KING & COUNTRY DISPATCHES -- March 2024 (3 Viewers)

[King & Country]

KING & COUNTRY DISPATCHES
March 2024​

Hi Guys,
Well, now that the Chinese New Year Festivities are over it’s time for all of us here in Hong Kong and in mainland China to get back to work and present you with our latest releases…
Actually, King & Country in Hong Kong only had a couple of days off while the factories and our sculptors in China had anywhere between 2-3 weeks away from work to celebrate the Lunar New Year and visit their friend and families located all across the country.
And so, without further ado, let’s take a look at what we’ve been up to these last few months…

1. BEING RELEASED IN MARCH
A. ‘From The Sands of Egypt’s past…’Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in King & Country’s ‘Ancient Egypt’ series depicting life and death on the Nile both in The Age of the Pharaohs, the period we normally think of when Egypt was ruled by the Pharaohs… after 3100 B.C.
As many collectors already know K&C has designed and produced an amazing and colourful variety of figures and display pieces illustrating many of the everyday aspects of life on the banks of the Nile for both the rulers and the ruled of this incredible civilization.
An added bonus for both ‘Egypt’ collectors and anyone interested in the more recent past was the launch in 2022, of the ‘Discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb’ by the famed Egyptologist, Howard Carter who along with his patron Lord Carnarvon found the long-lost tomb of the ill-fated, boy king ‘Tutankhamun’.
The young Pharaoh’s tomb was the only royal resting place to remain untouched (and undiscovered) by the gangs of grave robbers who foraged throughout The Valley of the Kings for many centuries prior to Carter’s amazing discovery.
The launch of that off-shoot of our ‘Ancient Egypt’ series has created a whole host of new collectors who are equally fascinated by an entire cast of characters from fact and fiction who have journeyed to Egypt to see for themselves the wonders and mysteries of this cradle of civilization.
The Egyptian exploits and adventures of these real and fictionalized personalities have been immortalized in books, television and, of course, the cinema.
With all this growing interest in Egypt, both ‘Ancient’ and ‘Modern’ it’s always useful to have a very special ‘backdrop’ for our figures that can be adapted for a variety of different time periods and scenarios…

 

[King & Country]

AE106 ‘The Ancient Egyptian Temple’
Using various aspects of traditional Egyptian architecture and design elements K&C has produced this striking 3-dimensional temple façade cast in sturdy polystone (marble dust and resin) and beautifully painted.
As a backdrop it can of course, be utilized for ‘Ancient Egypt’ figurines as well as our ‘Tutankhamun’ series of 1920s and 1930s people and personalities and even Afrika Korps!



AE109 ‘Miss Jane Marple’
Here is one more famous traveller to Egypt…
Miss Jane Marple is another fictional character from the prolific pen of Britain’s most famous (and most read) crime novelist, Agatha Christie. Living in a small, quiet English village Miss Marple is an ‘amateur consulting detective’.
Often characterized as an elderly spinster, she is one of Christie’s most beloved characters and has been portrayed in numerous films and television series.
It would appear that Miss Marple is also a ‘lady of independent means’ and has travelled widely both around the British Isles and on the Continent and so, having read about the recent discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb decides the time is right both for a change of scenery and the opportunity to delve deeper into the many mysteries surrounding Ancient Egypt, Tutankhamun and a number of unexplained deaths surrounding the tomb’s discovery.
Our figure portrays her shortly after arriving in Cairo and waiting for her transport and a local guide to take her to ‘The Valley of the Kings’.


AVAILABLE: Mid-Late March

 

[King & Country]

B. Achtung Afrika Korps!”




Staying in Egypt but moving forward a few years to the early 1940s… 1942 to be exact, and the Deutsches Afrikakorps better known simply as the ‘Afrikakorps’ is pushing Britain’s 8[SUP]th[/SUP] Army back across the Western Desert into the sands of Egypt and almost up to the gates of the great Egyptian port city of Alexandria.
Here are a few useful reinforcements for the hard-driving, desert Germans…

AK150 ‘AK Water and Fuel’
Two of the most precious commodities for any army fighting across the blistering heat of the Middle East are water and fuel.
This 2-man set combines one AK trooper carrying a pair of ‘jerricans’ filled with fresh water while another rolls a heavy 50 gallon drum of precious gasoline for their petrol-starved fighting vehicles.


