King & Country
Captain
- Joined
- May 23, 2005
- Messages
- 5,088
Hi Guys,
Apologies for not writing for a wee while but I’ve been on my travels for the last 21/2 weeks.
First off was “The Westcoaster” in Irvine California. As usual I had a great time meeting quite a few K&C dealers and plenty of K&C collectors both before the show (during room – trading) and at the main ballroom show on the Sunday.
Although the number of tables was slightly down on last year the number of visitors and buyers held steady and they seemed to spend more and stay longer!
On the Monday afterwards I was up bright ‘n’ early to head over to LAX to fly down to San Antonio, Texas.
As many of you already know K&C’s co-founder, Laura McAllister Johnson (my ex wife) lives there. My XO, Miranda Li had already flown over from Hong Kong to meet with Laura and myself to hold a series of meetings on strategy, planning and tactics for the next 12 months of K&C and our products.
At the same time we could all observe the progress of “Kings X” which we took over on January 1, this year.
My brother Gordon has also been visiting and consulting with the folks at “Kings X” and I’m happy to report sales have increased dramatically and the store itself is looking great with full shelves of K&C and some nifty little dioramas.
After 4 days of San Antonio I headed up to New York (Newark to be exact) for the “Symposium” organized by Louis Badolato… Larry Lo… and Hans Hedrich. Waiting to pick me up was our old friend Brad Lewin. We immediately drove out to Louis’ new home in Long Island. In this beautiful rural setting Louis had assembled probably the finest (and most extensive) collection of classic vintage King & Country in the U.S. and possibly the world.
It is, quite simply, breathtaking… even for me and I made the bloody stuff!
Two whole rooms of Louis’ were full to overflowing with figures… vehicles… dioramas… and of course aircraft that trace the growth and development of K&C from its earliest days.
Also present to enjoy this spectacle were more than a few of the Symposium attendees. We were going to meet the rest at a special dinner organized by Louis at his private club in Greenwich Village later that evening.
To return to Louis’ display – he had items on show even I had forgotten we made including very, very rare pieces – it was a joy to behold and the enjoyment it gave others as well.
As I said after a few hours we all headed in convoy into Manhattan to pick up the rest of “the Gang” at the Cornell Club. Among these were great dealers like Bill Sager out of Florida… Mike Neville from the U.K…. Shannon from Treefrog and our other ‘Frogs’, Fred and Thierry our 2 great mates from Toy Soldier Paris. I almost forgot Tim Tyler from Florida.
Collectors from all over joined us for an amazing Italian dinner at Louis’ club where much food and even more great wine was partaken and a wonderful spirit of toy soldier camaraderie ruled supreme.
In the wee small hours Louis, Hans and myself headed back to Long Island and continued gabbing until almost 3 AM.
However by 7 AM we were up, shaved, showered and ready to head back into Manhattan to begin ferrying all the guests back to Louis’ place to see the collection and hold a “bull session” about toy soldiers in general and K&C in particular that afternoon.
This we did and I faced a barrage of probing questions about all aspects of our business and future plans. I hope I satisfied most of our questioners and maybe teased a few with what’s coming up next.
By late afternoon ‘the Gang’ was getting restless to be on the move and so we decamped and headed once more to Manhattan and Larry Lo’s apartment.
Now, if Louis Badolato has arguably the largest vintage collection of K&C in terms of width and variety Larry (and our friend Hans Hedrich) has definitely the largest number of very specialized K&C…
Among many superlative sights I saw over this incredible weekend one of the finest was Larry’s boxed collection of ‘MINT’ classic K&C early cavalry figures – 16th Lancers… Indian Cavalry Regiments. He even had a cavalry regiment my brother Gordon painted exclusively for a big Canadian collector almost 20 years ago. It had never been unpacked or displayed! After Larry’s home visit we moved onto one of Larry’s own select Chinese restaurants in Manhattan for dinner. Larry’s hospitality and great food are second-to-none and a great Chinese meal was the perfect way to end a perfect day.
Early Sunday morning the Gang reassembled to head over to New Jersey for the Schutzen Park show.
Arriving early we had “special passes” to get in ahead of the crowds and do a quick “recce” of the hall.
It was great to see K&C well represented by George Guerrero of “Minutemen” … Matt and Bill Murphy of “Hobby Bunker” … Donna and her Dad of “Left, Right, Left” and Gideon of “Classic Toy Soldiers”. All of them had a great day I’m happy to say.
The Show itself was a lot of fun with several collectors picking up some pretty rare old K&C pieces. I got the new Corgi 1:32 Hawker Hunicane for myself – so I was well pleased.
After the show a bunch of us headed back into Manhattan where K&C hosted a lunch at “Smith & Wollensky’s” – the best burgers I’ve ever tasted… anywhere.
All too soon all of us Symposium attendees were heading for our respective airports. I made my way to Newark to fly back to San Antonio for a few more days of strategy and planning talks.
However I would like to say a heart felt thanks to Louis Badolato… Lawrence Lo and Hans Hedrich for three incredible days (and nights) of great toy soldiers … terrific food and drink … amazing hospitality and true friendship among dealers, collectors and, in this particular case, a manufacturer.
I cannot recommend this Symposium highly enough to any serious K&C collector… See you same time next year!
