Seeking advice for a new K&C convert (1 Viewer)

[REVWARBUFF]

Most of you might know me from various postings on the Britians side of this forum. Well I must say that after having attended my first show earlier this month in Hackensack, NJ, I have become a K&C collector. Not only that but I may have to change my forum name from the REVWARBUFF to something else as I have been won over by the K&C Napoleonics, namely their mounted calvary figures. Someone on this forum warned us who never previously saw K&C in person, that once we did we'd "see the light". Not only am I adding their rev war stuff to my collection, but as I mentioned, their Nappy figures as well.

My question to you existing K&C collectors is how do the Del Prado Napoleon calvary fit with K&C? Are they the same size? Will the great craftmanship of the K&C pale the Del Prado figures? I do not know anything about either brand. With Del Prado being so inexpensive, are they worth the purchase? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[fishead19690]

Always glad to see another member get bitten by the napoleonic bug!!! The painting on the del prado figures is not as good as the K&C paint jobs but they are great figures and there are quite a few of the K&C that are the same castings as the del prados so yes they are the same size.
There were a bunch of cavalry figures that were made for del prado that got released as K&C with a better paint job and a few conversions but you,d be surprized at how well some of the del prados look. There are also some del prado foot figures that made it into the K&C line and they mix well with the K&C but they are mostly non-action poses.
The Mini Welt and Tin bay napoleonics are also the same size and mix well with K&C but are also around $60 a pop.

 

[Warrior]

Mark,
I second Tim's thoughts on Del Prado; they do an extensive range of foot and mounted figures that are the same scale as K & C and make great fillers for your collection and your displays. The foot figures are 15.00 each and the mounted figures are 20.00 each; if you are in the Hasbrouck Heights New Jersey area on the 10th of this month, there is a toy soldier show at the Holiday Inn, route 17 from 9 till 3. It is about ten minutes south of Hackensack and I will be there with a full stock of the Del Prados for you to see in person if you are interested......

Regards,
George Guerriero
www.mmtoysoldiers.com

 

[wellington]

Funny I had the opposite experience...I went to a local shop near my house because I heard he was selling the Del Prado figures, I was pretty excited thinking I would beef up my collection and save a few dollars...when I got to see them in person I was very disappointed, the sculpting was excellent and the same size...but the paint job was crap....in the end I decided you get what you pay for and I decided to save my money and invest in K&C and trust me I was really hoping and had an open mind when I went. I saw about 1/3 of the collections perhaps the others are different.


Cheers
WELLINGTON

OHHHHH I almost forgot welcome to the Dark Side and I'm glad to hear of nother Napoleonic Collector in the K&C club....

 

[REVWARBUFF]

Thanks everyone for your input. It sounds like I need to either take a chance and buy a Del Prado on-line or find a local shop or show and see one first hand. I have seen them on-line but I feel reluctant to buy one based on a picture alone. I seem to have the same feeling as Wellington on this one and have thought that the figures may be a reflection of their cost.

Thanks again, it is always good to get feedback from others who have the experience with this. The "Dark Side", huh? This Napoleonic stuff is becoming more intriguing.............

 

[wellington]

REVWARBUFF....Should have added there are a few DelPrado Pieces painted by K&C and of course sculpted by K&C they will have k&C on the bottom they are EXCELLENT and rare, if you see these gab them!!!!!!! There are four other than the recent releases. All four were released when the Napoleonic line for K&C was first released.


Cheers
WELLINGTON
I did buy the Britains North Wall Set (Napoleonic) set and the Nelson Series because of the subjects and I thought they were nice, quality not the same. Both are retired and subjects no one else have really touched on in depth as Britains...will be rare one day in my opinion.

 

[jazzeum]

Thanks everyone for your input. It sounds like I need to either take a chance and buy a Del Prado on-line or find a local shop or show and see one first hand. I have seen them on-line but I feel reluctant to buy one based on a picture alone. I seem to have the same feeling as Wellington on this one and have thought that the figures may be a reflection of their cost.

Thanks again, it is always good to get feedback from others who have the experience with this. The "Dark Side", huh? This Napoleonic stuff is becoming more intriguing.............

Your best bet for a show is one where Michigan Toy Soldier is appearing as they are the US distributor. However, I have bought these on ebay and have not been disappointed. Your best bet is probably Ebay UK as they have the most auctions, generally relatively inexpensive.

 

[wellington]

There you go everyone has their own opinion....take Brad's advice and go and see them and make your mind up for your self everyone has their own tastes.......

WELLINGTON

 

[REVWARBUFF]

Thanks Brad, I will look into it when I get a chance. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I thought you were solely a WW2 guy. Do you also collect Napoleonics?

Mark

 

[jazzeum]

Mark,

I don't collect Napoleonics but I've seen many Del Prado Napoleonics on ebay, more than other items. I've only bought the WW 2 ones (about half a dozen) and they generally fit in well with regular K & C.

 

[CannonFodder1971]

If you're looking for inexpensive K&C sculpted figures don't just restrict yourself to the Del Prado Napoleonics. Have a look at those produced for the big European publishing houses. The Napoleon's Marshalls series for Hachette contains some quite nice pieces at about the same price as the Del Prado pieces, and some of them will look familiar for the K&C collector too. Just as in the case of Del Prado, the production runs are to tens of thousands rather than the 250-500 of the K&C Napoleonic range.

 

[REVWARBUFF]

If you're looking for inexpensive K&C sculpted figures don't just restrict yourself to the Del Prado Napoleonics. Have a look at those produced for the big European publishing houses. The Napoleon's Marshalls series for Hachette contains some quite nice pieces at about the same price as the Del Prado pieces, and some of them will look familiar for the K&C collector too. Just as in the case of Del Prado, the production runs are to tens of thousands rather than the 250-500 of the K&C Napoleonic range.