AK151 ‘General Erwin Rommel’ (Desert Uniform)
A brand-new sculpt of probably K&C’s most popular German General… Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel, better known as ‘The Desert Fox’.
Already a highly-decorated veteran of WW1, Rommel stayed in the military throughout the Weimar Republic years and in to the Third Reich’s Wehrmacht.
He commanded the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] Panzer Division during the defeat of France in 1940 before being transferred to North Africa to take charge of the combined Italian and German troops fighting there.
It was there that he burnished his military reputation as a bold and fearless leader who led from the front and achieved remarkable results despite being outnumbered by his Allied opponents and being chronically undersupplied with men, vital equipment and other supplies.
After the fall of North Africa to the British and Americans he went on the command the German forces opposing the cross-channel invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
This first ‘Afrika Korps’ Rommel shows the General wearing the light ‘desert-tan’ AK Jacket as he goes to inspect some of his troops. A pair of captured British binos hangs on his chest.



AK152 ‘General Erwin Romel’ (Summer Uniform)
Among the uniforms Rommel took with him when he transferred to North Africa was this standard Wehrmacht ‘White Summer Uniform’ jacket which was introduced in the 1930s in pre war Germany.
This was normally worn with the standard ‘feldgrau’ officer’s riding breeches complete with the double red stripes down the outside seams of the trousers denoting a senior General’s field rank.


AK153 ‘Afrika Korps Staff Officers’ (Set of 2)
A Generalfeldmarschall must have at least two Staff Officers with him when he goes on a tour of inspection.
This pair of AK officers make a useful addition and are an upgraded paint version of previous individual releases.



AVAILABLE: Early March

 

[King & Country]

C. ‘Hong Kong All Our Yesterdays’
Another nostalgic look back at the more recent past in Hong Kong’s vibrant street life of the 1960s and 1970s…




HKY014 ‘Young Girl w/Baby Brother and Puppy’
As Hong Kong rapidly grew and prospered it meant both Mothers and Fathers often had to work full-time jobs away from home.
That meant older siblings usually were tasked with looking after their younger brothers and sisters and perhaps, even the family pet.
This young teenager certainly has her hands full as she carries her younger brother on her back as she cradles an even younger puppy to her chest.
Hong Kong children in those days were very resourceful and useful to their parents and took over a host of household duties while Mum and Dad were hard at work.



HKY015 ‘Royal Hong Kong Police British Officer’
As some of you guys know it was the RHKP that originally brought me to Hong Kong back in 1977 as a trainee ‘Police Inspector’.
At that time and up until the handover to China the standard ‘summer uniform’ was this very smart, lightweight, pale olive green, tropical, 4 pocket field jacket with matching trousers.
Until the early 1970s, shorts were worn with this ‘summer’ uniform however by the time I joined in 1977 they had been replaced by standard long trousers in the same lightweight material.
As can be seen in our figure the ‘summer’ uniform was worn with a black ‘Sam Browne’ belt and holstered revolver.
In addition all officers wore a black whistle lanyard over the left shoulder and a black peak service cap along with black shoes.

Special Note: Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s the strength of the RHKP was approx. 28,000 officers and men including some 1200 expatriate (mostly British but also some Aussies, Kiwis and the occasional Canadian and even South African) commissioned officers.



HKY018 ‘The Shopping Amah’
Once a very familiar sight in Hong Kong was the traditional ‘black and white’ Chinese ‘Amah’. These ladies would often stay with a family all or most of their adult working life and would be tasked with many of the most important duties in a middle or upper class Chinese family… Looking after the children, the security of the home and food shopping for the household.
Other home duties such as washing, cleaning and perhaps gardening would be done by other more junior amahs (helpers) employed by the family. These ‘black and white’ Amahs were a force to be reckoned with and much respected by everyone who came into contact with them.



AVAILABLE: Early March

 

[King & Country]

D. ‘THE CRUCIFIXION’
The Crucifixion of Jesus was the execution by crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth in 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Century Judea, most likely in AD30 or AD33. It is described in the four gospels of the New Testament and attested to by other independent sources.
According to the gospels, Jesus was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities before being sentenced by Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea to be ‘scourged’ before being finally crucified by the Romans.



