1st King & Country Dinner Event in Singapore on June 27th 2014 (1 Viewer)

[ChrisTay]

We had our first Official King & Country Dinner Event in Singapore, held at Grand Park City Hall (Coleman Room II) and organized by our local K&C dealer, The Soldier's Story. The event was hosted by Michael Tong, owner of Soldier's Story and compere for the evening was Daniel Teo. We were honored by the presence of our esteemed guests, Andy Nielson and Helen Mok. Andy recounted the history of toy soldiers collecting and King & Country. Collectors from all walks and age groups had the opportunity to meet with Andy and questions were posted about future directions of the company and ideas and suggestions about possible future releases. Overall, we had a most enjoyable evening.

Rgds,Chris

 

[ChrisTay]

Schindler.

 

[uksubs]

Thank for posting the photos Chris

 

[Sentaapua]

Thanks for posting! Some great and interesting new figures there! The fire brigade is something many collectors have been asking, as well as the anti-aircraft bren team! The Schindler figure is a complete and welcome surprise for me!

 

[ChrisTay]

Andy and Helen will be at the shop today at 2pm (Jun 28th) in case there are people who would like to come down and if there are any friends from Malaysia who would like to drop by.

I will just put in what I captured as it is late over in Singapore now, but much more were discussed. If I captured it wrong, I apologize. Anyone else who attended that would like to add to the list are certainly welcome.

Near term like-lies and possibilities wrt releases

- those you saw in these pics
- Zero fighter (possibly in two variants)
- Wittmann in SPG (early campaign)
- More WW1
- 88mm
- Dead Germans (especially BoB)
- WH will be a new series for Wehrmacht

Still cooking ideas

- Invasion of Malaya (Australians, British and Japanese)
- WW2 Polish soldiers (as opposition to the early field gray Germans)
- Stuka (if it can be shipped in one piece)
- Vietnam war
- Arab-Israeli war


Unlikely

- Gulf war
- Wirbelwind
- Korean war
- Desert Tiger
- more ACW
- more biblical stuff outside of LOJ

 

[jager7080]

Chris ,

Thanks for the pic's & update...Really like the idea of the WH ( Wehrmacht ) become it's own line...Really curious where that will lead...Since i enjoy the early grey equipment...Also , nice to hear there may be some Polish troops , cavalry or AFV's...Would be great to see !!

Joe

Andy and Helen will be at the shop today at 2pm (Jun 28th) in case there are people who would like to come down and if there are any friends from Malaysia who would like to drop by.

I will just put in what I captured as it is late over in Singapore now, but much more were discussed. If I captured it wrong, I apologize. Anyone else who attended that would like to add to the list are certainly welcome.

Near term like-lies and possibilities wrt releases

- those you saw in these pics
- Zero fighter (possibly in two variants)
- Wittmann in SPG (early campaign)
- More WW1
- 88mm
- Dead Germans (especially BoB)
- WH will be a new series for Wehrmacht

Still cooking ideas

- Invasion of Malaya (Australians, British and Japanese)
- WW2 Polish soldiers (as opposition to the early field gray Germans)
- Stuka (if it can be shipped in one piece)
- Vietnam war
- Arab-Israeli war


Unlikely

- Gulf war
- Wirbelwind
- Korean war
- Desert Tiger
- more ACW
- more biblical stuff outside of LOJ

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Wittmann in an SPG. That's interesting. He commanded one of the new Stug III Ausf A in the invasion of Poland. Then an SPG in the Battle of France in 1940 followed by the invasion of Greece and then Barbarossa. He took officer training and commanded a Pz. III before getting a Tiger. So there are lots of possibilities.

Terry

 

[mikemiller1955]

Chris...

thank for the pics of the figures...

I see some new Crusaders that I have not seen in any newsletters...do you happen to have anymore pics or info on them...perhaps some close-ups and any news on when they will become available...

 

[lancer]

Thanks for posting the show report. Really interesting to see what is on the burners and what isn't.Very glad to hear about the Zero being in the works. Really hope to see the early war 11 or 21 in the Naval light gray livery and markings of Sakai or Nishizawa flying against Guadalcanal. Might also be tempted by later war green camo version 22 flown by Iwamoto or Sugita out of Rabaul. -- Al

 

[villagehorse]

Met Michael & Daniel last year in their shop which is dedicated to K&C. Situated in a mall, it has two large window displays full of dioramas for each of the series. Although I was only in Singapore for 5 days, I found myself finding time every day to visit the shop and of course buying and worrying about having over weight luggage, but the plane managed to lift off back to Adelaide despite all that metal. If you are ever going thru Singapore this is must, both are very friendly guys. Robin.

 

[zblang]

I'll be first in line to buy that Schindler figure!

 

[ChrisTay]

Chris ,

Thanks for the pic's & update...Really like the idea of the WH ( Wehrmacht ) become it's own line...Really curious where that will lead...Since i enjoy the early grey equipment...Also , nice to hear there may be some Polish troops , cavalry or AFV's...Would be great to see !!

Joe

Hi Joe,

Yes, the WH becoming its own is definitely welcomed as it opens up the possibilities for both Wehrmacht and Waffen SS, both being very popular.

