KING & COUNTRY

DISPATCHES

AUGUST 2006

 

 

D. “WALLS, GATES & DEPOTS”

If an army marches on its stomach it’s no less true that a real K&C collector needs great display accessories to show his/ her collection off to its best advantage.

            Nothing adds authenticity and realism to a group of soldiers or fighting vehicles like a well-designed battlefield diorama.

 

SP023 “European Walls and Gate”.A really great and versatile piece that can work equally well with 18th , 19th and 20th century battle scenes.

            Journey to Europe, especially France, and you can still see the same centuries – old style of walls and gates all over the countryside.

 

SP024 “Supply Depot”.         Every modern army needs fuel and ammunition and this really useful group of battlefield accessories works great with any WW2 scenario – Allied or Axis.

 

AVAILABILITY: End of this week

 

E. “ONTO THE STREETS”

            “Streets of Old Hong Kong” has a couple of interesting little add-ons this month – HK151 “The Suckling Pig Set” shows off one of Chinese cuisine’s favorite dishes being prepared. Here a young Chef delicately prepares a young piglet ready for roasting over an open fire pit. Next to him is another pig already laid out and ready for banquet.

            Mmmm…finger lickin’ good!

 

HK152 “The Curios Seller”. Selling items “on the street” is still a popular past time even in Hong Kong today. In the old days you might be looking at a pile of junk or a treasured antiquity. Here a customer carefully scrutinizes a possible purchase from a vender of ceramics – all his goods before him on a richly decorated rug.

 

AVAILABILITY: End of this week

 

F. “FIELDS OF BATTLE” and the Road to Dunkirk

It’s June 1940 and the British and French armies are reeling back from the German onslaught simply known as… “BLITZKRIEG”.

            When K&C launched the “FoB” series back in the summer of 2005 it was a little bit of a leap in the dark. We believed, because of the subject matter… early war French and British, it should be popular in Europe…less so in America.

            Well, we misjudged the American market. “FoB” did very well in Europe and totally beyond our early expectations in the U.S. It seems quality and originality will always sell and so here we are with the next batch of figures and fighting vehicles to expand this unique collection.

 

FoB011 “French General”.  One of our first figures which we held over from the original release. He can be seen on the “FoB” leaflet though.

 

FoB012 “French Marching Officer”. A great companion piece to the marching “Poilus” of the first release.

 

FoB013 “French Cavalry Officer”. A superb mounted figure, saber resting on shoulder on a walking horse.

 

FoB014 “French Cavalry Trooper”. Even in 1940, France still had thousands of horse-mounted Cavalrymen. They fought many gallant delaying actions against the advancing German infantry and armour.

 

FoB015 “French Officer w/Flag”. Almost a throwback to an earlier era. This proud French officer holds the Regimental Tricolour.

 

FoB016 ‘Poilu’ Standing Ready. Here, like his father at Verdun, this young “Poilu” defiantly prepares to take on the hated Boches.

 

FoB017 ‘Poilu’ Kneeling Firing. Taking careful aim at the enemy.

 

FoB018 ‘Poilu’ Machine Gunner. Kneeling behind his venerable Hotchkiss machine gun this “Poilu” intends to make every bullet count.

 

FoB019 “Vickers MK. VI Light Tank”.Used primarily in the reconnaissance role this already obsolete British tank is a great looking little model and quite unique.Virtually all of the British Expeditionary Force’s armour was either ‘knocked-out’ or abandoned on the beaches of Dunkirk.

            Set includes 2 crew figures.

 

FoB020 “Kubelwagen”. A long, long awaited and long overdue new version of an old favourite – the VW “Kubelwagen”. The German answer to Jeep. Seen in every WW2 movie and documentary our great new model comes with 3 great figures! A seated driver plus a German General and his Adjutant – both standing next to the vehicle.

 

FoB021 “Wehrmacht Officer w/Binos”. A really nice “FoB” addition to the above set – a standing German officer with binos. Please note the cavalry-style jodhpurs (breeches) of the officer and the others. Obviously all cavalry.

 

FoB022 “British Rifleman w/helmet”.         Another weary ‘Tommy’ trudges back towards Dunkirk.

