King & Country
Captain
- Joined
- May 23, 2005
- Messages
- 5,027
Hi Guys,
I just got back to Hong Kong from Los Angeles at 5:30AM last Monday morning. So, apologies for the delay in replying to many of your emails…As you can imagine there was a ton of paperwork sitting on my desk waiting from me! However this last visit stateside was a long one – almost 3 1/2 weeks and I thought I would share some of the highlights with you…and there were quite a few!
Let’s begin at the beginning…Our Annual Los Gatos visit. Los Gatos as many of you know is in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley and the home of Mike and Myszka Hall’s Sierra Toy Soldiers. For quite a few years now Gordon and myself (and sometimes Helen and Patrick from K&C HQ in Hong Kong) have had the pleasure to visit this beautiful part of the U.S. and enjoy Mike and Myszka’s great hospitality.
Gordon and yours truly flew out of Hong Kong at about 2:30PM on Friday 13 September courtesy of Cathy Pacific and headed to San Francisco. There we had the weird and wonderful experience of landing in that fair city at 11:30AM, the same day! It’s a wee bit strange to arrive before you leave but it certainly allows you to cram more hours into the day.
Mike picked us up at the airport and we sped off to Los Gatos and the Tollhouse, a really nice little hotel on the edge of town where we were staying.
For those of you who have never been there Los Gatos is a small town that nestles in a valley surrounded by heavily wooded hills and is pure “Americana”. The architecture is a nice blend of turn-of-the century Western “gingerbread” mixing together wood and brick in a delightful way in the perfect setting. As Gordon remarked it’s “Disneyland Main Street” for real!
Sierra Toy Soldiers is right in the centre of the town and perfectly placed for both established collectors and first time buyers to find. After settling in on the Friday we were ready for work bright ‘n’ early on the Saturday. Throughout the day a steady stream of shoppers and collectors stopped by to chat and talk about all things toy soldiers and other things besides. We saw and greeted many old friends as well as, hopefully, making a few new ones.
By the early evening we were all set up in the store for our “Collector’s Night” gathering. First however we had an extra bonus…a short talk by a decorated war WW2 veteran, Harry Berkheimer……...Harry had landed on Omaha Beach on D.Day and had been one of the fortunate ones to get off it —all in one piece! As an artillery man he had fought in Normandy and helped liberate France. He also took part in the “Battle of the Bulge” in late ’44 and finally ended up in Germany as part of the occupying U.S. Forces after the Nazis had been defeated in May 1945. It’s always fascinating and humbling to meet and listen to these sadly dwindling band of heroes and hear of their adventures and exploits. You literally feel you are touching history when you shake hands with them.
After Harry it was time for yours truly to stumble on and talk toy soldiers. As usual there were some great questions and queries that kept me, and to some extent Gordon, on our toes. But, as always, it was tremendous fun and I hope everyone who attended went away happy and…reasonably contented.
Sunday in Los Gatos is our “R’n’R” day where Mike and Myszka always surprise us with a special day trip somewhere. In past years we’ve journeyed to Sausalito…explored Alcatraz and marveled at the magnificent giant Redwoods. This time, Myszka declared, we’re taking you both to…CARMEL! Now to movie buffs like Gordon and me Carmel spells one thing…CLINT EASTWOOD COUNTRY. Clint lives near there, used to be Mayor, once owned his own pub, “The Hog’s Breath Inn” and made it famous in his movie “Play Misty For Me. ”
Well, what can we say, after driving down the beautiful Monterey Peninsula we arrived in Carmel…It’s fantastic it really is…Nestled in a beautiful part of the California coastline this little village is for me a vision of paradise. Quirky and quaint cottages of all shapes and sizes sit alongside typical California Mission Style buildings and shops in a wonderful mix that really defines the word charming. By the time we arrived it was lunch time so we settled into a great little restaurant and bar that was part of a small boutique hotel owned by Doris Day, the movie and singing star of the 1940’s and 50’s.
After a long lazy lunch and exploring a bit more of Carmel we headed back, as dusk fell, to Los Gatos…to get some rest before our next and final day with the Sierra Folks.
