Is this King and Country (1 Viewer)

[Louis Badolato]

Hey Ed, good to see you posting on the forum!

 

[Njja]

Hey Ed, good to see you posting on the forum!

Louis:

What do you think?

 

[Louis Badolato]

Louis:

What do you think?

About Ed posting on the forum? I think its great!

About the provenence of that M3? Its not K&C, its a knockoff. The K&C had a solid front bumper (this one's is hollowed out) a K&C plate on the bottom and different numbers on the front fender. I think someone from the factory where K&C had this produced did a knockoff.

 

[Njja]

Very cool......both points

 

[redhugh]

Very cool......both points

I went back to the shop , the guys were adament it was from BBtoys a local distributer that had fallen off the radar of late
Looking at the pictures of the 'real one' and this one , you would have to say they were practically identical with some very slight variations.Its a heavy piece

I like it a lot, its got a lot of 'character' and now with its probably infamous origins a little more
Here's some pics with the AMTRAC guns and a few other DDay guys. Thanks for all the info , its been a very interesting purchase
Be interesting to know if there were any other illicit pieces out there

 

[sv288]

Yes it sher has.

 

[Njja]

Very cool, and isn't this Forum fun.....here you can post a find and get

quite a bit of information quickly.

I have learned quite a bit, and certainly enjoyed the Military Minature aspect

of my collections because of the many helpful, friendly people here.

Uh oh.........thats gonna kill the image

 

[noli-poli]

I think it's about time either CS, Figarti, or KC come out with an M3 Halftrack or any of its variations (M3, M3A2, M3A5, etc)...with a full complementary squad. That will be awesome!

N-P

 

[King & Country]

Hi Guys,
Re the above subject and the photos shown… the answer is… It is and it isn’t!!! Let me explain—

1. The vehicle is definitely based on the very early polystone half-track K&C produced in China. If I remember correctly it was the second or third vehicle after the Iwo Jima Sherman.
2. After a couple of years we moved production and improved quality by switching to another factory.
3. We know the first factory then produced a whole bunch of Shermans… Half Tracks and the original Deuce and a Half trucks that, without our consent or knowledge at the time, they sold to a small D. Day museum somewhere in France.
4. To cover themselves they made very small adjustments and, of course, removed the K&C “plate” on the bottom.
5. All of these “knock-offs” are easily recognized by the lack of the K&C “plate” and no metal accessories i.e. soldiers, machine guns etc.
6. So, there you have it… it’s still quite rare because I believe from other sources they actually only made a couple of hundred of each.

Hope this helps… Best wishes and happy collecting!
Andy C.

 

[redhugh]

Hi Guys,
Re the above subject and the photos shown… the answer is… It is and it isn’t!!! Let me explain—

1. The vehicle is definitely based on the very early polystone half-track K&C produced in China. If I remember correctly it was the second or third vehicle after the Iwo Jima Sherman.
2. After a couple of years we moved production and improved quality by switching to another factory.
3. We know the first factory then produced a whole bunch of Shermans… Half Tracks and the original Deuce and a Half trucks that, without our consent or knowledge at the time, they sold to a small D. Day museum somewhere in France.
4. To cover themselves they made very small adjustments and, of course, removed the K&C “plate” on the bottom.
5. All of these “knock-offs” are easily recognized by the lack of the K&C “plate” and no metal accessories i.e. soldiers, machine guns etc.
6. So, there you have it… it’s still quite rare because I believe from other sources they actually only made a couple of hundred of each.

Hope this helps… Best wishes and happy collecting!
Andy C.

Thanks for the info Andy, I like the piece a lot and nice to know the background, I only have the newer polystone models and this is the only example I have of the older type polystone. Its a great piece , and stands out on display, the colours are great it in.

 

[wadepat]

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the information. You tell a truly interesting story. I am curious about the fact that the merchant indicated the item was distributed by BBtoys. I am not at all familiar with BBtoys. Are you aware of any link between the factory and BBtoys? If all the models were sold to a small French museum, can you speculate on how BBtoys might have acquired them?

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

 

[redhugh]

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the information. You tell a truly interesting story. I am curious about the fact that the merchant indicated the item was distributed by BBtoys. I am not at all familiar with BBtoys. Are you aware of any link between the factory and BBtoys? If all the models were sold to a small French museum, can you speculate on how BBtoys might have acquired them?

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

I think they were a distributor in Melbourne a while ago,but this was the only military vechicle they supplied to that shop , it was small model cars they usually supplied i think. However , i did of course ask was there any more of these, or whether they did any other military vechicles , but that was the only one they had in the shop, and they said the halftrack was the only military vechicle they ever got supplied by bbtoys!.

 

[wadepat]

Hi Redhugh,

Thanks for responding to my questions. While Andy's information helps solve the mystery, your information raises new mysteries. In all likelihood, we will never know the entire story, but the good ending is you obtained the vehicle! Congratulations on a very interesting acquisition!

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

 

[Njja]

Very cool, now you have a little bit of the history from Andy!

Very nice fine, excellent outcome!

 

[OzDigger]

Very interesting

 

[kilted vampire]

I think it is a great funky item to have. RH it is nice to see it mixed in your display. I like it and it seems you do to. So good on you mate!