“KING & COUNTRY
DISPATCHES”
October 2017
First of all,
very big thanks to all those K&C Dealers who have enthusiastically welcomed
the new U.S. Marines and the ‘Searching for Pvt. Ryan’ releases
which we announced in September and successfully launched at the recent
‘CHICAGO SHOW’
The rapid
response on the internet has also been very gratifying...
And, so without
further ado let’s get into October’s new releases…
1.
BEING RELEASED IN
OCTOBER...
A.
A Century of Beersheba,
1917-2017
This coming 31st October 2017 marks
the centenary of the epic charge of the Australian Light Horse to
capture the town and water wells of BEERSHEBA in what was then Palestine
but is now part of modern-day Israel.
The Australian horsemen, against fierce
Turkish opposition, charged the enemy’s lines and frontline trenches scattering
their opponents and then galloping on into the town itself to capture the
all-important water wells. It proved to be one of the major turning
points of the War in the Desert during WW1.
For many years now, and in particular
support of our K&C dealers in Australia (Peter & Sven, Brett
and Howard) King & Country have produced a wealth of dynamic Australian
Light Horse figures, both in action and at rest that have proved extremely
popular all over the world ... not just in Australia itself!
Here are the latest releases and ...a few
revised ‘old friends’...
AL090 “The Morning Snack”
Light Horseman were tremendously attached to their horses
called Australian Walers, a breed of horse
developed in Australia from horses that were brought over from Britain
and Ireland in the 19th Century.
A ‘special’ bond developed between horse
and rider that was unique.
At the end of the war, however when the
Australian horsemen were to be returned to Australia the decision was made to
leave their horses behind and for them to be either euthanized or sold off to
the local Arabs. Many horsemen themselves preferred to shoot their own
mount before leaving it to a far worse fate.
But in this happier scene a young trooper is
feeding his animal an apple as he awaits orders to ‘mount-up’.
AL091 “The Fond Farewell”
A dismounted NCO (non commissioned officer) takes a young nurse into his
arms... He is leaving for parts unknown and this maybe
their last chance to meet for some time.
Are they lovers... or perhaps an older brother and
younger sister...? Whichever it is... it makes for a poignant scene.
AL092 “Skippy the Mascot & His
Handler”
From time immemorial soldiers and armies
have had animal mascots... In Egypt and Palestine, during the
First World War, the Australian Light Horse had a kangaroo called “Skippy”
as one of their divisional mascots.
Here, we see him with his personal “handler”
having a polite conversation...
AL093 “Light Horse Bugler”
Back a hundred years ago bugle calls ‘ruled’
a soldier’s life from ‘reveille’ first thing in the morning till “lights-out”
last thing at night!
Almost every duty or task a soldier might be
ordered to do would and could be announced by the sound of a bugle call.
Here is the camp bugler doing what buglers
do!
ANNOUNCING
K&C’S AUSTRALIAN LIGHT HORSE
‘SECOND
EDITION’
In December 2009, King
& Country launched our very first Australian Light Horse figures
to an unsuspecting collecting audience around the world.
We were modestly confident that we would ‘find’
a market for these mounted figures in Australia itself BUT were not so sure
about the rest of the collecting world...
Now, eight years later, I am happy to report
that the ALH series (Australian Light Horse) has its
devoted admirers and collectors all over the globe... and not just in the ‘Land
Down Under’!
Some of our biggest and most enthusiastic collectors
of ALH are in countries as diverse and far apart as Russia...
Indonesia... Japan... and the
Czech Republic to name but a few.
Not only that but a steady stream of new ALH
collectors keep arriving in part, of course, thanks to the hard work
and efforts of our three dedicated Aussie Dealers in Sydney, Brisbane
and Melbourne.
As ‘newbies’ arrive they often
seek out some of the original, older pieces now long since retired as well as
the more current production.
MARKING THE
CENTENARY...
To help celebrate the hundred years since
the Light Horse’s remarkable charge at Beersheba K&C are issuing a ‘Second
Edition’ of 7 the earliest and most popular first releases of ALH
with one noticeable change... the horse colours
of the individual mounts. This is to ensure that collectors owning the
original pieces will know and recognize a ‘First Edition’ piece or ...
this newer ‘Second Edition’ horse and rider at a glance.
It also allows newer collectors of the
series to obtain those extremely useful earlier pieces without having to pay
higher costs on the ‘secondary’ market.
Here are the four amended mounted ‘Second
Editions’:
AL094 “Australian Light Horse Officer
w/Pistol”
Charging to the front, service revolver held
firmly in the air.