After Carmel, how could Monday get even better? Well it did…as Mike had arranged a private visit to the fabled Jacques Littlefield Collection of Military Vehicles for Gordon, myself and a couple of friends from the Sierra store.
Sadly Jacques passed away a couple of years ago but before he did he built up one of the largest and most extensive collections of military hardware in the world. Mostly World War Two, Jacque’s proud boast was that nearly all of it was mobile and could move under its own power. To help with this he had a fully-manned workshop crew of half-a-dozen armoured vehicle mechanics to service and maintain his own “private army.” Sadly with his passing this unique collection was beginning to be dispersed and moved to other enthusiast’s warehouses. Gordon and myself were fortunate to have the collection’s former curator and noted author Michael Green show us around. Among all our “Oohs and Aahs” were some very special sights…No less than nine different marks of Shermans…a wealth of big, medium and small German WW2 halftracks and…the biggest prize of all…a mighty Panther in full working order. Jacques had purchased it a few years before from a river bed in Poland where it had lain since 1945. He had spent and invested a small fortune (rumored to be close to several millions of dollars) repairing and rebuilding it and here it stood before us, ready to be inspected! What a magnificent beast…no wonder the Allied tankers feared it so much.
For almost 4 hours we clambered among the Shermans, Panzers, M48’s and even a couple of SCUD launchers (complete with SCUDS) and a lot more besides. It was amazing to see the 1:1 real thing instead of the 1:30 replicas.
After leaving the collection we headed back to Los Gatos and a final treat…A visit to a private collector’s house to view his own personal toy soldier collection and a traditional British high tea of cake, scones and plenty of cuppas!!!
Young Evan who works with Mike and Myzska in the Sierra store is an avid history buff and a skilled model maker and toy soldier enthusiast. And so is his dad, Franklin Bondonno………Both of them had been at the Sierra/K&C evening on the Saturday night and Franklin had invited Gordon and myself up to his house to view his own, he said, “modest collection.”
And so later that day, just as evening approached, Myzska, Gordon, Evan and myself drove once more up into the forested hills above Los Gatos to see Franklin’s treasure trove.
The house, like many in that area, was built on the slopes on stilts and has a fabulous view of the surrounding area. It also has an abundance of wild life, especially deer, that relaxed peacefully in the house’s backyard!
As soon as we arrived Franklin gave us a quick tour of the house before we climbed up the stairs in to part of his attic that has been converted into a terrific toy soldier room. As Franklin told us, he has been collecting ever since he was a small boy well over 50 years before. Back then the first soldiers he collected were traditional Britains’ parade-style figures of bands, colour parties and marching soldiers. Since that time he has added a wide variety of other toy soldier figures and styles but, at the heart of his collection, and perhaps affection lies his parade-style figures. To emphasize that point I have to tell you about one of Franklin’s biggest and most extensive display/dioramas…Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Procession! Bordering two sides of his attic toy room was a huge parade of all kinds of ceremonial soldiers paying homage to the Queen Empress…A panorama of different European buildings provided the perfect backdrop for the parade.
Hundreds of scarlet-coated British troops both presented arms and marched alongside Sikhs, Ghurkas, Sailors, Marines and a selection of different Imperial mounted cavalry plus representative soldiers from all points of the empire. At the head of the parade was a beautiful carriage set arriving at the steps of St.Paul’s in which sat Victoria herself. On the steps of his St.Paul’s backdrop Franklin even had choirboys, bishops, archbishops and other dignitaries on hand to greet the aged monarch. It really was a superb collection displayed in a very original way.
I’m delighted to say Gordon and myself did spot quite a few of K&C’s own ceremonial and parade figures among the throng.
After a good long while studying the parade diorama Franklin’s wife, Elaine, called us all downstairs to enjoy a typical British high tea served on fine China with all kinds of delicious cakes, scones and pastries to tempt us. All too soon another great day came to a close and all of us came down from the hills weary and happy back to Los Gatos and prepared for part two of our journey…CHICAGO!
To be continued…all the best guys and a very, very big thankyou to all our good friends (old and new) in Los Gatos. We can’t wait to come back .
