What makes K&C the toy soldier company you buy from the most. (8 Viewers)

Simpson & his donkey.

Simpson & his donkey.

Sergeant Major
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
1,801
For me it's easy.

1. The size.

2. The choice.

3. The painting.

4. The sculpting.

5. The quality.

Can anyone think of others.Simmo.

p.s go Queensland.:rolleyes:
 
No pressure,plenty of time to buy not limited sets.
Great packaging no damage.
Variety
 
I'd say its K&C's own style that attracts my funds,quality,realism,range and depth of product are also big drivers for me.:cool:

Rob
 
They are chunky and colourful and there's such a wide choice.
They look so good whether a small display or a big diorama.
 
All of the above plus you can buy with confidence that the product will be of the same great quality as previous releases. Not so with other makers.
Gary
 
Simpson & his donkey. said:
For me it's easy.

1. The size.

2. The choice.

3. The painting.

4. The sculpting.

5. The quality.

Can anyone think of others.Simmo.

p.s go Queensland.:rolleyes:
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1. - The People, nicest guys and gals you could meet, not just in the company but on this Forum thanks to Peter and Shannon!:)

2. - The eras: Arnhem/Market Garden:D

3. - Someone once said to me that a certain manufacturers figures made King and Country's look like 'toys' Personally I want my figures to have a bit of a toyish look otherrwise the term 'toy soldiers' isn't really a name for them is it?:confused:Plus I think that King and Country's figures are the extremely real looking! Without looking too much like grim shadows of times past, won't mention anything but you get my meaning?

4. - Historical Accuracy/Detail - The tiny little patches that you need a magnifying glass to see makes buying new figures all the more interesting!:eek:

5. - King and Country - Anytime you have a request or problem, Andy or Mike, Tony or many others do what they can to fix it in as soon a time as possible!:)

Fo me King and Country is number 1 and while others are entitled to an opinion, unless it agrees with mine it s wrong:rolleyes:Only kidding, but for me K&C #1:)
 
A number of factors influence my decision;

1) size - interesting how many people like the size. I am a dinosaur who still thinks it's unfortunate that we couldn't have a "standard" 54mm sizing - but that's just me.

2) Sculpting - Andy is an artist by training and his military experience shows also. His people stand like soldiers who are carrying packs and fireams that weigh 5-20 lbs. The faces look tired, or watchful, or whatever. The figures tell a story.

3) Painting - I like the K&C painting style. Compared to a "model" the colors might be a bit bright (even the WW2 stuff), but they look great on the shelf. His painters use black outlining to emphasize details - an interesting touch.

4) Quality - I feel I get good quality when I buy K&C figures.

5) Improvement - The K&C gang is always getting better. The research has improved so the figures are more accurate, the scuplting keeps getting more detailed, the fit and finish are quite good.

6) The company - I have been fortunate to talk to Andy, Gordon, Helen, and some of the others. They always come off as people who enjoy what they do! That spirit shows in their products and their advertising. I enjoy buying from nice people.

7) No empty promises - We may give Andy grief for playing his cards close to the chest, but when he announces something we get it (or a good reason why not).

8) I am fortunate enough to collect WW2 and that is a range that is supported. I often buy plastics and a few metals. There are suppliers who will produce a few WW2 GIs, then no more, or will produce one set of plastic figures on a theme and never go back and expand on the theme.

So those a few of the reasons that I like to buy K&C (and would buy many more if I had more money and display space).

Gary B.
 
For me, it starts and ends with the people: Andy, Gordon, Helen, Patrick, the Nevilles, the Reuss', George Guerrero, Matt Murphy, Tim Tyler, Pam Brunton, Tony Cicarello, all but one of the other dealers I have dealt with . . . without exception wonderful to deal with, nice, friendly, accessible, helpful.

In addition to the great cast of characters, there is the history of innovation. K&C, which started as just one of many glossy 54mm manufacturers of victorian era miniatures, through both design and accident, created the hobby we enjoy today. They launched the larger (60 to 65mm) matt, WWII and modern war hobby. They were the first company to push sculpting and painting quality of toy soldiers towards that of very expensive military miniatures. Interestingly, companies like First Legion and Tommy Gunn seem to be trying to take the quality from where K&C has presently pushed it, even further towards the Russian Military miniatures, basically copying Andy's idea . . . something the First Legion fans sometimes overlook.

In the mid-1990's they launched the high quality (and highly expensive) vehicle, aircraft and diorama industry we see mirrored today by companies like Honour Bound Gold Edition, First Legion, Figarti, Hudson & Allen, and TW Terrain. Then in the late 1990's they produced the affordable polystone vehicles and aircraft which led so many new collectors into the hobby. Andy has truly been one of the great innovators of our hobby.

