DISPATCHES
April 2022
Hi
Guys and welcome to this month’s ‘DISPATCHES’ and our monthly ‘Look-see’
at what King & Country will be releasing over the next 30 days…
As
I write these words I am still in San Antonio Texas
and working alongside our hard-working, general manager Amber in the brand-new
‘KING & COUNTRY TEXAS’ store.
Back
in late January I flew out to the U.S. to see the new store and attend the ‘Official
Opening’ of the venue in its great new location at 5945 Broadway, San
Antonio.
Originally,
my intention was to stay for just 3 weeks but because of flight bans and travel
restrictions that has ended up to more than 9 weeks of exile in San Antonio.
Now,
don’t get me wrong if anyone has to be ‘exiled’
anywhere I can heartily suggest that Texas in general and San Antonio
in particular is the place to be… The people are friendly, the weather has been
fantastic and the food delicious. PLUS as
a history enthusiast Texas and San Antonio have a wealth of historic
attractions, sites and amazing museums.
I’ve
had a great time and also the opportunity to meet many
of our local collectors and make a host of new friends…
My
enforced absence from Hong Kong also gave myself and K&C’s cofounder Laura
McAllister Johnson the opportunity to fly up to Los Angeles and
attend Hobby Bunker’s ‘WESTCOASTER’ toy soldier show. A great time was
had by everyone who attended and I even got to meet
and talk with a real, live movie director, John Landis, who attended the
show and importantly for us, is a dedicated K&C Collector!
Meanwhile,
back in Texas it has been great assisting Amber in the store and getting to
know more about what collectors like…. don’t like... and, of course, what they would
like to see in the future.
So,
to that effect, allow me to invite all of you to pay a visit to ‘KING &
COUNTRY TEXAS’ and see for yourself the very best of our many different
series in a terrific setting and a great town.
At
this point in time I will be leaving for Hong Kong on April 4th,
but would like to thank everyone here for a fantastic time.
However,
putting all that to one side for a moment, here is what you may have come
looking for…
1.
‘WHAT’S
NEW…?’
A.
‘To The Sands of Ancient Egypt’
First of all, a note of thanks for all those K&C
Collectors who have enthusiastically embraced ‘The Discovery of TUTANKHAMUN’
figures and set that have so far been released. Now, to add to these pieces are
a small collection of Egyptian workmen who helped excavate the burial site of
the ill-fated boy pharaoh and carried some of his treasures into the harsh,
light-of-day in the modern age.
At
the same time we have also included a fictional
addition to the series which would certainly come as a surprise to all of those
diligently digging…
AE091
‘Carrying
the Queen’
A
young worker carefully carries an almost perfect rendition of an Ancient
Egyptian female ruler to the surface.
Although
the statue has lain in the sands of Egypt for many hundreds of years it still
retains its original colour and fine finish.
AE093
‘Carrying
Anubis Set’
Two
more Egyptian labourers carry a heavier burden in the
shape of ‘Anubis’, the ancient ‘God of The Dead’ sometimes represented
as a jackal or, occasionally, a man with the head of a jackal.
AE094
‘The Mummy’s Revenge’
No
horror movie from Hollywood U.S.A. to Hammer Films in the UK is ever complete
without an Egyptian ‘Mummy’!
For
decades whenever Ancient Egypt was evoked on the screen, one of these
long-dead, wrapped-up monsters would appear and come alive again and go out
looking for likely victims… female if possible!
AVAILABLE:
Early to Mid April
B.
‘On
Duty but Dismounted’
TWO
small additions to our ‘Ceremonial Series’ in the shape of a pair of dismounted
Life Guards troopers.
CE076‘Standing
Life Guards Trooper’
Visitors
to London almost always go, at least once, to see ‘The Changing of The Guard’
at Buckingham Palace where the ceremony is usually performed by one of the five
regiments of Foot Guards in their scarlet tunics and tall black bearskins.
Lesser
known, but just as colorful, is the Guard Changes on Horse Guards Parade
at Whitehall in central London performed by soldiers of the Household
Cavalry Mounted Regiment on a daily basis.
From
10:00am until 4:00pm this duty is carried out by mounted troopers of either the
Life Guards or Blues & Royals squadrons of the HCMR.
At
4:00pm the mounted troopers are replaced by dismounted troopers who remain on
post until 8:00pm each day.
Our
K&C trooper stands at attention in his full ceremonial uniform, with his
sabre gently resting on his right shoulder.
CE077
‘Standing Life Guards Trumpeter’
Accompanying
the dismounted guard is always a Trumpeter… Up until the outbreak of WWII all
trumpeters wore the same uniform as their dismounted fellow troopers complete
with the heavy metal cuirass. In modern times the cuirass has been removed for
Trumpeters who now wear the simple dress red tunic.
AVAILABLE:
Late April
C.
“RALLY
ROUND THE FLAG BOYS!”
Here
are five additional figures to add to our American Civil War collection
of the 83rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regt.
CW124“Lying
Prone Firing”
This
private adopts the most comfortable position to open fire on the enemy.
CW125“Lying
Ready”
Also in a similar position to the previous figure
but raising his head to get a clearer picture of the opposing forces.
CW136“Casualties
of War”
Three
different soldiers of the 83rd who have fallen to Confederate
bullets.
AVAILABLE:
Early to Mid April
D.
‘ON
THE FIELD OF BATTLE’
A
single addition, but a useful one, for our last release of Scots Greys. PLUS no less than 8 of 18 of Napoleon’s
‘Dragons a Pied’, the ‘Foot Dragoons’.