Wrt Polish troops, Andy did not give a definite yes, but he did not say flat no, which happened in some cases. He did mention that if he was even willing to introduce the Eritrean soldiers into the IF series at the request of the Italian market, those being great figures but having rather lukewarm response from the rest of the world. In this case, the Polish troops does seem probably more "wanted"/accessible by collectors in the rest of the world, especially with the possibilities of Polish mounted calvary and early war vehicles from an early part of the war (1939). I guess it is a case of if he releases, what is the interest to collect from our community?

Rgds,Chris

 

[ChrisTay]

Chris...

thank for the pics of the figures...

I see some new Crusaders that I have not seen in any newsletters...do you happen to have anymore pics or info on them...perhaps some close-ups and any news on when they will become available...

Hi Mike,

No, unfortunately, I did not take more photos of the Crusaders. So sorry, perhaps another attendee who has more pics can help post more. Since I also collect the MK line from the beginning, I must say that they are on my buy list. I should have taken more individual shots.

A question did come up from the floor about whether the MK line should be made more drab and less color, to make them more realistic. And of course the difficulty of mixing say a King Richard and a King Philip, both being different periods of the Crusades. Andy did note down the part about colors for future consideration, but he also did indicate that it was the vibrant colors that had made this series interesting and "ka-ching..." at the counters.

Rgds,Chris

 

[jager7080]

Hi Joe,

Yes, the WH becoming its own is definitely welcomed as it opens up the possibilities for both Wehrmacht and Waffen SS, both being very popular.

Wrt Polish troops, Andy did not give a definite yes, but he did not say flat no, which happened in some cases. He did mention that if he was even willing to introduce the Eritrean soldiers into the IF series at the request of the Italian market, those being great figures but having rather lukewarm response from the rest of the world. In this case, the Polish troops does seem probably more "wanted"/accessible by collectors in the rest of the world, especially with the possibilities of Polish mounted calvary and early war vehicles from an early part of the war (1939). I guess it is a case of if he releases, what is the interest to collect from our community?

Rgds,Chris

Chris ,

IMHO , i believe a set of Polish infantry say for sake of argument five good poses , a grouping of cavalry & an AFV would be highly regarded by the TS community...The early war period ( 1939 - 1941 ) german "grey" has done well...It would be nice to be able to augment some of it with some Polish forces ! Heck ! i have suggested going further than that with Hungarian , Romanian & Slovak lines...It seems worthwhile to do , after the success of the 38t & 35t both AFV's which were used by the Satellite Axis...Maybe one day huh ?!
Anyways...looking forward to seeing where the Wehrmacht line rolls..


Joe

 

[ChrisTay]

Wittmann in an SPG. That's interesting. He commanded one of the new Stug III Ausf A in the invasion of Poland. Then an SPG in the Battle of France in 1940 followed by the invasion of Greece and then Barbarossa. He took officer training and commanded a Pz. III before getting a Tiger. So there are lots of possibilities.

Terry

Hi Terry,

This question arose because a member asked if K&C will release another Wittmann Tiger I. Andy responded that this Wittmann Tiger I remains one of their best sellers (even though it was slightly small) and estimated about 2,000 were sold. And the same Tiger I was released as a Winter version and sold another 1000pcs. And many other Tiger I's release that followed. So, at this juncture, there may be one too many Tiger I's. He then thought that an earlier Wittmann in a SPG may make it more interesting for members and collectors.

Rgds,Chris

 

[ChrisTay]

Thanks for posting the show report. Really interesting to see what is on the burners and what isn't.Very glad to hear about the Zero being in the works. Really hope to see the early war 11 or 21 in the Naval light gray livery and markings of Sakai or Nishizawa flying against Guadalcanal. Might also be tempted by later war green camo version 22 flown by Iwamoto or Sugita out of Rabaul. -- Al

Hi Al, Yes, this one seems a very definite release as it sounds like already cooked and the audience were asked last night to show hands if they will buy the Zero plane. So, it is likely to be an early war., especially a Naval version. What was not decided yet, was whether two different markings of the same plane will sell, akin to the 38T (3 markings). Rgds,Chris

 

[villagehorse]

Chris, Andy starts his Aussie visit in just over a week and there is sufficient numbers in the land down under to ply the information out of him. Always thought a better option would simply to ask Helen as that is where it all rests at the end of the day after all.^&grin, Robin.

 

[TomNT]

Thanks for the pic's and info Chris and if this is going to be an annual dinner event then I might pop over from Darwin and attend next year. We get some really cheap airfares from Darwin to Singapore and the lion city is one of my favourite destinations.

As for the possible future releases, it's interesting to see a 88mm in the mix as I thought Andy had ruled out making another one of these. I guess it's another case of "never say never" huh!! I like that bren gun on the tripod as well and I hope it's released sometime in the future with an 8th Army crew.

Tom

 

[jazzeum]

Chris,

Were the Schindler figures a future release or just something special for the occasion?

Thanks for the report.

Brad

 

[ChrisTay]

Chris,

Were the Schindler figures a future release or just something special for the occasion?

Thanks for the report.

Brad

Hi Brad, Schindler figure is a future release. There were no special figures for the occasion as I guess we are a smaller collector community compared to the rest of the world. The door gift and prizes are still available on the catalogue, except for a limited series HK Tramcar (the first 48pc limited run). Rgds,Chris