Dear Partners,
Welcome once
more to ‘DISPATCHES’
and our latest batch of offerings. I’m also happy to report that life is
beginning to get back to normal here in Hong Kong.
The Government mandate on
wearing face masks was finally lifted after 3 years and now you can actually see people’s entire face again!
At the same time, China allowed
travel between HK and the mainland to resume and at long last myself and some
of the K&C Team journeyed up to one of our leading factories to see the
progress on several of our major projects for 2023 and beyond.
A week later the Team and yours
truly made a second trip into China to meet face-to-face with our top sculptor.
What a difference that makes… we were able to see, comment and amend some of
the new figures he had been working on. I truly believe that these
kind of personal meetings save so much time, effort and money while
helping to make a better figure, fighting vehicle or indeed any of the models
K&C produce.
So, to cut a long story short…
as normality resumes production will, I believe, ramp up as we move along.
In the meantime, here’s what is
appearing this month…
When we first introduced our ‘Ancient Egypt’ series
one of the first and most successful group sets was ‘Pharaoh’s Sedan Chair’. Now long retired we
had many requests to reintroduce it and so we had another look at the original
and decided to make a few important changes and improvement.
AE099 "The Pharaoh’s New Sedan Chair Set"
A brand-new sculpt of a seated
Pharaoh sits atop his Sedan Chair which is being carried by a team of 4 Nubian
slaves.
Nubians were highly-prized
by their Egyptian masters and were noted for their strength and endurance.
Thousands of them were in Royal service and although still slaves were provided
with extra rations and fairly good, for the period,
living conditions.
AE101 "Queen Cleopatra’s Sedan Chair Set"
While working on the first set
it seemed logical to offer another set complete with a different ruler in this case
the original ‘Temptress of The Nile’, Cleopatra.
This is the third rendition of
this Egyptian Queen by King & Country and portrays the lady in a typically
regal pose perched on her Sedan Chair which is again being carried by 4 Nubian
slaves.
Both sets provide colourful centerpieces for any Ancient Egyptian display.
AE100 "The Pharaoh’s Fan Bearer"
To go with the Sedan Chair sets
you obviously need a Fan Bearer to keep the ruler cool and keep those pesky
flies away.
Once more, the Royal Court has
chosen a Nubian to perform the task.
AVAILABILITY: Mid-Late April
6 May 2023 has been declared to be a Public
Holiday and the Coronation Day
of Britain’s newest monarch and head-of-state, King CharlesⅢ.
On that day Charles will
officially become King of
the United Kingdom and no less than
14 other Commonwealth countries.
As the eldest son of Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ he became the longest serving heir
apparent and Prince of Wales
in the history of the Monarchy.
At the age of 73 he also became
the oldest person to ever accede to the British throne. The tasks and duties
before him are going to be many, wide ranging and increasingly complex.
In addition, he is also
following in the footsteps of a beloved mother who, as Britain’s monarch and
head-of-state rarely if ever put a foot wrong throughout her long and memorable
reign.
To celebrate our new King and to
remember the long and valued legacy of his mother K&C has designed and
produced a small number of individual figures to represent King CharlesⅢ and Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ.
Here they are…
CE094 "King Charles III"
The new King enjoys, just as
his mother did, a very special relationship with all of Britain’s Armed Forces.
As King he holds honorary rank in all three branches however it is the Royal
Navy that he is probably closest to.
In 1971 he enrolled at the
Royal Naval College Dartmouth to learn to become an officer. After completing
his training Charles went onto serve on the guided-missile destroyer HMS
Norfolk before moving to additional sea service on the frigates HMS Minerva and
Jupiter. During this time he also qualified as a
helicopter pilot operating from the carrier HMS Hermes.
By 1976 he was given command of
the coastal minehunter HMS Bronington which as he has
often recounted was one of the happiest times in his life.
This new K&C figure of King
CharlesⅢ
shows him in the full dress uniform of an ‘Admiral of The Fleet’… the highest
rank in the Royal Navy.
TR014 "“The Queen & Her Corgis” (Royal
Purple)"
Most ‘Royal Observers’ have
noticed that Her Late Majesty enjoyed wearing bright colours,
especially in her later years, with some wondering what colours
were her particular favourite.
According to Ms. Angela Kelly,
the Queen’s long-serving personal attendant, among her favourites
were these three selections featured here.
TR014 portrays Queen Elizabeth
in a shade of Royal Purple with of course, matching coat and hat together with
simple classic black bag and shoes.
Around her feet are a trio of
Royal Corgis. Since she was a small child the
Queen had loved and appreciated
these small Pembroke Welsh Corgi dogs beginning with her first called ‘Dookie’ in 1933.
TR015 "“The Queen & Her Corgis” (Emerald
Green)"
Another favourite
Royal colour was ‘Emerald Green’. Once again, the
Queen in a standard pose with her Corgi posse at her feet.
TR016 "“The Queen & Her Corgis” (Tangerine
Orange)"
The final colour
combination here shows the late monarch in a saturated, bold orange ensemble.
The Queen herself selected her favourite colours because in her
own words “You have to be seen to be believed”.
She was a ‘people person’ and
enjoyed meeting millions of her subjects in all kinds of gatherings large and
small.
Being petite herself she also
understood that it would be helpful if she wore brightly coloured
clothes so that even among huge crowds the people would still spot her easily.
