Found: 1 item      On view 1 - 1           List View        Gallery View    
Toy Soldier Collector New Releases  - King & Country December 2012

New Releases - King & Country

December 2012
Reviews of new metal figures to arrive in the hobby by Andy Whittaker

Every month Hong Kong based manufacturer King & Country surprise and delight collectors the world over with interesting and detailed new releases, and this time of year is my personal favourite as its when the company releases its limited edition Christmas set. Now sadly by the time you read this at the end of November the set may already be sold out, as they’re usually extremely popular, but no matter what the set is still always worthy of a review as if nothing else it makes collectors aware to get in early next year!

With this years’ set K&C return to that famous ‘Christmas truce’ of 1914 where British and German troops left their trenches and met each other in ‘no man’s land’ and fraternized for the one and only time during that terrible conflict. K&C’s own description of set XM012-01 ‘Christmas 1914’ is as follows: A British ‘Tommy’ has brought out a Xmas Pudding and a jar of Rum to share with some of the ‘Opposing Team’. One of his German opponents has in turn brought a wicker hamper full of wine, beer, Schnapps and good old German sausage as one of his comrades takes a photo of the memorable occasion.

As I’ve come to expect over the years (and there’s been a few of them) with K&C, this set is really charming and one that shows a lighter side of life on the frontline during this special time of year. The set is priced fairly at £136.95/$139 for the three figures and the detailing on each piece is superb although by far the best is the German soldier carrying the hamper, and is it just me or does he have a rather familiar looking beard to a certain other character seen at this time of year?

For those of you not interested in the special Christmas set then don’t worry because as usual K&C are releasing plenty of other sets to keep you interested. Sticking with K&C’s WWI range the company is releasing six new Australian Lighthorse figures which will expand the ranks of this already popular mini-range which first appeared a couple of years ago. The six figures are a mixture of mounted and dismounted poses, or rather one mounted and five dismounted although set AL040 ‘Goodbye old girl’ (my personal favourite) also features a horse, albeit one that is sadly about to leave his trooper.

Every figure is to K&C’s usual standards of detailed sculpting with subtle and often understated paintwork, the mounted pieces are £97.95/$99 whilst the individual foot figures will cost you £41.95/$42 if you wish to add them to your collection.

Moving from WWI to WWII, and what I personally believe might well be one of Andy Neilson’s (the founder of K&C) favourite battles, the Battle of the Bulge. Over the years K&C has built its reputation on striking WWII sets and a reasonable amount of these have been focused on this historic winter-time battle. The new M4A3E8 ‘Easy Eight’ Sherman model is actually the first ‘real’ Easy Eight K&C has ever produced (in 1999 the company did a hybrid which married an Easy Eight turret and 76mm gin with the body of an Israeli Isherman).

K&C describe their model as ‘big, bold, brassy and one helluva tank’ and I couldn’t have put it better myself, add to that the snow camouflage and this really is a model worth adding to any Bulge display. Expect to pay £201.95/$205 if you’d like to own one.

Review by Andy Whittaker

Contact:
King & Country
Room 2301
No. Lockhart Road
Wanchai
Hong Kong
Tel: + 852 2861 3450
www.kingandcountry.com

King & Country UK
Unit 17 Enterprise City
Meadowfield Avenue
Green Lane Industrial Estate
Spennymoor
Co Durham
DL16 6JF
Tel: 01388 818882
www.kingandcountry.co.uk

Back


    
News Blog
Latest News
            Tweets     |     Email Us     |     Advertising     |     Write for Us     |     Cover Gallery   |   Sample Pages     |     Toy Soldier Show     |     Links

    
© Guideline Publications