DISPATCHES
June 2020
How
time flies when you’re enjoying yourself! That comment may seem a little strange
in the light of the present world situation vis-a-vis this virus
pandemic. However, with being unable to travel overseas and specifically
up to China to visit our sculptors and the factories, here in HK l’ve been concentrating on designing a batch of new, full colour brochures and building some more dioramas.
Anyway suffice to say that design in all its forms is
something I enjoy and this enforced staying in HK has allowed me to do more of
it.
And
when you enjoy something the hours, days and weeks just fly by!
So,
here we are... In June already and half way through
2020... Let’s begin at the beginning...
1.
BEING RELEASED THIS MONTH
A.
“Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!”
Because
of the success of our USMC battling their way across the Pacific we’ve
decided to release some more Japanese reinforcements to provide a little extra
opposition along the way.
JN061 ‘The Kenpeitai Officer’
The
Kenpeitai was the
military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881-1945. It was
both a conventional military police force and a ‘secret police’ in
Japanese occupied territories.
Their reputation for
brutality was infamous in occupied countries and both ordinary civilians as
well as military prisoners-of-war often became their victims.
The Kenpeitai
were also active in Japan itself, especially during WW2. It’s a little – known
fact that General Hideki Tojo, before the war,
commanded all of these military policemen, both inside
and outside Japan.
In the field and behind
the lines they could be easily recognized by the special white headband worn
around their helmets and a white, cloth armband bearing the two Japanese
characters of their unit name.
JN062 ‘BANZAI!’
Set#1
Led by a pistol
carrying and sword-wielding officer two additional IJA riflemen with
fixed bayonets charge forward.
JN063 ‘The Mortar
Set’
A crouching infantryman
prepares to fire the Type 89 ‘Knee Mortar’.
A second, lying prone
NCO (non commissioned
officer) observes the ‘fall of shot’ through his binos.
JN064
‘The Kamikaze Anti Tank Bomber’
From
their earliest days in the Army Japanese soldiers were taught that their
greatest honour was to ‘die for the Emperor’.
As Allied forces grew
even closer to Japan in the latter stages of the war the Japanese Army got ever
more desperate to imbue their soldiers with the true spirit of the samurai.
Here a lone Japanese
infantryman crawls forward clutching a box of explosives which he will detonate
after he has crept under a tank or into an enemy position.
JN-S03
‘Captor & Captured!’
A lone British soldier
comes face-to-face with one of the dreaded Kenpeitai...
AVAILABLE: Late June
B.
‘HITLER’S WHEELS’
There are some ‘classic’
K&C sets that we often get asked to revisit and reproduce. This is
one of the most requested!
LAH259
‘Der Fuhrer’s Mercedes Benz W31 Staff Car’
Of all the many Hitler vehicles
we have produced and retired this is, by far, the most requested and sought
after.
Just 57 MB
W31’s were actually built in the early 1930’s for
Hitler and the top Nazis... only 3 remain today.
Our revised 1:30 scale
version features the Fuhrer himself, in typical ‘Brown Shirt’ uniform
standing and saluting in the front seat of this silver grey 6-wheeler with the
black trim.
Seated next to him is
one of his SS drivers, behind them is SS-Obergruppenfuhrer
Josef ‘Sepp’ Dietrich sitting alongside is SS-Brigadefuhrer
Karl Wolff wearing the steel helmet. Riding in the rear are two SS
bodyguards, ever watchful, ever ready.
AVAILABLE: Mid to
Late June
C.
CRUSADERS BEWARE!
MK202 ‘The Fighting
Saracens Set #2’
Another great 4-man
action set with an all-new colour variation.
AVAILABLE: Early to Mid June
D.
THE GLORY THAT WAS ROME: EMPERORS & GENERALS
Continuing the
expansion of the Roman Empire 6 great new additions to this colourful series...
RnB041 ‘The Roman
Map Board’
The perfect background
accessory for the Emperor and his Generals to gather around and plan their next
move.
ROM035 ‘The
Praetorian Centurion’
Last month we released
the first of our Praetorian Guardsmen... Now, we have one of the
Centurions in command of them.
ROM040 ‘Pompey the
Great’
One of Rome’s greatest
generals and leading statesmen he was significant in the transformation of the
city from a republic to an empire.
He was also, for a
time, an ally of Julius Caesar before becoming his sworn enemy.
He was assassinated in Egypt
while fleeing from Caesar.
ROM041 ‘Germanicus’
Another of Rome’s
finest Generals who was known for his successful campaigns in Germania
and as the elder brother of the future emperor, Claudius.
During the reign of Augustus,
he commanded no less than 8 Legions, about one third of the entire Roman
Army.
He
avenged the terrible Roman defeat in the Teutoburg
Forest and recovered two of the three Legionary Eagles lost there.
As a famous general he
was widely popular and regarded as both a noble and virtuous leader.
He was also the father
of the infamous Caligula who, it was said, poisoned Germanicus upon the
instructions of his grandmother. Such was life and death in Ancient Rome.
ROM045 ‘Emperor
Vespasian’
Vespasian ruled from 69
to 79 AD partly thanks to his successful military career during the invasion of
Britain in 43 AD and the subjugation of the Jewish Rebellion in Judea in 66 AD.
