Update on the K&C Book(s) (1 Viewer)

[Louis Badolato]

Just thought I would let you gentleman know that Larry Lo and myself have commenced writing the book cataloging King & Country's production from 1984 to the present. Larry has written a good portion of chapter 2 (1984-1990 glossy production) by describing the various sets and figures contained in each, and I will be placing the descriptions in chronological order of production, with set numbers, references to flyers and catalogues (where available), original prices and approximate production runs. I have written a good portion of chapter 3 (WWII figures from 1989 to the present). I spoke to Andy last night about the book for about an hour, and he indicated that he had written a chapter of his book about the history of King & Country as a company. The two books are intended to complement each other. My goal is to have a draft of the book cataloging K&C production completed by the New York Symposium (the second weekend of March, 2006). We have a complete outline of the book (eight chapters and an appendix), and intend to include photographs of every item if available (about 98% of the non-warbird production, but only about 50% of the warbirds). I will try to keep you gentlemen posted as we move forward with the book. If any of you are (a) good photographers who (b) intend to either come visit us in New York or attend the symposium, we will be in need of a photographer to illustrate the book, so let us know if you are interested.

 

[Combat]

Louis-
Looking forward to the book. Sounds great. AeroArt/St. Petersburg has just released a two-volume book on their figures that might be helpful for some ideas if you can get your hands on a copy.

 

[Alexdakar]

Any idea if it will be hardcover or soft.

 

[Louis Badolato]

The book will have to be a coffee table book, which means probably hard cover. We are describing every set, and by lumping together related figures from various sets, we hope to be able to depict most if not all of the figures. The outline of the book runs as follows:

Chapter 1: History & Development of K&C, Anecdotes about Andy.
Chapter 2: Non-WWII Glossy Toy Soldiers (1984-1996)
Chapter 3: WWII Toy Soldiers (1989-Present)
Chapter 4: Non-WWII Matt Toy Soldiers (1996-Present)
Chapter 5: Wood, metal & resin vehicles (1991-1997, custom to the present)
Chapter 6: Polystone Vehicles (1997-Present)
Chapter 7: Warbirds (1989-2000)
Chapter 8: Diorama Materials, Scenery & Buildings
Appendix: Reproductions of All Available flyers, Price Lists, etc.

Throughout there will be photographs of the figures, vehicles, warbirds & diorama materials in My, Hans & Larry's collection. We found a photographer so that is now covered. Presently, Chapters 2 and 3 are being drafted. I am dedicating at least two hours per day to writing at this point. I hope to have a completed draft of the book by the N.Y. Symposium in early March, 1996.

 

[Warbuff26]

Early March 1996??? Ahhhh Louis do you have a good editor yet??

 

[Louis Badolato]

I obviously meant March, 2006. My brain is so fried from working all day and then writing the dang book that I lost the last ten years.

 

[victory]

Louis,
Just as a thought and an added incentive to purchase the book, why not include pictures of coming, not yet released sets as well. I know there is always great anticipation of new releases and including pictures of never before seen coming sets should generate added interest in this publication. Another thought may be to include a small section with pictures of some prototypes that never made it to production. I know I'm interesting in seeing some of the creative ideas that just were never pursued.
Anyway, I know your format is pretty well set - just sharing some random thoughts.

 

[wellington]

I've Got A Great Idea Include A Free Figure Like The Book Club....
That Probably Won't Wash But It Sure Sounds Nice.

Cheers
Wellington

 

[Njja]

Perhaps a coupon issued with the book good at selected dealers (who would accept and sponsor it) good for 1 figure. This would serve to introduce new customers to the line and establish a relationship with a dealer.

Njja

 

[Louis Badolato]

Gentlemen,

All of your suggestions are well received, but only the one about unproduced prototypes is feasable. If you notice my earlier post where I indicate that the wood metal and resin vehicles include "custom to the present" that phrase refers to prototypes Andy chose not to produce and instead sold as extremely limited production (1-4 vehicles). At least one version (and as many as 3 versions) of 3 different prototypes (possibly four) will be photographed for the book.

As to the suggestions about coupons for dealers to provide or included figures and photographs of upcoming sets, these types of items are out of my control. Forward these suggestions to Andy for his book, but, knowing how busy Andy is and how long he has been talking about writing his book, don't hold your breath.

Just for the record, I have nearly completed chapter 3 (WWII Soldiers) and expect to finish a draft of this chapter by tonight. I will be sending the draft off to co-authors/editors Larry Lo & Hans Hedrich for comments, and I will then begin editing Larry's work on chapter 2.

Regards,

Louis

 

[wellington]

I wasn't holding my breath just had my fingers crossed... Just curious how much Napoleonic stuff will be in your guys book? I'm looking forward to buying it!!


Cheers
Wellington

 

[Louis Badolato]

Dear Wellington,

Every Napoleonic figure Andy made, in both glossy (1993-1996) and Matt (1998 [Nelson's Navy], 2000-Present) will be included in the book. We will mention, but alas none of us has ever seen, the Napoleonic Chess set Andy made circa 1991-1992 (mentioned in the 1992 dealer dispatch).

Regards,

Louis

 

[jazzeum]

Louis,

Maybe you could put together a list of what you, Larry or Hans don't have and post it here and maybe we could use that to get the word out to get photos from those who might have it for use in the book.

 

[tigerboy]

Hello Louis
Can you please tell me if the book will be published or be available to people in the UK.
Thanks
Alan

 

[Louis Badolato]

In answer to Alan's question about availability, we have not yet even found a publisher, but assuming we can get it published, we will see to it that it is available to any K&C collector who wants it, anywhere.

With regard to Brad's suggestion that we list the figures we don't have to photograph for the book, the ones we are concerned about are:

The Napoleonic Chess Set
The Free French Sets (FF1, FF2)
The First Glossy M.P. (MP1)
Charlie Chaplin (I think Bill Sager can provide photos of the one he purchased)
Elvis
The first Zulus from 1988

We also need photos of the planes we don't have (I will post a list of these when the book gets closer to publication).

 

[jazzeum]

Maybe Shannon and Pete can post something on the general site to help out with missing items.

 

[Louis Badolato]

Just to let you gentlemen know, the first draft of Chapter 3 is complete and being passed on the Larry Lo today for editing. Once he e-mails me his work for chapter 2, I will get on top of completing and editing Chapter 2.

 

[Leadmen]

I would like to thank Louis, Hans and Steven along with others who are using their valuable time on writing the K&C book. It will be nice to have a reference book on this subject. Leadmen (John).

 

[Louis Badolato]

To see a sample from the book, look at the thread "First of the Few", where I posted a couple of paragraphs from chapter 3 about this set.

 

[Louis Badolato]

Just a little progress report: Larry and I have finished a draft of the text of chapter 2, and Hans and Larry have started to edit the text of Chapter 3. I will start chapter 4 this week. So far, the text, in double space, for chapters 2-3 exceeds 90 pages (of course, once this is done in collumns, and single spaced, it will be far shorter, but then the photographs will fatten it right back up). We have been discussing doing the book in two volumes, one all on WWII, and one on everything else. What do you think?