DISPATCHES

December 2021

 

WELCOME to my favourite month of the year when all of us are looking forward to finding a little something special under the Christmas tree... So, as I like to say, let’s get on with the show...

 

1.            BEING RELEASED IN DECEMBER

A.           ... IN THE SANDS OF ANCIENT EGYPT

The tomb of the boy King Tutankhamun is possibly the most famous because of its well-known discovery by the British archaeologist, Howard Carter. The tomb was doubly important because it let archaeologists record what an Egyptian pharaoh’s tomb actually looked like thus allowing them to learn much more about Ancient Egypt.

Unlike earlier tombs belonging to other pharaohs Carter’s discovery had not been vandalized and looted by grave robbers and private collectors.

This meant the tomb’s vast hoard of artifacts and treasure, intended to accompany the young king into the afterlife, revealed an astounding amount of detail about his all-too short life and the society he lived in.

 

Tutankhamun ruled Egypt for just 10 years until his death at the age of 19, about 1324 B.C. He remained barely known to the modern world until 1922, when Howard Carter chiseled his way through a doorway and entered the royal tomb, which had remained intact for over 3,200 years!

This coming year marks the centenary of the tomb’s discovery and introduces another chapter in King & Country’s ‘Ancient Egypt’ series...

 

AE086 ‘Discovering Tutankhamun

This unique little set of 4 figures depicts four of the people very much associated with the discovery of the boy pharaoh’s tomb...

Howard Carter (1874-1939) became world-famous after discovering the virtually intact tomb of 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

Carter had been exploring several areas in Egypt seeking the tombs and other burial sites of Ancient Egypt’s nobles and high court officials before beginning work at the behest of his patron Lord Carnarvon in the Valley of the Kings in 1914 to search for the tomb of Tutankhamun. The outbreak of World War One in that same year brought work to a temporary halt while Carter undertook other duties on behalf of the British Government.

In late 1917 he was allowed to return to his excavations. It was however to take 5 long years until his efforts began to yield results. Throughout this time his work was sponsored by his patron, Lord Carnarvon (1866-1923).

George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon was an English Lord and wealthy aristocrat with a passion for all things ‘Ancient Egyptian’.

After his doctors advised that he ‘winter’ outside England he sailed for Egypt to enjoy the warm weather and become an enthusiastic amateur Egyptologist collecting all kinds of Egyptian antiques and relics.

It was in Cairo that he first met Howard Carter who convinced the wealthy peer to fund his search for the elusive tomb.

After many years and much expense the noble Lord was just about ready to withdraw his financial support when Carter telegraphed the exciting news of his biggest discovery yet...

Lord Carnarvon meanwhile had been visiting Monte Carlo and rushed by boat to Alexandria and then by train to Cairo to see for himself exactly what Carter had uncovered.

Travelling with him was his daughter, Lady Evelyn Herbert (1901-1980). Rushing with her father to the site of the newly-discovered tomb Lady Evelyn was only the third person in modern times to enter the burial chamber of Tutankhamun after Carter and Carnarvon.

50 years after the great event Lady Evelyn attended the opening of the ‘Treasures of Tutankhamun’ exhibition at the British Museum in London where she was presented to the Queen.

Accompanying the three British figures is the single Egyptian figure of famed Egyptologist, Dr. Selim Hassan (1886-1961) dressed in traditional Egyptian garb. He also took part in several other major excavation works at other ancient Egyptian burial sites and eventually became the senior Professor of Egyptology at Cairo University.

This particular set will be joined with other figures closely associated with the search for the tomb in the coming months.

 

AE088 ‘Tutankhamun’s Mummy

The welcome return of an Ancient Egyptian set complete with the bandaged body of the young king and the beautifully painted and decorated outer coffins.

AVAILABLE: Early December

 

WITH OUR COMPLIMENTS...

To enhance the display of any our Ancient Egypt series, especially these two ‘Tutankhamun’ sets, King & Country has produced a unique and useful, full-colourbackdrop’ accessory piece... FREE-OF-CHARGE!

