King & Country (company)

Last updated

King & Country is a Hong Kong company manufacturing toy soldiers and other miniatures founded in the 1980s, and now one of the leading companies in the field.

The company was founded in 1984 by expatriate Scots Andy Neilson and Laura McAllister; [1] [2] married at the time, they founded four companies together, of which King & Country was the fourth, and continued to work together after divorcing. Both have since remarried. Neilson is the company's creative director. [3] The metal miniatures are manufactured in China and hand painted by two artists, one in Hong Kong and the other on the mainland. [4] The company has a shop in Hong Kong, run by Neilson and originally in Wyndham Street, [3] since 1992 in Pacific Place, [4] and branches in the United Kingdom [1] and the United States. [4]

The first products were miniature Scottish Highlanders and Zulu warriors. [3] In 1995, they added World War II figurines based on the 1977 World War II film A Bridge Too Far and using matte paint instead of the traditional enamel; in 1998 their sales increased with the release of a range of figures based on and coinciding with Steven Spielberg's film Saving Private Ryan . [2] In addition to metal toy soldiers at 1:30 scale, they now make polyester resin miniatures of buildings and military vehicles, [5] including ships and aircraft, in ranges including Ancient Egypt, the Crusades, the Age of Napoleon, the American Revolutionary War, the American Civil War, The Crimean War, both World Wars (in 2017 they released the first miniatures for the Battle of Hong Kong), and the War in Afghanistan, and also Streets of Old Hong Kong, buildings and figures from colonial Hong Kong. [1] [4] [6]

As of 2009, King & Country was a leading manufacturer of toy soldiers; [1] [2] collectors have included Steven Spielberg, Phil Collins, Mike Myers, Rod Stewart, and the King of Tonga. [2]

Related Research Articles

Hong Kong Disneyland Theme park on Lantau Island, Hong Kong

Hong Kong Disneyland is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and it is owned and managed by Hong Kong International Theme Parks. It is the largest theme park in Hong Kong, followed by Ocean Park Hong Kong. Hong Kong Disneyland was opened to visitors on Monday, 12 September 2005 at 13:00 HKT. Disney attempted to avoid problems of cultural backlash by incorporating Chinese culture, customs and traditions when designing and building the resort, including adherence to the rules of feng shui. Notably, a bend was put in a walkway near the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort entrance so good qi energy would not flow into the South China Sea.

Toy soldier Miniature figurine that represents a soldier

A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier. The term applies to depictions of uniformed military personnel from all eras, and includes knights, cowboys, American Indians, pirates, samurai, and other subjects that involve combat-related themes. Toy soldiers vary from simple playthings to highly realistic and detailed models. The latter are of more recent development and are sometimes called model figures to distinguish them from traditional toy soldiers. Larger scale toys such as dolls and action figures may come in military uniforms, but they are not generally considered toy soldiers.

Model figure

A model figure is a scale model representing a human, monster or other creature. Human figures may be either a generic figure of a type, a historical personage, or a fictional character.

Die-cast toy Type of toy

A die-cast toy is a toy or a collectible model produced by using the die casting method of putting molten lead, zinc alloy or plastic in a mold to produce a particular shape. Such toys are made of metal, with plastic, rubber, glass, or other machined metal parts. Wholly plastic toys are made by a similar process of injection moulding, but the two methods are distinct because of the properties of the materials.

Maisto

Maisto is a brand of scale model vehicles introduced and owned by May Cheong Group, a Chinese company founded in 1967 in Hong Kong by brothers P.Y. Ngan and Y.C Ngan. The company has also subsidiaries in the United States, France, and China. MCG also owns other model car brands such as Italian former company Bburago and Polistil.

1:144 scale is a scale used for some scale models such as micro/mini armor. 1:144 means that the dimensions of the model are 1/144 (0.00694) the dimensions of the original life-sized object; this equates to a scale of 1/2 inch per 6 feet of original dimension. For instance, an airplane 30 feet (9.14 m) in length would be a mere 2.5 inches (63.5 mm) long as a 1:144 scale model.

Minichamps

Minichamps is a die-cast car producer founded as Paul's Model Art GmbH in 1990 in Aachen, (Germany), best known for its 1:43 scale models. The company grew out of the Danhausen trade catalog of miniature vehicles and specially made Danhausen diecast releases during the 1970s.

Army men Plastic toy soldiers

Army men, or plastic soldiers, are toy soldiers that are about 5 cm (2.0 in) tall and most commonly molded from olive green, relatively unbreakable plastic. Unlike the more expensive toy soldiers available in hobby shops, army men are sold at low prices in discount stores and supermarkets in bulk packaging. Army men are green and almost always dressed in modern military uniforms and armed with 20th-century weapons. 'Jumbo' army men are a less common secondary scale with 4.75-inch (12.1 cm) soldiers made with the same process.