METHODS OF CRUCIFIXION
Most Christians believe Jesus was crucified using the traditional two-beamed cross. While many historical paintings depict Jesus hanging on the wooden cross, pinned to it by large iron nails driven through the hands and feet these alone would not have supported an adult male.
Some modern depictions suggest that a number of ropes would also be used to support the victim on the cross in addition to the nails. Whatever the combination it was an extremely cruel, slow and horrifically painful method of execution!
In addition to Jesus, two convicted thieves were crucified on either side of him using the same painful methods of execution.

LoJ058 ‘The Crucified Christ’
Crucifixion was a long, bloody, brutal affair and this figure of Jesus displays some of the many injuries he must have suffered after his scourging and long painful procession through the city from the Roman jail carrying the cross beam up to the hill of Calvary on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
There, he would have been nailed to the cross by the Roman soldiers and have the additional ropes attached before being hoisted onto the vertical position… The extreme pain and loss of blood would have been excruciating!
Above Jesus head a crude sign was attached to the main wooden beam that read ‘This is Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews’.



LoJ059 ‘The Crucified Thieves’ (Set of 2)
The Gospel of Luke says that the two thieves crucified on either side of Jesus were called ‘Dismas’, the good thief, who repented for his sins and ‘Gestas’, the unrepentant thief, who reviled and mocked Jesus.
As can be seen both thieves have been crucified in slightly different but equally painful ways with one having his arms extended up and over the back of the crossbeam while his feet are nailed through the ankles to either side of the vertical wooden beam.
The other thief is anchored to his cross in a similar manner to Jesus with iron nails driven through the palms of the hands and other nails through both feet. Again, a series of ropes have been used to hold both men on to their crosses.



LoJ060 ‘Jesus on The Cross’
This is the same figure as LoJ058 but in a less brutal depiction with much less blood.




AVAILABLE: Early March

 

[King & Country]

E. ‘On The Streets of Ancient Rome’




As I’ve said on multiple occasions some of K&C’s best and most popular series have come from meeting and talking with our dealers and collectors during many of my overseas tours and trips.
One such occasion happened back in July last year when I journeyed down under to Australia, for the first time in 4 years, to meet up with our friends and trading partners there.

In Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne the suggestions came thick and fast. I was encouraged to find out that some of the best ones echoed a few of my own thoughts for new ides as well as fresh developments and extensions to existing series.
One excellent example of this came about in Sydney where I spent a few days in ‘Peter Nathan Toy Soldiers’ new shop talking with Sven De Braekeleir, now the man leading the operation since Peter’s recent retirement.
Among the many toy soldier subjects we talked about was the popularity and possibilities of extending the ‘Ancient Rome’ series K&C is already producing into developing an all-new extension that would explore a very different side to the story of Rome.

A number of other companies, K&C included, have designed and produced literally legions of Roman soldiers (and their enemies) fighting to build the Empire and expand its borders but few, if any, had thought about the city itself and its population.
That, of course, reminded me of the success of K&C’s own ‘Streets of Old Hong Kong’ – our look at life in colonial Hong Kong at the turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries. This particular series has covered the everyday life and living of the citizens of this amazing port city on the southern coast of China.
If it worked for Hong Kong might it also work for ‘Rome’..?

Like the ‘Hong Kong’ series this new one would include all kinds of people, rich and poor… wealthy patricians as well as ordinary working class folks going about their various trades and professions on the ‘Streets of Ancient Rome’.
Another vital ingredient in this new concept was… buildings and backdrops to provide the natural settings to place our figures in. And that’s where Sven comes into the picture.
In addition to running ‘Peter Nathan Toy Soldiers’, Sven has partnered with Frank Sultana to create ‘Last Post Miniatures’ an Australia-based outfit that specializes in hand-painted, 1:30 scale diorama accessories and buildings that work perfectly with all kinds of toy soldiers and historical periods to provide exciting and dynamic displays.

 

[King & Country]

Although K&C also produces its own display items and buildings in this particular case it made sense for ‘Last Post’ to produce the structures and ‘free-us-up’ to concentrate on the figures and our own accessories.
And so here we are with our very first release of a small group of Roman citizens that will look right-at-home on the ‘Streets of Ancient Rome’.

RnB047 ‘The Farmer’
A humble farmer has come into the city to sell some of his crops or perhaps a few livestock. As he walks along the streets of Rome he comes upon one of the many wine taverns called in Latin ‘Popina’ that can be found on virtually every street. Time to relax and enjoy a cup of refreshing wine… perhaps…?