 

FoB023 “British Sergeant Major”. Officers may think they run the army but we know who really runs it! A tough old Sarn’t. Major points the way to the beaches and…hopefully Blighty.

 

AVAILABILITY: Mid August

 

G. “BANZAI!”

In advance of the opening of Clint Eastwood’s epic “Flags of our Fathers” comes our all-new…redesigned…resculpted Japanese Infantry. Six dynamic sets of single, double and treble figure groups that make into twelve great fighting figures. A worthy opponent to our World War Two U.S. Marines on IWO JIMA.

 

IWJ025 “General Kuribayashi”. This brave but doomed commander of the Japanese Garrison on IWO JIMA. Kuribayashi planned the amazing network of underground tunnels, bunkers and firing positions that made the Marines task so difficult and the taking of IWO so long and arduous.

 

IWJ026 “Rifle Grenade Team”. A two-man set of Japanese infantryman using their rifle grenades as a kind of mini mortar.

 

IWJ027 “Mortar Team”. Another two-man set using the Japanese small infantry mortar to lay down a constant bombardment on the attacking Marines.

 

IWJ028 “Machine Gun Team”. Two more Japanese using the famous Type92 machine gun nicknamed “The Woodpecker” (because of its sound) by American Troops.

 

IWJ029 “Anti Tank Team”. Preparing to fire their unwieldy (but still lethal)…anti tank rifle these two infantrymen aim to take out at least some of the enemy’s assault vehicles.

 

IWJ030 “Sniper Team”. Two riflemen, one sitting, one lying prone together with their officer “spotter” take careful aim at the advancing Marines.

 

AVAILABILITY: Late August

 

 

2. WHAT’S COMING IN SEPTEMBER

September is a hugely important month for “King & Country”. Not only do we have some great new additions to existing collections but we’re announcing the launch of a dramatic and important new series…

First the add-ons –

 

A. “IT’S GOING TO BE A COLD, COLD WINTER!”

Following the great success of last year’s release of “Winter Germans” which can be used in either “Russian Front” or “Battle of the Bulge” scenarios we decided to add some more “Winter Warriors” and here they are…

 

WS082 “MG42 Set”. Three decidedly cold-looking German “Soldaten” man this MG42 set up in its “fixed-firing” tripod.

 

WS083 “Hasso von Manteuffel”. This General was one of Germany’s best and most able officers and in command of the famed “Grossdeutschland” Division in 1944. Here, he stands next to a tripod-mounted set of long-distance field telescopes.

 

WS084 “Winter Sledge”. A well-wrapped up “Soldaten” manfully pulls one of his wounded colleagues to a battlefield aid station.

 

WS085 “Prepare to Fire!”.A kneeling officer, flare pistol in hand, prepares to give the order to fire to a standing sniper.

 

WS086 “Moving Forward”.Whilst a kneeling rifleman covers him another “soldaten” moves forward with his machine pistol ready.

 

AVAILABILITY: Early September

 

B. “DEFENCE WORKS FOR DEFENDERS”

 

SP025 “ Machine Gun Bunker” . A hand-painted polystone rendition of an earth and log defencework that can accommodate kneeling and lying prone defenders. This piece has several gun ports and a detachable roof. It can be displayed uncovered if desired, the choice is yours.

 

SP026 “Mortar Pit”. A three-sided earth and log defencework ideal for positing a mortar pit or a small command/radio group.

 

SP027 “Tank/Artillery Bunker”. Another, much larger three-sided earth and log defencework suitable for housing a small tank, an artillery piece or even for storing supplies and ammunition.

 

AVAILABILITY: Mid September

 

C. “REMEMBER THE ALAMO”

 

THE DEFENDERS:

Following the launch of our Mexican soldados in July we were already putting the finishing touches on the Alamo’s gallant defenders.

 

All of these defenders (with just one exception) are sold as single pieces and are based on actual men who took part in the epic struggle. All of them are individually named…and where they came from.

 

RTA015 “Davy Crocket” of Tennessee. One the famous triumvirate (along with Bowie and Travis) who fought and died at the Alamo.

