Other figures done by K&C (1 Viewer)

[gk5717]

I also collect some of the other figures K&C does for other companies mainly Del Prado.
I have the 100 figure set of Men at War, about 10 of his mounted and foot Napolianics.
I also have 3 WW1 French that are done for Atlas a magazine in France.
I just bought on ebay one of the DelPrado medieval figures.
My question is why aren,t these sets somehow available in the USA?
I,ve looked long and hard and no one to my knowledge has them.
I would buy more but it is such a pain and expense (postage) to get these from Europe.
Gary

 

[jazzeum]

I'm not sure I know the full answer to this question but aren't these (at least the Del Prados) sold together with something else (the Osprey booklet), which are only available in the UK and thus not sold separately. It's also possible that Del Prado's and K & C's contract stipulates that the figures are only to be made for Del Prado exclusively and cannot be sold separately. I'm just guessing of course but it could be something like that.

 

[Louis Badolato]

Andy makes these figures by contract for european magazines. Certain of the magazines, like Del Prado, are owned by american publishers who sell similar magazines, like Osprey, in the United States. These publishers do not want their european magazines competing with their american releases, so they only allow subscriptions and sales of the european magazines in europe. Thus, in order to get these figures you will have to either (1) work with a dealer here in the U.S. who has connections in europe and brings in the figures (Paul Herrmann of The Toy Soldier Shoppe in Wauwautosa, Wisconsin, for example) or buy them off ebay. Just for the record, while these figures do make good filler for K&C dioramas, they are not quite up to the same standard of quality as K&C figures.

 

[King & Country]

Del Prado

The many (by now) hundreds of figures we have designed for Del Prado are sold all over Europe – primarily France, U.K. and Italy along with mini booklets and are called “Partworks”. E.G. “Soldiers of the 20th Century” – 100 different figures sold over 2 years. In Europe there are still thousands of little independently owned and operated Newsagents where you buy your newspapers, magazines, candies and (politically incorrect) tobacco products. The “partworks” are sold and distributed through these outlets.

The U.S. is very different and I’m not sure why Del Prado and the others don’t or can’t get into the market there.

The quality of these figures can range from “so-so” to great and the quantities produced literally runs into millions!

Although K&C has designed for Del Prado and some others, the figures are the property of these companies and we cannot sell them ourselves. Sorry to disappoint prospective collectors.

However, they are relatively cheap to obtain from European collectors and if you “cherry-pick” carefully, you will find some absolute gems for your collection.

Andy

 

[jazzeum]

I generally agree with Louis about the quality but there have been a few figures (not many) that are not much different than the regular issue. There is a Jager Del Prado who is pretty close to one of the figures in AK 11. There is also a Grenadier who is quite close to one of the Grenadiers in WS 27 although the latter has a bit more detail.

 

[Louis Badolato]

One thing I often find usefull about the Del Prado figures is the wide range of subjects they address. Everything from a female RAF ground controller (which, along with the many other Del Prado pilot figures make perfect filler for an airfield diorama) to a member of the French resistance (which along with the many other specialty WWII figures can really add depth to a WWII diorama). If you look carefully at the photographs of the dioramas in my collection on this website, you will see the del prado French resistance figure on one, and a 8th Army Fusiliers Captain as well as a Gurkha on another.

 

[jazzeum]

Another thing I find interesting about them and further to Louis' last point is that they also have done (because they're a Spanish company) figures from the Spanish Civil War, which lasted between 1936 and 1939. This is a fascinating period of history. It was a run up to WW 2 but also a particularly Spanish war, very bitter because it was fratricidal. I lived in Spain when I was younger and knew a few participants from the War. Their accounts were incredible to say the least. If anybody is interested in a good general history, I would recommend Hugh Thomas' book on the war. It's oop I'm sure but you can probably locate it at Abe Books.

 

[Louis Badolato]

I would be very interested in reading about the Spanish Civil War, I agree it was a very important period in history. The Germans used it as a dress rehersal for their newly developed tactics and war machines. Many of the great german aces got their first kills over Spain. Its one period of history I should be interested in, but never did any research about. I guess its back to Abe's to grab a copy of that book.