Depicting scenes from life in the time of the Pharohs the full colour card can be folded neatly into a rectangular, open box-shape that represents a typical burial chamber of that era.

Any of our Ancient Egyptian figures but especially the two sets depicting the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, will work in this attractive setting.  Adding some of our sturdy Egyptian Stone Blocks AE078 makes the scene even better!

So, remember each of these two ‘Tutankhamun’ sets will be accompanied by one of these special ‘Tomb Backdrops’... with our compliments!

 

B.           ‘HOME ON THE RANGE’

From the dry, desert sands of Ancient Egypt we move to the dry, dusty plains of North Texas as we introduce a few more ‘cowpokes’ who have gotten down from their horses and taken a well-earned break from trail driving and cattle-branding...

 

CD010 ‘Cattle Drive Cookie

On a cattle drive, the chuck wagon and its cook were as important to the drive’s success as a good pair of cowboy boots or a fine horse.

With a ‘Dutch-Oven’, some sour dough, a side of beef and plenty of beans, a chuck wagon ‘cookie’ could feed an entire trail crew morning, noon and night. Beef, biscuits and beans made up the majority of what cowboys were served up with on a daily basis with an occasional pie dessert and plenty of hot coffee.

On average cooks were paid about 30-40 per cent more than the average ‘cowpoke’ but would also administer some very basic medicine from time to time as needs required and time permitted.

Our ‘Cookie’ bangs a wrought-iron triangle to tell the crew ‘Grub’s Up!

 

CD011 ‘The Original Country & Western

On most cattle drives there was usually one or more cowboys who could sing, play a harmonica, strum a banjo or even pick away at a guitar.

If time and circumstances allowed it, at the end of the day, around the campfire after a meal one of the ‘cowpokes’ might sit down and pick out a tune maybe an old gospel hymn... or even a favourite civil war song like ‘Dixie’ or ‘The Bonnie Blue Flag’... A little bit of home-spun entertainment sure went a long way in those days!

 

CD012 ‘Winchester Cowboy

This cowboy is holding his treasured ‘Winchester Model 1873 Lever-Action Rifle’. This is the weapon that became known as ‘The Gun that won the West’ and it came with two timeless features: reliability and firepower.

In an era when many other rifles and pistols were fussy and unreliable the ’73 was the weapon that would never let you down.

It could hold 15 rounds in a tubular magazine beneath the barrel and fired a .44/40 calibre round. This was further enhanced when Remington and Colt began chambering their own revolvers to carry the same .44/40 rounds meaning cowboys used the same ammunition for both rifle and pistol.

Among the famous Western characters that carried the Winchester ’73 were Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody), the outlaws Jesse and Frank James and the Apache leader Geronimo. In addition modern ballistic experts have revealed that at least 8 different Winchester ‘73s were used by Indians at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876!

 

CD013 ‘Are You Talking To Me...?

Cowboys were sometimes known for their very short tempers... They did not suffer fools gladly and might take offense at the simplest of casual remarks.

This ‘cowpoke’ might be joking or he might just be looking for trouble. After a long, hard day on the trail it was not difficult to find someone or something to argue with or about.

 

CD014 ‘A Good Cup Of Coffee

On the other hand some ‘cowpokes’ just wanted to get off their horse, sit on their bedroll, light up a smoke and enjoy a quite cup of coffee...

AVAILABLE: Early December

 

C.           A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF HORSMAN

Now, we begin a journey from that Cattle Drive Campfire to the busy, bustling streets of ‘Olde London’ as we present our second magnificent drumhorse form Her Majesty’s own Life Guards.

 

CE075 The Life Guards Drum Horse ‘HERCULES’

Each of the two Household Cavalry regiments that contribute one sabre squadron to the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (HCMR) have two magnificent drumhorses on their operational strength.