 

RTA016 “Jesse B. Bowman” of Tennessee

                                                  

RTA017 “Robert Allen” of Virginia

 

RTA018 “William Johnson” of Pennsylvania

 

RTA019 “Colonel William B. Travis” of South Carolina. The young commander of the Alamo Garrison doomed to die at the beginning of the final assault.

 

RTA020 “Dolphin Ward Floyd” of North Carolina

 

RTA021 “Joseph Kerr” of Louisiana. One of a handful of “New Orleans Grays” – a volunteer militia unit.

 

RTA022 “John McGregor” of Scotland. Several Scots fought at the Alamo, McGregor was said to have played his bagpipes during the siege.

 

RTA023 “Juan Seguin” of Texas. A member of a notable Tejano family Seguin was one of the couriers Travis sent out of the Alamo to seek help and reinforcements.

 

RTA024 “John Forsyth” of New York

 

RTA025 “John W. Thomson” of North Carolina

 

RTA026 “Isaac Ryan” of Louisiana

 

RTA027 “Juan A. Badillo” of Texas

 

RTA028 “John Davis” of Kentucky

 

RTA032 “Texian Artillery” Set. Three defending artillerymen fire their captured Mexican field piece. Most of these cannon were either French or Spanish made and used by both sides.

RTA033A “James Butler Bonham” of South Carolina. Bonham stands defiantly, sword in one hand, rifle in the other supporting the “1824” Republic of Texas Flag.

 

RTA033B the same figure as above but this time the standard is the world-famous “Texas State Flag”.

 

 

“And a few more Mexicans”…

Since our July release of the Mexican Army we’ve added a few extras…and filled in a few gaps.

 

RTA029 “Mexican Soldier Advancing”

 

RTA030 “Mexican Artillery” Set. Three besieging Mexican Artillerymen man their cannon and maintain their bombardment of the little mission

 

RTA031 “Mexican Artillery Officer”. Standing proudly this officer directs the fire of his men.

 

AVAILABILITY: Mid September

 

“AND NOW”, AS MONTY PYTHON WOULD SAY, “FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.”

K&C announced earlier year that we were working on several major new projects that, we believed, would widen our appeal to collectors that, up until now, did not collect any of the present series…

Well this is the first to be publicly announced…

CRUSADER

CROSS&CRESCENT

An epic journey back in time to a series of violent events between two great civilizations that still shatter our world today.

Towards the end of last year the K&C creative team were holding one of our frequent “brain-storming” sessions to discuss future releases and ideas.

As usual there was no shortage of good ideas. The only problem was trying to select which we thought would be the most exciting for us to produce and the most popular for our collectors to buy. Lots of great proposals were batted back and forth with the “pros” and “cons” of each argued and discussed at length. Finally we narrowed it down to three main areas where we believed we could produce a major new series with “legs”. I.E. one which has an ongoing appeal that might be produced and extended for many years to come.

All three “finalists” met that criteria easily that was the hard part. Now we had to put them is some kind of “pecking order” by voting on each.

By a narrow majority “CRUSADER” won and then the real work began – researching, designing, selecting, carving, master painting, production samples and a hundred and one other tasks. Hard work but creatively – incredibly exciting and rewarding.

We made several key decisions early on. One was vitally important… “What scale would this new range be?”

We chose 1:32 and here’s why. Although K&C is best known for its 1:30 scale particularly our many World War Two figures and fighting vehicles we have always produced figures in a variety of sizes. (Our Napoleonics and recent Alamo series are closer to 1:32 than 1:30)

Because we are a relative “late-comer” to the “Medieval Scene” we realized that earlier producers focused primarily on 1:32. We could also see that our Russian friends with their multitude of medieval figures were also 1:32 scale. Therefore that was the scale we chose to go with.

 

TIME TRAVELLERS

Choosing a historical era was just as important but eventually we decided on the period of the earlier crusades from 1096-1204. This effectively covers the first four Crusades up to and including the sacking of Constantinople.

One important point we discovered in our researches was that military fashions and equipment changed much less often than you might think today. Weapons…armour…and other fighting accessories were expensive to produce even then. Treasured swords, battleaxes, suits of chain mail even helmets were often passed down from father to son for several generations. That’s why it was not uncommon to see a knight or a man-at-arms dressed and equipped in a military fashion that might have existed fifty, sixty or even a hundred years before. As today the wealthiest armies could afford the very latest arms, armour and fighting accouterments to take to the field. The rest had to make do with what they had and what they could afford.

