King & Country Dispatches -- November 2024 (2 Viewers)

[Horus]

Reinforcements for the Paras bound to be of interest to many, as I'm sure the Magnificent Seven set will be also.
Just gotten around to ordering some of last month's Romans, so looking forward to getting them.

 

[Desertkiwi]

Big fan of the Arnhem range and really like the camo and paint work on these new chaps, not to mention the poses. I also note the prices and thank Andy & co for keeping the singles below $50us.

The new banged up re-released Citroen is a welcome surprise and so versatile and unique. The opening doors and dark interior make it even more attractive.

The new desert village archway is also a great surprise and will work well with the existing range.

Cheers

 

[Old Bill]

The Argentinian Defenders will be a very welcome addition to my Falklands collection. Nice to see them (I believe) armed with the folding stock Fal.
Love the terrain they are displayed on - Great job all round!

 

[Spanish soldier]

KING & COUNTRY DISPATCHES
November 2024​

Hi Guys,

Welcome to this month’s ‘DISPATCHES’ and a terrific bunch of releases they are too with a whole collection of dynamic new figures and a couple of fresh adaptations of K&C ‘firm favourites’…
But, before I get down to business let me provide you with a brief report on K&C’s recent visit stateside.
As many of you know, King & Country took part in the Fall / Autumn Show at the ROUND TOP ANTIQUES & COLLECTABLES FAIR in Round Top, Texas, a 2-hour drive north east of San Antonio and another couple of hours from both Dallas and Houston.
Tammi and Kristy from K&C HQ in Hong Kong and yours truly joined Laura from K&C Texas to put on a great display in the BIG RED BARN at Round Top showing off and selling a broad selection of some of the best and most popular K&C ranges to a wide and varied audience of attendees, many of whom had never before seen or bought a ‘Toy Soldier’ in their lives!
At the same time, we were happy to meet a number of regular K&C collectors who knew of our presence at ROUND TOP and journeyed, in some cases, hundreds of miles to meet us in person and purchase figures and items from their favourite series.
Overall, the show was a valuable experience and a unique opportunity to reach out to a whole new audience of interested people and potentially all-new collectors.
We all had a blast during 10 very hectic days in Texas!

After the Lone Star State, Tammi and Kristy returned to Hong Kong and I flew on to Atlanta, Georgia to meet up with a dedicated K&C collector and diorama builder, Mr. Craig Warner.
Craig and myself have known each other for several years and at the 2023 Chicago Show he kindly invited me to visit him in Atlanta and view his superb 30 sq. ft. diorama of a WW2 European town besieged by hordes of German infantry and tanks fighting a beleaguered joint force of British and American troops bravely defending the town.
After several days of R ‘n’ R with Craig and his lovely wife Polly I drove with Craig up to Charlotte, North Carolina to meet and stay with yet another valued friend and K&C collector, Mr. Fred D’Ambrosio whose own spectacular collection of ‘Ceremonial Parade’ figures is, I am sure, second-to-none!
Rank upon rank of standing, marching, presenting arms soldiers in the many hundreds paraded before me in perfect formations that was a joy to behold and the delight of any Regimental Sergeant Major.
While in Charlotte, Craig, Fred and myself were also invited to meet and view the work and display / dioramas of a new friend Mr. Dan Nance.
Dan is an excellent and very talented military history painter of the first order who in addition to all of that is also a skillful designer and builder of dioramas that feature 1:30 scale depictions of Napoleonic battlefields, D.DAY beaches (and French countryside), Revolutionary War landscapes plus many other historical eras almost too many to mention but here I must also add-on his superb VIETNAM WAR paddy fields!
Dan employs a whole host of 1:30 scale figures from many different makers of which, I am happy to say, K&C is very well represented in virtually every scenario.

After all this excitement and fantastic American hospitality I flew back to ‘The Pearl of The Orient’ last Friday and almost immediately got down to work on these ‘DISPATCHES’.

Now, back to our latest releases…

1. BEING RELEASED IN NOVEMBER

A. ‘The Magnificent Seven’

‘The Magnificent Seven’ is quite simply one of the greatest ‘Westerns’ ever made, it’s also one of the most important. Not because it led to three sequels, a TV series and a cinematic remake in 2016 but because it set the standard for other adventurous and influential western films that followed it in the late 1960s and into the 1970s.
These included, among others ‘The Professionals’ and ‘The Wild Bunch’.
These two movies alongwith ‘The Magnificent Seven’ focused on an ensemble cast rather than a typical lone hero or a single lawman going up against a gang of outlaws.
The Magnificent Seven(1960) were not traditional good guys but a mixed group of anti heroes bound together to go up against an adversary who was both cruel and ruthless.
Based on an original Japanese film, ‘The Seven Samurai’, director John Sturges, a well-established ‘Western’ film maker helmed the movie. Among the great titles Sturges had already made included ‘Bad Day At Black Rock’ (1955) and ‘Gunfight At The Ok Corral’ (1957).
In January 1960, the director began assembling his talented cast led by Yul Brynner, followed by emerging star Steve McQueen and the TV actor, Robert Vaughn who in turn also suggested a young James Coburn. Sturges himself added Charles Bronson who had appeared in two of his previous movies.
Yet another experienced TV actor, Brad Dexter was added to the cast alongside a popular young German actor, Horst Bucholz playing the youngest gunfighter of ‘The Seven’.
Filming took place in Cuernavaca, Mexico and virtually all of the supporting players were Mexican except for the Bandit Chief ‘Calvera’ played by the celebrated American character actor, Eli Wallach.
On location in Mexico, one large main set of a small farming village, church and main square were built. In nearby Durango another major set was constructed of the town on the Tex / Mex border where ‘The Seven’ were originally hired to help defend the Mexican peasants against the local banditos.
I remember seeing this great movie when it first came out around 1960 or maybe 1961 by the time it reached Scotland. At the age of 12 this film had everything I liked in an action flick… lots of gunfights, plenty of ‘goodies ‘n’ baddies’ a great stirring movie music them by Elmer Bernstein and… NO SLOPPY KISSING or LOVE SCENES!
Since that time I have viewed this magnificent movie many, many times and enjoyed it more and more with each viewing.
This unique Seven-Figure Boxed Set is my (and K&C’s) tribute in 1:30 scale miniature to one of the finest and most enjoyable ‘Westerns’ ever made and a very worthy addition to King & Country’s ‘THE REAL WEST’ series.

TRW194 ‘The Magnificent Seven’
Seven individual gunfighters featuring seven iconic actors of the 1960s in all-action poses.

AVAILABLE: Mid November

Andy, in the near future you could also release figures from classic western series: Bonanza, Rin tin tin, ......