AL095 “Australian Light Horse Bugler”
Lee Enfield .303 slung across his back this
bugler sounds the ‘charge’!
AL096 “Australian Light Horse Trooper
w/Rifle”
Holding his .303 in his
left hand this trooper charges forward.
AL097 “Australian Light Horse Trooper
Charging w/Bayonet”
The ‘classic’ iconic image of the
Light horseman at Beersheba... sword bayonet held forward to the front as horse
and rider gallop towards glory!
PLUS!
AL098 “Turkish Officer w/Flag”
A very, very popular figure when released
BUT had a bad tendency to fall over due to the heavy all-metal Turkish flag!!!
Now, the flag is sturdy, light-weight polyresin and
the ‘problem’ is a thing of the past.
Also, we have repainted the officer with a
brand-new Turkish officer’s uniform... Very smart and, I think, better than
the original!
AL099 “Standing Horse #1”
AL100 “Standing Horse #2”
Both of these ‘retired’ empty horses
have been much requested by both dealers and collectors because of the number
of ALH dismounted figures currently available to make up camp scenes...
Obviously if you have dismounted troopers sitting and standing around you must
have their unmounted horses nearby.
Again, colours
have been altered for this “Second Edition”.
AVAILABLE: Early-Mid October
B “ANCIENT
ROMAN ARCHERS TAKE AIM...”
SIX exciting new Roman Archers to help ‘defend’ the ramparts
of our ‘Mile’ Fort or... put onto any Ancient battlefield of your choosing...
ROM019 “Roman Archer” (Prepare to Fire)
ROM020 “Roman Archer” (Letting Fly)
ROM021 “Roman Archer” (Reaching for an Arrow)
ROM022 “Roman Archer” (Kneeling to Fire)
ROM025 “Roman Archer” (Taking Aim)
ROM026 “Archer Officer” (Shouting Orders)
AVAILABLE: Mid October
C.
“DESTINATION: SINGAPORE”
Although the Japanese troops that invaded
Malaya in December 1941 were outnumbered 2-1 by their British and Empire
opponents they were fast-moving and surprisingly innovative... Among the many
ways they constantly outflanked and out-paced their opposition was by the use
of captured and abandoned functioning military vehicles left behind by the
retreating British and Empire troops... and many thousands of bicycles
commandeered from the native population and/or hundreds of others strategically
left by Japanese merchants along the main roads and routes in the days, weeks
and months prior to the outbreak of war.
Here are just a few examples...
JN043 “Japanese Soldier Carrying His
Bicycle”
Hard and brutal campaigning was no stranger
to the average Japanese soldier in Malaya. Most of them were veterans of the
China War and were tough, battle-hardened and resourceful.
JN044 “Japanese Riding Their Bicycles”
TWO of those Army cyclists peddling along as fast as they can go to get
closer and closer to their ultimate goal... ‘SINGAPORE’!
JN046 “Imperial Japanese Navy A6M ‘Zero’
”
K&C’s first THREE Naval A6M
‘Zeroes’ are long sold out but still we have collectors who ‘want’ that
pale grey, black nose ‘classic’ naval aircraft.
This fourth IJN ‘Zero’ belongs
to the IJN Carrier Zuikaku, flown by Petty
Officer 1st Class Tetsuzo Iwamoto,
as part of the Combat Air Patrol over the Task Force during the Pearl Harbor
operation. Petty Officer 1st Class Iwamoto already had
fourteen ‘kills’ claimed over China by 7 December 1941 and was
ultimately credited with eighty victories by the end of World War
Two and flew on ‘Combat Air Patrol’ above the Japanese Fleet as it
released all of its attack aircraft on an unsuspecting Pearl Harbor on
that fateful morning of 7 December, 1941.
JN-S01 “Pre Flight Walkaround”
Before every flight
each pilot performs a 360 degree inspection of his aircraft.
JN-S02 “Armorers & Mechanics”
Each aircraft had
its own designated team of armorers under the supervision of a petty officer mechanic.
Note: Only 150 of this “Imperial Japanese Navy A6M ‘Zero’” are being released.
AVAILABLE: Mid October
D.
“MARINE REINFORCEMENTS”
Our first small detachment
of US Marines in action have been very well received by K&C
dealers and collectors alike... Here are 3 more very useful additions...
USMC018 “Marine
Reloading”
A lying ‘Leatherneck’
holds a fresh clip of 8 rounds in his hand as he prepares to reload his
M1.
USMC020 “Crouching
Marine Firing Rifle”
Staying low to make
a smaller target (hopefully) this Marine fires
off a few rounds from his M1 ‘Garand’ rifle.