Oh yeah, and there are these really cool books chronicalling K&C that make collecting it even more fun and interesting . . . ;)

Finally, I am a big fan of affordability, reliability and resale value. K&C has been there for more than 25 years, and its production schedule has become as reliable as a person could hope for. Many many immitators have come and gone over the years, but K&C remains. Additionally, the resale value of K&C items reflects the consistent growth of the K&C collector base over the years. Despite the fact that prices have gone up quite a bit over the past 4-5 years, K&C is still the most affordable option for the matt collector. If you want to build a substantial collection of good quality matt figures and vehicles, K&C remains the best option.
 
In my opinion no one touches their AWI range which is what I collect, would like to see more products released from this era but accept this isn't their best selling line, still I'm a K&C lifer for now.. :D
 
I won't disagree with any of what has been said, and I certainly collect similar ranges from other manufacturers; however, one thing that has attracted me to the K&C sculpts is the creation of individual characters and characters that can be used in vignettes other than just a firing line, unique poses that give each figure "character." In the Napoleonics line, I think of the captured prisoner set, and Napoleon and his generals. I am sure there are similar sets and single figures in those ranges that each of you collect.
 
I have a sizeable Napoleonic, Crusader, and Alamo collection of K&C items with some Confederate ACW thrown in as well. I'm one who prefers a variety of figure styles in my collection. As mentioned in a prior post, K&C has a more toy-like style and are painted using matte colors with a little gloss thrown in which brightens up the overall figure quite nicely, if you appreciate this type of style. This is how I see them and how I appreciate them for what they are. The K&C group (i.e. Andy, Helen et al...) are very focused on customer service and to bringing as much variety of ranges to the market as is workable for their business. I think they have introduced some very interesting ranges for collectors over the years and collectors should be grateful for all they have done to promote this hobby. Thanks for posting this thread. :)
 
Quality, quality and a bit more quality. People talk about competitors but, the only company for me who have tooped K&C is Honour Bound and, sadly, we will never probably see such craftmanship again.

Overall the figures planes and AFV's are better than any on the current market yes, others such as Figarti do more off beat AFV's but, their figures wholly let the ranges down as they are just so poor IMO and, other figure makers such as CS have gone to the far end of the scale trying to get realism into their figures. First legion are not in the 60mm scale so, cannot really be seen as competition as such and, for me are too expensive for what they are even though they are painted well (another fifteen minutes on a K&C figure and you would be as well shaded) .

K&C for me do it right across the board thats the big difference and why they are and probably will be always, ahead of the chasing pack
Mitch
 
Mitch said:
Quality, quality and a bit more quality. People talk about competitors but, the only company for me who have tooped K&C is Honour Bound and, sadly, we will never probably see such craftmanship again.

Overall the figures planes and AFV's are better than any on the current market yes, others such as Figarti do more off beat AFV's but, their figures wholly let the ranges down as they are just so poor IMO and, other figure makers such as CS have gone to the far end of the scale trying to get realism into their figures. First legion are not in the 60mm scale so, cannot really be seen as competition as such and, for me are too expensive for what they are even though they are painted well (another fifteen minutes on a K&C figure and you would be as well shaded) .

K&C for me do it right across the board thats the big difference and why they are and probably will be always, ahead of the chasing pack
Mitch
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For me,another big plus is the depth of range that they produce.Last years D Day release of British and Canadian items is a good example.It shows just how much thought and effort go into these releases. We had LCA's,Cromwell Tank and a range of figures that included Fighting,wounded and non combat releases. This type of thorough wave of releases makes it easier for the collector to build an in depth,realistic and enjoyable collection. I know this is one of the many reasons I enjoy collecting their product so much.

The RAF range appears to be continuing this trend in that it is already giving us Planes,vehicles, single and multiple figure sets and a building. Its these sort of well thought out releases that encourage the buyer to dip their toe so to speak. Thats just one of the many reasons :)

Rob
 
The first time I saw a K&C figure eight or nine years ago they just spoke to me. I bought one for my father because I thought it was the best looking toy soldier I ever saw. Then the next month I bought one for myself. I have been very happy going from range to range as my waning attention span brings me. Later on I got to know some of the many great people in this hobby.

There are a lot of good reasons already posted. I just like them! Nice work Andy!
 
uksubs said:
For me they make Market Garden :D
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That's an excellent point uksubs! K&C's MG is the range that got me back into toy soldiers and is the only one I'm nearly a completist in. Its also got to be the variety and depth of their ranges, good quality of figures for the pricepoint ( although its getting too pricey for me to buy much anymore :( ), great and easy to navigate website, reliable monthly dispatches, creativity of the figure poses, paint choice and tones, artistic nature, size/scale, and the marketing around the product (ex. magazines, dioramas). All in all K&C are my favourite on balance. Are there others nipping at their toes? Ofcourse, and they do compete hard and occasionally win my hobby $$$ if its really a unique piece or something K&C hasn't done. In general I'd say if K&C makes something and another manufacturer makes the same thing I'll go K&C just about every time.
 
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