Andy C.
I just got back to Hong Kong from Los Angeles at 5:30AM last Monday morning. So, apologies for the delay in replying to many of your emails…As you can imagine there was a ton of paperwork sitting on my desk waiting from me! However this last visit stateside was a long one – almost 3 1/2 weeks and I thought I would share some of the highlights with you…and there were quite a few!
Let’s begin at the beginning…Our Annual Los Gatos visit. Los Gatos as many of you know is in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley and the home of Mike and Myszka Hall’s Sierra Toy Soldiers. For quite a few years now Gordon and myself (and sometimes Helen and Patrick from K&C HQ in Hong Kong) have had the pleasure to visit this beautiful part of the U.S. and enjoy Mike and Myszka’s great hospitality.
Gordon and yours truly flew out of Hong Kong at about 2:30PM on Friday 13 September courtesy of Cathy Pacific and headed to San Francisco. There we had the weird and wonderful experience of landing in that fair city at 11:30AM, the same day! It’s a wee bit strange to arrive before you leave but it certainly allows you to cram more hours into the day.
Mike picked us up at the airport and we sped off to Los Gatos and the Tollhouse, a really nice little hotel on the edge of town where we were staying.
For those of you who have never been there Los Gatos is a small town that nestles in a valley surrounded by heavily wooded hills and is pure “Americana”. The architecture is a nice blend of turn-of-the century Western “gingerbread” mixing together wood and brick in a delightful way in the perfect setting. As Gordon remarked it’s “Disneyland Main Street” for real!
Sierra Toy Soldiers is right in the centre of the town and perfectly placed for both established collectors and first time buyers to find. After settling in on the Friday we were ready for work bright ‘n’ early on the Saturday. Throughout the day a steady stream of shoppers and collectors stopped by to chat and talk about all things toy soldiers and other things besides. We saw and greeted many old friends as well as, hopefully, making a few new ones.
By the early evening we were all set up in the store for our “Collector’s Night” gathering. First however we had an extra bonus…a short talk by a decorated war WW2 veteran, Harry Berkheimer……...Harry had landed on Omaha Beach on D.Day and had been one of the fortunate ones to get off it —all in one piece! As an artillery man he had fought in Normandy and helped liberate France. He also took part in the “Battle of the Bulge” in late ’44 and finally ended up in Germany as part of the occupying U.S. Forces after the Nazis had been defeated in May 1945. It’s always fascinating and humbling to meet and listen to these sadly dwindling band of heroes and hear of their adventures and exploits. You literally feel you are touching history when you shake hands with them.
After Harry it was time for yours truly to stumble on and talk toy soldiers. As usual there were some great questions and queries that kept me, and to some extent Gordon, on our toes. But, as always, it was tremendous fun and I hope everyone who attended went away happy and…reasonably contented.
Sunday in Los Gatos is our “R’n’R” day where Mike and Myszka always surprise us with a special day trip somewhere. In past years we’ve journeyed to Sausalito…explored Alcatraz and marveled at the magnificent giant Redwoods. This time, Myszka declared, we’re taking you both to…CARMEL! Now to movie buffs like Gordon and me Carmel spells one thing…CLINT EASTWOOD COUNTRY. Clint lives near there, used to be Mayor, once owned his own pub, “The Hog’s Breath Inn” and made it famous in his movie “Play Misty For Me. ”
Well, what can we say, after driving down the beautiful Monterey Peninsula we arrived in Carmel…It’s fantastic it really is…Nestled in a beautiful part of the California coastline this little village is for me a vision of paradise. Quirky and quaint cottages of all shapes and sizes sit alongside typical California Mission Style buildings and shops in a wonderful mix that really defines the word charming. By the time we arrived it was lunch time so we settled into a great little restaurant and bar that was part of a small boutique hotel owned by Doris Day, the movie and singing star of the 1940’s and 50’s.
After a long lazy lunch and exploring a bit more of Carmel we headed back, as dusk fell, to Los Gatos…to get some rest before our next and final day with the Sierra Folks.