USMC022 “Kneeling
Marine Tommy Gunner”
The Thompson Sub
Machine Gun was the favored
weapon of senior NCO’S (non commissioned
officers) and some junior officers... Strong, sturdy, unlikely to jam it
had real ‘stopping-power’.
AVAILABLE: Early
October
E. “SEARCHING FOR PVT. RYAN”
“SAVING PRIVATE RYAN” is quite simply one of the finest war films
ever made. Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks
and Matt Damon it tells the story of a squad of U.S. Army Rangers tasked
with finding and bringing back safely the last surviving brother (of four)
who is somewhere in Normandy during the days after the D.Day
Invasion of June 1944.
Next year marks the 20th
Anniversary of the release of this fine motion picture. As a
tribute to the men who made ‘SAVING PRIVATE RYAN’ and the real heroes
who inspired it K&C are producing no less than TWO sets of the 8-man
squad that went searching for PFC James F. Ryan of the 101st
Airborne behind the German lines... The first set, is currently available
and now we have...
DD306 “Searching for Pvt. Ryan” Set #2
A Ranger Sergeant together with a sniper / marksman, a
Medic and another Ranger rifleman make up this final set of the
‘Squad’.
SPECIAL NOTE: A special ‘stand-alone’ figure
of PFC James F. Ryan is already in development.
AVAILABLE:
Mid October
F.
“STREETS OF OLD HONG
KONG”
HK272 “The Fortune Teller Set”
An old fortune teller assisted by a young
boy awaits their first client of the day.
AVAILABLE: Early October
G. “STREETS OF OLD BERLIN!”
These typical ‘Berlin Poster Drum
Columns’ were a familiar sight in the Reich’s capital city... Our first
version covered the 1930’s and the Rise of the Third Reich...
This new Drum Column reflects a much grimmer, less optimistic outlook typical
of the latter days of the war.
LAH235 “Tall Poster Drum Column” (Late War)
AVAILABLE: Early
October
H.
“CHRISTMAS COMES BUT
ONCE A YEAR...”
And it’s a little early this year... In
October!
XM017-01 “Christmas Tree w/Christmas Presents”
A gaily festooned tree
together with heaps of colourfully packaged gifts
sitting underneath its bows and branches.
AVAILABLE:
Mid October
I.
“SOMEWHERE ON THE GOLAN
HEIGHTS”
For many years Syria had fortified and built
up their defenses on these heights over-looking the northern flank of
Israel. During this time the Syrians had almost constantly shelled
Israeli kibbutzes and communities from this elevated
position.
When war broke out Israel was determined to
capture it and safeguard its northern border from these Syrian attacks.
On the morning of June 9, 1967, three days
after the war had begun, Israel attacked. First with
sustained air strikes and then with infantry, artillery and armour
including their elite paratroopers. The fighting was hard and
bloody... but ultimately successful.
Here are 3 more important additions
to our new ‘SIX-DAY WAR’ series...
IDF011 “Prisoner & Escort” (2-man set)
An Israeli Para pushes his Syrian
prisoner towards the P.O.W. ‘Cage’. On the Para’s back is the Syrian’s AK47
Assault Rifle. The Israeli himself is armed with the ubiquitous
‘UZI’.
IDF015 “Israeli Para ... pointing”
Belgian-made FN rifle held aloft this
other Para is indicating in which direction ‘Prisoner & Escort’
should go.
IDF017 “Israeli M38 Jeep w/106mm Recoilless Rifle”
This U.S. made, 1950’s vintage M38 Jeep
was very much in evidence in the IDF’s military inventory during and after the
’67 War.
Our set includes the driver and vehicle commander
together with an extra ‘UZI’ for protection. The main vehicle protection
however is the jeep-mounted GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun)
sighted in front of the vehicle passenger position. All in ... a
great-looking set and a worthy and useful addition to this ‘young’
collection...
AVAILABLE: Late
October
2.
BEING RETIRED
...
BBG101
Winter Alpini w/ Skis
BBG102
Winter Alpini Skiing (A)
BBG103
Winter Alpini w/ Rifle
BBG104
Winter Alpini Skiing (B)
MK110
The Defender
NA249
New Cuirassier Officer
NA250
Charging Flagbearer
NA251
Charging Bugler
NA252
Charging Trooper
NA253
Charging…
Sword Down
NA254
Charging… Sans Helmet!
NA255
Charging… and Hacking!
NA256
Duke of Wellington
TRW041(P) Black Arrow
TRW043(P) “Brown Bull”
Best wishes to one and all and ...
Happy Collecting!
Andy C. Neilson
Co-founder & Creative Director
King & Country