CannonFodder,

Can you or anyone else direct me to where I can find more info on this Hachette series you mention? I can do a general web search, but if you have some place particular in mind, I'd like to know about that as well.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Wraith]

Mark,

As Brad suggested, if you go in to ebay UK, there always seem to be several thousand figures under the Del Prado section of Toy Soldiers. There are usually a fair few of the Hachette figures in this category as well.

I tend to agree with Wellington with regards to paint jobs. They're not in the same league as K&C and although some of the figures are identical poses to K&C figures, the sculpting seems slightly less defined (unless this is a visual effect of the paint job).

That said, they generally are nice figures and are the same scale and physical proportions as the K&C figures. Plus, there are thousands of them and they're dirt cheap.

My personal view would be to purchase a couple at the prices they're at.

Simon

 

[fishead19690]

I think you should check out the del prados for yourself and let you be the judge. I think they look great for the price range and some just seem like they were a little rushed in the painting and need a little touch up here and there but some are painted great and at about $20 for a cavalry figure verses $60 for K&C. As far as the sculpting its up to pare with the K&C and quite a few were issued as K&C and the same with the hachette figures they are the same size and also made by K&C and a few of those were released as K&C also but I find the painting better on the hachette figures then the del prado. Heres a link to the hachette site.http://www.hachette-collections.com/marechaux.htm
They come with a booklet like the del prado but they are in french not english. I have a bunch I got on ebay and the painting looks pretty good on all the ones I,ve gotten so far, not as good as king and country but close.

 

[wellington]

The Hachette Line looks nice and very similar to K&C........I can't read French though, is there an English version?


Cheers
WELLINGTON

 

[Fubar]

I've been fairly well pleased with the Napoleonic Cavalry I have bought . All from the same seller in the U.K.
The painting has been pretty good overall.If you are a painter, you can easliy detail anything that is not to your liking.

I still have not found a seller or a shop in Great Britian that can supply what I need.It's always one or 2 at a time, and I would like 6-8 of each!
Theres some nice Russian, Prussian and Austrian troopers, Husssars, Dragoons, Cuirassier available.

Anyone know of a shop over there where we can buy duplicates?

FubAr

 

[DMNamiot]

Oh Revwarbuff I am so very sorry that you have taken the step toward the dark side!

I hope you take a deeper look at the forthcoming Britains offerings and have a change of heart.

All the best

Dave

 

[REVWARBUFF]

Oh Revwarbuff I am so very sorry that you have taken the step toward the dark side!

I hope you take a deeper look at the forthcoming Britains offerings and have a change of heart.

All the best

Dave

Aw, Dave, my main man............I had you in mind when I took this step over to the dark side. I sense a certain kindredness with you in our love for Britians. I have to admit that K&C has won me over, but that it is not to say that I will no longer collect Britians. I have all the rev war stuff from Britians that I need, many times over at that. At the risk of being the sole voice on this, I don't like how Britians offers their figures. What I mean by that is they offer very few individual pieces. One has to buy their figures in sets, usually in sets of 3, whereas K&C offers everything individually thus giving us flexibility in customizing our displays or dioramas. Yeah, I'll buy the new figures like the Hamilton or the Flag bearer. When it comes to the firing line however, I want only 1 of the 3 pieces within the set. Then what do I do? Nobody breaks down the Britians sets and sells them individually.

It's like the music/record business nowadays. The trend is that people are buying their music by the individual song and not necessarily buying the whole CD. We all want to customize our likes and interests, especially when it is cost effective. Companies like Tower Records are bankrupt because they're known for selling only CD's while the on-line websites offer all the individual songs one could ever ask for. K&C gives the consumer the ability to customize their collections by the piece.

Another draw back to Britains is that their new Yorktown set, as great as it is, limits me personally in my collecting. For those who want and can afford the whole Yorktown set, that's great. It's a diorama in and of itself. However, should I choose not to go for the entire set and only buy various pieces, those Yorktown figures I do purchase may not "work" with my other rev war items that are not part of this massive Yorktown set. Most of the poses and uniforms are unique to just this battle. It's almost like an all or nothing with the new Britians rev war items.

I don't know, maybe it's just me. After all I am sort of new at this hobby, but I see K&C meeting my collecting preferences a little more so than Britians right now. By collecting preferences I mean what options are at my disposal. I do not wish to engage in another debate over which company is better or the size compatability or whatever. That is useless as it all comes down to personal tastes. I would prefer that Britains expand their rev war offerings beyond just one battle or event.

Any thoughts????????

 

[DMNamiot]

Hi All,

I will tell you that you make some good points. You are very right with the latest idea for the music industry so I will be sending this suggestion on to Britains since they have been requesting information from the Club members for ways to improve and I think this is a very good idea. Now it may be something that wont fly because of logistics but its worth exploring. They already make some sets that are individual figures and have made it easier to collect the ones you want and not just the whole sets because thats how its been done for a 100 years.

As for sets that arent being broken up well there are a few dealers over in the UK that are doing exactly that with some older retired sets right now so I would keep your eye open because they may be getting ready to do the same with the future sets.

I too find that with my display space limited I am forcing myself to be far pickier and will only purchase some of the latest offerings which revolve around the VC series and the Crimean Campaign. So I do understand the reluctance to try and acquire as large a set as the Yorktown series will probably become.

But dont give up yet the folks at Britians may just surprise us yet.

All the best

Dave

 

[Shannon Reuss]

Is anyone absolutely sure K&C has anything to do with Hachette? I thought I recalled asking Andy if there was a relationship there and he said there wasn't. Quite a while ago though so my memory's a bit fuzzy.
Regards,