'Evening, everyone!
I'm a newcomer to this forum, so please forgive the late reply to the thread!
I'm a big fan of Reeves figures, too. My collection started with a foot figure of George Washington, purchased in the gift shop at Mount Vernon. By now, I've got some of the Ancients (Greeks), Napoleonics, AWI, ACW, some WWII, some of the mounted figures, and even 2 samurai generals. Some are matte, some gloss, even for some copies of the same figure.
I was intrigued, when I saw them, to see that someone was still making metal toy soldiers, years after I had seen my last Britains (at Hess' department store in Allentown PA, in 1969 or 1970, and those were Deetail figures).
One of the previous posts mentions that the figures were actually manufactured by company in China. I was pleased to learn from Mr. David Chan of FairTech, Ltd, (Shenzhen, China), that actual manufacturer was King-White, Co, in Hong Kong. He noted that while Reeves was the biggest marketer of King-White's figures, they also made figures for Franklin Mint, and K&C, he thought. If Mr. Neilson reads this, he might be able to confirm or correct me. Mr. Chan also said that he thought King-White was out of the business around 1991, with the original owner, a Mr.Chung, having passed away.
I've seen the same castings sold by other sellers as well; I have a Napoleonic Russian dragoon officer, which is definitely a Reeves/King-White figure, that was packaged for sale in Russia. It was in a blister pack on cardboard, with Cyrillic printing.
Another tidbit comes from John Garratt's "World Encyclopedia of Model Soldiers". He noted that King-White's figures were sold also by AA Hales, a British retailer, but also sniffs somewhat dismissively that they "may be piracies of Mini-Models", a British maker in the late '60s-early '70s. I think that's a bit harsh, personally.
If any of you do your own casting, you may be familiar with a series of molds that are still available commerically, from among other places, Castings, Inc, in Washington state, here in the US. The molds are in an aluminium or zinc alloy, and some of the figures, if not all, are copies of the King-White/Reeves figures. For example, they include some of the British and French Napoleonic foot figures, and a Continental color-bearer, drummer and fifer. That mold is marketed now as "the Spirit of '76", but in the Reeves catalog, it was a Continental Marine color party ("Marine Corps, United States of America, 1776, MC-1").
In the early- to mid-90's, there was a mail-order toy soldier auction outfit called Armchair General, working out of St Louis, MO (and not affiliated with the current company by the same name, as far as I know). Their catalog included Reeves figures, until around 1994 or 1995, when I recall that they issued a catalog noting that Reeves was "out of business", so they were clearing out their stock. The catalog was photocopied, not like their periodic glossy mailers, and I wish I could find my copy! I also recall that shortly after that, I am sure that I saw a note in one of the journals, either Old Toy Soldier, or Bill Lango's magazine, that Britain's had bought Reeves, and then Britain's itself was bought. That was the last I've heard of Reeves as a marketer of toy soldiers.
I like the figures. I like that they look like toys, albeit relatively well-detailed toys. I was never a fan of the old-style, black-dot eyed, red-dot-cheeked toys, and now, when I see Reeves figures, on eBay or at shows and flea markets, I snap 'em up. And I like seeing figures that have been called the grandfathers of the current generation of "toy soldiers", like K&C, Frontline, Blue Box, and the figures sold by Forces of Valor, 21st Century and others. The progenitors of the "Chinese style".
Anyway, it's a pleasure to be here and to share the hobby with you all.
Thanks!