Very Best Wishes and … Happy Collecting to one and all!
Andy C.
Apologies for not writing for a wee while but I’ve been on my travels for the last 21/2 weeks.
First off was “The Westcoaster” in Irvine California. As usual I had a great time meeting quite a few K&C dealers and plenty of K&C collectors both before the show (during room – trading) and at the main ballroom show on the Sunday.
Although the number of tables was slightly down on last year the number of visitors and buyers held steady and they seemed to spend more and stay longer!
On the Monday afterwards I was up bright ‘n’ early to head over to LAX to fly down to San Antonio, Texas.
As many of you already know K&C’s co-founder, Laura McAllister Johnson (my ex wife) lives there. My XO, Miranda Li had already flown over from Hong Kong to meet with Laura and myself to hold a series of meetings on strategy, planning and tactics for the next 12 months of K&C and our products.
At the same time we could all observe the progress of “Kings X” which we took over on January 1, this year.
My brother Gordon has also been visiting and consulting with the folks at “Kings X” and I’m happy to report sales have increased dramatically and the store itself is looking great with full shelves of K&C and some nifty little dioramas.
After 4 days of San Antonio I headed up to New York (Newark to be exact) for the “Symposium” organized by Louis Badolato… Larry Lo… and Hans Hedrich. Waiting to pick me up was our old friend Brad Lewin. We immediately drove out to Louis’ new home in Long Island. In this beautiful rural setting Louis had assembled probably the finest (and most extensive) collection of classic vintage King & Country in the U.S. and possibly the world.
It is, quite simply, breathtaking… even for me and I made the bloody stuff!
Two whole rooms of Louis’ were full to overflowing with figures… vehicles… dioramas… and of course aircraft that trace the growth and development of K&C from its earliest days.
Also present to enjoy this spectacle were more than a few of the Symposium attendees. We were going to meet the rest at a special dinner organized by Louis at his private club in Greenwich Village later that evening.
To return to Louis’ display – he had items on show even I had forgotten we made including very, very rare pieces – it was a joy to behold and the enjoyment it gave others as well.
As I said after a few hours we all headed in convoy into Manhattan to pick up the rest of “the Gang” at the Cornell Club. Among these were great dealers like Bill Sager out of Florida… Mike Neville from the U.K…. Shannon from Treefrog and our other ‘Frogs’, Fred and Thierry our 2 great mates from Toy Soldier Paris. I almost forgot Tim Tyler from Florida.
Collectors from all over joined us for an amazing Italian dinner at Louis’ club where much food and even more great wine was partaken and a wonderful spirit of toy soldier camaraderie ruled supreme.
In the wee small hours Louis, Hans and myself headed back to Long Island and continued gabbing until almost 3 AM.
However by 7 AM we were up, shaved, showered and ready to head back into Manhattan to begin ferrying all the guests back to Louis’ place to see the collection and hold a “bull session” about toy soldiers in general and K&C in particular that afternoon.
This we did and I faced a barrage of probing questions about all aspects of our business and future plans. I hope I satisfied most of our questioners and maybe teased a few with what’s coming up next.
By late afternoon ‘the Gang’ was getting restless to be on the move and so we decamped and headed once more to Manhattan and Larry Lo’s apartment.
Now, if Louis Badolato has arguably the largest vintage collection of K&C in terms of width and variety Larry (and our friend Hans Hedrich) has definitely the largest number of very specialized K&C…
Among many superlative sights I saw over this incredible weekend one of the finest was Larry’s boxed collection of ‘MINT’ classic K&C early cavalry figures – 16th Lancers… Indian Cavalry Regiments. He even had a cavalry regiment my brother Gordon painted exclusively for a big Canadian collector almost 20 years ago. It had never been unpacked or displayed! After Larry’s home visit we moved onto one of Larry’s own select Chinese restaurants in Manhattan for dinner. Larry’s hospitality and great food are second-to-none and a great Chinese meal was the perfect way to end a perfect day.
Early Sunday morning the Gang reassembled to head over to New Jersey for the Schutzen Park show.
Arriving early we had “special passes” to get in ahead of the crowds and do a quick “recce” of the hall.
It was great to see K&C well represented by George Guerrero of “Minutemen” … Matt and Bill Murphy of “Hobby Bunker” … Donna and her Dad of “Left, Right, Left” and Gideon of “Classic Toy Soldiers”. All of them had a great day I’m happy to say.
The Show itself was a lot of fun with several collectors picking up some pretty rare old K&C pieces. I got the new Corgi 1:32 Hawker Hunicane for myself – so I was well pleased.
After the show a bunch of us headed back into Manhattan where K&C hosted a lunch at “Smith & Wollensky’s” – the best burgers I’ve ever tasted… anywhere.
All too soon all of us Symposium attendees were heading for our respective airports. I made my way to Newark to fly back to San Antonio for a few more days of strategy and planning talks.
However I would like to say a heart felt thanks to Louis Badolato… Lawrence Lo and Hans Hedrich for three incredible days (and nights) of great toy soldiers … terrific food and drink … amazing hospitality and true friendship among dealers, collectors and, in this particular case, a manufacturer.
I cannot recommend this Symposium highly enough to any serious K&C collector… See you same time next year!
Very Best Wishes and … Happy Collecting to one and all!
Andy C.