Perhaps his greatest
building achievement, still known today, was the ‘Flavian Amphitheatre’
built in the heart of Rome. Today it is better known as...
‘The Coliseum’.
ROM046 ‘The Emperor
Hadrian’
Hadrian was emperor from
117-138 AD. Born into a Romano / Italo / Hispanic family he energetically
pursued his own imperial ideals and personal interests by visiting almost every
province in the Empire including Britannia which had recently
suffered a major rebellion.
There, he initialed the
design and construction of a huge wall, ‘to separate Romans from
their northern barbarian neighbours.’
Shrewdly he reckoned it
was cheaper to build and garrison the wall and its many forts along his
northern border than keep a huge standing army there.
Even today remains of
the wall can still be seen in northern England and southern Scotland.
Hadrian was also one of
the few leading Emperors to wear a beard... nearly all the others were
clean-shaven.
AVAILABLE: Late June
E.
The Victorian Wedding of the Century!
Long before the
weddings of Charles & Diana, William & Kate or even Harry
& Meghan there was the very first ‘Celebrity’ Royal Wedding in
the form of ...
Victoria & Albert.
TR001 ‘Victoria
& Albert’
The sumptuous wedding
of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg & Gotha
took place on 10 February 1840 at St. James Palace in the heart of London.
Victoria came to the
throne in 1837, just a month after her 18th birthday and as the
monarch she was the one to select a husband for herself and to make the
marriage proposal!
Up until this time
Royal Weddings had been small, private ceremonies held late at night.
The young Victoria was
going to change all that... and much more. She was determined that her
people would be able to see the bridal procession drive to St. James Palace.
Her wedding dress was
also a break with the past... Victoria chose white that both enhanced her
purity and innocence while making her more visible to the thousands of her
people who came to watch the ceremony.
Prince Albert meanwhile was dressed
as a British Field Marshal, a rank Victoria herself had given to the young
Prince as her personal wedding gift.
Fortunately for K&C
there is a wealth of visual information available on what Victoria & Albert
actually wore on their wedding day and we used the
very best of it to create these two great ‘Victorian’ figures.
AVAILABLE: Early to Mid June
F.
‘GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!’
What would ‘DISPATCHES’
be without a little taste of Vietnam... So let’s find
out what the ‘Grunts’ and ‘Gooks’ have been up to...
SP112 ‘Vietnam
Firebase Sand Bag Emplacement’
A half-moon sand bag emplacement perfect for setting up one of our 105mm
Howitzers either manned by Aussie Gunners or Marine Corps
Artillerymen. This useful little display piece made in hard-wearing polystone can also be used to place stores, vehicles or
soldiers. You decide what you need it for.
VN078 ‘NVA/VC
Assault Team Set #1’
As this NVA
regular prepares to throw one of his Chinese-made ‘potato-masher’
grenades the black-clad Viet Cong provides covering fire.
VN079 ‘NVA/VC RPG
Team’
As the VC Rocket
Propelled Grenadier moves forward his NVA comrade follows closely behind
with his AK47.
VN080 ‘The NVA
Machine Gun Team’
As the lying prone NVA
soldier prepares to open fire the kneeling MG Team Leader observes the
enemy through his binos.
The gun itself is the
WW2 era Degtyaryov Light Machine
Gun in service from 1928 all the way up to the late 1960’s and even
into the early 1970’s. It fired the standard Soviet 7.62mm round and could be
fitted with either a 47 round ‘pan’ magazine or a 63 round version.
AVAILABLE: Early to Mid June
2.
BEING RETIRED
BBG091
Lying
Pointing
DD184
Standing
Firing Rifle
DD185
Advancing
w/Rifle & Bayonet
DD226
Sitting
Machine Gunner
DD228
US
Army Tank Riders Set#1
DD229
US
Army Tank Riders Set#2
DD239 Gang of Heroes
DD285-1 US Paratroopers Covering
Fire (82nd Airborne)
DD286-1 US Paratroopers Crouching
Tommy Gunner(82nd)
DD287-1 US Paratroopers Blast
Injury (82nd)
DD288-1 US Paratroopers Moving Forward...
Cautiously! (82nd)
DD305
Searching
For Pvt. Ryan Set#1
DD306 Searching For Pvt. Ryan Set#2
DD307
Charging
Rifleman
DD308 Snap Shooter
DD309
Kneeling
Rifleman
DD310
Standing
Rifleman
DD311
Machine
Gun Team
DD312
Kneeling
Bazooka Guy
DD313
Turning
BAR Gunner
DD314 Shouting
Tommy-Gunner
DD316
Pvt.
James Francis Ryan
TRW139 Captain Sam Collingwood
WH017
Wehrmacht
Mortar Team
WH019
Take
A Breather
WS312
Hitler’s
Last Parade
WS314
Führerbunker Ventilation Tower
WS315
SS
Bunker Bodyguards
Well, that is one of
the longest lists of retirals of recent months... And there’s some really unique sets that are well worth getting your mitts
on.
Thanks once more to all
K&C collectors around the world and dealers too.
Stay well... stay strong...
and happy collecting!
Andy C. Neilson
Co-founder &
Creative Director
King & Country Ltd.