RnB048 ‘The Wine Merchant’s Wife’
Most Popinas were family-run businesses where most of the family worked or served. This owner’s wife brings another jug of wine to the table.



RnB051 ‘The Game Players’
In addition to providing food and drink the ‘Popina’ also offered space and seating for all types of board games. These two Roman citizens are enjoying their game and some wine too.



RnB052 ‘The Wine Drinkers’
A trio of Romans laugh and joke with the Popina’s owner as he brings an amphora of new wine for his customers to sample. On the sturdy, wooden table is some bread and a few typical Roman snacks to enjoy with the wine.
This 4-man set will go perfectly with Last Post’s ‘Popina’ building.



AVAILABLE: Early March

SPECIAL NOTE:
The three buildings shown in our photo are prototype samples only and will have some detail changes in production. For more details and information about the availability of these ‘LAST POST MINIATURES’ Roman Buildings please contact:

Last Post Miniatures
8 North mead Ave., NORTH MEAD,
NSW 2152
Australia
Tel: 61402766024
www.lastpostminiatures.com.au

 

[King & Country]

And that my friends is the story so far for March…
Meanwhile before I go let’s take a look at what is being retired this month…

BEING RETIRED THIS MONTH

LAH104 Reichsarbeitsführer Konstantin Hierl (Reich labour leader)
LAH230 RAD on Parade
LAH231 RAD Mrachpast
LAH232 RAD Banner Bearer
LAH233 Saluting RAD Leader
NA292 Mounted Highland Officer
SP110 Bamboo Pack

Andy C. Neilson
Co-founder & Creative Director
King & Country Ltd.​

 

[villagehorse]

Lots to think about once again. Andy has been busy for sure. Robin.

 

[The Military Workshop]

Great looking RHKP figure. Might have to see if I can tempt some of the retired ones down here.

 

[jason foote]

Loving the ancient Rome stuff. Bring it on.
Jas

 

[Horus]

Yes, the Roman civilians look really interesting additions and hopefully some will be added to my collection soon.

 

[Horus]

In actual fact, just ordered a couple of the sets and will get the others as space and funds allow. They should fit in well with the 3D Roman Town buildings I gotten in the past year or so from fellow Forum member Paul Bell.

 

[Barkmann]

[h=1]Like the AK Water Set, will make a greatedition to my AK range. Have enough Rommel's, but the figure in the summer uniform might work in a Normandy diorama.

The new Roman figures have a lot of uses, i wasthinking they could also look great as relaxing Legionnaires having a drink inthe vicus outside their fort.

Possibly the crucified figures would be OK as aroadside punishment as Legionnaires march past.

I collect the more 'modern' Egyptian range and the new building does look incredible, but a little too big for the display cabinet, but looks like a winner and you never know, as my collection of this series grows then they might have to go in a bigger cabinet.[/h]

 

[paxtoysoldier]

Love the streets of Rome series. Hope it is popular and keeps going. These are some beautiful non-violent sets for a dio.
Also Ms. Marple is fun. Joan Hickson...
Awesome Egyptian gateway.
Actually all the releases this month are great. As a long-time K&C collector, I like some different stuff - which this release has lots of. Not to disregard the classics...
Best Wishes & Happy Collecting
Paddy

 

[BHogan]

Great dispatches Andy and K&C team! This is one of the most diverse. Any chance the retiring Gordon Highlanders officer means new Napoleonics are in the pipeline soon?

Brendan

 

[Obee]

Any chance the retiring Gordon Highlanders officer means new Napoleonics are in the pipeline soon?

Brendan

Let's hope so !!!!!!

John

 

[Napoleon1er]

I also love the Roman civilians, they are long overdue from any manufacturer, and I think they will be quite versatile. I might even go for the crucified thieves, they could also have a few uses.

Andy -- could we get a better picture of the inscription above Jesus's head?

 

[jason foote]

Yes, the Roman civilians look really interesting additions and hopefully some will be added to my collection soon.

Steve, which buildings did Paul make. Because your whole town looks amazing, i love it. Paul made my Roman barracks and stable, i might be interested in more. I love all your buildings.
Jas

 

[Panzer ace]

The Rommel figures are incredible.