spirit of the empire (Canada I think) (1 Viewer)

[hsm]

Anyone heard of this company? what happened, who were they etc....?

 

[trooper]

This company was in existance some years ago producing RCMP figures. They stated at the time that they were the only company to be allowed to produce mountie figures as they had a licence from Disney who had made some deal with the RCMP!! A weird idea but still. They produced a marching band with a rather peculiar bent knee position but I don't know whether they produced any others. They dropped off the radar some time ago but I don't know the reason why. To the best of my recollection they were operating from South Lethbridge, Alberta. Hope this is of help.

 

[hsm]

well I have seen more than mounties- regardless-came in a nice box, wll done traditional figures....then "poof"-gone.

 

[glossman]

When I was on holiday in Banff, Alberta in 1996, I purchased 2 single figure RCMPs by Spirit of the Empire.

The figures were made by Spirit of the Empire, Canada under licence by the RCMP.

The figures were very well made in gloss 54mm and the boxes were compact.

Unfortunately, I parted with both, giving one to a Children's Charity Home and selling the other on eBay.

In retrospect, I wish I had kept at least one figure.

Raymond.

Note: Below is a photograph of the figure I sold on eBay.

 

[Obee]

Raymond,

I've got 4 of the Spirit of Empire Mounties, and all came a gifts from Canadian collectors who I know.

One is a set of 3, being the guidon (flag) and 2 guards carrying rifles at the slope. That one cam from a serving officer who I paint regularly for.

The other figures is a female.... even got lumps on the front her tunic too

Theya re very nice figures in the traditional toy soldier finish of gloss, and the female came in a pine box, (no, NOT a coffin) while the other 3 were in a similar box to yours.

John

 

[glossman]

Raymond,

I've got 4 of the Spirit of Empire Mounties, and all came a gifts from Canadian collectors who I know.

One is a set of 3, being the guidon (flag) and 2 guards carrying rifles at the slope. That one cam from a serving officer who I paint regularly for.

The other figures is a female.... even got lumps on the front her tunic too

Theya re very nice figures in the traditional toy soldier finish of gloss, and the female came in a pine box, (no, NOT a coffin) while the other 3 were in a similar box to yours.

John

John,

The early Spirit of the Empire sets released in the mid 1990s came in the red boxes as shown in my picture.

I paid Canadian $25.00 per set of one figure which I thought was a bit expensive then.

The red box sets do appear on eBay every now and then, but I have never seen the pine box sets listed.

There is a dealer in either Ottawa or Toronto that had stocks of the newer sets in the pine boxes, but I just cannot recall the name.

This dealer had some pine box sets for sale about 2 years back, but no luck with a Google search so far.

As I recall, the price per figure had more than doubled.

Interesting, I did not know there were female figures with ^^ in this range.

Any chance of a picture ??

Thanks, Raymond.

 

[Obee]

Interesting, I did not know there were female figures with ^^ in this range.

Any chance of a picture ??

Thanks, Raymond.

I'll see what I can do for you on the weekend.....

John

 

[Obee]

As promised,

this is my colour party, led by a female Mountie.

John

 

[glossman]

As promised,

this is my colour party, led by a female Mountie.

John

John,

Thank you very much for the picture of the great figures. Now I wish I had kept my figures.

Actually, I was expecting a lady mountie in a skirt, but that would be a bit too much with the boots.

I see what you mean about the Rockies.

Cheers, Raymond.

 

[skeeterbuck]

As promised,

this is my colour party, led by a female Mountie.

John

Nice looking set John. You can notice the variation in the paint tones from the single female figure and the 3 man set. It's also rather interesting to see the flagbearer with a sword.

The flag appears to be paper. Is that correct?

The only Mounties I have are the old Britains "Eyes Right" plastic figures from the 60's which are rather neat in their own way.

Chuck

 

[Obee]

Chuck,

yes there is a change of paint colour evedent with the figures, the lady is a later figure, as I indicated when mentioning the box, which was wooden.

Yes the flag appears to be paper, but could be a form of plasticised textured paper, and computer printed. It is a little 'fake' and I would have like to see something more toy style, like metal, but thats an added cost.

The only other Mountie I have is by Tradition of London, but I did paint some Cherilea Recasts for my Mountie friend in Vancouver about 7 years ago, and here they are:

regards,

John

 

[hsm]

Well they are not really mad anymor- they were from Quebec. They did more than Mounties, and yes some came in a nice pine box with a sliding list and "burned" lablelling.

thanks for the added input!
Grant

 

[SCOTT J. DUMMITT PRESENTS]

Spirit of the Empire was a small home based business that originally started in Napanee, Ontario. It was done by a husband and wife team with a few outside painters. The original boxes were gold covered cardboard, then proceeded to the red covered boxes and then the wooden packing box style. The company eventually sold out to D'Artagnan's in Montreal Quebec. Under D'Artagnan's the line expanded to include Compagnies franches de Ia marine 1756, Fraser Highlanders 1756, Acadians, Fort Henry Guard, Royal 22nd (Vandoos) Regiment and Canadian Grenadier Guards. D'Artagnan's ended the line around 2006 - 2009. It was also D'Artagnan's that introduced the wooden crate type packing. The figures were a 60mm scale and I believe after the Napanee couple sold the company the figures were produced in China.