SP126 "“A Trio of Royal Corgis” (Set of 3)"
The Pembroke Welsh Corgi was
originally a cattle herding dog that hailed from Pembrokeshire in Wales.
Their fame comes from being the
preferred breed of Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ who kept more than 30 different Royal
Corgis during her long reign.
The Pembroke Welsh Corgi has been
ranked 11th in Stanley Coren’s ‘The Intelligence of
Dogs’ book which states that the breed is an excellent working dog.
In a family environment they
tend to follow wherever their owners go and behave well around children.
Besides herding, they also function as watchdogs due to their alertness and
tendency to bark at strangers.
Because of their herding
instincts they also love to chase anything that moves and occasionally nip at
their owners ankles as this is what they were
originally bred to do with cattle.
Among some of the names of the
Queen’s Royal Corgis were Sugar, Honey, Sherry, Whiskey, Cindy, Rufus, Brush
and Pickles… Take your pick.
AVAILABILITY: Mid to Late April
And now for something
completely different… A section of 6
young Waffen SS infantryment from the 12th SS ‘Hitlerjugend’
Division fighting in Normandy in the summer of 1944. Out of the
bocage and hedgerows come these figures.
WS374 "The Panzerfaust Team"
The ‘Panzerfaust’ (translated as
‘tank fist’) was a family of single-shot, man-portable, anti-tank rockets that
came into German service in 1943.
It consisted of a light,
recoilless launcher tube with a pre-loaded, high-explosive, anti-tank warhead
protruding from the muzzle, much like a ‘fist’ hence the name.
It was a cheap to manufacture
and easy-to-use anti-tank weapon for the ordinary infantryman being issued to
single soldiers in addition to their personal weapons.
Firing was done from under the
arm at an upward angle as its effective range was just 30-60 metres (about 35-65 yards).
Development began in 1942 and
continued until the final days of WW2.
Our K&C 3-man section is
each armed with their own Panzerfaust. As one kneels down
and takes aim another moves forward and the third watches to see the success or
failure of the first ‘shot’.
All three are dressed in the
‘mixed rig’ combination of camouflage jackets, trousers and feldgrau
uniforms of 12th SS at that time.
WS375 "Marching Soldaten"
A pair of 12th SS troopers on
patrol with rifles shouldered. It must be assumed that they are behind the
frontlines and not in direct action.
WS376 "Standing Soldaten"
This young SS man could be on
guard duty or just observing the enemy from a secure position.
Again, wearing the uniform
combination common to many of his division.
AVAILABILITY:
Mid to Late April
Finally, at long last, after
almost 18 months of development our newest ‘Tiger’ and, quite simply, our best Panzerkampfwagen
Ⅵ yet!
By the time you read these
DISPATCHES every single one of these 500 ‘Winter Tigers’ has already been sold.
The response to our pre
publicity has been amazing from all over the world. I believe we could have
produced many more but we also wanted to make this
very special breed of ‘Tiger’
very special too.
With its all-metal hull, turret
and main gun… its moving flexible metal tracks and rolling road wheels with
full suspension… and the opening hatches plus complimentary crew figures this
1:30 scale monster is impressive on every level.
Congratulations and gratitude
to all those K&C collectors and dealers around the globe who have supported
and encouraged us in this first, of I hope, many, exciting all-metal projects.
WS381(SL) "PzKpfw. VI ‘Winter Tiger’ Special Edition"
The Panzerkampfwagen
VI better known by its nickname ‘THE TIGER’ was one of the most powerful tanks
to see action during the Second World War.
Conceived in a response to the
heavily armoured Soviet tanks the Germans encountered
after their invasion of Russia in June 1941, the
‘TIGER’ completely outclassed all its opponents at the time of its
introduction.
Its formidably thick frontal armour was almost impossible to penetrate with all existing
anti-tank weapons systems of the period.
Armed with a superb tank
version of the 88mm KwK 36 Flak Gun it was capable of destroying enemy targets at well over 2 kilometres.
These were even some reports of
‘kills’ at almost 4 kilometres!
As a battlefield superiority
weapon the ‘TIGER’ served extensively from 1942 onwards across the frozen
Eastern Front all the way to the blistering hot sands of North Africa and onto
the lush, green fields of Western Europe.
Being a mighty armoured ‘breakthrough’ vehicle it was often employed as
the spearhead of many German offensives. All the more
incredible as only 1500 ‘TIGERS’ were actually constructed between 1942 and
1945.
This particular
‘TIGER’ is the 20th variant released by K&C since our very first in
1991.
Each of these Special Editions
‘Tigers’ is packaged in a sturdy, custom designed, full-colour
box and comes with a numbered (001-500) Certificate of Authenticity.
AVAILABILITY: DELIVERY SCHEDULE: Mid-Late April
And that my friends is April for you… not a huge amount but some very special
and unique items that will find a place in some of your collections.
But before
we go… Here is our list of retirements.
DD297 Major
Dick Winters
RnB007 Caradoc,
Chief of the Britons
RTA114 William
E. Summers, Gonzalez Mounted Ranger Company
RTA115 William
P. King, Gonzalez Mounted Ranger Company
RTA116 Thomas
R. Miller
RTA117 George
Neggan of South Carolina
Andy C. Neilson
Co-founder & Creative
Director
King & Country