King & Country

DISPATCHES

JANUARY 2005

A HAPPY, HEALTHY, and I hope, PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR to one and all in 2005. The Neilson Family finished 2004 by heading down to Australia – Sydney in fact to spend Christmas there.

For those of you who have never been “down under”, it’s a great experience – the natives are decidedly friendly… the weather’s great… the seafood and local wine delicious and… everybody speaks English! Sort of.

It was also terrific to visit Peter Nathan’s Toy Soldier shop in Sydney – what a fantastic venue. Peter’s shop and selection is one of the finest I’ve seen anywhere. If you ever get to Sydney, then Peter’s is a “must see”!

Anyway, my wife Liza, daughter Carrie and me had a great time… I hope all of your Christmases were as good.

Now, down to business…

1. New Releases This Month Dept

(A) “THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE”

As mentioned in the December “DISPATCHES”, we are launching no less than four exciting new sets to commemorate the 60^th Anniversary of this epic battle.

As befits soldiers fighting in Europe in the dead of winter in December and January ’44 and ’45, our guys are well-wrapped up against the elements.

All of them are wearing typical late-war uniforms of great coats… 1943 Field Jackets… gloves and scarves – they are even, partially covered in snow and frost!

Here’s a breakdown again of the actual sets:-

BBA01 “Rifle Section” Four GI’s armed with rifles, a carbine and a “Tommy-Gun” prepare to defend their position against the oncoming Germans.

BBA02 “Fire Support Group” provides extra fire power… A GI sits behind his .30 cal. machine gun…backing him up is a “bazooka man” with his M9A1 Rocket launcher. In support are two more riflemen.

BBA03 “NUTS!” Brigadier McAuliffe’s immortal reply to the German demand for the surrender of surrounded Bastogne. McAuliffe stands defiantly in front of two German officers. His GI bodyguard, rifle at the ready, looks on.

BBA04 “Friend or Foe?” A really unique set… Three seemingly American MP’s directing traffic alongwith their jeep.

During the early stages of the battle, the Germans infiltrated special “American-speaking” soldiers in GI uniform and vehicles to create havoc in and behind the US front lines. Some were dressed as Military Police – so the Krauts could identify each other all of them wore blue scarves.

Our set looks and sounds genuine enough but they are all wearing blue scarves!

Accompanying them is our great new jeep, complete with snow-covered canvas top and plenty of K&C’s usual “character” and “battle-worn” appearance. Initial reaction to these new “winter” GI’s has been very, very encouraging.

Later in 2005, we’re going to be releasing the German opposition also in winter uniform – Waffen SS and Volksgrenadiers plus additional GI’s and, of course, more fighting vehicles.

Please Note: We also hope to have these new sets come in our all-new WWII boxes.

(B) EGYPTIAN CHARIOT AE03

As virtually everyone knows the new “Prince of Egypt” Chariot Set is now available. This is a great centre piece for any Ancient Egypt display or collection and extra great value at the price!

(C) CHINESE DOCTOR SETS

HK126 and HK127 are our latest “Street Doctor” sets and are also now available. See photos attached.

2. Coming Next Month…

(A) RETURN TO IWO JIMA

K&C’s IWO JIMA sets, first introduced in 1998, have been one of our most popular and most sought-after series. Over the years we have added extra figures, but not, until now, have we redesigned and resculpted the series to come up to our present production standard.

With the release in February 2005 of SIX new sets that has been remedied. Five of the sets feature US Marines and their equipment… the sixth provides much-needed armour for the Japanese opposition.

Here’s a detailed breakdown –

IWJ19 “Raising The Flag” The iconic image of Iwo Jima is Joe Rosenthal’s famous photos of the second flag raising. This is the one everyone remembers and this is our all-new version. Five Marines and one Navy Corpsman hoist “Old Glory” above the carnage of Iwo. Sadly only two of the Marines and the Navy Corpsman survived the battle. This is a fine tribute in miniature.

IWJ20 “Return Fire” Four “leathernecks” crouching, kneeling and lying prone try to withstand the withering Japanese sniper and machine gun fire. Included in the set is a “BAR” man and a radio operator.

IWJ21 “Running For Cover” whilst two Marine Riflemen provide covering fire two other marines, one with a BAR, race for cover.

IWJ22 “Courage Under Fire” As Admiral Nimitz said about the Marines on Iwo “Uncommon valor was a common virtue”. This set illustrates just that… A seriously wounded Marine is carried to safety on the shoulders of another. A Marine with a flame thrower and an NCO with a “Tommy-gun” try to keep the enemies heads down.

IWJ23 “The AMTRACK Set” A brand-new LVT4 Amtrack complete with two .50 cal and two .30 cal machine guns. Our new model comes in a typical Iwo Jima camouflage paint scheme and has an adjustable rear ramp allowing for easy troop access. In addition, a wounded Marine Cox’n and Marine rifleman are included.

IWJ24 Type 95 “CHI-HA” Japanese Tank Used throughout the Pacific War this is K&C’s first piece of Japanese armour. Our model has tank commander and driver figures included.

(B) CHINESE “NEW YEAR” SIGN WRITER SETS

Two sets celebrate the upcoming “Year of the Rooster” HK129 and HK130. It is a long-standing tradition in Chinese homes to buy special hand-painted scrolls with good luck messages both as gifts and as household decorations. Our two new sets show a sign writer hard at work at his table with a background wall covered with examples of his work. The other set shows his customers. See the attached photos.

3. BEING RETIRED

Just two items this month…

(A) SP05 Burnside Bridge

Originally introduced with our American Civil War series, this model has been utilized by K&C collectors for American Revolution as well as World War Two – just 40 remaining.

(B) EA07 The Matilda Tank

Part of our British 8^th Army series fighting the Afrika Korps in the Western Desert, our Matilda performed valiantly but has to make way for some new British armoured vehicles in 2005. Less than 40 left.

Well, that’s the end of this very long and important “DISPATCHES”. Thanks again for your business and continued support… and again have a peaceful, prosperous and happy New Year…

Andy C. Neilson

Co-founder and Creative Director