In October we released ‘HECTOR’, our first Life Guards Drumhorse. This month it is his companion, the equally handsome chestnut brown, ‘HERCULES’.

Like his fellow drumhorse this animal is a ‘Clydesdale Cross’, carefully selected and trained by the HCMR’s ‘Riding Master’ and stands almost 16.5 hands high.

AVAILABLE: Early December

 

D.           A COLLECTOR’S SUGGESTION

One of the things I most enjoy about my job is corresponding and getting feedback and suggestions from both dealers and especially... collectors!

This was one I received a few months back from a collector in Germany... The Emperor Barbarossa. And so...

 

MK219 ‘The Emperor Barbarossa’

Friedrich Barbarossa (1122-1190) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death during the Third Crusade in 1190.

Elected ‘King of Germany’ at Frankfurt in 1152 he went on to be crowned ‘King of Italy’ in 1155 and finally ‘Emperor’ by the Pope in Rome that same year.

He was named ‘Barbarossa’ or ‘Red Beard’ by the northern Italian cities he ruled while his Germanic subjects called him ‘Kaiser Rotbart’ which translates as ‘King Red Beard’. The ruler himself preferred his Italian nickname which perhaps reflected the centrality of his campaigns in that country during his long reign.

 

THE THIRD CRUSADE

In late 1187, ‘Barbarossa’ received urgent requests from the Crusader states in the Near East urging him to come to their rescue as soon as possible.

Some months later he joined forces with King Philip of France and began the long and tortuous journey toward their first objective Byzantium.

According to many this particular ‘Crusade’ was ‘the best planned and organized’ of all these ventures and numbered over 100,000 soldiers including 20,000 mounted knights.

It was also the best-disciplined... The two previous crusades had often plundered and pillaged the lands and peoples of the countries and states they passed through on their way to The Holy Land – Jews in particular suffered greatly.

Barbarossa’ issued an imperial edict protecting Jewish communities and threatened maiming or death to anyone who attacked, stole or destroyed Jewish lives and property.

 

DEATH OF AN EMPEROR

On June 1190, while crossing a river in southern Turkey, the Emperor Barbarossa fell from his horse and was swept away and drowned.

This unexpected event left the Crusader army under the joint command of bitter rivals, Philip of France and Richard The Lionheart of England... a sure recipe for disaster.

Many historians consider Friedrich Barbarossa to be the greatest of the Holy Roman Emperors. He appeared to be almost superhuman and combined many great attributes... a skilled organizer... battlefield acumen... personal bravery and chivalry... and wide political knowledge.

 

THE K & C ‘BARBAROSSA’

This new ‘Barbarossa’ equestrian figure is directly inspired by a fine monument that still stands today in Goslar, Lower Saxony in Germany.

The original statue was sculpted by Robert Tobernetz (1849-1895) and erected in 1893 to stand alongside another equestrian monument featuring Kaiser Wilhelm I which was unveiled a year earlier.

This King & Country Emperor stands proudly tall in the saddle displaying the black imperial eagle on his golden yellow surcoat.

Friedrich Barbarossa (1122-1190)

 

MK220 ‘Kneeling Saracen Archer’

This is the first of no less than 7 brand-new Saracen Archers that will be released now and into 2022.

Originally we were only going to produce two BUT when we saw how good-looking (and useful) they came out we added 5 more designs.

However, here is the first kneeling archer about to seek out his target.

 

MK221 ‘About-To-Fire Saracen Archer’

Taking careful aim at the enemy and about to ‘loose’ his arrow.

 

AVAILABLE: Early December

 

E.            NORTH VIETNAMESE ARMOURED AGGESSION

By 1972 the withdrawal of U.S. ground forces together with the continued unreliability of many, but not all, ARVN troops seemed to offer a ‘window of opportunity’ for North Vietnam. The decision was then made to launch a massive assault on the South that would utilize, for the first time, entire units of Soviet and Chinese-designed tanks as well as major, infantry, artillery and support units.

