't seen the 'Krause Collection', I think he is doing pretty well - all in 15mm.

His Youtube channel is here and is pretty regularly updated

https://www.youtube.com/@thekrausecollection15mmmin53/videos

[Belligerentparrot]

If you click through to the guy's website, you'll see he's only (!) claiming the largest fantasy mini collection, so the youtube video has a definite click-bait feel to it.

[FifteensAway]

Jemima, no, not John Tuckey's.  "Doc" on that 'other' forum and a regular game runner at Historicon until he started winding down, he was interviewed by a significant print magazine years ago which is where the 100,000 number comes from, based around Chicago USA if memory serves.   Wouldn't be surprised if Tuckey had as many or more.

And, to be fair, OP did say other larger collections likely. 

[HerbertTarkel]

If you click through to the guy's website, you'll see he's only (!) claiming the largest fantasy mini collection, so the youtube video has a definite click-bait feel to it.

Click bait! Rage!

[Captain Gars]

The largest collection I have ever seen was in the Plassenburg Fortress in Kulmbach, Germany on a 1992 visit to Germany.  The collection and dioramas mostly consist of German "Flats" but they did have some British "rounds".

https://plassenburg.de/de/die-museen/deutsches-zinnfigurenmuseum

On a return trip, there were many fewer figures than on the first trip. I'm not 100% sure of where the figures went, but I believe it might be the Eberbach (Germany) Zinnfiguren-Kabinett.  When I planned my trip to Eberbach, I wrote down in my notes that the museum was open Wednesday-Saturday. I visited on a Thursday and found the museum closed. I should have written down "open Wednesday and Saturday".

The Plassenburg collection is still impressive and about 300,000 firgures.
 

[bluewillow]

Mine tops out at around 10000, a mix of 28mm and 20mm it was close to 15000 at one stage but I sold all of my 15mm. I have started to sell off more 28mm to concentrate on the battles around my house here in west France that relate to our wargames holiday business.

I think the UK Wargames Holiday centre is circa 25000, maybe more 28mm.

The Winston Churchill collection at Blenheim Palace is 30,000 figs.

Swiss collection of Alfred R. Sulzer, on loan to the Nuremberg model soldier collection is 145,000 flat 30mm figures.

The new UK army 20mm Waterloo display is 190,000 figures as it is 1 to 1, opening in 2025.

Museo de los Soldaditos de Plomo, in Valencia, Spain has 85,000 on display of a collection of close to 1 million figures.


So not close to the largest collection but impressive

Cheers
Matt

[Vis Bellica]

The real difficulty is how you count it.

Does a 15mm figure equal a 28mm figure equal a 6mm figure?

How much do you add for a tank? Or even a cavalryman versus an infantryman?

All important points to decide before even starting to tot up numbers.

[carlos marighela]

I wouldn't be surprised if the bloke in the video did have the largest miniatures collection in the world. I mean he is Gandalf isn't he?

[Dolnikan]

The real difficulty is how you count it.

Does a 15mm figure equal a 28mm figure equal a 6mm figure?

How much do you add for a tank? Or even a cavalryman versus an infantryman?

All important points to decide before even starting to tot up numbers.

That also is a big question. There's a huge difference between having a thousand 2 mm figures and having a thousand 54 mm, all painted up. And indeed, a tank, monster, or the like is pretty different from just another footsoldier. And do you count goblins and the like as being less as well?

Generally though, I'd just go for the number of figures. One might of course count a cavalryman as two because there is a horse and there's a rider, who can be seen as pretty independent. It's the same with a chariot where you have the chariot, the horses, and the riders.

Personally, I count individual miniatures. Whether they're giant tanks with a dozen men on them or a piece of bread that's just there as set dressing. But that's only for my personal count.