 

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY…

And so does every figure…when making our final decisions on which sculpts to make it always helps to have a story in mind.

At K&C as most dealers and collectors know we like our figures to relate to each other both as single pieces and collectively. So, what were our “CRUSADER” men going to do?

Unlike the movie “Kingdom of Heaven” we decided that our Christian Crusaders would be attacking and our Moslem Saracens would be defending. In this particular case that means Crusaders laying siege to a Saracen defended castle. 

With that little “story” in place we went to work designing the figures and accessories – a tall siege tower and the frontage of a castle being among them.

 

“A FIRST LOOK…”

Here’s a look at our first (but by no means the last) pieces…

MK001 “Mounted Knight w/ Lance”

MK002 “Foot Knight w/Sword & Shield”

MK003 “Foot Knight w/Sword & Crucifix”

MK004 “Mounted Knight w/Shield”

MK005 “Foot Soldier w/Spear”

MK006 “Foot Soldier w/Spear & Shield”

MK007 “Siege Tower”

MK008 “Mounted Knight w/Flag”

MK009 “Standing Knight w/Sword & Shield”

MK010 “Standing Knight w/Flag & Shield”

MK011 “Fighting Knight w/Sword”

MK012 “Crossbowman Loading”

MK013 “Crossbowman Firing”

MK014 “Knight Fighting w/Axe & Shield”

MK015 “Charging Knight w/Axe & Shield”

MK016 “Fighting Bishop”

MK017 “Horn Blower”

MK018 “Attacking Knight w/Axe & Shield”

MK019 “Knight Drawing Sword”

MK020 “Man-at-arms Fighting w/Axe”

Believe me there’s a whole lot more still in the works that you’ll be seeing very soon. Look out for King & Country’s “CRUSADER – Cross & Crescent” coming soon to a K&C dealer like you.

 

AVAILABILITY: Mid September!

 

  

3. BEING RETIRED

      I know some of you have been waiting for this for a wee while so, let’s take it away…Get’em while stocks last!

a) D. DAY’44 – “U.S. Forces”

                  DD029 “Eisenhower”

                  DD031 “D-Day Minus One”

                  DD033 “Attacking”

                  DD036 “Covering Fire”

                  DD037 “Flank Attack”

                  DD042 “Standing MP w/Tommy Gun”

                  DD043 “Infantry Patrol”

                  DD044 “G.I. Tank Riders”

                  DD045 “Sherman 105”

 

b) Eighth Army – “British & Australian Forces”

                  EA001 “Scottish Patrol”

                  EA003 “Australian Attack”

                  EA004 “251b. Gun & Crew”

EA005 “Field Gun Tractor & Limber”

EA006 “Bren Gun Set”

 

   c) BERLIN’38 – “Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler”

                        LAH023 “Officer Presenting Sword”

                        LAH026 “Standing at Attention”

                        LAH036 “Drum Horse”

 

   d) WAFFEN SS in action

                        WS044 “Crossing The River”

                        WS048 “Advance To Attack”

                        WS049 “Prepare to Ambush!”

 

 

4. K&C’s NEW WEBSITE

If you can take a few minutes to check out our great new website at WWW.KINGANDCOUNTRY.COM .

It’s taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get it up and going (thanks to Joanne especially) and I think it’s great – but, of course, I am biased.

See what you think and let me know I would love to have your comments.

 

5. THE CHICAGO SHOW

Finally this coming September is …Show Time! The Old Toy Soldier Show in Chicago at the Hyatt Woodfield on Sunday 24th September. Although that’s the official Show Day, Collectors and Dealers alike begin to arrive as early as the preceding Tuesday to take part in the “room-trading”.

The K&C gang, me and my brother Gordon included, hope to get in on Wednesday this year and will be bringing several major displays of new and upcoming products to show off. Please stop by and see us – you’re always welcome.

The “Chicago Show” is by far the biggest of its kind in the world today. If you are serious about toy soldiers you just have to be there!