This was the first time North Vietnam had committed so many main force units into the battle to defeat their South Vietnam opponents.

It was also the first occasion when their main battle tanks drove south to take on the ARVN’S own M48s and M41s face to face.

Among these Communist tanks were Chinese-made T59s (a copy of the Soviet T54/55) and Soviet-Bloc manufactured T54/55s... Let battle begin!

 

VN143-1 ‘North Vietnamese T-55A Main Battle Tank #312

The T55 was a direct development of the earlier T54 and virtually identical in outward appearance. From the late 1950s it became the standard main battle tank for the Soviet Army and other Warsaw Pact nations. It would go on to be involved in many of the world’s armed conflicts in the latter half of the 20th Century... including Vietnam.

The T54/55 series would become the most produced tank in history with estimated production runs of anywhere from 86,000 up to 100,000 vehicles.

China’s People’s Liberation Army also manufactured their own exact copy called the T59 and built about 5,000 additional versions of the design.

Our first King & Country model is numbered #312 and mounts the excellent 100mmm Main Gun together with the 12.7 turret mounted DShK Heavy Machine Gun. A tank commander figure is included and the model also has the additional fuel drums mounted on the rear of the engine compartment.

 

VN143-2 ‘North Vietnamese T-55A Main Battle Tank #313

A second T55 for those collectors who would like an additional tank for their display / diorama with a separate hull number... In this case #313.

An additional note... the commander’s turret hatch can also open and close.

AVAILABLE: Early December

 

F.            SOUTH TO THE FALKLANDS!

In April 1982, Britain was astonished to find itself at war with Argentina over a group of windswept, sparsely populated islands thousands of miles away from the British mainland.

 

On 2 April 1982, an Argentinian military force landed on this little group of islands and unilaterally declared Britain’s rule to be over.

 

This was the first invasion of a British territory since WW2 and the result would be a short but bloody conflict that decided the political fate of both countries and their leaders.

 

As we approach 2022 King & Country is proud to remember and celebrate the 40th Anniversary of a remarkable military victory against great odds by the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces that won the day and proved, yet again, when ‘The going gets tough... The tough get going!

 

We are delighted to present our first, very special, introductory figure to this dramatic series...

 

TF001 ‘The Flagbearer’

Probably the most iconic image of the Falklands War on land is the photo taken by Petty Officer Peter Holdgate, a Commando Forces Photographer while accompanying British forces ‘yomping’ towards Port Stanley during the war.

At one point on the march one of the Royal Marines attached a small ‘Union Jack’ to the radio antenna of another Marine’s field radio.

This simple, straight forward image of a long line of British fighting men marching towards their objective and ‘flying the flag’ seemed to represent the kind of grit, courage and determination of Britain itself to recapture the Falklands and liberate its small, captive population from a cruel, despotic south American dictatorship.

King & Country’s initial offering is our portrayal in miniature of this lone Royal Marine ‘yomping’ towards eventual victory and defying all odds.

Additional Falklands War Royal Marines will be released in early 2022 while others, including the famous ‘Red Berets’ and some Argentinians are already ‘in the works.

 

AVAILABLE: Early December

 

2.            BEING RETIRED THIS MONTH...

A relatively small ‘DISPOSALlist this month but some extra special items among them. Grab’em while you can ...

 

** Some of the following items are added in the ‘End of The Run Remainders. Please see their updated prices below.

 

AE046 The Sphinx

BBA070 German Prisoner #1

BBA071 German Prisoner #2

BBA073 Prisoner in Great Coat

SAF002 Standing Gurkha Contingent Policeman

SAF003 Patrolling Gurkha Contingent Police Officer

SP058 The Corner Flower Shop

SP060 Deux Maisons

SP068 Bank of Heroes

VN033 The M42 DUSTER

VN042 Duster Add-on Crew

VN057 Ammo Load For The Mule

 

Great Sales!

 

Andy C. Neilson

Co-founder & Creative Director

King & Country Ltd.