To: TREEFROG FORUM
Re: VARIOUS POINTS ON CHICAGO AND BEYOND
Greetings Comrades,
I have just returned to the Peoples Republic of China (Hong Kong branch) from my all-too-brief visit to the “Great Satan” and my meetings with countless “Running Dogs of Capitalism” in Chicago and elsewhere. Now read on…
The Chicago Show was terrific, for my money, the best and biggest one yet.
I arrived on Wednesday after a 14 hour flight from Hong Kong. On the same plane were Ken and his girlfriend from “East of India” plus my two friendly rivals, Gerard and Howard of “Frontline”. If that plane had crashed, about half of the new toy soldier business would have been down the proverbial toilet in one fell swoop!
Anyway thanks to the friendly skies of United, we all arrived at O’Hare safe and sound. On a related note and being politically incorrect in the extreme… why is it that virtually every stewardess on United (and most other American airlines) is fast approaching retirement age? I swear that some of them are well over 60 and well past their “sell-by” date.
On the plus side, by companies, it makes middle aged characters like me fell relatively sprightly!
BACK TO THE SHOW
Contrary to some reports I felt the room trading was lively and more doors were open than the last few years.
The Sunday Show attendance was, by my reckoning, at least 50% up over last year and a record.
Our K&C sponsored Show Bags, given away free were a big hit and caused a wee bit of a stir with some of our competitors. TOUGH*****! I say-we did it, they didn’t!
On the Saturday evening before the main event Treefrog and Sierra hosted our little K&C go together. It was great fun and I really loved meeting up with some of our staunchest supporters.
A big thankyou to Shannon, Pete, Mike and Mishka, and all who came along. I hope we can do it next year.
SO WHAT WAS NEW?
Quite a lot really… the Britains takeover was on everyone’s lips and with Richard and Ken of the “new-old” team there. It was good to see them and talk with them about the revitalized company. Obviously it will be a few months before we see the results of their efforts but I knew they will be interesting.
The Shanghai Boys-Figarti were in attendance and their new releases “Iraq War” and their new Stuart Tank showed marked improvements and originality on their previous efforts.
Old Northwest had an outstanding display diorama done by Ken Osen on their table which really was spectacular. Didn’t see many new figures though.
East of India had their new Greek Hoplites on show – very nice too. Somerset with their Lawrence of Arabia sets (not new) always looks great and very original.
MEETING OLD FRIENDS AND NEW ONES
Lots of long, friendly talks with K&C “Diehards” – Louis, Hans, Brad and many many others, too numerous to mention but much appreciated for their support, comments and friendship – CHEERS!
RECENT POSTS
Since I have been traveling I’ve missed the Forum so when I got back to HK last night after kissing Wife and Daughter and distributing presents I settled down in front of my computer screen to see what’s being said…
A) “CURRENT GLUT OF NEW PRODUCTS”
Sometimes a guy just can’t win… some collectors want more…more…more. Others want less…less…less.
K&C, believe it or not, tries to balance these things out and release enough for everybody. WWII fans…Napoleonic enthusiasts… Rev. War collectors etc. We don’t expect everyone to buy everything, that’s impossible – neither do we hold a gun to any collector’s head and shout “buy these sets or we’ll blow your brains all over the sidewalk!”
We produce what we think the majority of our collectors want…when they want it at a price most of them can afford. Pure and simple right?
By the way, the use of the word “GLUT” implies a whole big heap of you know what – I don’t think it’s appropriate or true.
B) “WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING” STUG
For the benefit of EASY and CEMENT SHOES we are neither going down the “money grab” route or “heavily down the repaint path” with our latest German Self Propelled Gun.
Allow me to enlighten you. Our new Sturmgeschutz III is a brand-new sculpt representing a vehicle disguised by the Germans to (vaguely) resemble a US Tank Destroyer.
WS47 and WS69 were indeed both Sturmgeschutz IV models – substantially different than the III as the vast majority of armour buffs and K&C collectors would readily attest.
Anyone who really knows K&C and me appreciates the passion and the dedication we put into our models and our line.
When has K&C ever gone for the fast buck? Just look at what we invest in upgrading, developing and extending figures vehicles and display pieces.
I rest my case.
Best wishes to one and all.
Andy C.
