Need Information About Vietnam Series (1 Viewer)

[Brendon]

If anyone could give me information on the Vietnam series it would be greatly appreciated.
when they were released,
how much they are worth now,
where i can find them now,
why doesnt K&C make more Vietnam figures,
and any other useful information.


Thanks,
Brendon

 

[Louis Badolato]

Welcome to the board Brendon! The Vietnam series was produced between 1995 and 2000. The sets included: The Air Cav (First Cavalry, based on the movie Apocolypse Now), The Patrol (a grouping of grunts from the Big Red One), A Huey Helicoptor in either 1st Cav or U.S.M.C. markings, or a medivac version (recently discovered), an M113 Armored Personnel Carrier (either wood and metal or resin and metal) in either US Army or USMC markings, two different sets of Marines, a set of Vietnamese villagers (a mama san & papa san selling fish and fruits on platters, along with a boy playing a flute on the back of a half submerged water buffalo), and a set of Viet Cong. There was also a resin and metal "Duster" antiaircraft tank (very limited production).

I recently discovered that two other Vietnam Era choppers were produced, a Bell Jetranger Kiowa, and a Hughs Keuse.

Andy also produced two dioramas for Vietnam: a special order Firebase (made in either six small parts or two large parts) and a Tet Offensive Street Scene with a Temple Compound being shot up and a Street of burning town houses in the background (only 4 made).

As far as values, the figure sets seem to go for around $200-$300, the Huey recently sold for more than $900 on ebay. The M113 APC hasn't changed hands on ebay, but wood vehicles of the same vintage have gone for $1500 to $2000. The Duster is extremely rare (Andy thinks about 5 were made) so if one were for sale, I would expect it would crack $1000. The Dioramas ran around $500-$750 retail, so if one became available I would expect it to fetch over $1000.

No Vietnam sets are in current production. Andy keeps saying he would like to produce updated versions with todays level of sculpting and painting, but hasn't got around to it. If you want to see all of the Vietnam sets, including all versions of the vehicles, on a firebase diorama, check Bill Sager's website, which has some photos of mine. I also have a portion of one of the four Tet Offensive Street Scene Dioramas, but I have displayed as part of a WWII Dutch Village (probably Eindoven) Market Garden Diorama. In the Photos, the temple, a wall section, and piece of the courtyard form the far right of the diorama (where the Tiger Tank sits).

I hope this answers your questions.

 

[Brendon]

Thank you Louis. Your reply was very helpful.
It is hard finding info on this set.

 

[Louis Badolato]

Brendon,

If you are located within driving distance of NYC, drop me a PM, and we can set up a time for you to come by my place and see all of the Vietnam stuff in person. Otherwise, you will just have to wait for next years New York Symposium (March, 2007) to see them.

Regards,

Louis

 

[Njja]

Currently there is one set of Vietnam figures on Ebay.

Njja

 

[Louis Badolato]

If you check the August 17th Vectis Auction, all of the K&C Vietnam figure sets are being sold. However, the sets are not correctly split up, so to ensure you get all the complete figure sets, you need to win all four lots up for sale.

 

[Njja]

You might also wish to view the message about the $55 shipping charge from this auction house. Be aware of the Buyer Premium, excessive shipping charges and bid accordingly.

No one wants a $200 bid to become a $300 bill.

Njja

 

[Gideon]

Vectis pulls that crap??? I though they were better than that.

 

[CannonFodder1971]

There are 12 sets in 4 lots, but there has presumably been some confusion on behalf of the seller as to which items relate to each VN set, and Vectis have not corrected this. A while back I dealt with their military miniature specialist Simon Clark and although he (and Vectis generally) seem to be very au fait with classic Britains sets, there is a blind spot with K&C given how relatively recent they are and the prices evolving in relation to same. (After all these VN sets are less than 8 years old, the production numbers appeared to have been more elastic than the 500-set certificates suggested, etc).

Auction houses like Vectis will always hit non-attending bidders with a 20% premium to the hammer price, as they are incurring eBay and other fees which they can't pass on. If there's someone in the UK who you can trust to act as a shipping address (or to collect from Stockton-on-Tees, if the items are actually stored in their North of England location) then you might avoid the excessive shipping charges.

 

[CannonFodder1971]

Ignore what I just said above: even allowing for mix-n-match across the 4 lots it would appear that few of the 12 sets are complete.

I know Vectis usually show a representative sample from each auction lot rather than every item therein (eg last few there were AK25 sets within ordinary EA and WS lots) but in the case of these VN sets there are definitely duplicates for the air cavalry, the chap with the thumper and so forth.

 

[gk5717]

You might want to keep your eye on Figarti as they are coming out with a VietNam line real soon.
Gary

 

[OzDigger]

I had my one and only experience with a auction house last year. My advice is to steer well clear of them as you'll pay to much in fees and freight and they have their 'as is' policy to fall back on if the item isn't correct.

 

[Brendon]

Thanks a bunch guys. You have been a ton of help. Louis I regret that NYC is a little far away. Thanks for the offer.