In
early 1805, as Napoleon gathered his forces together at Boulogne for a
projected invasion of Britain he decided to dismount
several regiments of Dragoons in order to more easily transport them across the
English channel. He supposed that these troops would fight on foot after their
initial landing until such time as they could capture or requisition sufficient horses to be remounted.
After
the French defeat at Trafalgar in October 1805 the invasion, was cancelled
however these ‘Foot Dragoons’ did not have their mounts returned.
Instead they were dispatched to fight on foot in campaigns across Europe and
into Austria and Russia.
They
did however retain their tall brass helmets complete with black horsehair
plumes and the traditional, green tunics of French Light Cavalry and Infantry
as well as their long dragoon muskets.
To
suit their new fighting role they wore long, black canvas leggings and the
regular French Army infantry backpack.
NA485 “Mounted Foot Dragoons Officer”
Sabre
in right hand and reining in his horse with his left this officer leads his men
into battle.
NA487 “Foot Dragoon Loading Musket”
This
Dragoon reaches back into his cartridge pouch for a fresh round.
NA488 “Foot Dragoon Standing Firing”
Another
Dragoon ‘draws a bead’ on the enemy.
NA489 “Foot Dragoon Kneeling Firing”
NA490 “Kneeling Dragoon Helping A Comrade”
In the midst of battle one ‘Foot Dragoon’ reaches over to a
fallen friend to see if he is still alive.
NA491 “Foot Dragoon Charging Forward”
Taking
the fight to the enemy.
NA492 “Foot Dragoon Biting A Cartridge”
Once
a paper cartridge was taken out of the pouch the soldier had to bite the top
off before carefully pouring most of the gun powder down inside the barrel and
then inserting the steel ball.
A
small amount of powder was retained for the firing pan of the musket while the
empty paper cartridge was pushed down the barrel with the ramrod in order to
keep the ball in place before firing.
During
the Napoleonic Wars a properly trained group of regular infantry soldiers was
able to load and fire four rounds a minute. Some expert rifle regiments
could even load and fire five aimed rounds in a minute.
Foot
Dragoons would fall into the former group as regards ‘rate of fire’.
ALSO
AVAILABLE:
NA484 “Scots Grey Casualty”
A dead Scots Grey trooper and his horse lie fallen
on the field of Waterloo.
NA484:
AVAILABLE: Early to Mid April
OTHERS:
AVAILABLE: Late April
E.
‘HAVE
GUNS WILL TRAVEL’
Although
many people think of the Vietnam War as the ‘Helicopter War’ most
transportation around that war-torn country of men, material, food, fuel and
ammunition was by truck… and lots of them.
Almost
as soon as American Forces began taking over the major role of combating the
Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army the enemy began to ambush the U.S. convoys
carrying their much needed supplies and reinforcements
between the major bases and depots to far flung out posts all over the country.
Although
U.S. Army and Marine Corps units provided armoured
cars and sometimes even tanks to protect these convoys it was simply not enough
to deter enemy attacks.
Fortunately,
it was the transportation units themselves that came up with one of the best
innovative solutions… Gun Trucks!
Each
‘Gun Truck’ was a standard U.S. Army 2 1/2 ton
cargo truck armed with a variety of machine guns and protected by additional
sheets of steel and armour plate.
Simultaneously
convoys were reduced from, on average, 200 vehicles to just 100,
making them easier to control and protect. To ‘ride shotgun’ on these small 100
vehicle convoys a force of 10 ‘Gun Trucks’ would ensure one ‘protector’
for every group of ten trucks.
Some
of these Gun Trucks mounted the WWII era ‘Quadmount
.50 calibre’ machine guns.
During
the Vietnam War an estimated 300-400 vehicles were converted into ‘Gun
Trucks’ and King & Country is proud to present two of them…
VN108-1
“M35A1 Gun Truck (Suzie Q)”
The
M35
2 1/2 ton cargo truck was the mainstay of all the U.S.
Forces transport throughout the Vietnam War and well into the 1980s.
Our
King & Country model has the Quad-mounted .50 cal. Machine guns complete
with a gunner manning the turret.
Upfront
sits the driver alongside a pintle-mounted M60 machine gun and his
personal M16 rifle.
This
crew has also painted a rather attractive Vietnamese ‘pin-up’ called “Suzie
Q” on the armor shield as well as the legend ‘Have Guns Will Travel’
(a reference to a then popular TV cowboy show back in the ‘States) on the Quad
mount.
VN108-2
“M35A1 Gun Truck (The War Wagon)”
The
second of our Gun Trucks is the aptly-named “The
War Wagon”.
Many
of the nicknames painted on these ‘Gun Trucks’ were inspired by rock songs, TV
shows and even movies of the 1960s. ‘The War Wagon’ is a case in point…
It came from a 1967 ‘Western’ starring John Wayne and Kirk Douglas and
was popular with the troops at that time.
As
our first vehicle the driver and gunner are included along with their weapons.
Both
trucks are welcome add-ons to our very popular ‘Vietnam’ series so grab
‘em while you can!
AVAILABLE:
Late April
2.
BEING
RETIRED…
As
always, some come in… others go out.
BBA081
Winter GI's in Action
JN019
Air Mechanic Crew Chief
JN020
Ground Crew Set #1
JN021
Ground Crew Set #2
LoJ024
The Boot Maker
MK163
The Swordsmith
USMC031
Marine Crawling Into
Position
VN103
Female Viet Cong w/M16
VN105
Pretty But
Dangerous
VN122
Miss Papillon
And
that is April for you…
Not too many items but something I hope for most collectors.
On the cheerful note, many thanks once more to
everyone who made this visit to the ‘States so enjoyable and memorable.
Great Sales!
Andy C. Neilson
Co-founder & Creative Director
King & Country Ltd.