Art toys, also called designer toys, are toys and collectibles created by artists and designers that are either self-produced or made by small, independent toy companies, typically in very limited editions. Artists use a variety of materials, such as ABS plastic, vinyl, wood, metal, latex, plush, and resin. Creators often have backgrounds in graphic design, illustration, or fine art, but many accomplished toy artists are self-taught. The first art toys appeared in the 1990s in Hong Kong and Japan. By the early 2000s, the majority of art toys were based upon characters created by popular Lowbrow artists, linking the two movements.

Cymbal-banging monkey toy

A cymbal-banging monkey toy is a mechanical depiction of a monkey holding a cymbal in each hand. When activated it repeatedly bangs its cymbals together and, in some cases, bobs its head, chatters, screeches, grins, pops its eyes out, does flips, and more. There are both traditional wind-up versions as well as updated battery-operated cymbal-banging monkeys.

Dragon Models Limited is a Hong-Kong-based manufacturer of plastic model kits, diecast models and military action figures. Founded in 1987, the company shares distribution agreements with Stevens International in the United States, Revell/Monogram, Revell Germany and Italeri in Europe, and Hasegawa and GSI in Japan.

Kenner <i>Star Wars</i> action figures American toy line

Kenner Star Wars action figures are a line of more than 100 unique toys, produced and sold from 1978 to 1985, among a total of more than 300 million Star Wars action figures sold then.

Britains, earlier known by the founder's name W. Britain, is a British toy brand and former manufacturing company known for its die-cast scale model of agricultural machinery, and figurines. The company was established in 1893 as a toy soldiers manufacturer.

Hot Toys

Hot Toys Limited is a Hong Kong production house for designing, developing, and manufacturing highly detailed collectible merchandise to worldwide markets. Established in 2000 in Hong Kong, the company initially focused on producing 1:6 scale US Army Special Forces action figures. It then transitioned to production of high-end figures based on media properties, primarily under their Movie Masterpiece Series brand. Their team of artists is led by sculptor Yulli and painter JC Hong.

John Hill & Company or Johillco was a British toy company specialising in the manufacture of hollowcast metal and later plastic toy soldiers becoming second to W. Britain in popularity. No one knows where the name of John Hill came from.

The Barclay Manufacturing Company was an American metal toy company based in New Jersey that specialised in diecast toy cars and hollowcast toy soldiers. Due to their common availability at five and dime stores, collectors often refer to Barclay's toy soldiers as "Dimestore soldiers".

Micro armour refers to small figurines made of lead, pewter, die cast metal or plastic, usually used for wargaming purposes. Variations of the name include: mini armour, microscale, mini tanks, miniature armour, miniature tanks, micro tanks, minitanks, minifigs, armour figurines, tank figurines, etc. are also used. Micro armour is a sub-category of model military vehicle miniature figures used for military simulation, miniature wargaming, scale models, dioramas and collecting.

TrueScale Miniatures

TrueScale Miniatures is a Hong Kong-based manufacturing company of collectible scale model vehicles, founded in 2006. By 2007 TrueScale Miniatures had released their first product; scale replicas of snap-on brand tools called "Garage Essentials".

Traditional Mexican handcrafted toys

Traditional Mexican handcrafted toys are those made by artisans rather than manufactured in factories. The history of Mexican toys extends as far back as the Mesoamerican era, but many of the toys date to the colonial period. Many of these were introduced as teaching tools by evangelists, and were associated with certain festivals and holidays. These toys vary widely, including cup and ball, lotería, dolls, miniature people, animals and objects, tops and more—made of many materials, including wood, metal, cloth, corn husks, ceramic, and glass. These toys remained popular throughout Mexico until the mid-20th century, when commercially made, mostly plastic toys became widely available. Because of the advertising commercial toys receive and because they are cheaper, most traditional toys that are sold as handcrafts, principally to tourists and collectors.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "King and Country Toy Soldiers". Collectors Weekly. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Cathy Rose A. Garcia (13 April 2009). "Toy Soldiers for Big Boys". Korea Times.
  3. 1 2 3 Kate Whitehead (22 June 2017). "Mad Dogs, Joe Bananas, King & Country - how Andy Neilson made his mark in Hong Kong". South China Morning Post magazine. Archived from the original on 7 July 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 John Carney (22 November 2017) [21 November 2017]. "Battle of Hong Kong toy soldiers, 19th century streets in miniature – toy shop owner revels in city's history". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017.
  5. "King and Country". Sierra Toy Soldier Company. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  6. "About King & Country". The Toy Soldier Experience. Retrieved 30 December 2020.