After Carmel, how could Monday get even better? Well it did…as Mike had arranged a private visit to the fabled Jacques Littlefield Collection of Military Vehicles for Gordon, myself and a couple of friends from the Sierra store.
Sadly Jacques passed away a couple of years ago but before he did he built up one of the largest and most extensive collections of military hardware in the world. Mostly World War Two, Jacque’s proud boast was that nearly all of it was mobile and could move under its own power. To help with this he had a fully-manned workshop crew of half-a-dozen armoured vehicle mechanics to service and maintain his own “private army.” Sadly with his passing this unique collection was beginning to be dispersed and moved to other enthusiast’s warehouses. Gordon and myself were fortunate to have the collection’s former curator and noted author Michael Green show us around. Among all our “Oohs and Aahs” were some very special sights…No less than nine different marks of Shermans…a wealth of big, medium and small German WW2 halftracks and…the biggest prize of all…a mighty Panther in full working order. Jacques had purchased it a few years before from a river bed in Poland where it had lain since 1945. He had spent and invested a small fortune (rumored to be close to several millions of dollars) repairing and rebuilding it and here it stood before us, ready to be inspected! What a magnificent beast…no wonder the Allied tankers feared it so much.
For almost 4 hours we clambered among the Shermans, Panzers, M48’s and even a couple of SCUD launchers (complete with SCUDS) and a lot more besides. It was amazing to see the 1:1 real thing instead of the 1:30 replicas.
After leaving the collection we headed back to Los Gatos and a final treat…A visit to a private collector’s house to view his own personal toy soldier collection and a traditional British high tea of cake, scones and plenty of cuppas!!!
Young Evan who works with Mike and Myzska in the Sierra store is an avid history buff and a skilled model maker and toy soldier enthusiast. And so is his dad, Franklin Bondonno………Both of them had been at the Sierra/K&C evening on the Saturday night and Franklin had invited Gordon and myself up to his house to view his own, he said, “modest collection.”
And so later that day, just as evening approached, Myzska, Gordon, Evan and myself drove once more up into the forested hills above Los Gatos to see Franklin’s treasure trove.
The house, like many in that area, was built on the slopes on stilts and has a fabulous view of the surrounding area. It also has an abundance of wild life, especially deer, that relaxed peacefully in the house’s backyard!
As soon as we arrived Franklin gave us a quick tour of the house before we climbed up the stairs in to part of his attic that has been converted into a terrific toy soldier room. As Franklin told us, he has been collecting ever since he was a small boy well over 50 years before. Back then the first soldiers he collected were traditional Britains’ parade-style figures of bands, colour parties and marching soldiers. Since that time he has added a wide variety of other toy soldier figures and styles but, at the heart of his collection, and perhaps affection lies his parade-style figures. To emphasize that point I have to tell you about one of Franklin’s biggest and most extensive display/dioramas…Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Procession! Bordering two sides of his attic toy room was a huge parade of all kinds of ceremonial soldiers paying homage to the Queen Empress…A panorama of different European buildings provided the perfect backdrop for the parade.
Hundreds of scarlet-coated British troops both presented arms and marched alongside Sikhs, Ghurkas, Sailors, Marines and a selection of different Imperial mounted cavalry plus representative soldiers from all points of the empire. At the head of the parade was a beautiful carriage set arriving at the steps of St.Paul’s in which sat Victoria herself. On the steps of his St.Paul’s backdrop Franklin even had choirboys, bishops, archbishops and other dignitaries on hand to greet the aged monarch. It really was a superb collection displayed in a very original way.
I’m delighted to say Gordon and myself did spot quite a few of K&C’s own ceremonial and parade figures among the throng.
After a good long while studying the parade diorama Franklin’s wife, Elaine, called us all downstairs to enjoy a typical British high tea served on fine China with all kinds of delicious cakes, scones and pastries to tempt us. All too soon another great day came to a close and all of us came down from the hills weary and happy back to Los Gatos and prepared for part two of our journey…CHICAGO!
To be continued…all the best guys and a very, very big thankyou to all our good friends (old and new) in Los Gatos. We can’t wait to come back .
Andy C.
