About us My name is Ben Pauley and I've been a collector nearly my entire life. I've collected everything from coins, stamps, bottles, and sports cards. I began collecting dimestore toy soldiers after receiving a Christmas gift from my in-laws. I was living in San Antonio, TX at the time and had the good fortune to meet a gentleman who was very knowledgeable in the hobby. I purchased a large number of dimestores from him. My collection has focused on Barclays, Manoils, and Grey Irons. Most recently, I've been building a collection of the rarer American Metal soldiers. In 1997, I watched the Ken Burns series The Civil War. I purchased my first 1/9 plate tintype of a 1st Sergeant while living in Ft. Wayne, IN in 1997. Since that first purchase, I've lived in 6 additional states and have built my collection from multiple sources including antique shops, Civil War collector shows, individuals and now eBay. Specific to eBay, I've had some wins and some losses. The simple story is buyer beware. Over the last 20 years, I've had the great fortune to meet some terrific collectors and friends. I've learned tons about my hobbies from these individuals. I only hope I'm able to share what I've learned from these experts. You'll be seeing some more interesting items and categories going up over time, but I'm going to start with dimestores and images. Soon, I'd like to include some of my animation art (cartoon cels), antique prints of Native Americans, Civil War letters, and more. This website has been in my mind for about 5 years, but my introduction to Don Brown & Kevin Alvis, who are my web designers, has been the catalyst to get this going. What is included here is excess inventory (toy soldiers) or pieces of my collection (civil war images) that, if sold, will allow me to expand and improve my personal collections. As you might imagine, I'm interested in buying collections big & small. I hope you'll feel free to contact me if you're interested in selling items. Simply clik on the “contact us” link on the left hand side menu and send me an email . . . . . let's talk. Happy Collecting, Ben